Sweet Potato Hash

Ingredients:
2 BIG sweet potatoes, peel them, and dice them into one inch cubes
1 BIG red onion, dice it as well
1 bell pepper (red, orange, yellow - your preference), chopped 
1/4 cup EVOO or coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprike
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup "ribboned" fresh basil
Optional – Kale, chopped fine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Mix up all ingredients in a bowl.
Spread it out on a cookie sheet. You can do a 9×13 pan too.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Stir it all around and then spread it all back out.
Bake it for 10 more minutes, repeat the stirring and spreading.
Bake for 5 more minutes or until the potatoes are soft.  Enjoy!

Mu Shu Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce (found in Asian section of grocery store)
• 2 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I used the pre-ground ginger found in produce section)
• 1 (14-ounce) package coleslaw (about 4 cups) 
• 4 c shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast***
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions, divided
• 24 Bibb lettuce leaves (I used romaine)

1/2 cup chopped cashews 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the first 7 ingredients.
2. In a large saucepan, combine liquid with rotisserie chicken until heated through (add in 1/4 c of green onions)
3. In lettuce leaves, layer coleslaw mix and chicken.
4. Top with remaining green onions and chopped cashews.

It's not often that I give a recipe 5 stars, but this one is deserving.  It has great flavor, is healthy, fresh, and FAST!  You can have a meal ready to serve company in less than 10 minutes.  Are you kidding me?  My two year old devoured it, my 10 year old gave it 2 thumbs up, and my husband ate 2 platefuls. This recipe is a keeper!!!  ***Just a side note... if you use regular baked chicken breast instead of rotisserie chicken you may want to make more sauce as it generally absorbs more than the rotisserie chicken does. (I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light.  Photo from Cooking Light)

Crockpot Korean Beef Tacos with Cucumber Slaw

Ingredients:

For the Korean Beef:

• 5 lb. chuck roast
• 1 10 oz. bottle low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 T ginger, grated (Have you discovered the pre-grated/ground ginger in produce section yet? Love!)
• 6 T rice vinegar
• 2 T sesame oil
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T sriracha

For the Cucumber Slaw:

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 c water
• 1 T Thai Garlic Chili Pepper Sauce
• 1 t salt
• 2-3 cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/4 c thinly sliced red onion

For the Tacos:

• 16 small tortillas or spring roll wraps
• Cilantro
• Shredded cabbage/cole slaw mix
• Greek yogurt or sour cream
• Sriracha

Directions:

1. To make the Korean beef for the tacos, spray your slow cooker crock with non-stick cooking spray and add the chuck roast.
2. Whisk soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar with the garlic, ginger, sriracha, and oils.
3. Pour over the roast in the crockpot. 
4. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove roast from crockpot and meat just falls apart.  Use the "shredded" beef for the tacos.
5. For the cucumber slaw:
   1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, water, chili pepper sauce and salt.  Stir, cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
   2. Add cucumbers to onion in an appropriately sized dish that will allow all the cucumber mixture to be covered with the marinade.
   3. Pour vinegar mixture over the vegetables and let marinate for 30 minutes.
   4. Remove cucumbers with a slotted spoon.
6. To assemble, serve the shredded meat on warmed tortillas topped a spoon of cucumber slaw, shredded cabbage, cilantro, sriracha and a dollop of yogurt.

This recipe is absolutely delicious! We actually used the coleslaw and ate it more like an asian salad, but it was absolutely delicious.  We actually used leftover cucumber slaw marinade and put some of the cabbage in there to marinate as well.  Delicious!  Everyone in our family LOVED it! This recipe inspiration (and the photo) came from the Confections of a Food Bride blog.

Banana Blueberry Coconut Pecan Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 
• 1 T golden flaxmeal (I didn't have any on hand, so left this out)
• 1/2 t salt
• 3/4 c coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/2 c dried blueberries
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (mashed in my Kitchen Aid, kept a bit lumpy)
• 1/4 c coconut oil, warm enough to be liquid
• 1 T agave nectar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine oats, coconut, flaxmeal, salt, pecans, and blueberries. Stir in bananas, oil, agave nectar and vanilla until well combined.
2. Press 2 tablespoons of mixture onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. You could also press into a round cookie cutter for a more uniform looking cookie. I just used my 2 T measuring scoop. Continue with remaining mixture.
3. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until fragrant and golden. Cool on pan. Makes about 15 cookies.

These are delicious! The recipe came from www.kumkuatblog.com and either this or something like this was introduced to me by my sweet friend, Ali.  I HIGHLY recommend making a double batch as they keep well in the fridge and won't last long.  Easy to make and a repeater recipe for sure!

Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

Makes 4 Stuffed Peppers
Time: 1 hr, 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground Italian turkey sausage
4 bell peppers, tops cut off and seeds removed 
4 button mushrooms, diced
10 black olives, sliced
1/2 cup tomato or pizza sauce 
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tsp crushed red peppers
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
Dash of salt and pepper
2 cups shredded Italian cheese

Directions
Heat oven to 400 F
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Once oil is hot, add onions to pan and cook until translucent, stirring often (2 to 3 minutes)
Add garlic and cook for an additional minute, while continuing to stir
Add Italian sausage, peppers and mushrooms to pan, cook until meat is browned, about 10 minutes
Drain meat mixture and add to a large bowl along with olives, tomato sauce, tomato paste, crushed red peppers, herbs, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
Scoop the filling evenly into each of the four bell peppers and top with shredded cheese.

Place peppers standing up into a small glass baking dish.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until peppers are tender and filling is heated through.

Flying Goat Copy: Grace Veggie Sandwich

After I had the Grace Veggie Sandwich at The Flying Goat, I wanted it again right away so I took it upon myself to recreate it. I added in some grilled chicken and the outcome was divine! To make this meal gluten free, simply make it into a salad. It's equally as delicious!

Ingredients:
2 grilled chicken breasts, sliced (I just seasoned mine with sea salt and pepper)
1 cucumber, sliced
1 onion, caramelized
1 roasted red pepper (you can buy them canned at the store)
1 roma tomato, sliced
4 oz goat cheese, sliced
balsamic vinaigrette dressing
your choice bread (I use the sandwich buns from Costco)
mixed greens (a handful for sandwiches, or enough to make a salad)

Toast bread and top with all ingredients. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and enjoy!

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, about 2 pounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon finely minced jalapeno pepper
2-3 cups chicken stock

Directions:

1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Peel the squash and cut into 1 inch pieces. Or for faster prep, you can buy the butternut squash pre-peeled and cut. 

2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. 

3. Add the carrot, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, and then add squash, jalapeno pepper, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender (check the carrots to determine readiness).

4. Remove from the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Adjust the seasonings. 

This delicious recipe was shared with me by Ali Stitt.  I absolutely loved the kick and the preparation time was much lower than the roasted butternut squash recipe I had made before. This recipe originally came from Emeril Lagasse and was posted on the Food Network.  I substituted olive oil for peanut oil, and took out the heavy cream the original recipe calls for.  Depending on the size of your butternut squash, you may need to slightly adjust the amount of chicken stock.  This recipe makes a thick soup, just the way I like it!  I definitely used the already-prepped butternut squash from Costco which was 2 lbs. of cut squash (as opposed to the entire squash weighing 2 pounds), so I added about a half cup chicken broth.  I also increased the cooking time a bit, because in order to get the smooth texture, you have to be sure that the carrots are nice and tender.  As for spice factor, it's kid friendly at our house and really just adds a little kick.  You could easily add more if you like things on the spicier side. This soup is surprisingly filling and obviously very healthy.  Highly recommend it and am already excited to make it again!