Tag Archives: paleo diet

Butternut Squash Lasagna with Tomato Basil Chicken Sausage

Lyz sent me this recipe to try and I finally got around to it. It a great recipe for spring!

I was a little nervous about the butternut squash noodles as I’m not usually good at cutting squash but it was actually not as hard as I thought it would be.

What you need:

1 small butternut squash

1/2 onion

3 cloves of garlic

15 oz pizza sauce (or tomato sauce, your preference)

3 cups of spinach

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

package of tomato basil chicken sausage

fresh basil

1/2 cup shredded cheese

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400F

Remove sausage from casing and brown. Add onions and garlic when sausage is about half way done.

Meanwhile, cut the ends off of the squash. Peel skin. Cut squash in half width wise and de-seed. Then cut each piece length wise. Cut into “noodle” planks.

Chop peppers with a handful of fresh basil and add to pizza sauce.

Put a layer of sauce at the bottom of a 8×13 glass pan.

Add a layer of squash, chicken sausage, 1/2 spinach and sauce.

Add a layer of squash, chicken sausage, 1/2 spinach and another layer of squash.

Add the remaining sauce over the lasagna and sprinkle with cheese if you desire. I used 2 handfuls of quattro formaggio cheese.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Let me know what you think. 🙂

St Patrick’s Day Shake (healthy shamrock shake)

There is a recipe floating around facebook from the detoxinista for a healthy version of the shamrock shake. Dr. Scott printed the recipe for patients to take home and told me it tastes just like a mint chocolate chip shake. Did you know there are over 54 ingredients in a Shamrock Shake? That’s nuts! This version is “paleo” and vegan too so if you’ve been missing your shakes because your allergic to dairy or trying to eat better here is a great alternative that doesn’t feel like an alternative. I tried it on Thursday with my mom and oh my goodness was it delicious!

Give this a try and tell me what you think!

What you need: (this makes 3 small shakes)

2 cup almond milk

1/2 avocado, pitted

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

2 drops of peppermint essential oil (from here of course) or you can use peppermint extract for a more pepperminty experience add an extra drop or two this is more of a subtle background mint flavor

10-12 soft Medjool dates, pitted

2 handfuls of ice

What you do:

Put all the above ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until everything is smooth and creamy. If you want sweeter add more dates. Enjoy immediately.

Thanks Detoxinista! (p.s. she has a bunch of other yummy recipes too!)

Homemade Lara Bars

My husband was out of town last week so my daughter and I enjoyed leftovers while he was away. I recently made homemade Lara bars that were a great success. I don’t have any pictures to show because they were eaten that quickly. So here is a picture of a happy belly post double chocolate bar instead.

Double Chocolate Almond Bars

what you need:

1 cup de-pitted dates (about 10)

1 cup almond meal (or whole almonds)

1 tablespoon cocoa

1/4 cup chocolate chips (we used minis)

what you do

If using whole nuts using a food processor or Ninja blender (that’s what I used) blend well. Add dates and blend again. Look for a sticky consistency. If you don’t have good clumps add a few more dates. Then add cocoa and chocolate chips. Press into wax papered cookie sheet and put in fridge or freezer for 15 minutes to set.

Walnut Cherry Bars

what you need

1 cup walnuts

1 cup dates

1/4 cup freeze dried cherries

Same directions as above.

Let me know what you think! 🙂

p.s I was inspired to try the recipe with dried figs instead of dates and it was a fail, a delicious fail but a fail anyway. I think a combo of fig and date would have worked better.

p.p.s We are giving a few of these recipes a try for inspiration this week. (got to love facebook) I’ll let you know how it goes. Of course I’m most excited about the chocolate chip cookie bites!

Italian Baked Chicken with Green Lentil Mash

I was going to try out a new recipe that ended up pretty much nothing like how it started out. This was super easy, delicious and if you are trying to avoid carbs it was also super filling and didn’t feel like being deprived of anything.

What you need:

Chicken breasts

Red pepper

Italian dressing

Olive oil

Himalayan pink salt

Black pepper

Favorite seasonings or chicken stock (which ever you have available)

1 cup green lentils

8 cloves of garlic

5 baby zucchini

1 carrot

1 orange pepper

onion, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F Place chicken breasts in lightly greased (with olive oil) baking dish and soak in Italian dressing.

Bake for 40 minute or until cooked

Place chopped onion in sauce pan and cook until tender add the rest of veggies and garlic cloves, salt and spices and cook until veggies soften add water and spices or chicken stock and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover until all water has been cooked out stirring occasionally if you light.

Transfer veggie and lentils to a blender and blend until smooth.

Steam broccoli as a side and enjoy!