Turkey and Sweet Potato Casserole (Paleo)

Thanksgiving summarized into 3 words: Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered). And yet, despite eating ourselves full, my family still had leftovers that filled 2 fridges and then had to be stored out in our garage.

Turkey for days.

Which is lucky because nobody argued with me when I combined some leftovers to make a new dish (well, I had to wait until after my family had their fill of turkey bacon sandwiches- God forbid we have no leftovers for that).

Unfortunately, by the time I went to put this together, all our Thanksgiving green beans were gone. Instead I just had to use leftover ingredients.

But feel free to experiment with different leftover veggies!

Also, beware: I added a lot of spice to this. I tend to sprinkle cayenne on everything after Thanksgiving to remind me drink more water. If you’re not into spicy foods though, just cut the cayenne back to 1/2 tsp.

Turkey and Sweet Potato Casserole (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ghee

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 cups turkey, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (chicken can be subbed in)

salt and pepper, to taste

—-

1 cup mashed sweet potato

1 and 1/4 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

1 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and heat ghee in a skillet. Sauté the onion, celery, carrots, and crushed pepper flakes for 10 minutes. Mix in turkey, add in salt and pepper, and then pour contents into an oiled 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. (NOTE: I sautéed my veggies since all the leftovers veggies disappeared 😦 If you DO have cooked leftover veggies, there’s no need to sauté- just combine with the turkey and crushed pepper and pour into the pie pan).

In a bowl, beat together mashed sweet potato, coconut milk, cayenne, and salt with a fork. Pour over turkey mixture and cook in oven for 35 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before spooning out. 

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Coconut Flour Bacon and Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

When I was little, I never looked forward to Thanksgiving. To me, it was just an early dinner with my family. And since I didn’t really enjoy eating (I just wanted to go play), Thanksgiving dinner was just boring. Except for the biscuits.

I ate those biscuits like it was my job. And would then get in trouble for eating too many

However, times have changed and I have come to love Thanksgiving (and obviously food!). While turkey and sweet potatoes have replaced biscuits as my favorite Thanksgiving food, I still have a soft spot for biscuits.

In case you haven’t noticed, more and more of the recipes on my blog are grain-free. After much research, I have eliminated grain from my daily diet. HOWEVER, this does not mean I will never have a slice of cake again (I’ll save it for special occasions). I’ve just decided to stop making recipes that use flour. Since I often cook for myself, my grain-intake has automatically dropped.

Anyway, this decision led to my urgency to create recipes that can be substituted in for recipes using grain. Which leads us to these biscuits.

True, the bacon and jalapeño are not part of a traditional Thanksgiving, but I think it adds a nice and complex taste to the meal!

Happy Turkey Day!

Coconut Flour Bacon and Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 and 1/2 tbsp coconut flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled into small pieces

1 tbsp jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the egg and water. In another bowl, combine the shredded cheese, coconut flour, baking powder, salt, bacon, and pepper. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together. Let sit for 3 minutes for the dough to thick. With a spoon, scoop up the dough and drop it onto an oiled baking pan. Repeat process of each biscuit. Bake for 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before eating. 

Chocolate Apple Nachos

Pictures of food do not always convey the exact deliciousness of a said food. I’m reminded of that when I sometimes browse through past posts of mine

And when I look at pictures such as the one directly below.

So, please take my word (if the picture does not suffice) when I say that these Chocolate Apple Nachos are quick to make and wonderfully satisfying.

Remember the 30 some apples I said I picked this year? A lot of them were converted into chocolate nachos. I looovvvved indulging (if you can really call it that) on these after a long day at school. Plus, it’s chocolate. Enough said 😉

Chocolate Apple Nachos

Ingredients:

1 large apple

2 tbsp plain, unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp almond butter

1 tbsp organic dark chocolate chips

1 tsp unsweetened, shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

Cut up an apple (it’s up to you if you keep the peel) and lay the slices on a plate. Combine the milk, almond butter, and chocolate chips and heat while consistently stirring (I do this over the stove, but microwaving and pausing to stir every 8 seconds also works) until a smooth liquid. Pour over apples. If desired, top with coconut. Eat up! 

Butternut Squash and Apple Cinnamon Mash (Paleo)

Eating has been a rather difficult task lately. 

I have a wisdom tooth coming in 😦 

And I never know whether to have it looked at, or just ride it out. Last time, my mouth was aching for 3 weeks and then it stopped… Hopefully it’ll be the same case for this? 

The second I told my friend, she sent me the business card of the surgeon who removed hers. But I’m a college student who has neither the time or money for that so… soft foods it is! 

And so, I’ve been slowly ummmm slurping(?) on my Butternut Squash Chocolate Pudding and this recipe recently. 

And luckily, this recipe only has a few ingredients (I’m not feeling up to complex recipes at the moment). I do want to stress that this recipe tastes extra yummy if you use saigon  cinnamon. If you don’t have any on hand, just add in a bit more cinnamon than called for 🙂 

Butternut Squash and Apple Cinnamon Mash 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup pureed butternut squash, completely cooled 

1/2 cup shredded apple (takes about 1 medium-sized apple) 

1/2 tsp SAIGON cinnamon (if using regular cinnamon, add more cinnamon to taste) 

1/4 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and eat up! 

Chili Lime Mango Intermeggo

Recently, I attended a wedding. A very fancy wedding. 

Located smack dab in the middle of Philly. Which put me in survival mode right away (I get lost and stressed while driving in cities very easily). My poor boyfriend probably thought I was psycho as I screamed for the millionth time at the GPS for telling me to go the wrong way on a one-way

Poor him. And my poor blood pressure. 

Anyway. 

Once we (finally) arrived, the rest of the evening was nice:

No longer psycho!

And of course, like everybody at a wedding, I was mainly interested in the food 🙂 

As we looked at our mini menu, we saw the word “intermeggo,” under which it simply said “Chili Lime Mango.” After pondering with our fellow dining mates, someone finally took out their cell phone and looked it up. 

So, new vocabulary word! Intermeggo is a break between courses at a fancy dinner party in which a small palette cleanser is dished out. And the “Chili Lime Mango” ended up being a bright sunny liquid in a small shot glass. 

And I gulped it down and wanted more. 

It had a very tropical and unique taste to it. Not to mention a little spicy kick in the end. 

Worthy enough for a copycat recipe- served in bigger glasses this time! 

Granted, it’s not exactly the same taste (I only had “chili” “lime” and “mango” to go off of), but it’s still tasty and cleansing enough to serve at home dinner parties 🙂  

Chili Lime Mango Intermeggo 

Ingredients: 

2 ripe mangos

1 and 1/2 tbsp lime juice 

1/2 tsp chili powder 

1/8 tsp cayenne 

1/8 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to the fridge and let chill for at least 2 hours before serving.