Turkey/Chicken Cheese Dip (Grain-Free)

Feast your eyes on this lovely creation!

Hmmm, with turkey still in many bellies, is it too early to say “feast?”

I actually haven’t stopped feasting since Thanksgiving, thanks to many, many leftovers… oh well.

And speaking of leftovers, this is an awesome recipe to use up some turkey from Thanksgiving. No turkey to spare? Chicken works just as well!

But seriously, this recipe is a-mazing! I couldn’t stop eating it (hence the “haven’t stopped feasting since Thanksgiving”). And with the house to myself for the next week, I’m in a bit of a paradise right now 🙂

Turkey/Chicken Cheese Dip (Grain-Free)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup roasted red peppers, chopped (from jar)

2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp dried cilantro

salt and pepper

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup chicken broth 

2 tbsp tapioca flour

3/4 cup roasted crushed tomatoes

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 and 1/2 cups cooked and shredded turkey/chicken 

Directions:

In a deep skillet, heat oil and add in onion, garlic, peppers, parsley, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes. Add in milk and chicken broth and bring to a boil. With a fork, whisk in tapioca flour and allow to thicken. Put on low heat and add in tomatoes, cheeses, and turkey/chicken. Stir until all mixed together and heated. Serve. 

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Butternut Squash Banana Pie (Paleo)

A new Thanksgiving dessert recipe! Well, kind of. I wouldn’t limit this to Thanksgiving. It’s too good to eat only once a year.

Fear not if you think butternut squash is weird to include in a dessert (I have my Butternut Squash Chocolate Pudding, Butternut Squash Chocolate Truffles, and Chocolate Almond Butternut Squash Cookies to prove you wrong, by the way) because the taste of it is not detectable! This tastes like a good ol’ banana and peanut/almond butter pie. The butternut squash acts as a filler to make extra volume. And who would complain about a more voluminous pie?

Not this girl here 😉

And as a Thanksgiving special, I’ve included a 2 in 1 recipe! Pie filling and a pie crust. I have long stopped using store-bought pie crust. This recipe is a lot healthier than what you can find in a store. Plus it takes only 3 seconds to make!     

Butternut Squash Banana Pie (Paleo)

Pie Crust Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of raw nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts…whatever you fancy!)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1.5 tbsp water

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place nuts and and coconut in food processor and pulse until fine. Add in rest of ingredients. Pulse, scraping sides if needed. Dump pie crust into a 9-in pie pan and press down and up against the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile…

Pie Filling:

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked and pureed butternut squash

1/4 cup nut butter of choice

3 ripe bananas

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in food process and blend until smooth. Spread in a prepared pie crust and freeze for 3-4 hours. If freezing for a longer period of time, allow to thaw before eating. 

Spicy Cinnamon Roasted Almonds (Paleo)

Yesterday, I got to meet and answer questions for the next group of college students heading out to India. I can’t believe its coming up on a year since I’ve gone!

I am so insanely jealous of them! But, I got to hear updates on one of the schools we helped out in and heard that they now have running water, which is awesome!

Anyway, the questions from yesterday naturally led to conversation on food. Which reminded me of how I lived on roasted almonds for several days (See here for info). And then I realized that I never posted that recipe for said nuts. So here you go!

Spicy Cinnamon Roasted Almonds (Paleo)

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup raw almonds

1/2 tbsp avocado oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne

pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine almonds and oil in a bowl, and then add in the rest of the ingredients. Spread onto a pan and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Hear that sizzling in? It means DON’T PLACE DIRECTLY IN MOUTH! (You learn from experience 😉 )  

Caramelized Broccoli, Onions, and Walnuts (Paleo)

I first made this recipe back in the summer, when my laptop was being repaired. Because of this, I had to jot everything down on a piece of paper.

Which I then lost thanks to the chaotic wind whirl known as school.

Luckily, I was moving some textbooks around today and found this recipe under one of my seminar books.

Yay! A little piece of summer still lives on!

Caramelized Broccoli, Onions, and Walnuts (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 small red onion, chopped

5 cups broccoli florets

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Heat avocado oil in a skillet over medium-low heat and add in onions and broccoli. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the broccoli begins to caramelize, stirring occasionally. Add in walnuts and cook for 5 minutes. Add in balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Take off heat, transfer to serving dish, and stir in olive oil. Serve.