Roasted Carrots, Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

I like easy recipes. You know, the kind which require minimal ingredients yet always have an amazing flavor.

I also like almost anything when it's roasted. There's something magical that happens when you coat foods in raw butter or oil and roast them in the oven. Magical, I tell ya!  

I used to LOVE sweet potatoes with plenty of butter and brown sugar. I still enjoy those, however, I've come to adore plain ol' roasted sweet potatoes even more.

Roasted Carrots, Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

6 Carrots

6 Parsnips

4 Sweet Potatoes

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1/8 cup melted raw butter (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Peel everything, cut in to bite sized pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the melted coconut oil and butter over the veggies, add salt and pepper then mix until everything is evenly coated. Pour on to a metal baking pan and roast in a 425 degree preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the veggies are fork tender. Enjoy! 

Deviled Eggs

We cannot have a holiday with out Deviled Eggs. Seriously. If I don't make these, my 6'8" brother-by-love will go berzerk. You do not want to see him go nuts over some eggs. It isn't pretty. Okay, that may be a slight eggzageration. Ha! You see what I did there?! Anywhoo, here's my tried and true recipe!

Mama's (I'm referring to myself there) Deviled Eggs 

~  1 dozen boiled eggs
~  1/2 C real mayonnaise
~ 1 Tbsp yellow mustard
~ 1-2 tsp vinegar
~ 1/8 tsp ground cayenne
~ Salt and pepper to taste
~ Paprika or cayenne for garnish

Cut your peeled eggs in half lengthwise and place the yolks in a mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until well blended. Transfer the yolk mixture to a Ziploc bag. Snip the corner and fill your eggs. Top them with a sprinkling of paprika or cayenne, if you like it spicy! Refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Bone Broth, Chicken and Overcoming Intimidation.

This is actually considered a stock, due to the addition of veggies and spices. You could leave those out to make a traditional bone broth, however, I don't because I love the added flavor.

I've been doing some (by some, I mean tons of) reading and researching about bone broth. Turns out, it has some pretty spectacular health benefits and is amazing for gut healing. It's no wonder chicken soup is seen as a cure all for illness. When made properly, it actually does wonders for our bodies!

I'm weird about bones in my food. I don't like them and have a hard time eating anything off of a bone. I know, it's not normal. Whatevs. I also get grossed out when I have to handle raw meat. I'm working through it! Kind of.  

I decided to suck it up and get over it. I made a whole chicken in the crock pot, had Scott pull all the meat from it when it was done, then threw the bones back in the pot to make broth. 

Here's the basic process I used. 

First of all, I purchased one free range pasture raised chicken. This is very important in my opinion, especially when you will be making broth from the bones. I spiced it up with paprika, crushed rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic powder and bit of cayenne. I rubbed that all over the outside and inside of the chicken. I also thickly sliced one onion and put everything in the crock pot on high for 4 hours. It was amazing!

For the broth, I left all the drippings and onions in the pot then I tossed the bones back in, added 3 whole carrots, 4 whole pieces of celery including the leafy parts, 2 bay leaves, a bit more salt, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (this helps break down the bones and pull all of the good nutrition out) and filled it to the top with filtered water. I then let it go on low for approximately 48 hours, adding water as needed. I poured it through a strainer in to jars which I will freeze until I'm ready to use. 

I'm pretty sure I just saved myself at least $20 or more AND made something way more nutritious. This cannot be purchased in a grocery store! I can't believe I was intimidated by the process for so long. It's SUPER easy and totally fool proof!

Have you ever made your own bone broth or stock? Does the idea of doing so seem like too much work? I want to hear from you!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

Would you like a stupid easy dinner idea?

I thought so. 

Here's what you will need:

1 Spaghetti Squash

Salt

Pepper 

Olive Oil

Topping of choice (marinara, alfredo, etc)

Baking Dish

Knife

Oven 
Wine to drink while you wait for the squash to roast

Ok, those last few are a given, but I'm feeling silly this evening. 

Here's what you will do:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Microwave your spaghetti squash for a few minutes to soften the skin. Slice it in half length wise and place it cut side up in your baking dish. Drizzle it with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pop it on the oven and let it roast for about 45 minutes or until it begins to brown. Take it out, scoop out the seeds and shred the insides then eat up! You can top this with marinara sauce, alfredo sauce or enjoy it plain. 

Landon and I chose to eat it all by itself and it was amazing!

We hope you all enjoy this as much as we do. 

Before.

After coming out of the oven.

Seeds and such. 

Ready to eat.

He said, "I will show you my spaghetti squash and you can take a picture." Okay, Little Dude. 

Bite Size Stuffed Peppers w/ Feta and Cranberries

Fall is here and I'm loving it! I have the fall scents going in my wax warmers, I'm making fall food lists in my head, my hoodies are ready, my boots are practically jumping on my feet. You know, all the stuff that says Hi, I'm Fall and I'm ready to play! 

One thing I've been craving lately is stuffed peppers. The version I came up with last night can totally be a summer dish too if you throw them on the grill. I added feta and cranberries to make them more Fall-ish. 

Would you like to know a secret? I'm a frugal Mama. Okay, so that's really no secret. I try to balance all of the expensive things necessary for Landon with the super savings I am able to find on other items. All except 2 ingredients in this recipe were purchased at Aldi. I started shopping there regularly when Landon got sick out of sheer necessity. Times were tough. I still make an Aldi trip monthly because, frankly, it just makes sense. Also, because sometimes, money is still tight. OH, and because it's absolutely ludicrous to me to spend more money on the exact same items in a different store, with more marketing and mark up. You do have to read labels at Aldi (which I always do anyway) because you will find many products with high fructose corn syrup (cheap additive), which we always avoid. They did recently come out with an organic line! Exciting! 

I digress... 

Back to peppers. One thing I love about this recipe is the versatility. You can get creative with your ingredients and make lots of different flavors. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Bite Size Stuffed Peppers w/ Feta and Cranberries

- 20ish small sweet peppers (jalapeños would also be superb!)

- 1 lb pork sausage

- 16 oz. cream cheese

- 6 oz. feta cheese crumbles

- 1/8 cup dried cranberries

- 1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder and ground cayenne pepper (or more according to your tastes)

**I did end up with extra filling, which I will use later for another recipe. If you have extra, freeze it!

Mmmm...peppers...

Brown the sausage in a skillet.  

Mmmmm...sausage...

While the sausage is cooking, remove the stems from the peppers and slice them in half. 

Mmmmm...peppers again...

Mix the cream cheese, spices and sausage together in a bowl. Once those are thoroughly combined, gently add in the feta cheese. 

Mmmm...cheesy filling...

Fill your peppers and top with a few dried cranberries.

Ready to go in to the oven!

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. That's it! Super easy and delicious! 

Ready to go in to my tummy!