Whipped Coconut Cream

This whipped coconut cream is to die for. Seriously. I love it. I have been wanting to make this for years, like, since Pinterest first got started! I think this tastes even better after it has been refrigerated for 24 hours. Go stick a couple cans of coconut milk in the fridge right now, you will thank me in two days.
This is great to dip fruit it, use as s frosting, or just sneaking a spoonful of heavenly bliss.

PLEASE NOTE:
This is NOT a WHOLE30 recipe and although can be made compliant, it is most definitely considered SWYPO! (Don't know what SWYPO means? Neither did I for a long, long time. Sex With Your Pants On, it's just not worth it ;)


Whipped Coconut Cream

1, 13.5oz canned coconut milk (unsweetened) refrigerated for a minimum of 24hours
1 tsp honey (optional, I leave it out)
natural cacao powder (optional)

Place a metal, or glass bowl and the beaters to your mixer in the freezer to chill, thirty minutes prior to whipping the cream.

Remove the coconut milk from fridge and open it carefully so you don't shake up the can mixing the water and cream, scoop cream into mixing bowl.

Beat cream on high for a couple minutes until stiff peaks form.

Is your cream stiff? If you choose to add honey now is the time to do it, also add cacao powder now if you choose. How strong do you like your dark chocolate flavor? I like it light so I only added between 1-2tsp of the cacao powder.

ENJOY!!!

 This recipe is super easy to do in large batches, I would do 2-4 batches if it is for a party.

Twice Baked Squash

I loved this recipe because it is such a Fall dish! I love everything about Fall and I love everything about this dish, it's super cozy and will make you want to slip on a sweater and sit in a rocker on the front porch with something hot to drink, and a bowl of this of course! Unfortunately the weather here never feels like Fall. Oh well. But, make this up if you are a squash lover. Heck. Even if you're not a squash lover!

1, 2lb butternut squash sliced lengthwise
1/2 T coconut oil
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1 apple cored, diced
1lb country pork sausage
2tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the butternut squash cut side down on the baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes or until soft.
Remove form oven and let cool
turn oven down to 350F
While squash is cooling, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. add onion and apple and saute until onion is translucent.
Add pork, parsley, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Cook, for about 10 minutes until no pink is left in the meat.
Remove and discard seeds from squash, then scoop out flesh and place in bowl (leaving a 1/4in 'wall'/skin), mash squash flesh with fork and then mix it with meat mixture. Place hollowed-out squash in baking pan and fill with mixture.
Bake for 10 minutes, serve immediately.

Stuffed Bells

I am weird in that I like to watch people eat food I have prepared. That is the best kind of feedback you can get, those first facial expressions, words/noises, and compliments are the most sincere and I love them. The last two weeks we had a few guys staying with us that were working with my husband, I tried a couple new recipes on them and they really liked them (I saw their faces!)! So, these recipes were deemed share-able ;) This is a very pizza/Italian flavored dish and it has SO MUCH FLAVOR!!! Enjoy!!

1T coconut oil
1/2 red onion chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1lb Italian sausage or country sausage (make sure it is compliant!)
3-4 bell peppers
4 mushrooms, chopped
10 black olives

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tsp red pepper flake

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Heat oven to 375F
Heat oil in pan over medium heat, add onions and cook until soft.
Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
add Italian sausage, red pepper, and mushrooms and cook until browned, around 10 minutes.
Drain meat mixture and add to bowl along with remaining ingredients. Mix well.
Divide the filling evenly between the bell peppers and fill them. Place peppers standing up in glass pan. Bake 30-45 minutes until peppers are soft, and filling is heated through.

Tip: If making for a large crowd skip the stuffed peppers and instead dice up a green bell pepper and saute it in with the onions, finish the recipe as stated above (skipping the stuff the peppers step, obviously), pour into a glass baking dish, or cupcake liners for a single serving, and bake 15minutes until heated thoroughly! 

Artichoke and Shrimp Salad

The other night I was thinking about dinner and what I was going to do about it. I had fresh shrimp, and I had canned artichokes I wanted to try. I have never had canned artichokes before, I'm a straight off the leaf kinda gal. I was pleasantly surprised the canned ones were nearly as good as the fresh. So I mixed these ingredients together and was pleased, as were my taste buds, and my health! ;)
This would taste so good on top of a sweet potato, or zoodles but, I just ate mine like a warm salad straight out of a bowl. It was delicious and my little boy loved it too! I know a recipe is a win when he approves.

Artichoke and Shrimp Salad

1/2 T coconut oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup minced onion, yellow
1lb fresh wild shrimp
14oz canned artichoke hearts
1/4 cup chicken broth
1-2 T lemon juice
2tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper

Heat oil on medium heat, add garlic and onions. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add shrimp, artichoke, broth, and lemon juice. Cook for 4-5 minutes until shrimp are fully cooked.
Stir in parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve right away.

Stuffed Jalapenos

Oh. My. Word. I was really excited to try out the cream sauce recipe and even more excited to have some stuffed jalapenos! When I made the sauce I tried it plain, and though it was good I was a little skeptical. But, since I had made it this far I better go ahead and stuff the peppers, and I am so glad I did!
They seriously taste JUST like a stuffed pepper (obviously..because it is a stuffed pepper..), almost cheesy even! Give these a try, you can thank me later. I am actually on my way to the store to get more jalapenos..

I had a couple peppers for breakfast with fried eggs, and apple sauce. The best ever!

STUFFED JALAPENOS
Ok this is what you need!
1/2 cup cashews
1T fresh, or 1/2T dry chives
2tsp lemon juice
salt
8 jalapenos (cut in half)
8 slices of bacon (cut in half), make sure this is Whole30 compliant!

Lets get started!

Cashew Cream Sauce
1/2 cup cashews (overnight soaked)
1T fresh chives, or 1/2T dried chives
2tsp lemon juice
dash of salt

Let cashews soak over night covered in water. After soaking drain water so the cashews are only half covered.
Add all ingredients to blender or processor and blend until smooth. It took me about 5 minutes of blending and scraping the sides before I had a creamy sauce.

Cut 8 jalapenos in half and remove seeds
fill with sauce and then wrap with bacon halves.
Place on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20- 30 minutes until bacon is crispy.

Coconut Flour Tortillas

Have you done much with coconut flour? I really like the taste of it, it goes well with most things. It is also super absorbent, a little really goes a long ways. I made these Coconut Flour Tortillas today with a recipe from Against all Grain, and I thought they were more delightful to eat by themselves then with anything else. So I ate one by myself, and I ate one with my yummy Chicken & Avocado Salad and it was amazing!

Coconut Tortillas
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup egg whites
3/4 cup almond milk

Mix all ingredients together (a hand whisk is fine) and then let sit for a few minutes so the coconut flour absorbs some of the moisture.
Heat skillet on Medium heat, melt or spray some coconut oil in the skillet.
Pour 1/4 cup batter into skillet and swirl skillet around so the bottom is thinly coated with batter.
Cook for about 1 minute, then flip over and brown the other side.
Voila! Cooks just like a crepe!

Salsa, Best Ever!

This salsa recipe originated from The Pioneer Woman. She really knows her stuff. Why change something that is so perfect? Well, unfortunately I had to change it, but taste wise I didn't even notice. All I did was eliminate her added sugar to make it Whole30 friendly. Pair this with the Cafe Rio dressing, guacamole, plantain tortillas and chipotle beef. (Ughh, yeah! It's ALL Whole30 friendly!)

Restaurant Style Salsa
28 ounces of tomatoes (whole, or chopped)
2 (10oz) cans of Rotel
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1/2-1 jalapeno chopped
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cumin
1/2 cup cilantro
juice from 1/2 - 1 lime

This is a very large batch, and it is to big for my blender so I blend the tomatoes and Rotel together and then pour half of the mix into a large bowl and set aside. Pulse in the rest of the ingredients, until you reach your desired consistency and then mix all together in the large bowl.
I like to store in Mason jars up to a week in the fridge, and it freezes beautifully!