Cinnamon Salted Caramel Brownies : Vegan, Gluten Free

Recipe From: BakerBettie website

Note: This is an expensive recipe. Almost all of the ingredients will come from the HyVee Health Market, and things like Almond Butter, Coconut Oil, Real Maple Syrup, and Almond Flour aren't cheap. But they are typically staples you only use a small amount of in other recipes. You use a lot of these in this recipe, but I promise it is worth it. This recipe is DELICIOUS. It is rich, so you're not tempted to eat more than one brownie at a time, so they last a while! Make it. Enjoy it. You won't regret it!

Ingredients:

for the salted caramel sauce:

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 1/4 cup pure ("real") maple syrup
• 3/4 cup solid coconut oil
• 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

for the brownies

• 1 1/2 cups of salted caramel sauce (from above)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (i bought regular cocoa powder and it was fine)
• 2 cups sifted almond flour

Directions (prepare to get sticky):

• In a large mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder and almond flour.

• Put all ingredients for the salted caramel sauce into a food processor or high-speed blender.

• Blend on high for two minutes, scraping the sides down periodically. *DON'T SKIP ON BLENDING FOR THIS LONG.* Blending for this long will create the sticky caramel-like sauce!

• Pour 1 1/2 cups of the salted caramel sauce into the flour/cocoa mixture and stir until well combined.

• Spread the mixture evenly into a lightly oiled parchment paper-lined 8x8 pan.

• Bake at 360 degrees for 12-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 

• Drizzle warm salted caramel sauce over the top of the brownies. 

Earlier, I poured any remaining sauce from the food processor to a measuring cup. I now put the cup into the microwave for about 15 seconds to warm it up enough to pour.

• Allow to cool in the pan.
• Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Tortilla-Less Chicken Soup

Recipe From: Paleo Slow Cooking: Gluten Free Recipes Made Simple by Chrissy Gower

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalepeno pepper, diced (I left this out as I am a wuss when it comes to spicy foods)
• 16 ounces chicken broth
• (1) 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes w/ green chiles 
• (1) 28-ounce can enchilada sauce (I used mild, but use whatever you like for your spiciness preference!)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Directions:

• In a medium-size pan, saute the onion, celery, and carrots in the olive oil until onions are translucent (3-5 minutes over medium heat)
• Place sauteed veggies in the slow cooker
• Rinse & trim the chicken breast (if necessary) and add to the slow cooker.
• Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Notes:

I cooked for 9 hours and found it was perfect.

I added shredded mozzarella cheese to my servings as I'm kind of a wimp with spiciness! 

Also a fun add-in: crunched up pieces off HyVee Brand Black Bean & Quinoa tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Clean "Ranch" Dressing

Recipe From: Delilah
This is perfect to dip veggies in!

Ingredients:

• 1 container Chobani Greek yogurt, plain flavor
• Garlic powder, salt, pepper, parsley to taste

Directions:

• Scoop the yogurt into a small tupperware container.
• Stir in the seasonings. 

It's that easy!

Just make sure you SLOWLY add in the seasonings and taste as you go. The first time I made this, I put in WAY too much garlic and had to scrap the whole thing. But, once you perfect it, it tastes just like ranch without all the bad stuff!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Bell Peppers w/ Quinoa & Cheese

Recipe From: Robin Takes 5 Cookbook - adjusted by replacing goat cheese with mozzarella, and replacing rice with quinoa.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz lean ground beef (I used a whole lb.. I bought huge peppers. This makes four)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp onion and herb seasoning (salt-free) (I used Mrs. Dash) - I also used more than 2 teaspoons since I used more meat - eyeball it.
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (follow directions on box to cook) (get pre-washed quinoa in the HyVee Health Market)
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (again, I used more)
• 4 large bell peppers (red, orange, whatever you like)

Directions:

Note: Cook the quinoa first!! It takes about 15 minutes so get this out of the way first.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Heat oil in skillet at med-high heat, cook beef and break-up as it cooks. 
• Add seasoning and stir in to coat meat.
• Stir in the quinoa and cheese, cook until the cheese melts. Remove from heat.
• Cut off the stem from the peppers and remove the seeds (rinsing them out usually does this just fine). 
• Spoon the beef mixture into the peppers and arrange onto a pan (layered with parchment paper of course!) 
• Cover with foil and bake for 20 mins. 
• Uncover and bake another 10 ins until the peppers are tender.

Enjoy!

This was some leftovers, re-heated. I just sprinkled some extra cheese on before microwaving!

Lettuce Wraps w/ Grilled Steak & Cheese

Recipe From: Robin Takes 5 Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 lbs flank steak
• 1 head of iceberg lettuce - leaves separated
• 1/2 cup sliced red onion 
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:

• Heat coconut oil into a skillet on medium-high heat.
• Season both sides of the steak with salt & pepper and place in pan.
• The recipe said to cook on each side 3-5 mins for medium to medium-rare. I ended up cooking it lots longer, flipping every 4 mins or so. I was cooking for my parents, who prefer more well-done, so that was part of it, but it also just was looking bloody for a LONG time. so just cut into it and check it as you go.
• Cut against the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices
• Arrange the lettuce leaves and serve buffet style with toppings (onion, cheese, tomato)

Enjoy!

We enjoyed these with Stuffed Peppers as well.

Zucchini Bruschetta

Recipe From: My Mom/Online?
When my mom gave me this recipe, it didn't have a title. I decided Zucchini Bruschetta was appropriate based on the ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 tomato, sliced
• Shaved parmesan cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese (I used a mixture of both!)
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Slice the zucchini in half. Slice off part of the underside if necessary to keep stable.
• Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder.
• Top with slices of tomato, salt & pepper to taste.
• Top with cheese mixture.
• Line pan with parchment paper. 
• Place zucchini halves in pan.
• Bake for 20-30 minutes (I would even do 40 minutes if the zucchini is very large/thick to ensure it's cooked all the way through)

Enjoy!

Melt In Your Mouth Chicken

Recipe From: My Mom provided this one for me, however I've seen it shared on Facebook from various sources, so I apologize for not knowing who actually invented it. If you know, please tell me so I can give credit!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt (I used Mrs. Dash)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Line a glass baking pan with parchment paper. Spread the mixture over 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-45 minutes. *check temp* 

Note: Next time I make this, I plan to make a slice in the chicken breasts length-wise, and spreading some of the mixture inside the breasts as well to add to the overall moisture of the end product and to enhance the flavor. 

Enjoy!

Pictured here with a side of baby carrots and Zucchini Noodles

Clean Eating Lemon Zucchini Chicken

Recipe From: Mom (online?)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 3/4 lb zucchini, cubed
• 1/2 medium red onion, chopped
• 1/2 TBSP olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 TBSP garlic powder

Directions:

• Sautee the onion in the olive oil.
• Add the chicken, zucchini, lemon juice, lemon zest, and garlic powder to the skillet.
• If you have a lot of water in the pan, feel free to remove some. Or you can let it cook out as you cook the dish.
• Cook however long it takes for the chicken to cook all the way through.

Allow to cool slightly, and enjoy!

Chicken Salad w/ Grapes

Recipe From: Paleotable.com

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1 1/2 lbs cooked chicken cut into SMALL bite-size pieces. OR shredded.
• 1 cup red grapes, quartered
• 1 cup celery, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cherries (optional - I never use these)
• 1/2 cup roasted/chopped nuts (hazelnuts, pecans, etc - I use pecans)
• 1 cup cottage cheese, blended/food processed until smooth
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 

Directions:

• Combine everything into a bowl.

Enjoy!

Notes:

To cook the chicken, I typically cut the uncooked breasts into very small (quarter-size) pieces and cook it on the stovetop in a skillet with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Just make sure its cooked all the way through. The website author recommends using leftover rotisserie chicken as well, but I like making my own.

Clean Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe From: Delilah / The Whole Pantry App

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 2 1/2 TBSP melted coconut oil
• 2 TBSP real maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 340 degrees.
• Mix everything except chocolate chips together in a large bowl.
• Add the chocolate chips last to the mixture, stir together.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
• Using your (CLEAN!) hands, mold the mixture together into small balls, and flatten slightly as placing onto sheet. 
• Note - the mix won't feel like your average cookie dough, because it's not "dough." It's gritty. It's OKAY!
• This should make about 9 small cookies.
• Bake for about 14-15 minutes. Don't let the bottoms get TOO brown, take them out when the bottoms look golden.
• The tops may look uncooked/slightly jiggly - this is okay. They will finish cooking as they sit out.
• Leave sitting out for 15-20 minutes, they will firm up.

Enjoy! These are one of my FAVORITE snacks!!

Zucchini Noodles

Recipe From: Delilah

Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Base (found in the HyVee Health Market)
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste

Directions:

• Peel long strips of the zucchini all the way around. Peel as many as you can!
• Heat the olive oil and a small dab of the bouillon in a large skillet.
• Add the strips of zucchini to the skillet. Stir the strips around.
• As the zucchini cooks, add in the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
• Cook until they look done! 

Enjoy!

Here's a pic when I had them as a side with some leftover Pesto Chicken (topped with Trader Joe's Bruchetta!)

Pork Marinade w/ Grilled Pineapple

Recipe From: Delilah

Marinade Ingredients:

• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped (chop after measuring)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (chop after measuring)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic, pressed (optional)

Other Ingredients:

• Fresh pineapple, sliced into rings (amount up to you)
• Gluten-free soy sauce
• Extra-Virgin Coconut oil

Marinade Directions:

• Place all ingredients in a bowl, stir together.
• Pour into a large ziplock freezer bag.
• Place 2 med-large bone-in pork chops (or 4 small boneless chops) in bag.
• Make sure marinade covers pork well. 
• If freezing, thaw for 24 hours before cooking. 
• Otherwise, marinate in fridge for 24 hours.

Cooking Directions - Pork:

• Heat a frying pan on high.
• Add one tablespoon of coconut oil to pan.
• Once hot, add pork to the pan.
• Cook one minute per side.
• Turn heat to low and cover.
• Monitor for burning, turning pork as needed.
• Cook for 10 minutes or more, test temp using meat thermometer. (145 degrees, per FoodSafety.gov)
• If still not done after 20 minutes, okay to turn heat up, but the outsides of the pork may burn. Use your best judgement!

Cooking Directions - Pineapple: 

• Heat up the grill
• Place fruit slices on the grill
• Brush with gluten-free soy sauce
• Close grill and cook for 3-5 minutes.

*Note, I use a George Foreman Grill. Adjust this however you need. Once I was feeling lazy so I just poured about a half a tablespoon of soy sauce in a sauce pan, threw some leftover chunks of pineapple in, and cooked it on the stovetop for a few minutes. Not quite the same, but it does the trick in a lazier way! 

Enjoy!

Pesto Chicken

Recipe From: Delilah


Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP almond flour OR 1 TBSP pine nuts (almond flour found in the HyVee Health Market, sometimes separated into a gluten-free section)
• lots of salt ("lots" is an estimate ;) - just use your best judgement!)
• 4 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Take all ingredients (minus chicken, obvs) and blend in a food processor (Ninja!!!) until smooth.
• Cut a slit long-ways into the chicken, butterfly style. 
• Spread the pesto inside the chicken breasts. (Feel free to spread pesto on top as well)
• Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
• Bake roughly 30-40 minutes, checking temperature for certainty (165 degrees per FoodSafety.gov)

Enjoy!

Baked Marinara Spaghetti Squash

Recipe From: Delilah

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 tub cottage cheese (I buy 24 oz but don't use the whole thing!) (and not low-fat)
• 1 lb Italian Turkey Sausage - Mild (I use HoneySuckle White brand)
• 1 jar marinara sauce of your choice (I like mushroom onion flavor; buy this in the HyVee Health Market)
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Oregano, parsley, salt to taste
• 1 clove pressed garlic (optional)

Directions:

• Bake the entire squash for like 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Just set it on the rack in the oven, whole. These things are super hard to cut and this will soften the skin a bit. But it's hot as hell when it's done so be careful!
• Once it's cooled enough to handle, cut it in half, longways.
• Scoop out the seeds and gunk around the seeds, but leave the meat!
• Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Place the two halves of the spaghetti squash face-down on the baking sheet and cook for about 45 minutes. 
• Brown one lb of italian sausage, breaking up into pieces while cooking.
• To test that the squash is done cooking, you need to use a fork to scrape at the insides. When it's done, it will fall out looking like strings of spaghetti. Use tongs to hold the outside as it will still be hot.

• Let it cool a bit, then scrape the "spaghetti" into the bottom of a pan (lined with parchment paper!) I use a 9x9 square pan typically. Don't use TOO much squash. It's a watery vegetable when cooked and too much will drown the dish. Just enough to line the bottom!
• Top the squash with a thin layer of cottage cheese.
• Sprinkle with oregano (be careful - this herb pours quickly!!), parsley, salt and garlic (if desired).
• Top with cooked sausage.
• Pour jar of marinara sauce over sausage.
• Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Bake (uncovered) at 400 degrees for anywhere from 20-40 minutes, until (as Delilah puts it) "The cheese looks toasted, like pizza!) 

Like this!

Enjoy!

Breakfast Smoothies

This isn't really a "color-by-numbers" type of recipe. By that I mean this isn't something you need to follow exactly. But for those of you who have never made a smoothie at home before, like I never had before I started eating clean, this is a great way to start.

Ingredients:

• Whateva fruit! Definitely bananas, however. I usually stick to strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, and pineapple. Occasionally I'll get a pear or some other random fruit but those are pretty great staples.
• Whey protein powder 
• I currently have a vanilla flavored kind which I bought on accident. Normally I had, I dunno, an un-flavored kind? Whatever it was, this vanilla flavor is MUCH more noticeable than whatever I had before. But in a good way! It's tasty. Anyway, whey is a great way to make sure you're getting a little bit of protein in the morning if this is your only breakfast. Otherwise, you can skip the protein powder and have a slice of Egg Bake with your smoothie!
• Almond Milk (I prefer Silk brand - unsweetened).

Prep Directions

• Cut up your fruits into small pieces.
• Divide them amongst pint freezer ziplock bags. Don't over-fill them: I recommend no more than just below halfway full. Otherwise your smoothie will be too big for your Blender Bottle!
• Include half a banana in each bag.
• Freeze!

Directions

• Place the contents of one bag into your blender cup.
• Pour about 1/2 cup of almond milk in.
• That is a rough estimate. I just eyeball it. Start with less if you want - you can always add more if your smoothie is too thick! 
• Add one scoop of whey protein powder
• Blend until smooth

Enjoy!

Beet Salad

Recipe From: Delilah

This isn't really a "salad" per se. It's mostly just cooked beets in a light dressing. Tastes very similar to the pickled beets I used to eat when I was a kid that I loved! It's a great light side.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium-large beets
• 1 large orange
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 TBSP vinegar (I used red wine vinegar, whatever you prefer is fine, however)
• salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Cut the ends off of the beets
• Wash the beets
• Wrap them in squares of aluminum foil
• Place in small pan and bake "until you stop caring" per Delilah! Seriously. We let them cook for probably 40-50 minutes while we did other meal prepping.
• Juice an orange into a medium-large size tupperware container
• Add the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to tupperware
• Slice the cooked beets into bite-size pieces, add to the tupperware
• Seal container tightly, shake to distribute dressing!

Enjoy!

Egg Bake

Recipe from: Delilah

Ingredients:

• 1 lb roll turkey breakfast sausage (I prefer HoneySuckle White brand)
• Eggs (I typically have to use about 14 but this can vary depending on if you're making it in a bread pan or as muffins)
• Sweet Potato OR Alexia brand All-Natural Sweet Potato Puffs (not as healthy but an easier, faster option)
• Sea salt 
• Pepper (I recommend using grinders for both salt and pepper)
• Garlic Powder

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place parchment paper in bread pan. 
• If making as muffins - There are parchment paper muffin wrappers. I didn't use those the one time I made them that way, and mine stuck to the wrappers I did use. Trial and error!
• Wash & cut the sweet potato into small chunks.
• Layer the bottom of the pan with the sweet potato chunks (or frozen Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs).
• Brown 1 lb breakfast sausage, breaking into small chunks as cooking.
• Place cooked sausage over sweet potato.
• Break eggs into bowl, stir in sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 
• Pour eggs over sausage and potatoes.
• You want to have enough eggs to almost entirely cover the sausage. Some peeking out is okay. This is why the amount of eggs isn't a given. It will depend on the size of pan you use (I use bread pan/meatloaf pan). I generally mix and pour eggs about 6 at a time so not to over-do it.
• Cook uncovered until not jiggly! Start for 20 minutes and test. Seriously, just give the pan a little shake. you want to make sure the eggs all the way in the middle are cooked through!

Once done, cut into thick slices. You can put these into individual ziplock bags for later days. This is good cold or reheated. It's also tasty with some organic ketchup on top! :)

Enjoy!