I’ve been making my regular spinach casserole for 20ish years (you can find that recipe here) and I have eaten it pretty much EVERY SINGLE DAY for lunch or dinner for most of my life. I never grow bored of it and honestly CRAVE it, I could eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday and be super happy about it. I even make it on vacation if we have a kitchen, ha! My daughter will eat it with me sometimes but mostly I get it all to myself because my husband and son don’t love it like I do. So in an effort to make a version my husband would finally eat with me, I whipped up this new, heartier version! . My husband is the kind of guy that really prefers to have meat with every meal so one of the big add-ons was chicken. However, I would say this would be more than fine if you left the chicken out and wanted to keep it vegetarian. I typically roast a whole chicken once a week and can get 2-4 different dinner recipes out of the one chicken. So I already had the chicken cooked, shredded and waiting in my fridge. All in all what I came up with is really quite good and packed full of good, healthy ingredients although it doesn’t really resemble my regular spinach casserole at all aside from the spinach. I’m a pretty big fan of using sun dried tomatoes every chance I get and I almost left them out of this but I didn’t … and dare I say it takes this casserole to the next level for sure!! Try it up!!

Ingredients:

• 2 packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 eggs
• 1 small shallot chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• marinated sun dried tomatoes
• 1/2 block cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup full fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 1 can artichoke hearts drained and chopped
• 1-2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 cup pasta sauce
• 1 bag mozzarella cheese

Directions: Thaw and drain two packages of frozen spinach and add in two eggs than mix well. In a large skillet heat up olive oil and add in chopped shallot and garlic. Saute on low/medium for 5 minutes or so until browned and fragrant. Add to the spinach. Next add in softened cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, chicken and Parmesan. Mix well. Spread down into a casserole dish. Cover with thin layer of red sauce and than top with mozzarella. It actually tastes kind of like lasagna strangely. Enjoy!!

The other day when I was doing my online grocery shopping for the week, I wanted to surprise the kids with something outside my usual ‘grain free – healthy’ snack selection. I came across some bright pink frosting with fun sprinkles that made me gag to even look at…so of course I knew they would love it ;). I fought through the pain and went ahead and added it to the order. My idea was to let them make some basic sugar cookies or like white cake cupcakes and let them decorate on their own. Than I had the idea to at least make the base part healthy, to try to cancel out the disgusting, artificially flavored, unnaturally pink disaster they call frosting. I ended up with these amazing cupcakes with some ingredients I already had in the house. THEY were so shockingly yummy!!! The lemon and maple syrup combination was really a surprise. I’m not sure if I have ever combined the two before and, wow, these will be on the snack rotation from now on… sans the pink fluff. For myself I preferred them with no topping at all and they would be a great option for a quick breakfast or lunch because they were very filling. My husband liked his with a light layer of whipped cream and than my kids of course only ate the frosting on the top and wasted the perfect muffin, UGH! I think they would also be really good with like a basic glaze.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• sprinkle of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt
• juice of 3 lemons plus zest
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions: put almond flour, softened butter, 3 eggs in mixing bowl. Mix until well combined. Add in next 6 ingredients through yogurt. Mix until well incorporated and than juice lemons into the bowl, being careful not to get any seeds into the mix. Grate some zest, maybe a tablespoon or so and put in mix along with maple syrup. When its all mixed in well pour into silicone muffin pan or a well greased metal muffin pan or use liners. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

*These did not rise at all, almost like cheesecake cupcakes. You can call these a muffin or a cupcake and top them with icing or not!

How is everybody hanging in with these fun quarantine times?! I’ve been adding substitute teacher to my resume now for the past several weeks and I won’t say I hate it but its certainly not what dreams are made of. There was absolutely a reason I did not become a teacher! Patience is unfortunately not one of my strong suits, but I’m working on it!! Always working on it. Everyday is a new day right :)? Otherwise, everyday seems SO busy! I don’t seem to have one free moment to sit down and catch up on things I usually enjoy doing during downtime. I have this odd, always feeling busy, yet never quite knowing what to do next cycle going on and I’m not loving it. I thrive on organization and I’ve lost my footing in that area. I have been spending loads of time in the kitchen though. I find it easy to kind of zone out and leave my worries behind when I’m getting a recipe together and cleaning up after myself etc. Nice little break from the uncertainty of things. I like to make things that LOOK like they came from a fine dining restaurant. Culinary art is a passion of mine for sure and I like to create things where the presentation is just as important as the taste. With that said… stuffed chicken ALWAYS impresses. No matter who I am cooking for. It just seems so elaborate you know? Even when its not.

I have several different recipes that I call stuffed chicken but this is the simplest with just three main ingredients and its absolutely YUM!! I usually make a bechamel -like sauce to go with it so I’ll add the recipe for that too for those that would like to try it that way. Give me a shout if you try this :)!

Stuffed Chicken III

• skinless boneless chicken breasts… preferably from free range well treated chickens :).
• Goat cheese, room temperature
• spinach leaves

First take one chicken breast and slice it long ways into really thin strips. You will need a really good sharp knife for this. This isn’t “hard” but it takes some practice. What I do is lay the breast flat and push it down hard with one hand than insert your knife a little less than a 1/2 inch down and cut through. Than do that same thing again. Ideally you will end up with three to four separate chicken breasts from what was formally ONE… like in the first picture below. You can also pound the cutlets you have already cut to thin them out a little more and make them more even. Next take your goat cheese and spread a thick layer all along one side. Cover with spinach leaves and roll it up starting from one end until you have a ‘chicken roll up’. Press it down a little and put it on a baking sheet. Below you can see a few ready to roll up and a few already rolled.

Continue with the rest of your cutlets and hopefully you will have six to eight to bake up depending on how the cutting went. Salt and pepper them all generously and drizzle with olive oil. You can also add some fresh lemon juice, especially if skipping the cream sauce. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with roasted asparagus or any of your favorite vegetables. I usually pair it with asparagus it seems. Read more if you want to try the sauce as well. We always do 🙂

Cream sauce for a topping

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• butter
• 1/4 cup broth
• 1/2 cup – 1 cup freshly grated paremesan cheese
• capers (optional)
• salt and pepper

In a small saucepan heat up heavy cream, butter and broth. Let it come to a good simmer and add in parmesan cheese slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon as you go. Once the cheese is melted in nicely, add in some salt and pepper and capers. Stir a few more times and allow it to cook on low for a few minutes to thicken up. I serve this on top of the recipe above or on filet of beef.

I made this tonight and it was SO good! It could absolutely double as a cheese sauce for homemade horseshoes (I’ll post a recipe for my homemade horseshoes another time :)) or a sauce for fettuccine. But for tonight, it was soup :). We aren’t typically soup people so my husband was surprised when I brought it out. Andddddd… he liked it, a lot! Yay! I think my kids would even like this but I am in a really bad habit of feeding them earlier than we eat, and they always eat something different than we do. Add that to my long list of things I need to work on improving. I would love all 4 of us eating earlier, together, and eating the SAME thing! I hate to make them a separate dinner from us but my husband and I are in the habit of eating LATE… like sometimes after 10 pm. Plus, I’m not great about pushing my kids to eat things out of their comfort zone. Also adding that to the list of things to improve upon, expanding my children’s palates. Wish me luck! Onto the recipe :):

Cauliflower White Cheddar Soup:

• One head cauliflower chopped into small chunks
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
• 2 cups bone broth or any broth you have on hand… I used my homemade chicken bone broth
• 1 can full fat unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)

Add cauliflower, butter, onion, garlic and broth to a slow cooker and cook on high for three hours or until cauliflower is very soft. Shake can of coconut milk very well than open it up and add it in along with the salt and nutmeg. Please note you are wanting a CAN of coconut milk, not the kind you will find in a milk carton. You will find this in the Asian food section of most grocery stores and you want the full fat unsweetened option. A good alternative to this would be a cup of any milk of your choice or even half and half or heavy whipping cream, all depending on how rich you would like your soup. If you have an immersion blender awesome!!! Get it out and blend all of the ingredients together right there in your slow cooker. If you don’t have one… GET ONE… and if that isn’t an option than you will need to transfer to a blender or food processor and puree it until smooth. Return back to crockpot and add in the cheese and white wine. I used a block of white cheddar and grated it myself and it seemed to melt really well that way so I would recommend that. You could use less or more cheese depending on what you like and also add in other types like Parmesan or Gruyere.

My kids are both obsessed with cracking eggs. They will hear me cracking eggs from far off distances and come running… “I want to crack the egg, I want to crack the egg!” I’m super OCD so I hate letting them do it, ha! It makes them so happy though so I have to fight through that urge to say no and let them have their fun :). Why do they love it so much? I suppose it is pretty satisfying, especially when you can nail down the one handed egg crack. I don’t think either of them has yet to crack one without getting some egg shell into the bowl but practice makes perfect. My son has been making this breakfast since he was about two when I let him crack his first egg. It’s a super quick, easy, yummy AND healthy breakfast, all the things! Ingredients can vary so much, you can swap up the fruit, types of milk you might use or sweeteners you prefer. You can make it really healthy, or jazz it up and make it pretty decadent. This is my basic recipe:

• 1 or 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup almond flour OR gluten free oats
• handful blueberries & raspberries (we use frozen or whatever frozen fruit we have on hand)
• heaping tablespoon of full fat greek yogurt (plain or vanilla or you can omit if you are dairy free)
• splash of milk, any type – dairy, almond, soy, flax etc
• dash of cinnamon
• tablespoon of maple syrup or honey
• teaspoon vanilla

Using a large mug, put eggs in first and beat well with spoon. Next add all remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place in microwave and cook for 2 minutes. If you use two eggs instead of one it may take a little longer than two minutes but you should have a pretty firm souffle/muffin at this point, if not, throw it back in microwave for 20 second intervals until cooked through. Some add ins I would consider: flax seeds, hemp seeds, cream cheese, brown sugar, granola, coconut, bee pollen, bananas, walnuts. So many possibilities!

I’ve lived in Springfield, Illinois most of my life, but for the most part I don’t consider myself to be “from” Springfield. Which sounds weird I know. My parents were born and raised in Alton, Illinois before relocating to Springfield not long before I was born. I think they would both consider themselves from Alton for sure. We lived in Springfield until I was five than I lived in several small surrounding towns. My more formative years (6-17ish) were spent in a small town not far from Springfield called Taylorville…so when I think in terms of where I am from it feels automatic to say Taylorville but that doesn’t feel right… nor does saying “Springfield”, hmmmmmm. Anyway… my husband is definitely from Springfield, ha! Before I had met him I had zero idea how seriously people in Springfield take their chili. I was never even a huge chili fan but I did have a basic chili recipe I had gotten off the internet years before. I knew Ron took it seriously but we never discussed it at all until one day I decided to have a fall themed party for my little boy. I made chili for everyone and he refused to even eat it AND his best friend came armed with his own pot of chili to have a cook off or something. I was fine with my own recipe but certainly realized his was better than mine so I set off to get my own yummy Springfield chilli! Apparently a lot of people here spell it with two ‘lls… chilli as opposed to chili but I’m pretty whatevs about it. This recipe is a departure from my usually “healthy-ish” posts but it is low in sugar and grain free so its still on my regular dinner rotation, and it is GOOD!!!!

Springfield Chilli

• 2 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 1 onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 lb grass-fed ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground sirloin
• 1 can beer
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 3 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 15 oz can pinto beans or kidney beans (or both) rinsed and drained
• cheddar cheese/sour cream/oyster crackers

Cook bacon in large dutch oven over medium heat 5 minutes or so. When its crispy add in onions and garlic and cook until tender on medium for an additional 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add in beef and sirloin cooking til thoroughly browned. Now add in your beer and let cook 5 more minutes. Stir in chili powder, worcestershire sauce, salt, cumin and tomato sauce and turn heat to low. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Next stir in your beans and cook for a few minutes until beans are heated through. Serve with cheese, sour cream, crackers or whatever extras you like!

I made these earlier this week and holy nutballs they are good!! I was eating from the bowl like a young kid with raw cookie dough, ha! One of the main ingredients, dates, is the only sweetener used. Dates are super beneficial for lots of reasons…they provide a good supply of important vitamins & minerals, are a great source of fiber, are full of antioxidants, and they promote brain health. Walnuts is another main ingredient. I LOVE WALNUTS! Walnuts are rich in antioxidants and a natural inflammation fighter and gut-health defender. Pecans are in them too which can reduce the risks of some cancers, are anti-aging and can promote weight loss. Not to mention all the health benefits of cinnamon and Himalayan pink sea salt! Basically every ingredient in these is super healthy :). These honestly taste like an oatmeal cookie… if you wanted you could add maybe a 1/2 cup uncooked oats.

Cinnamon crunch energy balls:

• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1 cup raw walnuts
• 5 medium dates pitted and soaked
• 1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pink sea salt

Start by pitting your five dates and than soak for an hour in water. Next empty the dates from the water and place in a food processor along with all the following ingredients. I used butter with mine and it made them a little sticky so I added a bit of almond flour to make them easier to roll. You can make big or little balls but I made gum ball sized with my hands and placed on a plate and put in the refrigerator to firm them up a bit. Than I moved them to a covered glass container in the fridge so we can grab whenever anyone needs a quick snack. If you are feeling extra ambitious you could roll these around in a little cinnamon and coconut sugar to give them a little coating.

I have had SO many requests for a grain-free bread recipe! Ok..no i haven’t, ha! However, I have been looking for a good grain free bread recipe for MYSELF so I have been experimenting. I have a ton of waffle, muffin and cookie recipes etc., all grain free so I knew it couldn’t be a far reach to make bread in a similar way. I’m a super fan of bread and I don’t mind so much eating store bought sourdough bread or sprouted grain bread but they are usually expensive and I save them more for special occasions. So it would be cool to have something around the house I could eat daily and not feel guilty about it or risk getting one of my awful headaches caused by sugar/grains. I have dreams of using this to make grilled cheese or a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich, french toast or a peanut butter and jelly for my kids. I’m thinking it wouldn’t work so great for garlic bread but who knows I will try it out and report back!

• 8 eggs
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 4 T butter
• 6 T coconut flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• a few dashes of cinnamon (optional)

Beat eggs well and use mixer to mix in softened cream cheese. Mix in all other ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

So what a difference a few weeks makes. Since my post about my immune boosting oil roller so much has changed. I know you have all been dying(!) to hear my thoughts about COVID 19 so here goes. It has been such a strange, slow motion chain of events that sped into overdrive and smacked me in the face this week. I’m definitely feeling fearful, although I don’t think it is beneficial or productive to feel that way, so I’m trying to keep the fear at bay. Our children’s school announced a week long closure today (although I’m sure it will be longer) and luckily we were expecting it and we just plan on laying low and staying semi-quarantined and hope for the best.

I know there are a lot of angry people over the closures and its so understandable but I think it is to keep us from getting to the point where Italy is now. I’ve been reading that the reason this virus is such a big issue is because for a big chunk of people symptoms will be very mild. So they continue on with their normal routine and further the spread unknowingly. This is ESPECIALLY true for our children who aren’t being hit as hard. So what we think is just a common cold could actually be this virus and than we send the kid to school where they just keep spreading it among each other and than eventually spread to the people that can really get sick from it. So keeping our children home and away from exposure makes the most sense in order to slow down/stop the spread. However the idea that some children might not be able to eat because they depend on the school so much for food…. this horrifies me. I would love to somehow organize a way to help these kids. Peanut butter, bread, canned tuna… small things we could do to potentially help out in a big way. Hit me up if anyone knows of a group that does this or a way I could help.

This brings me to my other point for this post, I, like a lot of people went out and stocked up on some things so we could avoid going out for a bit. This is a great recipe to make and plan on eating for several meals. This recipe has been a favorite of mine since I was in the I was in the womb! My dad made it for my mother before I was born and than for me for so many years and than I have taken it on as my own recipe. Changed so many times until I got it just perfect. I love it so much!!! I love it because I can make one big batch that could probably last the average person two weeks but for me it only lasts one week, if that, ha! I also love it because it is full of super good nutritious ingredients :). I couldn’t eat it without the pineapple but I can see how that could be a turn-off maybe for some so feel free to leave out!

Spinach Souffle

• 3 packages frozen spinach
• 16 oz container of cottage cheese
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 stick butter melted
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 pineapple, chopped finely (or canned crushed pineapple)

Thaw and drain the spinach and dump into large mixing bowl. Add in all ingredients. If using canned pineapple instead of fresh go ahead and use the juice too. Mix it all together and put into a casserole dish. Bake at 400 for 1 hour. Warning: if you love spinach like I do… super addicting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been making these little treats for years and they 100% taste like Reese’s peanut butter cups. When I was growing up I was an absolute nut for those things. Especially the extra big reese’s eggs you would get at Easter. Oh and reese’s pieces….oh my, just the best. These really are a super good substitute and I haven’t met one person that doesn’t agree ;). I store these in the freezer and pull out to thaw for a few minutes before eating. Gluten free, dairy free and realllllly easy to make. OH and only six ingredients!!

Healthy Fudge:

• two cups almond butter – room temperature
• 100% cocoa powder unsweetened
• 1/2 cup honey (or less for a less sweet taste)
• 1 heaping tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Put all ingredients in bowl and mix really well. Spread into a square baking dish and freeze. Once hard enough to cut (about an hour) pull back out and cut into individual pieces. Put the pieces in a storage container and back into the freezer. Again, I like to pull one out of freezer about 5 minutes before eating so its soft enough to bite into. I was also just realizing you could probably roll these into little balls before freezing and than freeze that way, orrrrr use candy/jello molds. You could also add chopped nuts if you wanted or sprinkle extra course salt on the top. So super yummy!!