Peanut Butter Tomato Soup

It’s not intentional, but I’ve got another peanut butter combo for this week’s recipe. Tomatoes and peanut butter. Mixed together to make comfort soup. Sooooo good. After a hectic week working with 1st graders, it was exactly what I needed 🙂

Peanut Butter Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 (28oz) cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes

2 cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add in onions and nutmeg and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes, vegetable broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender until at the desired consistency. Stir in peanut butter until melted. Note: In my opinion, this soup tastes best after to has cooled down and is just warm or even cold (you taste the peanut butter best this way!)

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Butternut and Chicken Tomato Bake (Paleo)

First post of 2017! I’m expecting great things out of 2017:

1. I’m finishing Student Teaching and college in the next few months
2. I’m moving to Thailand to teach and travel!!!!!
3. I’m planning to continue to post recipes until moving day (and maybe even while in Thailand).

Needless to say, I am very excited for upcoming events!

Now, onto food. This is something I served at my family’s Christmas Eve party. It was a definite hit and gobbled all up before the evening ended. Enjoy!

P.S- Results are in! My most popular post of 2016 (with 2,681 views): Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas! 

Butternut and Chicken Tomato Bake (Paleo)

Ingredients:

4 cups butternut squash, cubed

2 tbsp avocado oil

salt and pepper

1.5 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup whole fat coconut milk

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups fresh spinach

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a bowl, toss together the butternut squash, 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a roasting pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the other tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add the chicken pieces, salt and pepper, and cook all the way through. Add in the onion and garlic cloves and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the coconut milk, sauce, and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute and then reduce to a simmer to thicken. Add in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Once butternut squash is finished, gently mix squash in with the chicken mixture. Transfer entire mixture into a baking dish. In a bowl, whisk an egg and then pour on top of mixture. Place mixture into a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

This year’s annual Christmas Eve Sibling picture (I’m the one on the left!)

Summer Veggie Shrimp Bake (Grain-Free)

Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of views on one specific post of mine: my Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas.

This has resulted in me craving some good ol’ shrimp lately. Since fresh summer veggies are everywhere right now, I decided to pair the two together 🙂

Summer Veggie Shrimp Bake

Ingredients:

1 large onion

2 yellow summer squash

1 eggplant

2 green peppers

1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved 

1/2 + 2 tbsp cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp avocado oil

salt and pepper

1 lb raw shrimp

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a large baking dish.

Chop the onion, squash, eggplant, and peppers into bite-sized pieces and toss in a very large bowl. Add in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, basil, garlic, avocado oil, salt, and pepper. Mix altogether and spread into the baking dish. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.

While baking, remove the shells from the shrimp and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in a bowl and mix with the remaining 2 tbsp of parmesan cheese.

After the 30 minutes are up, taking the baking dish out of the oven and up the temperature to 425 degrees. Mix the shrimp into the veggie dish and place back in the oven for 15 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Italian Eggplant Tomato “Pasta” (Paleo)

Soooo sorry, for being MIA for the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I’ve been having computer problems that I figured I should get fixed before my semester begins.

Actually, my computer troubles began over a year and a half ago when my laptop decided to no longer connect to the internet, unless it was right beside the router. Meaning, for the last year and a half, I’ve been blogging and doing anything requiring internet while huddled under the desktop computer desk.

Consider that a test for how much I love this blog.

Anyway, since my laptop is currently across the country, I have not had access to any of my recipes and pictures. Which has been driving me off-the-wall crazy! Now originally, the Geek Squad people told me my laptop would be back in “3-5 days.”

Currently, we’re at Day 11 of no computer (not to mention quite a few hundred more dollars for repair than predicted) 😦

Due to the delay of repair, the recipe and picture below is literally right-off the stove (har-har).

Italian Eggplant Tomato “Pasta”

Ingredients:

1 tbsp avocado oil

2 small eggplants, diced into bite-sized pieces

1/2 onion, chopped

1 sweet pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 handful of fresh basil, ripped into chucks

1 tbsp dried thyme

1 tbsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

1/2 cup full-fat, canned coconut milk

10 tbsp tomato paste

3 cups fresh spinach

Zucchini

Directions: 

Heat oil in pot. Add in eggplant, onion, pepper, and garlic. Cover with pot lid and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use this time to chop tomatoes and turn zucchini into pasta “noodles.”

Add tomatoes, basil, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper to the pot and continue cooking for 15 minutes.

Stir in coconut milk and tomato paste until smooth. Add in spinach and cook until wilted.

Serve sauce over stove-heated zucchini “pasta.”

Summer Squash Salad

Summer is once again coming to a close. I’m going to miss the beach weather and the bonfires, but I’m actually really excited for the fall. Just thinking about apple cider, pumpkins, and Halloween gets me all excited! Before I fully leap into autumn mode, I wanted to post a few more summer-ish recipes. After all, there’s still a week left before Labor Day Weekend. Since this one uses summer squash, I figured this took top priority.

Summer Squash Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups brussels sprouts, sliced in half

1/2 large onion, sliced into half circles

2 garlic cloves, sliced into coins

1 tbsp sesame seed oil

1 ear of corn

2 tbsp pine nuts

1 small zucchini

1 small yellow squash

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine brussels sprouts, onions, and garlic cloves. Add sesame seed oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and toss together. Spread out on a roasting pan. Rub sesame oil on ear of corn, season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Also place in the roasting pan. Transfer to oven and let roast for 25 minutes, STIRRING EVERY SO OFTEN.

In a separate pan, place pine nuts and let roast in the oven for 3 minutes. Set aside.

While vegetables are roasting, use a peeler to peel zucchini and squash into thin strips. Place on serving platter and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Top with halved tomatoes. Once vegetables are finished roasting, let cool for 5 minutes. Remove corn from ear. Scatter brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, corn, and pine nuts onto top of squash peels. Top with clumps of goat cheese, if desired.