Once you make this, I promise you, you will never buy a Starbucks Frappacino again. It is THAT good!

Yes, I know it is March and many of you are tired of all the chilly negative temperatures and all that white “stuff” that keeps accumulating outside your window. I must admit, it has been over 10 years since I really had to deal with all that white “stuff.” Having that said, since I consider myself a Texan, I try not to complain about the Texas weather, but I must admit it has been a much colder “winter” (and I use that term loosely) for us too.

So why am I bringing up the weather?  Whether it is 38 degrees (or below) out your window or not, my husband and I still find ourselves making this breakfast smoothie or midafternoon pick-me -up drink day after day because it is THAT damn good. Period. Seriously the only sugar found in this smoothie comes from the banana! Did you know a grande Starbucks Mocha Frappacino has 48 grams of sugar in it? Say what?! That is almost the same amount of sugar found in a glazed Krispy Kreme Donut (52 grams actually).  Worse yet, that coffee will run you almost $5 a cup. Not only can you make my recipe for less than $1.25, you also won’t die from a sugar comatose either. Another reason I love this recipe is it gives you something to do with that extra leftover coffee brewed from the morning. Surprisingly, the last reason is the most exciting for me, because I  am really trying to find more ways to be self-sustaining and finding new ways to use “scraps.”

[Enter aside: Besides leftover coffee, I am currently so into making my own broth right now, which I will leave for another post, but I love throwing bones in the crock pot after I ripped off all the meat (think those rotisserie chicken you buy last minute for dinner at your local grocery store) with water, some vegetables and cooking it for 24 hours and viola you have a super nutritious dense food. Once you have the homemade bone broth, you can drink a mug of it daily or freeze it in ice cubes and plop a few in when a recipe calls for it. Again, I will save all the benefits of bone broth making for another post but wanted to share.]

Back to the smoothie recipe, I am not here to tell you coffee is “healthy,” especially for those that drink a gallon of it a day or those who add a lot of “stuff” to their coffee to make it taste better. My job is to offer you a new way to have coffee and treat yourself at the same time. Like a lot of my recipes, I threw things in a blender to see how it would turn out and BAM the end result was amazing! We love it. Do you?

Paleo Guilt-free Starbuck Frappacino

 

Print

Prep time

2 mins

Total time

2 mins

 

Once you make this smoothie you will NEVER waste $5 again on a processed cup of coffee at Starbucks again. My version of this "frappacino" will satisfy the same sweet craving without all of the guilt.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Smoothie

Cuisine: American

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 1 and ½ cup of cold brewed (or leftover coffee from the day prior that was refrigerated overnight)
• ¼ cup of almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 tablespoon of almond butter
• 1 teaspoon of 100% cocoa powder
• Handful of ice
• ½ teaspoon of maple syrup (optional)

Instructions

1. Blend! So easy!
2. Devour!

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Who is running to the freezer to throw in some ripe bananas in there for tomorrow’s Paleo Frappacino?

Must I say more? If this 16 month old loved my Paleo Crock Pot Chicken “Tortilla” Soup, why not you? Kid tested, mother approved

So just recently my boss sent me a note to tell me that he noticed I was not my chipper self, that I needed to “slow down” and that he was worried about me.  Immediately, I went into flight or fight mode and started thinking, “OMG do I look like I am dragging my feet? Am I complaining too much?” The list goes on.  Then, I immediately had to STOP myself.  I had to tell myself, Laura, you are human. You are not perfect. Work is stressful. It is busier than ever. And it is ok to admit you cannot keep up. I need to learn how to accept help when it comes and prioritize my life. Easier said than done, I know, but here I am.

So two things I am working on this week:

Work/ life balance: The sun will rise again the following day and the work will always be there. I need to remember that the Army does “this” to people. And by this “this,” I mean it constantly demands more and more from you and when you finally retire it will spit you out and move on to the next Soldier. It’s sad, but true. I need to remember although my job is commendable, it is not everything. What is important is that I leave work at work and when I come home I am the best wife and mom possible I can be…for that day. Whatever rank I end up with is just that. It will be just three letters (all ranks are abbreviated like MAJ is for Major or LTC is for Lieutenant Colonel). Staying married and being a GOOD mom is far more important to me and I will never do anything to risk that. So what does “this” look like? I am learning to say “no” more and with that comes learning to be ok with that.

Making lists, prioritizing and then letting it go: I have a lot of stuff on my to do lists. There are things on there like write a thank you note to my sister for the boys’ Christmas gifts. And yes it’s March. Sorry Mary, I will get to it soon; I promise. But before that, I must also learn to write things on my list so I do not lose track of them, but then I must “forget it” and not let it torment me. Prioritize what needs to get down and do it, and then save the rest for another day. Again, easier said than done. So what am I tackling this week? Right now besides being a better mom and wife, I prioritized the blog (which has been on the back burner for a few months due to work, see comment 1) and work on something for ME like updating my kitchen. Hello, have you seen those orange marble counters in the backgrounds of all my pictures on social media? I know first world problems, but I am in that kitchen everyday and I want to make that space more usable for my planning. Planning a mini-reno is hard as I search for good deals, but I am positive now, as I make it a priority, IT WILL GET DONE!

So as promised here is 1 of 2 recipes I am posting this week. This Paleo Crock Pot Chicken “Tortilla” Soup was something I threw in the crock pot with what I had in the refrigerator and crossed my fingers it would turn out delicious.  Like a lot of my recipes, it is low maintenance. You don’t need outlandish and obscure spices, it takes less than 10 minutes to prep and it is healthy. Win, win, win! Another thing is you can add other ingredients to the recipe based on your diet. If you eat cheese, you can garnish it with cheese or tortillas. The skies the limit.

Let me know what you think about the recipe and, of course, feel free to weigh in on what you do to prioritize your life. Clearly, I need all the help I can get.

Paleo Crock Pot Chicken "Tortilla Soup"

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

6 hours

Total time

6 hours 10 mins

 

This soup will warm you up and make you scream "ole!" It is THAT good and easy to make!

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Crock Pot

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, cleaned
• 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 8 celery sticks, ends cut off
• 4 large tomatoes
• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 4 tablespoons of bouillon
• 6 cups of water
• To garnish: fresh avocado, limes, chili powder, crushed plantain chips, cheese (if you are primal)

Instructions

1. Place your chicken breast side down
2. Prepare and chop all your veggies and place around your chicken
3. Sprinkle your bouillon seasoning on top of the chicken
4. Add water. You need enough water that covers most vegetables but not all. There will be plenty of juices that will come out from your chicken to add flavor to the broth.
5. Cook on low for 6 hours or high on 4 hours.
6. When the cooking time is done, take out your chicken and "shred" your chicken and set aside.
7. Take out your vegetables with a slotted spoon and add to your blender. You can also use an immersion blender. Strain the chicken broth and add it as well to your blender with your vegetables. You may have to do this in two batches since you will have a lot more broth than vegetables.
8. Hit blend!
9. Serve your soup in a bowl and top with the chicken you set aside. I also garnish the soup with avocado slices and sprinkle with chili powder. Of course it is not "Tortilla" soup without something crunchy. I like to add plantain chips and fresh squeeze lime juice.
10. OPTIONAL: The best part of this recipe is you can keep your bones from the chicken and thrown it back in the crock pot and add more water, 2 tables spoons of apple cider vinegar and more vegetables and cook on low for 24 hours to make another batch of homemade bone broth. Yum!

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Who is ready to warm up with this delicious vegetable soup?

Love the bold colors of my Paleo Sauteed Kale, Bacon and Butternut Squash

Life. When did life get so busy? I swear our parents were never THAT busy when we were growing up, right?

Ha.

I say that because I have a back log of recipes I want to post and share with you all to include my two eBooks, Plan-ahead Paleo and Whole Baby Food. Maybe they will get done when there are 25+ hours in the day?

I digress. But more along with the previous point, I always tell people you are not going to find a lot of treats on my blog.

Why?

Because treats are not practical. Yes I said it. I don’t know about you, but I barely find the time (or energy) to get dinner on the table most nights nonetheless find the time to bake. Also, I know when I bake something, I EAT IT ALL! 

I am declaring to you all, now more than ever, that I am focusing all future recipes on the blog to be super easy recipes. I can’t wait share a lot of my NEW go-to recipes where you can make large quantities ahead  of time. Planning ahead will help  prevent you from going through the drive thru or going out to eat during the busy work week. By sharing my meal prep ideas and recipes, I can help encourage you to find the time to cook during the week. 

Ok let’s talk about this super versatile recipe which I am currently obsessed with. Actually, obsessed is an understatement. Perhaps stalkerish; but can you stalk food? Maybe, just maybe. Either way, this recipe actually was inspired by my good friend, Kelsey, who came to my house and brought me a home cooked meal after my youngest son, Dylan, was born. Yes, that was 11 months ago and it has taken me that long to post the recipe and publicly thank her for her sweet gesture. No judgement, please! BUT THANK YOU KELSEY! You are the best and are so thoughtful! Better late than never, right? As much as I love gifts like the rest of us, it was not until after having three kids that the kindness of this gesture really dawned on me. I now believe home cooked meals far outweigh the latest “it” toy or the cutest outfit.  Who is with me on that? But again as stated above, our time is precious and any gesture is certainly appreciated.

Back to this recipe. The best thing about  this recipe is you can make it with whatever ingredients you like or have on hand.  It can also be served as a side dish, add another protein to it for the main dish, and my personal fave, use the leftovers for breakfast and use it as a hash.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Paleo Sauteed Kale, Bacon and Butternut Squash

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

You are going to love how versatile this recipe is. You can make it with whatever ingredients you like or have on hand. It can also be served as a side dish, add another protein to it and serve it as the main dish, and my personal fave, use the leftovers for breakfast and use it as a hash.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Side, Salad

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 bag of fresh kale (16 oz)
• 3-4 pieces of bacon
• juice of 2 limes
• ½ of roasted butternut squash (about 1lb)
• ⅛ teaspoon of all spice
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven till 400 degrees.
2. First and foremost, you must decide what starch you want to use for your recipe. I usually prefer a sweeter starch to give this dish a great sweet and salty, yet savory combination. We typically prefer to make this dish with sweet potato or plantains because not only is it sweet, but we always have those laying around on the kitchen counter. Other options are acorn and butternut squash too! Don't you just love how versatile this recipe is? The possibilities are endless.
3. If you are using sweet potato or the other squashes, you have two options depending how much time you have. If you have ample time or have something already cooking in the oven, then the preferred way I like to cook the starch is to roast them. For the squashes (acorn or butternut), you just have to cut them in half, deseed them, brush a lit avocado oil on the flesh and face them flesh down on a lined cookie sheet. Depending how big the squashes are you need to roast them for about 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees. You basically want them cooked through and soft enough to easily cube them, but not too soft where they are “mush.” For the sweet potato, all you have to do is poke holes in the skin with a fork all over and place on a cookie sheet still intact for about 20-30 minutes, again making sure it is cooked through and soft but not too soft.
4. If time is of the essence, then take that sweet potato and after you poke holes in it wrap a damp paper towel around it and throw it in the microwave. Cook for 5-6 minutes depending how big it is. Halfway through the cooking process, you will want to turn it to cook evenly. If you want to use the other starches, you will have to prepare it the same as you would if you roasted it (cut in half and deseed), but this time place them in a microwave safe container with an inch of water and cook for about 15 minutes in the microwave. I would recommend if you do not have much time then use a sweet potato.
5. If you want to use plantains, I prefer to use the more ripe variety. Usually you can find plantains at the grocery store close to where they sell bananas. The difference are they are bigger and greener than normal bananas. If there are no ripe plantains in the grocery store, buy the hard, green ones and wait a week plus until it ripens a bit more. The more brown the skin is the sweeter the plantains become. These are not like normal bananas and you can still eat them when the majority of the skin, if not all, are almost black entirely. Whatever hue you decide to cook the plantain, just peel and slice them in thin ½ inch pieces. Fry it in coconut oil before you fry the bacon. I also do not throw them back in the bacon fat like I suggest for the other starches because they have enough flavor. Set aside to cool.
6. Once your starch is almost done cooking, in a frying pan on medium heat sauté 3- 4 pieces of bacon turning them every few minutes to evenly cook the bacon. While the bacon is cooking you can cube your starch.
7. Once the bacon is cooked to your liking, remove the bacon and set aside.
8. Keeping the rendered bacon fat in the pan, add your roasted sweet potato (or other starch of choice except the plantain) to char it for a few minutes and get that great rustic flavor.
9. Remove the sweet potato chunks and set aside along with the bacon that is cooling.
10. You should still have enough bacon fat in the pan, if not add a tad more of a fat of your choice (more bacon fat if you had some saved or you can use lard, avocado oil, butter, etc.) Start adding your chopped kale a few handfuls at a time. Once your first batch starts wilting and you have more room in the pan, add a little more.
11. Somewhere in the middle of your kale, add your fresh squeezed lime juice, salt and all spice.
12. Add the remainder of kale constantly stirring until all your kale is slightly cooked (I like mine equivalent to those who prefer aldente pasta) so I cook mine for less than 5 minutes total. Take off heat.
13. Take your bacon that was cooling and roughly chop it. Add it to the top of your cooked kale along with the sweet potato (plantains or other starch of choice) and stir.
14. Serve it as a side for dinner and then the leftovers are great for your morning’s hash the following morning to fry an egg on top of it.

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So who is running out and making this dish tonight?!?!

SIX:02 Store Front in North Star Mall

Since starting this blog two years ago, I have often been asked why I did it. No matter how many times or who asks me, the reply is always the same. I do it, one, because it is a great way for me to archive all the recipes I cook on a day to day basis. Secondly, and now the most important reason, is I love sharing my secrets how I do things in hopes it can help others. Instead of keeping what works to myself, it makes me happy when my recipes or meal planning ideas or cooking tips help others. In the Army, we have this saying that says don’t waste time reinventing the wheel.

A few months back, I was selected to be a FitFluential Ambassador and through this program I had the opportunity to go to a SIX:02 store in San Antonio, TX and get a pair of the new Reebok Skyscape. I was also afforded the opportunity to try on some new athletic clothes. I honestly am a pair of mom jeans away from having a serious problem because I rarely have time to shop these days. Three kids, a fulltime job, a secondary job (blogging) and working out daily makes it very difficult to find the time to go to a store to shop for myself. That all changed last week and  boy was I surprised.

I learned so many things on my shopping trip:

1. SIX:02 can be found in several malls across the US.  SIX:02’s charter is to provide a store for women who take pride in making the time for themselves to  look and feel good! 

2. Within their stores, they sell several fitness brands (Reebok, Under Armor, Nike, Adidas, etc).

3. SIX:02 has well trained employers that can help you pick out workout clothes based on the type of fitness you do (say what?!?!?).

4. Their clothing is organized in the store by exercise activity and functionality. For example, their sports bras are in order from most support to least, which I absolutely loved because it was so intuitive. If a worker was busy helping someone else, I could figure it out myself, although I must admit I loved the one on one attention. At times, it felt like I had my own personal shopper.

5. Finally, my other favorite amenity of SIX:02 was some stores offer free exercise classes for customers and their employees which is so nice. I have attended several free yoga and body boot camp classes at a local Lululemon before the store opened up. I always thought that was so genius because after class what better thing to do than SHOP!!!

The name SIX:02 signifies a moment in time that is referred to “my time.” And I loved every minute of being the center of attention where workers listened to me, went out of their way to help me and most importantly make me feel and look good! Newsflash, I am a mom and I cannot remember the last time ONE of those has happened to me for longer than a minute.

As for the shoes, these Reebok Skyscape, are the BOMB! And no I am not saying that because I got a pair for FREE (which is awesome of course)! I love them because they are light, cute and so easy to clean. I first wore them with socks, but now I wear almost exclusively without socks. They have replaced my Toms. I walk in them and I even worked out in them on an Oly Weightlifting day at CrossFit too. In fact, they are so versatile, that I wore them earlier this morning to the splash pad with my kids after a family bike ride and they got wet and dried so quickly.

As you can see, I had a little fun in the SIX:02 store. The Reebok Skyscape gives the expression light on your feet a new meaning.

A new meaning to being light on my feet

While I was thinking about my review, it got me thinking about an old post I wrote. I wrote a post awhile back on the importance of enlisting friends to work out with you if you want to be successful. While I still believe that, I also thinking looking good and looking the part matters too. I know that sounds superficial but hear me out. Maybe it has a lot to do with me because I am in the Army and for the beginning of my Army career, I wore an Army Fitness uniform that consisted of a horrible unbreathable Army T shirt and the baggiest and unflattering shorts to workout in. I was scarred, just kidding but there is some truth to it. For the last few years I have worn “civilian” athletic clothes to work out and I love it! When I have a cute workout shirt or shorts, it motivates me to work out more, look better in it and I look forward to wearing my clothes more than just working out. SIX:02 reminded me of this and I know exercise clothes can be pricey, but personally the money you spend on clothes is much less than the money you will spend on health care related costs if you are not fit. Anyway, I know it sounds silly and I am in no way advocating for you to spend $100s on Lululemon clothing or Reebok shoes and gear, but I say whatever helps and motivates you to go workout GO DO IT! It’s a small price. At least, that is how I rationalize it. Buy the clothes BUT make sure you do your part and do the workouts. 

I was also able to try on some cute clothes and pick up some GREAT sports bras that were great for working out and for this still nursing mama.

Since I am still nursing I was looking for some sports bras that are supportive but cute! The girls helped me pick these out.

The best part of SIX:02 was the workers were super helpful and they were even motivated to plank with you. SIX:02 also offers a 20% military discount which is so nice! Thank you SIX:02 you rock and I will be back!

So what is the one thing you have been wanting to spend but have been holding out on? Was it a new pair of kicks? Cute shorts? A new sports bra?  Will it help you keep you on track and workout if you get it?

What is NOT to love about beautiful yellow egg yolk oozing on to a delicious Paleo Pork Sausage and Acorn Squash Hash?!?!

This week marked the first week of school here in Texas and although my boys have been going to a little Montessori school all summer, there is something different about the pressures of attending a “real” school. I can’t believe my oldest son, Jackson, is in Kindergarten. Here are a few pictures of my BIG guy on his first day. The following week my middle son, Julian, will start Pre-K and Dylan started a new Daycare too so lot’s of firsts days for us this month. Where does the time go?

So as you can see, now more than ever I need to have my $h!t together during the crazy mornings as we try to get everyone fed, lunches packed and out the door on time. Ben and I are BIG breakfast eaters. Skipping breakfast is a sin and as much as we love eggs, some mornings it is hard to find time to simply scramble an egg. As you know, I am a make ahead queen and my fave breakfast recipes that I usually make on a Sunday to get us through the week are my Veggie and Pork Sausage Egg Casserole, My Sweet Potato Hash, Roasted Butternut Squash Hash and Chorizo Stuffing Hash, and roasting leftover Brussels sprouts and bacon. Now, I have a new one to add to the mix.  I have been getting a lot of feedback on all my make ahead breakfast casseroles, quiches and hashes that I decided to throw another one in the mix that you can make ahead to get you through the busy work week so thank you for that!

Enjoy!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Paleo Pork Sausage Acorn Squash Hash

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Here is another time saving recipe that I love to make ahead to get me through the work week rush in the mornings. I usually double this recipe and make it on Sundays and it will last my hubby and I to Friday. All we have to do while we reheat the hash in the morning is fry and egg and viola restaurant quality breakfast is done in minutes!

Author: Our Full Plate

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 acorn squash (I like to pick more ripe ones to make the hash a little sweeter which means look for some orange on the peel of the green acorn squash)
• 1 yellow medium onion, diced
• 1lb of pork sausage
• avocado oil or fat of your choice
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh garlic (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut acorn squash in half, deseed, coat with avocado oil and place flesh down on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Cook in the oven for about 40 minutes until soft.
3. While the acorn is roasting, caramelize your diced yellow onion for 20 minutes on low heat constantly stirring to avoid burning.
4. Once the onions are soft and brown in color, add the 1lb of pork sausage and brown it in the same pan. Here is where I add the salt, pepper and fresh minced garlic cloves if you are using them, Set aside when done.
5. Once the acorn squash is cooked, scoop out and remove the acorn squash from their skins. If you are trying to scoop the acorn squash back into the skins, do it slow to avoid tearing. I only do this if I am serving it at a brunch otherwise i discard the skins.
6. Place the roasted acorn squash in a bowl and mash it with a big fork or a hand potato masher.
7. Once the roasted squash is mashed, add the the caramelized onions and pork sausage altogether and you are done.
8. All you have to do is fry up 2 eggs to your liking in whatever fat you like, I prefer bacon grease or lard. Then serve the eggs over the delicious hash, crack the egg, add a slice of avocado for an extra dose of omega 3.
9. After you eat your first first serving remember you can store the rest away in the fridge for another day when you are in a rush. All you have to do is scoop, reheat, fry an egg and EAT!

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Remember a little prep work goes along way. Don’t settle during the week. If you prepare and plan, you can still find the time to eat nutrient-dense foods. Prepare to plan or plan to fail.

Here is an example of how I usually double this recipe and make my Paleo Pork Sausage and Acorn Squash Hash stretch to last us all week

Hands down the most comforting food around. It may not look pretty, but my Paleo Shepherd’s Pie makes up for it in taste

91.

91 days since my last post.

Can you believe that?

So what is my excuse? Writer’s block? Work? Graduate School? Family? I could go on and on, but basically LIFE happened.

Since I returned back to work after taking 4 months off with my third son, Dylan, I feel like my life has flashed before my eyes. New promotion and new job meant new headaches at the workplace coupled with several stressful work trips sans the family.  The third kid certainly added to the mess, rearing duties and countless hours of sleep lost. On top of all of that, I also had to finish the last of my military graduate course which meant staying up late writing countless papers on boring military doctrine and history. After I completed my work obligations in May, I have done nothing but been L.A.Z.Y for the last two months.

I don’t know what has gotten over me, but after the kids go to bed I watch TV. Old Laura rarely watched TV. After the kids go to bed, I surf the internet and waste countless hours on social media or Pinterest and Houzz since I have dreams of updating my kitchen sometime this century. During this time “off,” we were also able to go on a 2 week long vacation and visit with family and friends on the East Coast. Instead of beating myself up, I am going to accept it. Maybe I needed this “me” time to veg and simply enjoy life.  But I will be honest, this Laura does not do well vegging. I do not do well just chilling. As much as I complain about it, I like to be busy. I like to take on new projects and I like challenges. So after some coaxing I hope to be back at it, and this time for good. Like the notorious Slim Shady asks, will the real Laura Cross please stand up?

So you all know and can help me accountable, my goals for this summer are to start my eBook and look into applying for a Masters. That should keep me busy along with all there is to do with raising three crazy boys, cooking and feeding a family of 5, cleaning up after said family of 5, working out at least 5 times a week, work, etc. I think I have my work cut out for me. What do you think? Can I do it? How do you do it all? What are your secrets to success?

But before I “get cooking”, I must thank you all for putting up with my MIA-ness (if that is even a word). Any words of wisdom to get back on that horse and STAY on the horse? Let me know. Well if I do follow through with my promise and find the “old Laura,” then I need a delicious meal that I can make to help fuel me for those long nights ahead.  I think that is a perfect segway to this delicious meal I want to share with you.

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie. What am I an old Irish chap? No just a crazy, Cuban, Latina woman who does not discriminate among any culture when it comes to food. I love it all. Trust me when I tell you the little prep work needed to make this dish is work it. So what is the difference between my Shepherd’s pie and the 1,000 other Shepherd’s Pie recipes found on the internet? For starters, I use ground beef instead of lamb. I also like mine a little sweeter than the rest (don’t worry I do not use sugar; my secret is cinnamon). Finally, I am not a fan of peas (I know, gasp) so I omit them altogether. Either way, I know you are going to love this recipe. Besides being tasty, what I love most about this recipe is it is super easy to make ahead and save for a rainy day. I love “casserole-like” meals because they save your ARS (yes, I meant @$$). Specifically, I love making this dish on a Sunday and after I assemble it all, I will save it in the fridge or freezer. When I am ready to make it for dinner later on, I just plop it in the oven and bake it for the last 35 minutes. How does that sound; dinner without messing up your kitchen during the middle of the busy work week? I am sold! So having that said, word to the wise, don’t skimp on this recipe. I know it makes enough to feed a mini Army like my family, but I love the leftovers and it never goes to waste. So make it as is; trust me, 3lbs is not a lot. 

After you make this dish and completely fall in love with it like everyone else, make my Cuban Shepherd’s Pie too. It is very similar with a Cuban twist. Yummo!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

I am a big fan of food that covers all your food groups in just 1 meal. My Paleo Shepherd's Pie is literally easy as pie. While it skips the traditional peas and white potatoes, you will never know it is missing. The richness of the creamy cauliflower and parsnip puree and the hint of sweetness in the meat will knock your socks off.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Paleo

Cuisine: American

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• Your Crust:
• 2 heads of fresh cauliflower, coarsely chopped or 2 (16oz) bags of frozen cauliflower
• 1lb (16 oz) of fresh parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
• ½ cup of almond milk (homemade or from the carton) or coconut milk (full fat from a can)
• 2 tablespoons of grass fed butter, ghee or olive oil
• Your Meat Mixture:
• 3-4 large fresh carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 3 stalks of celery, cleaned and finely diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 4-5 slices of bacon
• 3lbs of grassfed (if possible) ground beef
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 3-4 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons of sage
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• Kitchen Appliances:
• Steamer
• Food Processor or Blender

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Get your sous chef hat on, and get ready to clean, peel and chop all of your veggies. First, tackle the cauliflower and parsnips that you will be using for your crust. If you use frozen cauliflower, half of your work is done. If you are using fresh cauliflower, make sure to wash it and roughly chop your cauliflower head, cutting off the big green leaves and white stems. Then take your parsnip and peel it. Also, chop it up in big chunks. Try to aim for all your pieces to be about the same size. Set it all aside until you are ready to steam them, which takes 10 minutes.
3. Next, clean, peel and cut all the vegetables that you are planning on throwing in to the recipe. I would peel and dice your carrots, celery and onions small. Once complete, set aside along with your crust vegetables.
4. Saute in a pan, 4-5 pieces of bacon on medium heat. Once the bacon is cooked to your liking (I like mine crispy,) drain bacon and set aside leaving the bacon fat in the pan. This usually takes about 5 minutes to include flipping the bacon a few times.
5. When everything is chopped, throw your vegetables (carrots, celery and onions) in the the pan with the bacon drippings and saute them in the bacon fat rendered from the bacon. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the carrots are soft and the onions are translucent.
6. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the ground beef and stir breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Add all the cinnamon, tomato paste, salt, garlic powder, sage and worcestershire sauce to the meat. Cook and constantly stir until there is no more pink.
7. While you are waiting for the meat to brown and cook all the way through, you can steam your cauliflower and parsnips for the crust. I steam them for about 8-10 minutes until you can easily cut them with a fork.
8. Once everything is done cooking, take the meat mixture and dump it in a greased 9 x 12 Pyrex pan.
9. Take your cooked bacon, chop it up and sprinkle on top of the beef mixture.
10. Then in your mixer, throw in your now soft and steamed cauliflower and parsnip and blend it. Once smooth, add the almond milk and fat of your choice and blend again.
11. Once everything is creamy and blended, add the crust to the top of your meat in the Pyrex pan.
12. Cook for 35 minutes uncovered. You may need to keep it in longer. I like my crust to be a little burned on the top and "crusty."
13. Devour and don't forget to share.

3.2.1284

Here I doubled my Paleo Shepherd’s Pie, one to cook and one to freeze for a rainy day. Yes that is 6lbs of delicious grassfed beef

I heart my Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

Up close and personal with this delicious Paleo Shepherd’s Pie. I promise you will make this over and over again. It is THAT good!

So who else is adding this to their weekly meal plan?

Is this Bacon, Cherry Tomato, Basil and Egg Quiche with a Spaghetti Squash Crust not the prettiest breakfast quiche you have ever seen?

Ever since I turned Paleo, I became a breakfast person. Although constantly coined as the most important meal, Pre-Paleo I would without a doubt skip breakfast. No wonder, I was always on my a$$. Anyway, if I did eat breakfast it would be a quick bowl of cereal or oatmeal. Again, that explains the no energy or the sugar spikes I experienced throughout the majority of my adolescence. Now Post-Paelo, I love love love breakfast. That is an understatement. It really is now MY most important meal. I have grown to love eggs and bacon, or eggs and any protein for that matter, but I soon came confronted with an issue. I loved my eggs, but I knew that I did not have the time to make restaurant grade breakfasts in the middle of the work week. What is a girl to do?

I pride on my ability to meal prep. I will be honest I may not LOVE it (of course I would rather get a pedicure than cook), but I do it because it saves my sanity and it saves my wallet for sure.  I am a busy lady and I need to have enough energy to get through the day so when I plan ahead and make meals ahead of time, I find myself so happy. Every Sunday, I plan my meals for the week and then I choose one meal that will last us all week to make life easier.  While sometimes I make a big vegetable soup or a batch of my avocado chicken salad to get us through lunch, I almost always make breakfast for the whole week for my husband and I.  I have two egg casseroles (this and this) and two hash recipes (this and this) that I usually rotate between. I also have another acorn squash hash that we are loving right now that I will post later, so stay tuned for that.  As much as I love my yummy casseroles, I was getting bored and wanted to try something new.

Having that said, although I make these fancy casseroles for the week, I also serve them for brunches, which I absolutely love. When did brunches get to be so cool? In your thirties, right? No twenty-somethings host brunches, right? Ha! If they do it’s called “Kegs and Eggs.”  Who would have thought I would grow up to be the mimosa loving, fancy casserole or quiche kind of girl?!?!

I have made this quiche at my promotion party brunch and later on Easter and it was a hit so I knew I had to blog about it, share it and add it to my breakfast plan ahead rotation STAT.

Let me know what you think.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Paleo Bacon, Cherry Tomato, Basil and Egg Quiche a Spaghetti Squash Crust

 

Print

Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

1 hour 40 mins

Total time

2 hours 20 mins

 

This Paleo Bacon, Cherry tomato, Basil and Egg Quiche with a Spaghetti Squash crust will knock your socks off. Great to prepare on a Sunday for the week or bring to a brunch.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash, 2lbs, cut in half and deseeded
• 2 tablespoons of a fat of your choice (I used avocado oil which is great for high temperature cooking)
• 10 pieces of bacon (the more the merrier, right?)
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, chopped in ¼s
• ¼ cup of fresh basil
• 8 eggs, whisked
• ¾ cup of full fat coconut milk (from the can)
• BIG pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon
• 1 cup of frozen spinach (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Take your spaghetti squash and cut it in half. Try to cut it in half to allow both sections to evenly cook. Finally deseed it.
3. Place your choice of fat on the flesh of the spaghetti squash and place it flesh down on a lined cookie sheet.
4. Cook in the oven for almost an hour until you can see the crust/ skin turn a little brown and you can touch the skin and it indents.
5. Halfway during your roasting process, you can start assembling the rest of your quiche. Take your bacon first and cook it in a saute pan. I cook the bacon in two batches watching closely that they do not burn. When the first batch is done save your bacon fat that was rendered for a rainy day. We use bacon fat to fry up eggs, vegetables, basically anything. Saute the second batch and once it is done cooking, take the bacon out of the grease and save some of the bacon fat leaving enough (about a tablespoon) in the pan to saute your tomatoes. Chop all your bacon into little strips and set aside. Another option if you are doubling the recipe to cook in a Pyrex is to cook the bacon on a lined cookie sheet with a rack over it for 15 minutes. This way you can bake at least 10 pieces of bacon at a time.
6. Saute your tomatoes in the same pan where the bacon fat is in. This step is not necessary, but it gives the tomato a fire roasted/ charred flavor that adds another dimension to the quiche.
7. Whisk your 8 eggs together with the coconut milk and spices and also set aside until the spaghetti squash is done roasting.
8. Once the spaghetti squash is done roasting, take gloves or oven mits and scoop out the spaghetti squash into a pie plate. If you are in no rush then let your spaghetti squash cool first.
9. Take the spaghetti noodles and push and spread it along the entire pie pan like you would if it was a real pie crust.
10. Once the “pie crust” is evenly spread out, then add the egg and coconut milk mixture.
11. Wash and chop your basil and set aside.
12. Once the egg mixture is in the crust, go add the frozen spinach if you are adding, then the bacon, charred tomatoes and fresh basil in that order.
13. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until the center is firm. Sometimes I add ½ heaping cup to 1 cup of chopped kale or spinach to this recipe to add more vegetables. If you do add the spinach, I would recommend you add two more eggs and ¼ cup of coconut milk to cover the spinach or kale. Hopefully your pie pan can hold it. Please allow for some rising. If your pie pan cannot hold it, make it in a bigger dish but allow for more time to bake longer.

3.2.1284

So what is your favorite quiche to make for brunches?

Once you look how super easy this Crock Pot Chicken in a Paleo Tomato Cream sauce is you will be wishing why I never thought of it before.

This is my first post in almost two months. I just want to apologize now for my absence, but honestly life just got in the way. Don’t you hate when that happens?

Since my last post, I went back to work from 4 months of maternity leave and with that came all the woes of juggling work; managing a family with now 3 crazy boys to take care of, cooking healthy, and working out. I also finished the majority of my military graduate course that I have been chipping away for the last year+; note to self writing papers on military tactics, force structure and history are not my forte. Clearly, I prefer blogging and writing about food. I am also dealing with some family illness and the stresses that come along with that. Although I am not dealing with it on a daily basis like my siblings, it is mentally taxing and keeps me up at night. All I have to say about that is what life throws at you is sometimes unbearable. Finally, I competed in the CrossFit Open, a worldwide virtual competition where everyone competing has 5 days to complete the same workout that is announced weekly for 5 weeks. After you input your scores, you can see how well (or bad) you did against the entire country.  I never consider myself a competitive (read good) athlete and I almost did not compete because I just gave birth to my third child three months prior, but I am glad I did it. The competition surprisingly took a lot out of me physically, of course, but it was so fun to compete not with others, but more so with myself. I forgot what it is like to really try to be better. I am of the mind sight that you should be happy with yourself if you find the time and to get a mini work out in daily, but now I realize there is more to it than just showing up.

You need to push yourself. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Words to live by and my new mantra. What do you think? What are you doing to push yourself out of your comfort zone? You will be surprised with those results, because that where all the magic happens.

Anyway, I can go on and on about how crazy and hectic my life is, but I will stop right there because I know everyone is busy, busy, busy.

Because we are all so busy, busy, busy, I do not want to waste your time anymore and I will get right to this super easy peasy crock pot recipe that will save you life on the busiest of days. Scouts honor. I came up with this recipe earlier this week because I had nothing planned for dinner. Last weekend, my husband was gallivanting around in Las Vegas for a bachelor’s party with his college roommates and I was a “single mom.” I, who pride on doing the majority of my cooking for the week during the weekend, did NOT meal prep at all. So Monday, I was staring at my open and bare fridge wishing something would just jump out at me that I could cook. I started day dreaming of my college days in Boston when I used to go out to eat with my roommates and order a bowl as big as my head of Grilled Chicken with Penne in a creamy Vodka Sauce. No wonder I was 20lbs heavier. Yum, vodka sauce. Ever have it before? It doesn’t have vodka in it per say, although once I did order it off the menu at a mom and pop Italian restaurant and they charged me for a shot of vodka. Ha! Anyway, vodka sauce is a creamy tomato sauce, a cross between tomato and Alfredo sauce. Clearly, those were the Pre-Paleo days and there are some days, I am not going to lie, that I miss it. I digress, but I promise I am getting to the recipe. My day dreaming got me thinking. I was wondering if I could recreate my old staple in the crock pot with items I had in my pantry that could remind me of that yummy vodka sauce during my carefree college days. And that was how this recipe was created….

Fortunately, I had everything I needed on hand. In the freezer, I always have already cut, proportioned chicken breasts that I prepare and store in freezer safe bags for days just like this. When chicken goes on sale, I buy a whole lot of it, clean them up and store in 3lb servings in the freezer. Because who doesn’t like sales? Having that said, my hubby, Ben, who rarely complains about my cooking, does not “care for” chicken cooked in the crock pot because even when I cook it for 4 hours or less, it usually turns out dry. I have learned that if I freeze the chicken first and then cook it in the crock pot frozen (not thawed out) for 6-8 hours on low that the chicken breasts come out moist. Win win! It was a definitely a trail by error.

This delicious recipe would not be complete with out my zucchini “zoodles,” spiral noodles made out of zucchini. You want to make them? Then you will need this amazing vegetable slicer. It is worth every penny because this amazing kitchen appliance is less than $30. Getting back to the zoodles, some people eat them raw and you certainly can, but I prefer to saute them in a pan with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes until they get soft or al dente. You can also serve my Crock Pot Chicken in a Paleo Tomato Cream Sauce over spaghetti squash noodles or penne if you are not Paleo. Either way, I think you will be so happy not only how easy this recipe is to do but how tasty it is too. P.S. the leftovers are even better so double up!

And that’s it…this definitely one that I will be making over and over again since it was so easy to make. It really is a “set it and forget it” kind of recipe but not forget it in the sense that is unimpressionable because none of my recipes are forgettable. They are all the kind of recipes that knock your socks off. Right?

5.0 from 1 reviews

Crock Pot Chicken in a Paleo Tomato Cream aka Italian Vodka Sauce

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

8 hours

Total time

8 hours 5 mins

 

Need a recipe to make even on the busiest of days? My Crock Pot Chicken in a Paleo Tomato Cream aka Italian Vodka Sauce is not only delicious but it is so easy to make. You literally have to just plop in the ingredients into your crock pot and "set it and forget it." What are you waiting for? Go make this NOW!

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Crock Pot

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3lbs of chicken breasts, cleaned and left whole
• 1 (28 oz) can of tomato sauce, natural and without added sugars
• 1 (14.5 oz) coconut milk, full fat
• 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional for those of you who like an extra kick and can tolerate the heat)
• basil for garnishing
• Serve with faux-noodles:
• Zucchini to make zoodles or spaghetti squash

Instructions

1. Clean off your chicken breasts and cut off any fat or veins and freeze for a rainy day.
2. Plop your chicken at the bottom of your crock pot
3. Combine your tomato sauce, coconut milk and spices in a bowl and pour over the chicken.
4. Walk away for 4-8 hours. If your chicken is fresh, I would cook it for 4-5 hours. If it is frozen, then cook it for 7-8 hours.
5. While the chicken is almost done, prepare your zucchini zoodles or spaghetti squash. If you are making spaghetti squash noodles you will need to roast it an hour prior or you can nuke it in the microwave for 15 minutes.
6. Serve chicken over faux noodles and be prepared to be wowed!

3.2.1284

So who else is craving Italian now?

Happy cooking!

February’s 30 Day Fitness Challenge: The Burpee

Last month when discussing my Goals/ Resolutions for 2014, I vowed that I would post a new 30 Day Fitness Challenge every month for all of us to do together because misery loves company, right? Just kidding, but research does show enlisting friends holds us more accountable and more likely to complete what we started.  So, clearly fitness challenges can be a fun, little way to knock out mini workouts with your friends and families across the country.  It is also a great excuse for bragging rights if you do better than them because a little healthy competition didn’t hurt anyone.

If this is the first time you have heard of my 30 Day Fitness Challenges, click on the above link for details. In January, we planked. Our challenge started with holding a plank for 20 seconds and quickly worked its way to 5 minutes by the end of the month! I can assure you no one who signed up thought they would ever be able to hold a plank for 5 minutes. It was a lot of torture fun. My favorite part of last month’s challenge, in addition to waking up my six pack from hibernation, was taking pictures of me planking in weird places like the Chicago O’Hare airport, on the balcony of my Chicago skyscraper hotel, with my 78 year old father, with my high school friends with a glass of wine in front of us, etc. For more real time updates and motivation, be sure to check out and follow on me on Instagram.

So on the heels of finishing our first month’s fitness challenge, I am introducing February’s challenge of BURPEES. I was originally going to do squats, but I want to hold off for a later time since I saw FitFluential was challenging it’s followers with completing 1,000 burpees by February 28th. I thought this would be a great opportunity to not only tag team with them and help them advertise their challenge, but to also pick a movement that builds on the skill we learned from the previous month’s challenge. I am confident that January’s planking and extensive core workout will help us get through this burpee challenge. I know 1,000 burpees seems like a lot, but if you break them up over the course of this very short month of February it is only 36 burpees a day (1,000/ 28 for those challenged by math like I am).  There is a great 7+ minute video on the FitFluential link provided above that explains three levels of intensity to do burpees. So don’t be scared if you have never done a burpee. You can still do this challenge and excel!

So why burpees? The burpee is the ultimate full body exercise that simultaneously works many muscles in your body like your chest, arms, front deltoids, thighs, hamstrings, and abs. It also provides your body with an intense aerobic workout without any equipment. I love burpees because not only can you do them anywhere (so the weather is no excuse), but it’s FREE; no gym membership required! I know many people think burpees are only for CrossFitters, but they are wrong. Burpees also help improve runners endurance and helps strengthen the muscles in their torso and improve their upright running position. Again, everyone can improve their fitness with burpees because it develops conditioning and stamina. And best of all, they get your heart rate up! What’s not to love about that?!?!?

Do you want to know another great advantage to doing burpees? As if you need more. Because you are using your entire body, the burpee is also one of the best exercises to burn fat. Studies have shown that high intensity exercises, like burpees, burn up to 50% more fat than conventional strength training exercises. They’ve also been shown to speed up your metabolism which helps you burn more calories throughout the day. If you’re looking to get rid of that spare tire, step off the elliptical machine and start doing burpees.

Below I talk you through the 3 points of performance for a standard burpee.

Three things you want to see are:

1. “Chest to deck” meaning you want your chest to touch the ground every time.

2. When you explode up, you want to make sure you have full extension of your hips, keeping them wide open.

3. Your jump should be 6-8 inches high when you clap your hands. No baby seal claps!

Here is a cute video of my 3 year old son, Julian, doing a burpee and he is a great example of what NOT to do. Clearly, Julian’s not scared of the Our Full Plate Burpee Challenge! What he lacks in form, he makes up with enthusiasm.

Here is my quick 1 minute instructional video of what to do demonstrated by yours truly:

Notice any differences? Hopefully you will say yes; you should see more controlled movements with my demonstration. Do you notice that I try to keep my core tight and my lower back engaged the entire time? There is one myth with burpees and it is that you HAVE to do a push up every time. That is not true. If you want to try to do advanced burpees than go for it and do a push up when you come off the ground. Your shoulders will be smoked so be prepared! But if you are doing the standard moderate burpee, you will see the best way to string a few burpees together is to extend your front torso (like the cobra pose in yoga) and then shoot up with your legs. Don’t worry you will still be smoked after doing 35 standard/ intermediate burpees….TRUST ME!

Ok so that’s it. Accept the challenge and encourage your friends and family to do it with you as well. Even kids can do burpees, as demonstrated by my 3 year old son, so no excuses. Make sure to hashtag your workouts on Twitter and Instrgram with #ourfullplate30 because I love to see you guys work up a sweat. Throughout the month, I will be reposting your shots to encourage people along the way. Also tag your pictures and tweets with #ffburpee if you want to be entered to win an Under Armor outfit.

When in doubt, don’t forget to….

Your Motto for the Month

Who’s ready to get their burpees on? Who else are you forcing encouraging to join you this month for this challenge? Let’s do this. 3,2,1 Goooooooooo……

Aren’t these Paleo Bacon wrapped Sweet Potatoes just perfect to sit around the tube with your friends and watch the Super Bowl and the funny commercials?

We are T minus 4 days from the best day in football, the Super Bowl. Well, as soon as I finished typing that previous statement I just realized that I disagree with it entirely because I think it is safer to say it’s the best day of football IF (and only if)  your team is duking it out for the championship. My team, the New England Patriots (I know what you are thinking but I am not a fair weather fan), is not playing this year so I have mixed feelings. As much as I dislike Peyton Manning (only because as much as I hate to admit it, he is equally as good as Tom Brady and is hands down TB’s rival), I rather see the Denver Broncos win because 1) we lost to them in the playoffs and it makes the Patriots’ loss a little better to stomach if we lost to the Super Bowl Champions and 2) long time Patriot (and Texas Tech Raider for you die hard Texans out there) Wes Welker now plays for the Broncos and if he can get another Super Bowl ring with the Broncos then so be it. I know I sound silly to admit this, but it is so hard to be a Patriots fan. I almost think it’s better to root for teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars or Oakland Raiders who notoriously are bottom feeders because at least you are used to losing. With the Patriots, on the other hand, I feel like for the last 7 years we keep getting our hearts broken (or ripped out of our chest) in the end. We do relatively very well every year (sans the year Brady broke his knee), make it to the play offs and then we mess it up in the playoffs or worse yet at the Super Bowl itself (yes you avid Giant fans I am referring to years 2008 or “18-1” and 2012).

I can go on and about football, but this is not a sports blog (thank goodness for all of us). What we can talk about is what we eat on this awesome day. There are some statistics out there that Super Bowl Sunday is the “fattest” day of the year, along with Thanksgiving, where people notoriously consume the most calories. I believe it; between the booze and the nachos, wings and other party foods consumed, we are talking about 2,000 calories or more in ONE meal. Just because the Super Bowl is a day to indulge doesn’t mean it is an excuse for you to eat crappy food. I am of the mindset you can consume all you want, just make good choices about what you eat. I love eating/serving burgers, BBQ meats, fresh vegetables with guacamole or my personal fave avocado tomatillo sauce, paleo friendly “chicken fingers”, chili, etc. If everyone is snacking on chips and you feel left out at your Super Bowl Party, you can munch on plantain chips or make homemade vegetable chips like my roasted beet chips. But honestly, the Super Bowl is a great holiday to eat whole, less processed (i.e. Paleo friendly) foods as long as you plan for it.

I always like to make one new finger food friendly item during this time so this year, I will be making bacon wrapped sweet potatoes. Again, I know I sound like a broken record, but who doesn’t like any vegetable with bacon on it? Speaking of which, if so, have you tried my Brussel sprouts and bacon? Do you see a pattern and a trend with my favorite ingredient? B-A-C-O-N! Yum!

I digress but aren’t those shirts cute?!?! Ok, back to sweet potatoes. I made up this recipe on a whim because I know bacon grease does wonders on EVERYTHING and adds a lot of flavor to anything so it dawned on me why not wrap bacon around sweet potatoes to get a “crispy” oven baked fry. The rest was history. I added honey and cayenne pepper to this recipe to make it sweet and salty, but there are endless flavor combinations you can make. Add cinnamon and nutmeg with the honey for a sweeter flavor or omit the honey altogether if you are on the 21 Day Sugar Detox or Whole30. If you are looking for a more of a kick or “HOT” flavor add cayenne pepper, chili powder and red pepper flakes. The sky is the limit. Go wild. Besides its versatility, what I love about this recipe is it has minimal ingredients and it really is easy to make. You can prep these in the morning and throw them in before the guests arrive and viola instant yummy finger foods.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Paleo Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Need a quick and easy appetizer to serve to guests that is wholesome and healthy? Look no further because these bacon wrapped sweet potatoes are such a crowd pleaser. Serve them as a side for dinner or as an appetizer at your next dinner party.

Author: Our Full Plate

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato
• 3 slices of bacon (nitrate free is preferable)
• ½ tablespoon of olive oil (or fat of your choice like coconut oil)
• ½ tablespoon of honey
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of chili powder
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel and cut your sweet potatoes into 2 finger width pieces or two inches. I like them a little on the thick side so I try to make them the size of what you would see in a restaurant when your order potato wedge fries. Just remember to try to keep them all the same size so they cook evenly.
3. Place the sweet potatoes on your lined cookie sheet or in a mixing bowl. I prefer to use a bowl when I am making more than 1 sweet potato (which I always double this recipe at a minimum). So in your bowl or on your lined cookie sheet add your honey, olive oil and spices and spread throughout making sure the sweet potatoes are all evenly coated. Your sweet potatoes do not need to be drenched in olive oil and honey. Remember, the bacon grease will keep the sweet potatoes from burning. The olive oil and honey act more like binders so the spices will stick to the sweet potato while the bacon grease will actually help give the sweet potatoes that crunchy/ "deep fried" texture and flavor.
4. Take each piece of bacon and stretch it a little, then cut them in thirds. If your bacon slices are smaller or shorter, cut them in half.
5. This is the fun part take a piece of bacon and wrap it around each of your seasoned sweet potato slices. Sometimes, I find I have to use toothpicks to hold the bacon together while other times you do not need the toothpicks so play with it and see what feels more comfortable.
6. Place your bacon wrapped sweet potatoes on a lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. I always turn them over half way through the cookie process around the 20 minute mark. Another option is to place the sweet potatoes on an oven safe cooking rack on top of the lined cookie sheet. You still need it lined because the bacon grease will drip. Using a rack will allow for the sweet potatoes to cook evenly and more efficiently.
7. Let them cool for a few minutes and serve. Don't forget to collect the bacon grease and save it in your fridge for another recipe. I fry everything in saved [old] bacon grease. Yum!

3.2.1275

What’s your go-to appetizer/ finger foods recipe you like serving when you have guests over? My Roasted Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese is another favorite of mine. Yum!