Recipe Round Up

One of the questions I get asked the most is how I manage to meal prep and where I find all my recipes. I have always heard "if you fail to plan, plan to fail" which is how I feel about meal prepping. I feel like I show up the best in all areas of my life when I'm feeding my body whole, nutrient dense food vs. grabbing something on the go. I try to keep everything I eat free of wheat, soy, gluten, dairy, and refined sugar. I know it sounds like there's nothing left to eat but I promise there is! I thought it would be fun if I gave a weekly round up of all the things I'm prepping for the week and an opportunity for me to highlight some amazing places for you to source recipes from. I typically spend a few hours every Sunday prepping all our food for the week. To cut down on the time I spend in the kitchen I usually find one recipe I can slow cook, one I can bake in the oven and one I can bake on the stove. I have the attention span of a small toddler so I'm typically looking at food blogs while "watching" a movie with my husband, which consists of him asking me every 5 minutes if I'm paying attention. I'll then make a list of things I want to make and what I need from the store for the following week. I always make sure I have the basics on hand like spices, cooking oil, beef or chicken bone broth, and full fat canned coconut milk. I've found that almost all recipes that call for vegetable broth can have bone broth used in place. I'm all about getting bone broth into your diet wherever you can. It's filled with collagen which is so important for healthy skin and joints and glutamine which is known to calm inflammation internally and help heal leaky gut just to name a few of the benefits. As far as cooking oils go, for high heat cooking I prefer coconut oil, ghee, and avocado oil. Olive oil is great but you want to use that for low heat cooking only as cooking with olive oil at high heat can create toxicity. Stick to a 350 smoke point with this one. Full fat canned coconut milk can be used in place of heavy cream in almost any recipe and no one will know. You can leave it in the can and put it in the fridge for a thicker consistency or leave it in your cupboard for a thinner one. Now let's check out some recipes! 1. Oat Flour and Coconut Milk Chocolate Muffins. I would consider these to be more of a breakfast muffin vs. a dessert muffin. The recipe calls for one can of coconut milk and I recommend buying the full fat version as it contains the healthy fats your brain and body needs. These muffins are also egg free making it a good option for people with acne prone skin. Head here to get the recipe. Pro Tip: Use muffin liners and spray them with avocado oil so muffins don't stick to them.

2. Slow Cooker Sausage, Potatoes and Green Beans. This recipe is so easy to make. You can just dump it in your crockpot and forget about it for 5/6 hours. This recipe calls for smoked sausage but I used Applegate fire roasted and red pepper chicken sausage. I like that it contains minimal ingredients and NO added sugar. I also used bone broth in place of the low sodium broth and carrots instead of potatoes. So easy to make and packs a ton of nutrients in. Head here to get the recipe.

3. Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas. This recipe is easy to make and involves minimal ingredients. It does involve marinating your chicken and veggies for about 30-60 minutes before you cook (something to be mindful of). It's chalk full of vegetables, protein and healthy fats. You could wrap it in a tortilla or eat it plain. Head here to get the recipe. This recipe is also Whole 30 approved. For a gluten free/dairy free tortilla option I love Siete almond flour tortillas. I typically find them at Whole Foods.

And onto the best part....DESSERTS. 4. Flourless Black Bean Olive Oil Brownies. I love that these brownies are gluten, dairy, and egg free. Dark chocolate is one of my favorite things and these brownies resemble that taste perfectly. I like that they contain no refined sugar and are packed with fiber from the black beans (you can't taste them) and healthy fats from the olive oil. I'm always looking for ways to recreate healthy versions of my favorite dessert and this recipe nails it. Head here to check it out.

5. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake. This recipe is much more time consuming and would be perfect for a special occasion but it's like an explosion of your taste buds. It is designed to be a sheet cake but I used two 6" cake pans and did it as a two layer cake. I also used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten free baking flour instead of traditional flour and coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. The peanut butter buttercream frosting calls for vegan butter but I used ghee instead and it still turned out perfect, just make sure the butter is at room temp instead of refrigerated. Head here to get the recipe.

Okay kids that's all I have for you. Hopefully this is helpful! XOXO, Kaila