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Slow Cooker Ginger Apple Cranberry Sauce
Disclosure: Post sponsored by Crock-Pot® brand slow cooker & Mirum Shopper, but all opinions are my own. Please see below for additional disclosure.
I always feel very divided when planning the Thanksgiving menu. Mostly I want a classic, traditional menu (obviously with some changes made to accommodate my diet and the diet of any of my guests, if I am hosting) but every year I like to mix it up a little with at least one dish, bringing in unexpected flavors or a new method of preparation. As part of my continued partnership with Crock-Pot® brand slow cooker, and in conceptualizing a holiday recipe using it, I knew it was the perfect tool for creating the best cranberry sauce this holiday season has ever seen. This here cranberry sauce was born to be the star of the show, rather than the unloved side that so many know it to be.
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Paleo Sausage and Herb Bread Stuffing (Low Carb, Nut-free)
I asked over on Snapchat a while back, what holiday recipes people wanted help with. There was an abundance of requests for stuffing recipes for Thanksgiving. Particularly grain-free stuffing recipes.
I have several other stuffing recipes here in the archives if you are looking for other renditions:
Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple and Leek Bread Stuffing with Collard Greens
Gluten-free Mushroom Stuffing
Single Serve Gluten-Free Classic Sausage and Bread Stuffing
This particular recipe is a holiday classic, the perfect stuffing – moist in the middle and crisp on the top. For me, this is exactly the stuffing I grew up eating, but rather than white bread so many of us can’t have or even the overly process gluten-free stuff, this is made with a super quick, homemade (nut-free) grain-free bread, that you can throw together ahead of time.
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Roasted Turkey Breast Roulade with Grain-free Herbed Sausage Stuffing
I think what I love so much about the holidays, is that it’s a time for us to come together. To sit amongst the people we love, to share nourishing food, to (hopefully) put our differences aside, to express our gratitude and simply just be with one another. I think we can all agree that this is all so very much needed this year.
I love that with every person I speak to, their version of holiday traditions and gatherings vary so vastly. From restaurant meals and take-out to large feasts of over 50 people. The common thread: gratitude, love and of course, food!
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Roasted Garlic Parsnip Cauliflower Mash
In an effort to lighten things up, I have definitely made mashed cauliflower as a swap for mashed potatoes in the past. Listen, I am not going to lie to you guys, mashed cauliflower it’s not “faux mashed potatoes”. Mashed cauliflower is mashed cauliflower. It’s really freakin’ good, but it’s also fairly flat. It lacks the starchiness of mashed potatoes, it lacks the heft! It doesn’t hold up to a thick, luscious gravy.
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Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad
Today is an exciting day! Well yes, it’s election day. Which is obviously HUGE, I hope for my American readers that you’ve already gone out and voted. But, it’s also book release day for my friend Alexis of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen. Her debut book Lexi’s Clean Kitchen hits stands today and this is an absolute must for your kitchens. Featuring over 150 delicious paleo-friendly recipes to nourish your life, this cookbook brings the focus to achieving health and happiness through the simple concept of eating clean. With a collection of fresh, creative yet practical and approachable recipes, Lexi makes eating at home, easy, tasty and fuss-free.
For those of us with gut issues, Lexi has a similar path to her healthy lifestyle, so her story brings feelings of familiarity and with that that instant connection. Lexi’s Clean Kitchen delivers an abundance of healthy meals packed with amazing flavor, like Thai Meatballs, Classic Chili, One-Pan Arroz con Pollo, Maple-Glazed Salmon, and Sriracha Lime Chopped Chicken Salad, with healthier options of your favorite indulgent foods, like French Toast Sticks, Perfect Waffles, Birthday Cake, Easy Sandwich Bread, and more!
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Miso Roasted Brussels Sprouts
As we head into the holidays, the focus obviously shifts to any and all dishes for entertaining. Side dishes and treats, mains and snacks. ‘Tis the season of all the eating! The Miso Roasted Brussels Sprouts are begging to be the star at your Thanksgiving or Christmas meal! Trust me, this is a veggie that can steal the show!
I enjoy creating the sweets and treats recipes, because let’s be real, the joy that healthy treats can bring is palpable. I’d like to wrap that feeling up with a pretty bow and give it as a gift. That said, when it comes to the holidays, my heart will forever remain with sides and veggies. I love a good, plant-based side dish. So much room for creativity in the vegetables. The mains are usually pretty traditional, those are generally on lock down. I just truly enjoy the challenge of creating exciting enough veggie dishes that will please the masses and especially those that won’t be the forgotten soldier at a table full of meaty mains and their carb-loaded friends. I literally have made it my mission when I feed people to make the vegetable(s) the first thing to disappear from the plate, rather than the last. This dish 100% is successful at doing exactly that.
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Grain-free Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Tart {Paleo, Vegan}
Clearly, as evidence by my recent posts, we are coming up on the season of sweets and treats. With all the upcoming holidays, I think less is more when it comes to this encore course. I find most desserts to be far too heavy, too sweet and generally just too indulgent for my tastes. As with most everything in life, I truly believe that a little goes a long way.
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Dark Chocolate Nut Butter Cups
With Halloween approaching and the rest of the holidays not far behind, sweets and treats are going to be just about everywhere, tempting us at every turn. While I don’t see anything wrong with the occasional indulgence, I still also maintain my concerns about the quality of ingredients in most treats. From loads of refined sugar to, often times if store-bought, a lengthy list of fillers, thickeners, “natural flavors”, soy products and who knows what else. There’s just no reason for it, especially when you can make your own.
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Hemp Heart Peppermint Chocolate Fudge
Christmas cookies seem to get all the love this time of year, but I personally think that fudge is the often forgotten sweet. I have a feeling Santa would be extra good to any house that left out for him this delicious, rich and creamy peppermint fudge.
Traditional fudge can include tons of dairy and sugar, oftentimes even corn syrup. While I don’t think the holidays should be all about going without or depriving yourself, I also firmly believe if you have to be mindful of your health and your ongoing path towards healing, indulging a bit too may leave you sorry, come January 2nd. Besides all the less than stellar ingredients, most traditional fudge also requires heating and many tedious steps, including keeping the chocolate at specific temperatures and all that complicated stuff. This simple fudge recipe requires a food processor or high speed blender and that’s it. No heat.
The best part about crafting and reimagining classic recipes, is that I can indulge in the classic flavors I love, while also bringing an extra nourishing element to them. A little sneaky sweet, if you will. This fudge is exactly that. Rather than dairy and corn syrup, this fudge relies on a creamy, rich Hemp Heart butter to bring the decadence. With all that rich decadence, the Hemp Hearts also bring a surprisingly large serving of plant based protein, you get an ample sized and properly balanced serving of Omega 3 + 6 essential fatty acids. Per a 30 gram serving of Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts, (approx. 2 heaping tablespoons) you get 10 grams of protein and 10 grams of Omega 3+6s.
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10 Homemade Holiday Gifts
10 Homemade Holiday Gifts
With the holiday closing in on us, I am sure many of you are doing the last minute gift scramble so prevalent in these final days before Christmas. Rather than throwing money at the wall and going with whatever it sticks to, instead of just grabbing another gift card from the big box stores, why not get creative and craft up some beautiful, thoughtful homemade gifts this year?
Drop the cottonball snowmen, leave the popsicle sticks in the popsicles and leave the salt dough for the kids. Finally put away, I repeat, put away the glitter. Spread the holiday cheer with some of my favorite sweet (but sometimes savory) and simple handmade holiday gifts.
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How-to Make Essential Oil Holiday Room Sprays
The various aromas of the holidays and the feelings they evoke are certainly synonymous with this time of year. The rustic evergreen of a fresh cut christmas tree; spicy, warming cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; bright, citrusy orange or the fresh, minty smell of candy canes – these can all bring the good feelings of seasonal cheer, the reminder or family and love and the promise of a season full of joy and happy memories.
As someone very triggered and often driven by scent, I am also someone who is very sensitive to scent. I always have been. Would that make me scentsitive? heh. I find the fake, synthetic aromas to cut through the air, not in a good way, and often times they provide an instant headache. They linger and simply mask any existing odors, they can overpower a room and even more alarming, they are often loaded with so many chemicals. The more I clean up my life and the more I cut out, the more I am aware of and sensitive to where all nasty stuff is hiding. That connection of your brain to your body and that innate knowing of what to avoid, certainly becomes more heightened. The more connected and in-tune I become the more I seek for natural, clean alternatives.
These holiday inspired all-natural scents will not only provide a welcoming and cozy, seasonal setting perfect for holiday gatherings, but you’ll also be reaping the many therapeutic benefits of the essential oils, too. Purifying the air, warming your soul and uplifting your spirit, these room sprays are inexpensive to make, you can customize your scents and your blends to make your own personalized aroma and of course, they make an amazing gift.
This formula and the various blends fill a 4oz bottle, but feel free to double or triple your recipe. As always, I provide you with printable labels to customize your gifts. I left the area where the oils are listed, blank, so you can make your own custom blends.
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Spice-Infused Winter Sangria
Removing my trip to Mexico last week and that day I had too many margaritas at lunch, this lady does very little drinking these days. My body just doesn’t love it. I enjoy a glass of wine now and again, don’t get me wrong. That being said, 1) I am all about balance and enjoy the holidays and 2) it just wouldn’t be the holidays without a signature cocktail for Tasty Yummies.
One of my all-time favorite winter and holiday indulgences is a steamy hot mug of mulled wine. However, living in California, a toasty mug of booze isn’t always what the weather gods have in mind, so I decided to get crafty and combine my summertime favorite, sangria, with the wintery, holiday flavors of mulled wine.
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20 Healthy Holiday Recipes to Keep You On Track This Season
It’s certainly very easy to go a little too hard and overindulge a bit during the holidays. We’ve all been there. You may feel the guilt of not following your usual, more conscious way of eating, but usually more-so you end up feeling the actual physical pain of loosening up a little and not being mindful of the type of food you are consuming.
I am a big fan of balance, having your fun and letting go, but not at the cost of your health, or the healing you work so hard to maintain the rest of the year. I think with the holidays coming but once a year, it’s important to be kind to yourself, honoring your health and your hard work, while also acknowledging that depriving yourself isn’t the real answer. While it can be easy to use this time of year as an excuse to overindulge, it is also very important to cultivate and hone that same balance you honor throughout the rest of the year. To pick your battles wisely, yet to still allow yourself to indulge a little in your favorites. Rather than spending the first few weeks of the new year detoxing, cleansing and working to reverse any damage caused by going too far during the holidays, I find it helps to simply reach for healthier versions of your favorites, whenever possible. Less sugar, less refined, processed foods and instead more nourishing, whole foods.
I compiled a list of some of my favorite holiday-inspired and seasonal recipes sure to keep you on-track and in-balance this holiday season.
20 Healthy Holiday Recipes to Keep You On Track This Season
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Real Food Halloween Treats
The last remnants of summer have all but disappeared, the sun is setting early, leaves are changing colors and the smell of fall is definitely in the air. Or maybe it’s the cloud of the pumpkin-spiced-everything obsession always wafting just above us. Either way, this is one of my favorite times of year. Jack O’Lantern carving, houses all throughout the neighborhood are decked out in their spooky accoutrements, and the very visceral excitement from all the kids for this year’s costume can be felt no matter where you go. Though it’s been quite sometime since I’ve thrown on a mask and taken to the streets for some good old fashioned trick or treating, I do still find myself wanting to indulge in the treats. I am only human, after all.
I am not so extreme or excessive in my approach to eating and food to that I think that Halloween should be celebrated with raw veggies and dollar store toys, rather I try to encourage the idea of homemade, real food options wherever possible. So, I thought a list of some of my favorite Real Food Halloween Treats would be a great idea and it might inspire you to try a few homemade options this year, rather than the creepy, scary packaged stuff, loaded with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and artificial colors and flavors! Also, I am really showing my cards here and you’ll clearly spot my obsession with chocolate.
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Red White and Blue Berry Chia Parfaits
I am a big fan of holidays, especially the ones where themed foods are encouraged. I can always get down with a reason to create a celebratory treat! Here’s the thing though, holiday or not, I cannot turn off on my strong feelings around seeking healthy options, first.
I am definitely all about indulging every now and again, but I am a firm believer in our healthy choices fueling ongoing healthy habits and a ever present healthy lifestyle, all the rest of the days throughout the year when it isn’t a holiday. This means when it’s time to have fun and let loose, I still inherently find myself seeking an option that won’t make me feel terrible after I eat it or undo all the good I do the rest of the time. For me, it’s all about picking my battles and when possible selecting the right foods, the ones that have the power to heal and nourish my body, while still being fun and kitchy. When there is an option for something delicious, but still good for me, that will always be my first choice. #sorrynotsorry
I’ll just say it, I am slightly creeped out by artificially colored foods. There is something so unnatural about all these patriotic-themed treats I see floating around, loaded with chemicals and dyes, it just doesn’t feel very festive to me.
Mother Nature provides us with so many beautiful, vibrant hues, why not take advantage and celebrate with those instead. The bonus: richly colored plant foods are loaded with phytochemicals. These substances occur naturally only in plants and may provide health benefits beyond those that essential nutrients provide. Consider these phytochemicals, bright little disease fighters! Not only can we not say that about artificial dyes, but I would be we could say the opposite, in fact.
According to information from the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), phytochemicals may act as antioxidants, protect and regenerate essential nutrients, and/or work to deactivate cancer-causing substances. And while research has not yet determined exactly how these substances work together or which combination offers specific benefits, including a rainbow of colored foods in a diet plan ensures a variety of those nutrients and phytochemicals.[1]
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Grain-Free Dark Chocolate Dipped Almond Cranberry Biscotti with Sea Salt
With my lack of interest in sweets this year, I came to the realization that if I just started making sweet recipes to post here on the blog, I would eat them, simply because they were here. This is my number one rule for being mindful of how I eat and not making bad decisions. If you don’t have it in the house, you can’t and won’t eat it. Even with not being much of a dessert or baked goods person, my hatred of wasting food would definitely beat out my disinterest in any sweets. So, I have opted to just not make many sweet things this holiday season. Problem solved.
Though this time of year tempting sweets sseem to be around every corner, it doesn’t mean we have to overindulge. It is totally possible to enjoy a little something sweet without the massive guilt that usually immediately follows. I don’t love the idea of taking care of yourself all year round and then going hog-wild at the holidays. For me, a little indulging here and there is good, but there is no logical reason to consume several pounds of sugar over a two week period, just because of the time of year and because that’s “what we do”.
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How-to Make Chocolate Bark
Homemade holiday gifts are one of my very favorite things. I love thoughtful, personalized gifts that are truly made with love! Homemade chocolate bark is probably one of my most favorite edible homemade gifts to make. Whether it’s a gift for a hostess of a holiday party or your dish to share, homemade chocolate bark is super simple to make and you can customize it to no end.
The possibilities for flavors and toppings is endless and you can really create something super special for whoever will receive it. It is super easy to make your chocolate bark allergen friendly, too. Easy to make gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, soy-free and so on. You can add dried fruit, nuts, seeds, your favorite cookies or candy, dried botanicals, spices or herbs. Some of my personal favorite flavor combos include sea salt or smoked sea salt. I also love a sprinkle of cinnamon, chili powder or cayenne to bring a little heat. Gluten-free pretzels or mini peanut butter cups are both amazing and fun toppings. The list could go on and on.
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99 More Gluten-free Thanksgiving Recipes
After the popularity of last year’s 99 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes post and hearing from so many of you how much it helped to have a long list of recipes to choose from for your holiday feasts, I knew I had to follow it up with another post this year. So without further ado, here are 99 MORE gluten-free thanksgiving recipes!
99 MORE Gluten-free Thanksgiving Recipes
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Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten-Free and Vegan)
Can you even believe that Christmas is less than one week away already? Where did the time go? Are you all ready?
I had to get in one last special cookie recipe for the season!! For as much as I enjoy traditional holiday cookies, I also get so excited about creating fun new flavor combinations. These cookies make me both happy, because of how great they taste, and bummed, because I haven’t been pairing pomegranates with chocolate up until now. What an amazing combo! You have to try it.
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Holiday Gift Guide: D.I.Y. Gifts
Hey all!! This is the final week in my 5-part Holiday Gift Guide series. I hope you have been enjoying all of the goodies I have been sharing with you! This week it’s all about DIY, handmade gifts! Just a small selection of some of my favorite how-tos and recipes for you to create a beautiful, thoughtful gift! I hope you enjoy. To see the other gift guides from this series head over here.
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Grain-free Spiced Molasses Cookies – Gluten-free & Dairy-free
It has been a very busy few weeks for us, we have had shows every weekend, we have been trying to get our Christmas shopping done as early as possible since we have to ship ALL of our gifts this year. On top of all of this I have had a lot of work to do and I just can’t seem to get it all done. It’s been madness. I am looking forward to Christmas eve when I think all of this craziness will be over and I can truly just enjoy the holidays. My favorite time of year.
We had a bunch of friends over last night for a little Christmas cocktail party thing. Nothing fancy, just some mulled wine, spiked egg nog, a hot cocoa bar and lots of snacks and treats! Sooo much food, as always! Mark ran to the store and bought a big tray of various gluten-filled Christmas cookies for everyone else, but I wanted to make a fun holiday-inspired cookie that both me and my friend Debbie (who is new to eating gluten-free) could enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »
