Creamy Paleo Gnocchi, Sausage & Kale Soup

 

Makes ~8 servings

315 cals * 19.3g fat * 12.6g carb * 18.5g protein

Ingredients: 

1 lb Italian sausage, I used ground turkey but sliced would be great too! 

1 bag (12 oz) cauliflower gnocchi, I used frozen cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe's

1 bunch kale, washed, massaged, and shredded. 

1 cup cooked and chopped bacon, about 6 slices

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4 cups chicken broth 

1 can of full-fat coconut milk

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 red pepper flakes 

1 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 tsp onion powder 

1 tsp Italian seasoning 

1 tsp dried parsley flakes 

1/2 tsp paprika 

2 garlic, minced 

1 scoop  collagen peptides* optional --adds protein and a slight thickening texture

2 tbs olive oil 

Directions: 

Stove-top/Soup pot: 

1. Heat a medium-large size pan on medium heat and add 1 tbs olive oil. Once oil is warmed, add onion and saute until translucent. Add in minced garlic and saute for 45 seconds. Add in Italian sausage and cook thoroughly. Set aside when done. 
2. Heat a medium-large soup pot on medium heat and add 1 tbs olive oil to pan and dump frozen gnocchi in. Make sure they are spread out in a single layer and then DO NOT touch/move/flip them for 5 min. After five min, flip and let sear for another 5 min. You can move them around and sear all sides at this point, if desired.
3. Add meat/onion mixture to the pot along with chicken broth, coconut milk, all seasonings, the nutritional yeast, and collagen peptides, if using. 
4. Stir. 
5. Let simmer on medium-high for 30 min. 
6. After 30 min, add shredded and massaged kale to slow cooker 
7. Add in cooked bacon.
8. Simmer 15-20 min until  kale is wilted but still bright green. 

Serve and season with salt and pepper, as desired. 

Slow cooker: 

1. Heat a medium-large size pan on medium heat and add olive oil. once warm, add onion and saute until translucent. Add in minced garlic and saute for 45 seconds or so. Add in Italian sausage and cook thoroughly. 
2. Add meat/ onion mixture to slow cooker. 
3. Add in chicken broth, coconut milk, all seasonings, nutritional yeast, and collagen peptides, if using. 
4. Stir. 
5. Cook high 3-4 hours, cook low 6-8. 

30 min before serving: 

1. Heat medium-large sized pan over medium heat. Add 1 tbs olive oil to pan and dump frozen gnocchi in. Make sure they are spread out in a single layer and then DO NOT touch for 5 min. After five min, flip and let sear for another 5 min. You can move them around and sear all sides at this point if desired. 
2. Add seared gnocchi to slow cooker. 
3. Add shredded and massaged kale to slow cooker 
4. Add in cooked bacon.
5. Let simmer for 15-20 until kale is wilted but still bright green. 

Serve and season with salt and pepper, as desired. 

Sweet 'N Savory Garlic Chicken

This made my house smell scrumptious. 

The sweet and savory combination in this dish was spot on. Thank you Providence Design.

The best part about it, it was a mix-n-walk away dish thanks to my lovely slow cooker.

I love my slow cooker just for that fact alone. I can walk away and when I return a dish is ready to be served. Genius.

So what are you waiting for? Get mixin'

Ingredients: 
4 chicken breasts (I used frozen)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar 
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2-5 Tablespoons water
Red pepper flakes (optional) 


Directions: 
Mix the brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, lime soda, garlic, soy sauce and black pepper in a bowl.
Place the chicken breast at the bottom of the slow cooker and pour the liquid mixture on top. 
Cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low. I did 8. Please note: The longer you cook it the longer the darker looking the chicken becomes. 
Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and set aside (it may fall apart, that's ok. )
Pour the sauce from the bottom of the slow cooker in a pan and bring to boil. Add in the 2tbs corn starch, red pepper flakes, 
and 2-5 tbs of water. The more water you use, the thinner the sauce (I used 2). 
Boil for 2-3 min until it become a nice, thick glaze.  
Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Enjoy!!!

 

Chicken Parmigiana Subs

Well, we must add this one to the totally awesome go-to weekly meals. 

It is simple, easy to make, and BEYOND delicious.

Truth be told, I thought about eating this sub the entire day. 

Seriously.

 It was a craving that I just had to satisfy and it was worth oh so worth it.

Also, I know I have said this before but truly slow cookers/crock-pots are a gift from above.  Easy assembly, easy cook, easy clean up. What more could you ask for?

So I give you this delicious sub. 

Ingredients: 
3 chicken breast, frozen or thawed
11.5 oz of your favorite Marinara sauce (so, half of a 23oz jar)
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/8 cup water

4-6 sub rolls (thick, to hold the juices)
Parmesan cheese, powered
mozzarella cheese, slice
Optional: 2 tbs butter, melted

Directions:
Pour your sauce into the slow cooker. Add the spices and water stir  together. Then lay your chicken on top. 
Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Shred chicken with a fork and stir all together.
You can either start plating now or let it sit a bit longer on warm to help reduce some of the juices.

Optional: Toast your roll.
Slice open your roll and add melted butter. Place on a baking sheet and broil for 2 min or until edges are a nice golden brown. 

Add chicken marinara to half of the toasted sub.
Then sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese and then lay a slice of mozzarella on top of that.

Broil again for 2 min or until cheese is melted over sub. 

Top with the other half of the toasted roll and ENJOY! 

Chili Lime Roast

London broil is a fantastic cut of meat.
It's a thick enough to hold a ton of flavor but it's also very lean and easily shredded.

I was first introduced to London broil by my mother-in-law who makes her pepper steak with it.
I love it.

It does have a unique "roast" like flavor that is hard to mask, but I found the key to this dish is the lime. It makes this roast a flavorful mexican fiesta in your mouth.

This dish is simple, high in protein, clean eating, and DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
2lbs London broil, frozen
1tbs garlic powder
1/2 chili powder
1tbs cumin
2 cups  stalk (chicken, beef, veggie, your choice)
1/2 onion, minced
1 tbs vinegar
1 4oz can of diced green chilies
2 limes, juiced

*optional sweet potato

Directions: 
Place frozen* London broil, stalk, seasonings, vinegar, chilies and onion in the slow cooker.
Set on high for 3-4 hours then turn to low for another 3 hours.
Take two forks and shred the cooked meat.
Squeeze the two limes over the shredded beef and stir.

* If your london broil is thawed cut the the  cooking time down to just 3-4 hours in the crock pot.

* If you don't have a crock pot, cut the London broil into thin strips then place them in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the meat all the way through and then all all the ingredients, except the lime. Bring to a boil for 2 min then let simmer for 20-30 min until everything is mixed in. Squeeze the two limes over the meat and shrewd more as needed.

Use to make delicious tacos or top it on a spicy sweet potato

Spicy Sweet Potato
1 sweet potato
1/16 cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork and then microwave for 3-5 min.
Carefully cut it open (the steam from the inside can burn) and scrape the insides away from the skin. Place the insides in a small bowl with the cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
Smash it all together with a fork.

Done.

Enjoy!!!!

Slow Cooker Chicken Quinoa Chili

I love fix it and forget it meals. 

This one in particular because it's perfect for those cool weather days, those days when you don't want do anything but snuggle under the covers, watch tv, or read a good book. 

This wasn't one of those days for me, but a girl can dream. 

However, it did turn out wonderfully delicious!

If you've been following along with my blog you've probably noticed new food addiction to quinoa. It's such a wonderful seed full of great health benefits and best of all KEEPS YOU FULL!

But the real truth as to why this recipe? 
Not that it was easy (it was), not that I could make it and forget it (I did, until the timer went off), not because it's healthy (it is!), but because I made a small loaf of french bread in my NEW bread machine and needed a good hearty soup to eat it with. 
Oh yeah!

So fix it, forget it, remember it, eat it!

Recipe adapted from Sweet Treats and More

Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts (mine were frozen!)*
1 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can of Rotel
1 can reduced sodium black beans
1 cup of frozen corn (or 1 can or corn) 
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped (I used 3 small sweet peppers: 1 yellow, 2 red)
1-2** tsp cumin
1-2 tsp chili powder
1-2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

* If using frozen chicken, follow directions below. 
   If using thawed chicken reduce time to 3-5 hours. 
** I used 2 tsp for everything because I love spices!
 
Directions:
Place chicken on bottom of slow cooker, dump liquids first, then solids, then seasonings. Stir. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. 
When time is up, either remove chicken and shred, or shred in  pot.
Stir well to combine. 
Top with shredded cheese, and/or a dollop of plain greek yogurt if desired!

Enjoy!!!!

Slow Cooker Honey-Glazed Garlic Chicken

Mouthful of a title I know, but it did make your mouth water so keep reading and maybe no one will notice the drool. 

This was my FIRST crock pot/slow cooker recipe! 
Now, since I moved out to the mid west it was almost a taboo to say that sentence since its a staple cooking machine out here. 
So I knew it was time to break it out!

Thanks to one of my new favorite websites: myfoodfridge.com I was able to find this recipe at 6 am in the morning (I had been struggling for a few days with not having an ingredient or two and didn't want to run to the store; this website solved my dilemma) and had it cooking all day, allowing the house to smell like honey glazed deliciousness.

It was enjoyed on top of brown rice with side of mixed veggies. 

It's SUPER EASY so have no fear...

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (they can be frozen)
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup natural ketchup
1/2 cup honey 
3 minced garlic cloves


Directions:

Place chicken at bottom of slow cooker/crock pot. Mix soy sauce, ketchup, honey, and garlic in a small bowl. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4. I found it was done at or before 6 hours ( I mean when I pushed on the chicken with a fork it just fell apart:See picture below). So I turned it to warm until dinner time!

 Serve over rice and spoon extra sauce from pot onto chicken. 

ENJOY!!!!