Tag: organic

#5/52 Butternut Squash Chicken Chili

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We tried a new soup this week, Butternut squash chicken chili, recipe from paleo running momma

The flavors were pretty great, although I’m not sure how I felt about the Butternut squash. Knowing what I am eating is fairly healthy helps me just eat it, but I think in the future I would replace the squash with white beans. Or I would make sure the squash was peeled and cut into much smaller cubes and I wouldn’t use a whole one.

After we ate dinner, I went back through the soup and picked out all the squash and added half a can of great northern beans and froze it like that. The flavors and spices were amazing, but it will not be in our soup rotation. If you try it, drop a comment on your take of the butternut squash

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded*
  • 2 Tbsp ghee or avocado oil
  • 1 medium butternut squash cut into 3/4” cubes (about 4 cups)
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 red bell pepper diced
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 2 Tbsp fresh jalapeños finely chopped
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 3/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
  • 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 3 cups chicken bone broth
  • 1 tbsp fresh minced cilantro
  • 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast optional
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste
  • Garnish: “sour cream” coconut cream see notes** avocado slices, cilantro

Instructions

  1. If your chicken needs to be cooked and shredded, do this first* and set aside. Prepare all ingredients before beginning.
  2. Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat and add the ghee or oil. Add the butternut squash and sprinkle all over with sea salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until just beginning to brown and soften.
  3. Add in the diced onion and sauté for about a minute until translucent. Then, add in the garlic, peppers, jalapeño and spices, stir and sauté for 3 minutes, until fragrant and softened.
  4. Add in the green chilis, and broth , stir and bring to a boil. Stir in the shredded chicken, nutritional yeast cilantro and lime juice and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Serve with coconut “sour cream” (see notes) sliced avocado, additional cilantro and sliced jalapeño if desired. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Notes:

*if you don’t already have cooked chicken, season your chicken breasts with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until cooked through, then shred before using. You can also use a rotisserie chicken, just check ingredients for Whole30 compliance if needed.

** To make Whole30 compliant sour cream with coconut cream, mix 1/2 cup of thick, cold coconut cream with 2 tsp lemon or lime juice and 1/8 tsp fine sea salt. I like to use the 365 brand (Whole Foods) for this as it’s very thick and creamy. Feel free to adjust the salt and lemon to taste.

Week 52

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Wow. We made it y’all. The last week of 2020! I’m sure no one remembers, but I actually started doing a healthy snack a week as a New Years Resolution in hopes to lose the baby weight I still hadn’t managed to shed.

At the beginning of 2020, I was still 170 lbs, 4 months post-partum. A combination of eating healthier and hiking with my little one enabled me to hit my pre-pregnancy weight of 140 by mid-summer, even getting down to 135, because hiking with a baby is hardwork, haha!

I’m also going to add that this is the first time in my 32 years of living that I have actually kept a new years resolution all the way to the end of the year! And I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to check out my lovely creations each week. If it wasn’t for the random “I love your videos” private messages from a lot of you, I may have given up. So thank you!

I would love to hear what you are writing on your resolutions list for 2021! I think as a whole we will all be looking forward to it for many reasons 🙃

So for week 52, the last and final week of healthy snacks of 2020 I give you Mediterranean Bites and Parfait Bites. I devoured all 15 I made while I was editing the video….They’re even better than I thought they would be!

Mediterranean Bites

  • 30 Athens mini fillo shells 2 boxes, defrosted
  • 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons hummus
  • 1/2 cup diced English cucumber
  • 1 roasted red pepper 2 halves, diced
  • 1 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup hempseed
  • 2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

  • Fill each mini fillo shell with 1 ½ teaspoon hummus.
  • Divide the cucumber, roasted red pepper, feta cheese, hempseed, and parsley evenly between the fillo shells. Serve.

Parfait Bites

  • 30 Athens mini fillo shells 2 boxes, defrosted
  • 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1/4 cup hempseed
  • 1/4 cup toasted coconut

Instructions

  • Fill each mini fillo shell with 1 ½ teaspoon greek yogurt.
  • Divide the blueberry, strawberry, hempseed, and toasted coconut evenly between the fillo shells. Serve.

And for those reading this blog, if you want to see any of the food videos they are on my Instagram at @indigocrystal11 🙃 not every week has one, but a majority of them do because they’re fun!

Week 44

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Hope you enjoyed your weekend! Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos give us plenty to celebrate. Since we touched on Halloween last week, I wanted to share a healthy snack we made for Dia de Los Muertos.

I turned to Chris, while sipping our morning coffee, and asked him what he wanted to add to the celebration alter for Sunday. A soft smile came across his face as he told me about his dear friend, Mathew Kennen, and how much he liked the Buffalo Cauliflower at Zokas, one of the best restaurants ever in Pine, CO. So week 44, in remembrance of our dear friend Mat, is Buffalo Cauliflower ❤ NFA

Buffalo Cauliflower

  • 1 to 1.5 head cauliflower, cut into florets (you’ll need about 4 to 5 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 3 tablespoons dried parsley
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoning Salt

Instructions 

  1. Place cauliflower florets in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
  2. Melt butter; stir in olive oil and hot sauce until thoroughly combined.
  3. Pour the hot sauce mixture over the cauliflower; mix around until all cauliflower florets are coated.
  4. In a separate bowl whisk together almond flour, dried parsley, garlic powder, and seasoning salt.
  5. Sprinkle about a handful at a time of almond flour mixture over the cauliflower; gently mix until everything is coated.
  6. Transfer half of the prepared cauliflower to the air fryer.
  7. Air fry at 350˚F for 14 minutes, shaking a couple times during the cooking process. Cauliflower is done when the florets are a bit browned, but not mushy.
  8. Remove cauliflower from the Air Fryer; set aside and keep covered.
  9. Repeat the same process with the remaining cauliflower florets.
  10. Serve with celery or carrot sticks and your favorite ranch dressing.

Dia de Los Muertos is an ancient tradition celebrated in Mexico and other places around the world. During this holiday, people take time to remember and celebrate family and friends who have passed away. Although it’s called “day of the dead”, the celebration lasts for several days! Dia de Los Muertos is for celebrating the beauty of life and death rather than mourn it, it reminds us to enjoy life all year round and to honor our loved ones, this way they stay in our hearts forever.

Popcorn for my Grandma, buffalo cauliflower plus dip for Mat, breakfast essentials for my ride or die Sean, string cheese (and the peacock cloth) for my dear friend Jamie, a Cigar for Chris’s Papi, and dog treats for our furry family. We love you 🖤

We also made Atole to continue our celebration this morning. Atole (ah-toe-lay) is a drink made with masa, finely ground corn flour. When chocolate is added, it becomes champurrado (cham-poor-ah-doe). The word “atole” is derived from Nahuatl, the still-living language of the Aztecs, who were defeated by Hernan Cortez in 1521 in what is now Mexico City. Atole was popular long before Cortez surprised Montezuma with a visit, so the people of Mexico have been drinking atole for many centuries, probably millennia. That’s really no surprise as atole is, in fact, probably the easiest way imaginable to consume corn, a crop first cultivated in the Americas. Just add water to ground corn, and voila: atole.

Atole is like very thin porridge. Served warm, it’s an excellent way to take the chill off a cold morning. Relatively quick and easy to prepare, atole is frequently consumed at breakfast or after dinner, but can be enjoyed any time of day.

ATOLE

  • 3 cups water
  • 9 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar or brown sugar cane
  • 1 whole cinnamon sticks
  • 10 Tbsp. corn flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

  1. Add water, brown sugar cane and cinnamon sticks to large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Bring water to boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
  2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl using whisk, whisk together masarica, salt and milk until completely smooth. Pour masarica mixture into pot with sugar mixture and bring liquid to boil, whisking occasionally; reduce heat to low. Stir in vanilla extract and continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until mixture is smooth and thick, about 10 minutes more. The atole is ready when the drink coats the back of wooden spoon.
  3. Remove pot from heat. Divide atole evenly among serving mugs. Sprinkle with nutmeg if that sounds nice.. Serve warm.

Week 41

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I took a stroll through my garden this morning to see how everything was doing, as we near fall and cooler temperatures approach. To my delightful surprise, I discovered quite a few strawberries in my little patch! I also found a lot of Cayenne peppers if anyone has some good ideas for those. My garden inspired this week’s healthy snack, Strawberry Oatmeal Bars. YUM!

For the Strawberry Bars:

  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil – melted
  • 2 cups small-diced strawberries
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon  freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon-ish of honey

For the Vanilla Glaze (optional, but huge yes)

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar – sifted
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon milk – any kind you like
  1. Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, ginger, and salt. Pour in the melted coconut oil and stir until it forms clumps and the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumble mixture, then press the rest into an even layer in the bottom of the prepared pan.
  3. Scatter half of the strawberries over the crust. Sprinkle the cornstarch evenly over the top, then sprinkle on the lime juice and drizzle honey. Scatter on the remaining berries, then drizzle more honey. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top. You will have some fruit showing through.
  4. Bake the bars for 35 to 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and the crumb topping smells toasty and looks golden. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely (you can speed this process along in the refrigerator).
  5. While the bars cool, prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, briskly whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Feel free to add more milk if a thinner consistency is desired. Lift the bars from the pan. Drizzle with glaze, slice, and serve.