side dishes

Nut & Dairy Free Cheese Sauce

February 22, 2018
Course

My favorite way to make cheese sauce involves cashews, however, there are some allergies out there that do not permit eating those. So I wanted to come up with a comforting, cheese-like sauce anyone could enjoy!

I like to mix this with cauliflower rice or paleo pasta for a “Mac ‘n Cheese” inspired meal!

It’s even delicious as a soup! (Mind you, I LOVE SOUP!) There is no guilt involved in eating this sauce because it is PACKED with veggies. It’s a great way to sneak in a new vegetable that your kids may not normally want. They won’t even know that they are eating a….SQUASH! That’s right! The main ingredient in this “cheese” sauce is a vegetable! The color it adds is amazing! I swear, the cheddar-cheese color of this sauce makes it taste even cheesier!

My instant pot comes in super handy with this recipe! It cooks the squash in less than 5 minutes! CRAZY! If you haven’t heard about the Instant Pot craze…get on it! It’s my favorite appliance! SO WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL CHEESE SAUCE. IT IS NOT GOING TO TASTE THE SAME. However, to those with dairy intolerances or those who just want to eat better, it is delicious and nice way to change things up!

Print Recipe
 Nut & Dairy Free Cheese Sauce
Course Sauces, side dishes
Cook Time 10-15 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course Sauces, side dishes
Cook Time 10-15 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Cook your squash however you prefer! See recipe notes for different cooking methods.*
  2. To a blender (you could use an immersion blender too!), add your cooked squash and remaining ingredients.
  3. Blend until smooooooth!
Recipe Notes

*

  • You can cut the squash in half (long ways), remove the seeds, and roast it in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees, or until soft. Then scoop out the insides of the squash and add it to your blender.
  • You can peel it, remove the seeds, chop it into 2 inch chunks and boil it until it's soft.
  • OR You can cook it in the Instant Pot, like me! I peel it, remove the seeds, chop it up into chunks and cook it for 4-5 minutes on HP. It comes out perfect!

Tip: I cook the other half of the squash at the same time. Then, I freeze the cubes for smoothies later! OR you could double the recipe for more "Cheese" sauce!

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Creamed Cauliflower & Caramelized Onions {Dairy, Gluten, & Grain free)

February 22, 2018
Course

I’m always looking for ways to make healthy food…taste, for a lack of a better word, UNHEALTHY. Usually making it creamy does the trick!

Rice, in general, is bland. I prefer riced cauliflower to it ANY DAY. Not everyone is that way though! To them, the taste of cauliflower is just not enjoyable. (I used to be that way when I was a wee little one!) Therefore, finding a rice replacement on the paleo diet can be hard! Adding a flavorful cream sauce to cauliflower rice can totally help you out! I have a bunch of different variations of creamy cauliflower rice. It reminds me of a creamy, adult Rice-a-Roni-like side dish (…the San Francisco Treeaaattttt. Anyone else just sing that with me?) … and I LOVE IT! That was one of my favorite things to eat as a kid! TOTAL comfort food right there!

With a little patience to caramelize the onions, and a few ingredients from your cabinet, you can have that same comfort food for your meal! It’ll be packed with nutrients too! What’s better than delicious, nutrient-dense food?! Feeling good about what you put into your body is one of the best feelings!

Give this creamy side dish a chance!

 

Print Recipe
 Creamed Cauliflower & Caramelized Onions {Dairy, Gluten, & Grain free)
Course side dishes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course side dishes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté sliced onions, oil, and vinegar until translucent and caramel in color. This should take about 15-20 minutes. The longer they cook, the more they will reduce and the sweeter they will get. I still like a little texture to the onions for this dish. Therefore, 20 minutes works just right!
  2. When onions have reduced to about 1-1 1/2 cups worth (They shrink A TON!), add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the cauliflower has cooked through!
  3. It's as simple as that! ENJOY!
Recipe Notes

*If you do not have Nutpods, you can substitute cashew, coconut, or almond milk. Just make sure the variety is plain and unsweetened! Start with 3/4 cup and add more if you need it. Nutpods is thicker and creamier than those milks.

**I use this brand of bouillon. You can find it almost anywhere. It's THE BEST! It has fairly clean ingredients too. Feel free to omit it or replace with broth! It just adds tons of flavor!

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Loaded “Sour Cream” & Chive Twice Baked Potatoes (Dairy Free)

February 17, 2018
Course


Balanced Health

Words don’t do these potatoes justice.

My husband was obsessed to say the least. I’m just gonna get right to the recipe so that you can hurry up and make these. THEY ARE SO GOOD!

 

Do yourself a favor, and make plenty! Leftovers are still just as tasty!

Balanced Health

Print Recipe
 Loaded "Sour Cream" & Chive Twice Baked Potatoes (Dairy Free)
Course Dinner, side dishes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
halves
Ingredients
Course Dinner, side dishes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings
halves
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Clean and cook whole potatoes until you can easily poke with a fork or knife. However, don't cook them until they're falling apart! The second cooking will cook everything further! You can bake them for 45 minutes - 1 hour, depending on size OR microwave them for 20-25 minutes, flipping them halfway through.
  3. Once potatoes are cooked, cut in half - long ways!
  4. With a spoon, scoop out the center, but leave just a tad of potato around all of the inside. This helps keep stability. I like to push the limits here, myself. I scoop out as much potato as possible, so I can get a crispy skin!
  5. Place skins on a baking sheet face down first - almost touching each other. (I like to line mine with parchment paper for easy cleanup!). Baking them face down and closer, helps them to hold their shape and not flatten out. Spray inside and outside of each skin with olive, coconut, or avocado oil. Feel free to sprinkle some salt on the outsides too - I love it!
  6. Bake skins for 8-10 minutes, flip, and bake the other side for another 8-10 minutes or until desired crispiness is reached.
  7. While the potatoes crisping up, combine remaining ingredients with the potato you removed from the skins. If you decided to add bacon, set aside the bacon pieces for the topping, and add the bacon grease to your filling. This addition is completely optional and not necessary! However, bacon grease makes everything better!
  8. Taste your filling and adjust the salt and pepper! We like our potatoes, not only crispy, but SALTY! Therefore, I add close to 2 tsp to this recipe.
  9. Once the potato skins are finished crisping up in the oven, remove them and add filling to each. Don't be afraid to go heavy on that filling! For this recipe, each half took about a cup of filling. Use it all or save some to snack on as these finish cooking! 😉
  10. Top with bacon pieces and bake for 10 minutes or until the tops have just slightly started to brown up.
  11. Top with more chives or sour cream alternative of choice and DIG INNNNN!
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Pork Fried Rice (Paleo & Whole30)

December 28, 2017
Cuisine
Course

Does anyone else always want Chinese food on Mondays – the day that every Chinese restaurant is closed? Or is that just me? I just love good Chinese food…which, honestly, is RARE! Good as in tasty AND healthy! This “rice” is all of the above. Jam-packed with protein and veggies, this dish is one you can feel good about eating!

If you can find all of the prepped ingredients in your grocery store’s freezer section and have leftover ham (or have a go-to clean, natural brand of already-cooked pork), this dish comes together in MINUTES, is made in one pan, tastes so similar to take-out, AND is Whole30 approved!

Make it a complete meal by pairing it with my Instant Pot General Tso’s Chicken! That can also be Whole30 compliant and, the best part, it’s made in under 15 minutes with the help of that handy pressure cooker!

Print Recipe
 Pork Fried Rice (Paleo & Whole30)
Course Dinner, side dishes
Cuisine Chinese, paleo
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Dinner, side dishes
Cuisine Chinese, paleo
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a large sauce pan, add 1 tbsp cooking fat and chopped onion and sauté over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until onions become translucent.
  2. Once the onions have softened, add your chopped ham, riced cauliflower, and remaining fat. I like to crank the heat up and get a nice char on the meat and cauliflower - so much flavor! (that's always my favorite rice - the stuff that has some charred bits in it!)
  3. After about 3-4 minutes, add the remaining ingredients (except for the eggs), and cook until the vegetables are fork tender. This should take about 5 minutes. Note: I used all organic, frozen veggies that were already chopped and riced. HUGE TIME SAVER!
  4. Once the vegetables are cooked to your liking, add your beaten eggs. I make a divet in the pan in the middle of my rice and pour the eggs in there. Once they begin to cook, I just keep stirring everything up until they're all the way cooked. This only takes a couple minutes! No need for another pan - in my opinion! We love eggs, so I add 3 to this recipe. Feel free to add more or less!
  5. Taste now and adjust your seasonings and add more salt, coconut amines, or sesame oil. Just a bit though! You can always add more, but you can't take it out! Personally, I tend to go a bit heavier on the coconut aminos and salt. I love that soy sauce flavaaaa!
  6. Finally, stir in your chopped green onions and you're done! I like them crunchy, but feel free to cook your rice a minute or two longer after stirring them in! ENJOY!
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Crispy Sweet Potato Fritters

November 21, 2017
Course
Prep time
5m
Cook Time
15m

I’m always trying to find new ways to use sweet potatoes – or basically remake everything I would normally make with white potatoes, but swapping them out for their sweet, orange cousins. Sweet taters are just soooo much better for you! They have so many more vitamins packed into each one. White potatoes aren’t bad – just eat them in moderation, and keep those skins on! That is where tons of those nutrients are!

Besides mashed, I always want my potatoes to be CRISPY! I’d prefer them more on the burnt side than soggy. It takes practice, a good pan, and patience to get good, homemade, crispy fries. No matter what you’ve read…they’re just not THAT easy to pull off. They’re worth it when you do, definitely, BUT … you just don’t always have the time.

Instead of grabbing a bag of processed fries from the frozen section, take a minute, grate a sweet potato and try these! You won’t be disappointed! I like to dip mine in homemade BBQ Ranch dressing or just BBQ. SOOO GOOD!

Print Recipe
 Crispy Sweet Potato Fritters
Course side dishes
Servings
Course side dishes
Servings
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Apple Bacon Compote

November 6, 2017
Course

This compote is the perfect topping for any piece of pork. Pork on pork – sounds like perfection to me! It’d be great on top of some fried pork chops too! That might have to be on next week’s menu! I used this to top my Cider pork loin – cooked in the Instant Pot!

When using Granny Smith apples, the compote has a little bit more of a tang. If that’s not your thing, go right ahead and use a couple of the sweeter variety.

Print Recipe
 Apple Bacon Compote
Course side dishes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course side dishes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Cook the apples in bacon grease for 5 minutes on medium heat.
  2. Once the apples are fork-tender, add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes.
  3. Reduce to low heat and cook for 3 minutes. You should be left with a very soft, chunky-jam like mixture. SO GOOD!
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