Paleo-Lasagna

I came across this great blog recipe on Pinterest, and if you know me, you know that I never follow a recipe more than once without making some of my own changes to it. So, I made the recipe a couple more times before I finally perfected a new favorite for our family. I have since made it three times, and it is a huge hit in our home. I hope all of you enjoy it just as much we do.
Cheers from my kitchen to yours!


Ingredient List:
3 large zucchini (cut into round slices with a mandolin)
2 cups of broccoli roughly chopped
1 eggs
8oz plain greek yogurt
4oz garlic and herb goat cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cups of chopped red onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 ½  pounds of ground turkey
2 cups of Tomato Basil Sauce (reserve ¼ cup and set aside)
2 tsp Italian seasonings
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried basil
¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheeseInstructions to make the Broccoli Mixture:
Combine eggs, greek yogurt, and goat cheese in a medium size bowl and whisk until smooth
Add broccoli to the yogurt mixture until all incorporated
Set broccoli mixture aside, and let sit until you are ready to build your Paleosagna

Instructions to make the Meat Filling Mixture:
In a large skillet or dutch oven, heat olive oil on Medium High Heat
Add chopped onion to oil and let cook until soft, about 5 minutes
Add minced garlic and let sweat for 1-2 minutes
Add ground turkey and cook over medium high heat until meat turns white and is fully cooked
Add Tomato Basil Sauce and dried seasonings
Simmer meat sauce for 10-15 minutes

Preheat Oven to 350 and in an 8x8 pyrex build your Paleo-Lasagna as follows:
2tbsp. of sauce spread on the bottom of the glass pyrex
Line zucchini rounds in an 8x8 glass pyrex
Top zucchini rounds with ½ of the prepared meat sauce
Spoon all of the broccoli mixture on top of meat sauce
Add one more layer of zucchini rounds
Top with the remaining prepared meat sauce
Top with parmesan cheese
Top with mozzarella cheese
Bake on 350 for 30-45 minutes until lasagna is bubbly, and cheese is golden brown
Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving

Triple Berry Shortcake

The recent 4th of July weekend inspired me to come up with my own version of strawberry shortcake. With the amazing berries available at our local fruit stand, I just had to make something special with them. Our family doesn't consume refined carbs, so this isn't your ordinary shortcake ... but it's delicious, and I promise you won't miss the whit flour and granulated sugar! I hope you have a fun summer bbq approaching and can try this new dessert out.
Cheers, from my kitchen to yours! 

Triple Berry Shortcake
Serves 12

Shortcake:
2 cups almond flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325.
In a large mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, whisk wet ingredients together until well incorporated.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix thoroughly until mixture is moist.
Place mixture into lined or well greased muffin pans.
Place in oven and bake on 325 for 20-22 minutes until slightly golden brown
Remove from oven and let cool

Triple Berries:
In a medium sized bowl, slice 2 cups of strawberries, 1 cup of blueberries, and 1 cup of raspberries. Mix well.

Homemade Whipped Cream:
1 pint of whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp sugar

Place above ingredients in a chilled bowl and mix until the whipping cream is stiff and forms peaks. Chill until ready to serve. Best if prepared within 2 hours of consumption.

Triple Berry Shortcake:
Slice muffins in half opened up in a bowl, top with triple berry mix and whipped cream.

Chicken and Sausage Stew with Polenta

My Biz Noni was the first person who inspired me to cook. I remember standing on a chair in her kitchen adding ingredients she had chopped up for me to put in a pot of soup (which was really just a pot). She hosted Sunday family dinners at her house for many years, polenta and chicken stew was one of her favorite dishes to prepare. Being she was my inspiration for cooking, I've chosen the following recipe as my official first recipe blog entry. 

Please enjoy this Italian classic, from my kitchen to yours!

 
Chicken and Sausage Stew with Polenta
Serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
½ medium red onion (chopped)
2 tbsp dried parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1 pound of chicken (diced)
3 Italian sausage links (cut into round slices)
1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes
2 large handfuls of spinach
1 zucchini (diced)
Optional: 10 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat
Add Garlic, cook 1 minute
Add Onion, parsley, and basil
Add Chicken and Sausage and continuously turn until browned (about 7-10 minutes)
Add canned tomatoes
Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes
10 minutes before serving: Add Spinach and Zucchini

Homemade Cheesy Polenta:
If you’ve never made polenta before, make sure you have a good wooden spoon and about 20 minutes to continuously stir. The creamiest polenta is constantly stirred while cooking.

I prefer the Bobs Red Mill Polenta, I follow the recipe on the package, with a slight tweak.
-- When the polenta starts to thicken (based on the packaging instructions), add about 1 cup of parmesean cheese and stir until thick and sticky.
-- Once your polenta is thickened, place it into a glass pyrex, and cover. Let set for 20 minutes before serving. This will give you nice squares of polenta that you can serve your stew over the top of.

Semi-Homemade Option:
For those of you not interested in making your own polenta, Trader Joe’s has a great one that’s prepackaged in the pasta section -- You can cut up the little round disks, place them on a plate and put the sauce right on top.

When serving, we love adding a nice soft piece of fontina cheese between the polenta and hot stew, it melts and becomes velvety and delicious.

Cinnamon Nut Granola

This granola is yummy with milk, yogurt, and even sprinkled on homemade vanilla ice cream. It will make your home smell amazing, but I have to warn you it's slightly addicting.
(If you are a Gluten-Free household, simply use Gluten-Free oats.)

Ingredients:
1 cup 100% pure maple syrup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of vanilla
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground dried ginger
1 1/4 cup sliced raw almonds
1 tsp fresh ground sea salt
1 cup dried dates, cranberries or raisins (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Spread 2 tbsp of olive oil on a cookie sheet until well coated. You can also use a 9x12 baking dish instead of a cookie sheet.
Mix together maple syrup, vanilla and the olive oil.
Toss the dry ingredients, minus the dates/raisins/cranberries, together in a mixing bowl.
Add the maple syrup mixture to the oats mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the raw granola is uniformly sticky.
Spread the oats mixture loosely on the cookie sheet in as thin of a layer as possible.
Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Check the oats after 30 minutes to see if they are done--a golden brown and strong aroma indicates it's ready.
If you are using the deeper baking dish, toss the mixture after15 minutes and bake for an extra 10-15 minutes, if needed.
Add the dried raisins or other fruit.
Cool the granola before serving.