Chocolate Covered Clementines (Paleo)

Happy Halloween! Really simple and quick treat for you guys today.

Chocolate covered clementines!

Move over strawberries, because clementines and chocolate are now the new best of buds. And with the orange and black color, we got Halloween covered 🙂

Bungie totally agrees with me too. Granted, he can’t have chocolate, but he is decked out for Halloween and kept eyeing up these treats (and photobombing pictures in the process!)

Happy Halloween!                                                 From Bungie and I to you!

Chocolate Covered Clementines (Paleo)

Ingredients

2 oz dark chocolate (the darker the better!) 

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

5 clementines, peeled and broken into pieces 

salt

Directions:

Cover a plate with wax paper.

Melt together the chocolate and milk (you want a pretty thin consistency).

Dip half of each clementine in the chocolate and then transfer to the plate. Repeat for each clementine.

Sprinkle with salt and place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes, for chocolate to harden. 

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Balsamic Cinnamon Pears (Paleo)

Pears kinda freak me out. There’s just something about them… I think it’s the texture. Every time I bite into one, I expect the crispiness of an apple and instead get this… grainy texture? I don’t know. Call me weird if need be.

But, when cooked down a bit, the texture issue goes away and sudden it’s like I’m eating apple pie/crisp. It’s amazing how much liquid comes out of pears when cooked down. I almost drained it all, but realized just in time that it makes for an awesome sauce for this dessert/snack -like recipe.

Balsamic Cinnamon Pears (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tsp ghee

2 pears, peels and chopped into small pieces

1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Melt ghee in a small pot. Add in pears and cook until pear juice is released and the pears are heated (5 minutes). Add in cinnamon and salt and stir until all combined. Take off heat and mix in balsamic vinegar. Serve.

Butternut Squash Butter (Paleo)

My goal this week was to try to make apple butter for the first time.

Only problem is… it’s kinda hard to make when you don’t have any apples and the grocery store seems forever away (translation: when you’re just plain lazy to leave your house).

So, I did not achieve the above goal. Bummer.

Rather, I took advantage of the butternut squash lined up on the kitchen counter and what did I get… Butternut Squash Butter!

I mean, “butter” is in the name of the squash. It just seemed that it was begging to be made into a delicious spread. So, I just created the inevitable.

And oh boy, isn’t this autumn in a jar. Both in smell and taste.

Forget spreading the butter on something- I just attack it with a spoon 😉

Butternut Squash Butter (Paleo)

Ingredients:

2 and 1/2 cups cooked and puréed butternut squash (make sure it’s nice and smooth!)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp dried ginger

1/8 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp cardamon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a pot and cook on the stove over LOW heat for 45 minutes. Stir every so often. Afterwards, let cool to room temperature, transfer to a jar with a sealed lid, and place in the fridge overnight. Spread butter on whatever you like the next day- or just attack it with a spoon! Store in the fridge.

Butternut Squash Hash (Paleo)

Yup! It’s butternut squash season again! Representing in fancy brunch idea 🙂

Butternut Squash Hash (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ghee

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 packed cups shredded butternut squash (see note below)

1 cup cut-up sausages (precooked)

5 cups fresh spinach leaves

*Note: To get shredded butternut squash, find a butternut squash with a LONG NECK. Only shred the neck to avoid butternut squash “guts” and seeds (just save the round part of the squash for another recipe). Before shredding with a grater, make sure to peel the skin off! 

Directions:

In a skillet, heat ghee over low heat until melted. Add in onions, garlic, paprika, cayenne, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Afterwards, add in shredded butternut squash, cover skillet with a lid, and let cook for 5 minutes. Mix in sausage and 1 cup of  spinach leaves. Cover with a lid and let cook until slightly wilted. Add in another cup of spinach and repeat the process. Do this until all 5 cups of spinach is used. Make the final adjustments with salt and pepper and serve!

Zuppa Toscana Sausage Soup (Paleo)

Thankfully, Hurricane Joaquin took a turn away from the East Coast this weekend. Even so, we got a whole lot of rain these last few days. And chilly, rainy days = perfect soup weather 🙂 

Zuppa Toscana Sausage Soup (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 lb sweet Italian sausage, castings removed

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

4 cups chicken broth

2 large sweet potatoes (any color), cubed into bite-sized pieces

salt and pepper

1 can full-fat coconut milk

5 oz fresh spinach

Directions:

In a pot, cook sausages, breaking into pieces with a spatula, until mostly browned. Add in onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for 10 minutes. Afterwards, add in chicken broth, sweet potatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and spinach and cook for 10 more minutes before serving.