Tag: seasonal eating

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Late-Summer Stuffed Squash

There is a recipe for stuffed bell peppers that I have been using quite often lately, but when I can find Globe squash, basil, carrots, and tomatoes in season, it seems like perfect timing to use globe squash instead of bell peppers. If you have bell peppers on hand, use those instead.

Late-Summer Stuffed Squash

cleaneatingwithkatie
This recipe is a perfect melding of late summer food flavors — all in one dish. It's one of those dishes that looks real fancy, but isn't. Serve this when you want to impress your book club or in-laws ;-).
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

Ingredients

  • 12 globe squash choose larger ones for stuffing
  • 3 lbs fresh tomatoes, stemmed and diced or 24oz canned diced tomatoes
  • 1 med yellow onion diced
  • 3 med carrots diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 small bunch of basil
  • 2 lbs pasture raised ground pork or other ground meat of choice

Spice Blend

  • t tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
  • ½ tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp granulated garlic
  • ½ tsp granulated onion
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the olive oil to a large sauté pan and heat over medium. Add the onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and stir frequently. The goal is to reduce the liquid, so continue cooking over medium heat.
  • Add the carrots and the salt, pepper, and spice blend. Cook for about 20 minutes, continuing to stir the mixture to prevent burning.
  • Add the ground meat and break apart with a spatula and continue to cook until the meat is cooked through. Turn down the heat. 
  • Chiffonade 10-12 leaves of basil, set aside. Add the basil to the meat and veggie mixture before spooning into squash. 
  • While the meat is cooking, slice the stems off of the squash. Use a spoon to score a circle about 1 cm from the edge. I suggest using a cookie dough scooper (basically a small ice cream scoop) to scoop out the innards of each squash, being careful to keep the outter flesh intact.
  • Set the squash in a 9 x 13 in baking dish.
  • Spoon the meat and veggie mixture into the squash and overfill. 
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the squash. Top with a sprig of basil and serve. 
Keyword gluten-free, grain-free, late summer stuffed squash, paleo, stuffed squash, summer squash
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Spaghetti Squash and Turkey Meatballs

This recipe is inspired by a spaghetti squash dish I had in Salt Lake City when I attended the Young Living Conference in June of 2017. It was so good and filling that I knew that I needed to recreate my own version at home. Every time I make it, Jim raves about it!

Spaghetti Squash and Turkey Meatballs

cleaneatingwithkatie
I've included the sauce recipe that I use, BUT for a quicker version, my two favorite clean and tasty sauces are Rao's and Otamot. Feel free to substitute. This is a satisfying and hearty winter dish and I think will be a crowd pleaser.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • jellyroll pan

Ingredients
  

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 28 oz can diced organic tomatoes
  • 1 7 oz jar organic tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1½ tsp garlic sea salt
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf

Meatballs

  • 1½ lbs ground organic turkey
  • 1 tsp garlic sea salt
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp ground pepper

Other

  • 2 small spaghetti squash
  • 2 tbsp parsley chiffonade optional garnish
  • 2 tbsp shaved parmesan cheese optional garnish

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. 
  • Cut the top and bottom off of the spaghetti squashes. Then cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place squashes flesh side down in a rimmed pan (like a jellyroll pan) with about a 1/4 inch of water. 
  • Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the skin. 
  •  Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan over low-medium heat, add the olive oil, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and all spices. Stir to combine.
  • Allow to come to a low simmer. 
  • In a medium bowl, add the meat and spices. Mix together with your hands until spices are well distributed throughout the meat. 
  • Form the meat into eight evenly-sized meat balls. Place meatballs in the sauce to cook.
  • When the spaghetti squash is cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool, use a fork to loosen the flesh from the skin. Keep the flesh in the skin to allow for a "bowl" in which to serve the squash, sauce, and meatballs.
  • Cook meatballs in sauce turning over after about 25 minutes. Cook for about 20 additional minutes, or until meat is done in the center. 
  • To serve, place one half of the spaghetti squash in a bowl. Top with meatballs, sauce, fresh parsley, and shaved parmesan.
Keyword grain-free spaghetti, spaghetti squash, stuffed squash
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Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe is inspired by a pumpkin cookie recipe that I fell in love with years ago. I remember thinking, who needs pumpkin pie if you have these cookies. I know -very controversial, but I still stand by that statement today – 100%. In this recipe, I swap out white flour for “Paleo” flours, regular sugars for low-glycemic sugars/less processed sugars, and I use grass-fed butter.

 

Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies

cleaneatingwithkatie
This recipe is inspired by a delectable gluten-full pumpkin cookie recipe. It took a lot of tweaks to make a delish grain-free version. I also include two "frosting" options – dairy and dairy-free.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Course cookies, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10 people

Equipment

  • Med. cookie scooper ~2 tbsp

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Otto's Cassava Flour
  • ¾ cup tapioca starch
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 2 eggs pasture-raised
  • 1 cup grass-fed butter coconut oil can be subbed for dairy free option
  • 1¼ cup pumpkin purée
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 3 oz cream cheese organic
  • 4 tbsp grass-fed butter
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 2 cups confectioners sugar
  • ~2 tbsp water

Dairy-Free "Frosting"

  • cinnamon-sugar marshmallows regular marshmallows work well too

Instructions
 

Cookie Recipe:

  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (I use baking stones for cookie baking.)
  • Combine the first six ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Add the butter and coconut sugar to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low-medium until well combined. Add the maple syrup and mix again. Scrape down the sides and add the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix on low-medium until well combined. 
  • With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredient mixture a little at a time. Scrape down the sides one more time and mix well. 
  • Using a cookie scooper (I use the medium size from Pampered Chef ~ 2 Tbsp.), drop cookies onto a baking stone or parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2" apart.
  • Bake for 20-24 minutes or until cookies test done when touched in the center. 
  • Cool cookies and frost with one of the following: 

Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Add the cream cheese, butter, and ginger to mixing bowl and mix on high until light a fluffy. 
  • Half a cup at a time, add the confectioners sugar and mix into the cream cheese and butter mixture. Add water to the mixture and mix until a proper spreading consistency. 
  • Spread a generous layer of frosting on each cookie. 

Cinnamon Sugar Marshmallow "Frosting"

  •  Turn on oven to low broil. 
  • Just before serving your pumpkin cookies, place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet (don't skip this – it gets messy). Top with one marshmallow per cookie. 
  • Broil until marshmallow turn golden brown and begin to ooze marshmallow goodness. 
  • Serve immediately. This is such an easy way to "frost" cookies and is my ABSOLUTE NEW FAVORITE frosting. Must try!
Keyword cookies, fall dessert, grain-free cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin cookies
Grain-Free Pumpkin Cookies with Marshmallow “Frosting”
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Apple Crisp

Apple season reminds me of my grandparents. I spent countless hours baking apple crisps with my Grandmother (actually I was probably just eating the crisp topping, but she still let me bake with her anyway) and making apple cider with my Grandfather’s MacGyver-style apple cider juice press. I also spent a large part of my childhood in their backyard under the apple tree. Apples hold a very special place in my heart. In case you’d like to learn more about Apples, check out this post about apples or this post. 

This recipe is inspired by the crisps I made with my grandmother, but uses gluten-free oats, coconut sugar (a lower-glycemic sugar than cane sugar), and grass-fed butter. 

Apple Crisp

cleaneatingwithkatie
I made countless apple crisps with my grandmother as a child and so this recipe holds a special place in my heart. I've made a few upgrades to this recipe to make it a wee bit healthier, but I'm sure you'll love it just the same.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1¼ cups gluten free oats
  • ¾ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ cup gluten-free flour
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup grass-fed butter room temperature
  • 6 cups apples cored, peeled, sliced

Instructions
 

  • NOTE: To peel, core, and slice the apples. I really like using an "apple peeler-corer-slicer". I have the one from Pampered Chef.
  • Preheat oven to 350° F. Add the apples to a 9" pie pan. 
  • Add the dry ingredients to a medium bowl. Add slices of butter to the bowl and cream the butter and dry ingredients until well incorporated. 
  • Spread the crisp topping over the apples. Cover with aluminum foil to prevent burning.
  • Bake for 35 minutes and then remove the aluminum foil. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until apple juices start bubbling at surface and knife inserts easily into apples. 
Keyword apple crisp, apple dessert
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Stuffed Delicata Squash

I’ve been LOVING delicata squash lately and I’ve been seeing people get really creative with how they use it. The more creative they get, the more inspired I get. I decided to try out a simple stuffed delicata squash recipe and when it turned out pretty good, I knew I wanted to step up my game. Here is the result.

Stuffed Delicata Squash

cleaneatingwithkatie
Delicata squash is a new favorite of mine because the skin is edible when roasted meaning there's no need to peel it! Stuffing it with meat and veggies makes for the perfect hearty and filling fall and winter dish.
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 delicata squash choose larger ones that will be easier to stuff
  • 1 lb pasture raised ground pork (other ground meats will also work)
  • ½ med red onion diced
  • 2 med carrots sliced
  • 3 celery stalks sliced
  • 1 12 oz bag of riced cauliflower fresh or frozen
  • 1 tsp coconut oil

Spice Blend Ingredients

  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp granulated garlic
  • ½ tsp granulated onion
  • 2 tbsp parsley chiffonade optional garnish

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350° F and coat a rimmed baking sheet with coconut oil. 
  • Slice the delicata squash into 2 inch rounds and scoop out the seeds. Place on the coconut oil coated baking sheet and put in the oven to par-bake for 10 minutes. 
  • While the squash is par-baking, combine the ground pork, riced cauliflower, celery, onions, and carrots in a large bowl. Mix in the spices and stir well.
  • After 10 minutes, take the par-baked delicata squash out of the oven. Being careful of the hot baking sheet and the hot squash, carefully spoon the pork and veggie mixture into the delicata squash rounds until over stuffed.
  • Continue baking for 25 minutes. When the meat is cooked through and the squash pierces easily with a knife, remove from oven. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. 
  • Sprinkle with parsley chiffonade and serve. 
Keyword ground meat, ground pork, stuffed squash, winter squash
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Tomatero Farm Box Soup

Sometimes when you pick up the farm box, you realize you have more veggies than you can quickly eat. While organizing farm box pickups with Tomatero Farm during shelter in place, I made another round of Farm Box soup. I make soup year round, although I know not everyone thinks soups sounds appealing in warmer weather, but in equatorial countries all over the world, they eat soups, stews, and spicy foods to help them break a sweat and cool down. I learned that in Jamaica ?? back in ‘07!

Anyway, here is a rough recipe for this soup – but I urge you to use what you have on hand!

Tomatero Farm Box Soup

cleaneatingwithkatie
When you have more vegetables than you know what to do with after a farm box pick up, soup is a great way to keep the veggies from going to waste.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 med leek sliced
  • 3 med carrots sliced
  • 3 med zucchini sliced
  • 24 oz puréed tomatoes
  • 1 lb ground pork pasture raised
  • 1 lb ground beef grass fed and finished
  • 3 tbsp Italian spice blend
  • 1-2 cups beef bone broth
  • 10 kale leaves destemmed and coarsely chopped
  • 2 tbsp basil chiffonade
  • sea salt to taste
  • fresh ground pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes optional

Instructions
 

  • In a large stock pot sauté the leeks in butter. After they become aromatic and fragrant, add in the carrots, zucchini, bone broth, puréed tomatoes. Adjust heat to medium-high.
  • While the vegetables are cooking, use your hands to mix the beef, pork, and Italian spices. Form into meatballs and then add to the soup pot.
  • Cook on medium heat for about 20 more minutes. Add in kale and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
  • Before serving, top with some fresh basil and enjoy!
Keyword farm box, soup

A slightly different version of Tomatero Farm Box soup. Each farm box is different, so each soup will be too!

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Grain-Free Peach Pie

Once going grain-free, I found it can be tricky to recreate some of my old favorites. After some tinkering in the kitchen, we’ve found a recipe that totally hits the spot. We’ve tried this with peaches and with berries and both work wonderfully.

Grain-Free Peach Pie

cleaneatingwithkatie
This grain free peach pie works well with fresh or frozen peaches and is quick and easy. You won't regret making this!!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8 people

Ingredients
  

  • 10-12 fresh peaches sliced or 20 oz frozen peaches
  • ½ cup almond flour
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ½ cup cassava flour
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup grass-fed butter room temperature

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  • Place the peaches in a pie pan. They should cover the surface completely.
  • Add the dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Add slices of butter to the bowl. Use a dough blender to cream the dry ingredients and the butter. It should be the consistency of a crumble.
  • Spread the crumble topping over the peaches. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the peaches in the center.
  • Let cool for at least 15 minutes. Serve and Enjoy!
Keyword grain-free, grain-free desert, grain-free peach pie, peach pie
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Why I Only Eat Apples from August-January

Apple season begins in late July/early August in the northern hemisphere. and yet most people tell me that they didn’t know that apples had a “season”. We can thank the BigAg Industrial Complex for not knowing that, and spoiler alert – everything that grows (fruits, vegetables, seeds, & nuts) has a season.

Depending on when you are reading this, it’s likely that your apples are a year old.

When I was younger, I remember eating really mealy red delicious apples and deciding that I really don’t like apples. It wasn’t until the puzzle pieces clicked and I realized I just don’t like year old apples that you find at continental breakfasts and oftentimes at the grocery store.

Apple picking season begins in late July and ends in late November, depending on the variety and latitude.

From the USDA AgResearch Magazine:

“Pick an apple off the tree and it’ll last a few weeks before it starts to turn soft and rot. Store an entire harvest under controlled-atmosphere conditions and it’ll last up to 10 months, depending on variety.

To slow the proverbial sands of time, some fruit distributors treat their apple bins with a gaseous compound, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). It extends the fruits’ poststorage quality by blocking ethylene, a colorless gas that naturally regulates ripening and aging.”

Maybe the texture of apples doesn’t bother you, but the other problem with old apples is a lack of nutrients. Antioxidant levels decrease as apples age. According to Jo Robinson, in Eating on the Wild Side, “…you would have to eat two long-stored apples to get the same anticancer benefits as one freshly harvested apple”. 

So the next time you’re out shopping, I encourage you to consider the time of the year before buying apples.

xoxo, Katie

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The 52 New Foods Challenge – Apples

While Apples are pretty much a staple in most homes in North America, I imagine that there are many varieties that you have yet to try! My grandparents had an apple tree in their backyard and I grew making apple crumbles and apple pies with my grandma. Despite all those apples as a kid,  I did not really like raw apples until I was an adult. Green were too tart for me and red and yellow were always too mealy (I now know that’s because they were OLD – many months out of season). Americans are so used to getting all types of produce year round in super markets, but in reality, those foods are either stored in cold storage for many months, grown in a different climate and shipped in, or grown in a greenhouse.

As an adult, I have come to really like all kinds of pink apples: pink lady, fuji, gala, and honeycrisp. I also only eat apples during apple season and during the very early weeks of cold storage. In Northern California, apple season begins in mid-late July and generally lasts until October. Thus, I  only consume apples from July-December.

Besides eating apples with almond butter, my favorite thing to use apples for is apple pie, any surprises there??? Jennifer Tyler Lee recommends that folks make an apple galette, warm cinnamon apples, or apple chips.

Food Facts:

  • Wild apples have SIGNIFICANTLY more phytonutrients than our domesticated varieties – some wild varieties have up to 475 times more phytonutrients than certain domesticated varieties.
  • If you were to plant the five apple seeds from an apple, you would get FIVE different varieties from those new trees. Once a variety is identified, new trees are grown by grafting (a method that involves cutting off branches from a tree and attaching that branch to a less desirable tree that has been trimmed back). This is known as extreme heterozygosity.
  • Any apple that is less than two inches in diameter is considered a crabapple.
  • Most of our modern apples can be traced back to central Asia.
  • There were once 15,000 varieties of apples growing in the United States, now there 500 varieties.
  • Apples harvested at the end of apple season will store the longest – several months, as compared with apples harvested in the beginning of apple season – several weeks.
  • Apples store best in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
  • An apple with the peel contains 50% more nutrients than an apple without the peel.
  • Raw apples contain more nutrients than cooked apples.
  • Apples are a good source of vitamins C and K and potassium.
  • Good source of pectin and other fibers.
  • Rich source of flavonoids.

Sources:

The 52 New Foods Challenge by Jennifer Tyler Lee, Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno, Superfoods by Tonia Reinhard, Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson, and The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

 

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The 52 New Foods Challenge – Butternut Squash

The first time I bought a butternut squash, I had no idea what to do with. I found a recipe in my Clean Food cookbook for roasted butternut squash with almonds and a touch of maple syrup. It was exciting to try new a food and a new recipe and really like it! The next week, at the farmer’s market, I went back for more butternut squash. This time I found a recipe for butternut squash soup. I’ve been hooked ever since! Here’s my favorite Butternut Squash Soup Recipe.

Jennifer Tyler Lee also suggests butternut squash soup and a maple roasted butternut squash. Yum!

Food Facts:

  • Member of the cucurbitaceae family.
  • Because of the thick skin, winter squashes, like butternut squash, can last in cold storage for up to six months.
  • The deep orange coloring is a sign that it contains high levels of beta-carotene, a vitamin A precursor.
  • Of all the winter squashes, pumpkin contains the most beta-carotene.
  • Foods rich in carotenoids, like beta-carotene have been shown to be protective against many cancers, especially lung cancer.
  • Carotenoid rich food is also protective against heart disease and the development of type 2 diabetes.
  • Good source of fiber.
  • Good source of vitamins B1, B5, B6, and C, and folic acid, niacin, potassium, and manganese.

Sources:
Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno, Superfoods by Tonia Reinhard, and The 52 New Foods Challenge by Jennifer Tyler Lee.