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6/27/2017 0 Comments Baked Salmon + Squash Squash your hunger with this healthy and simple meal!
This nutritious dish is a one and done type of meal. Put everything in one foil packet, bake and serve! Done deal. Your salmon will be flavored with fresh garlic, lemon juice and herbs to make it taste amazing! The freshly sliced squash absorbs these flavors as well, which makes your body and taste buds extremely satisfied :) Get your aluminum foil ready and let's make a quick balanced meal! BAKED SALMON + SQUASH serves 3-4 Ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium size bowl combine olive oil, garlic, basil, lemon, salt and pepper altogether. 2. Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a large baking pan. Tear another sheet of aluminum foil that will be used to cover the salmon. 3. Pat salmon fillets dry with a paper towel. Dip each salmon fillet in the oil mixture to cover with all the seasonings. Place each fillet on the aluminum foil. Pour the remaining oil mixture on top of the salmon fillets. 4. Lay sliced squash on top of the fillets and cover them up completely. Take the other sheet of aluminum foil and place on top of salmon and squash. Seal the aluminum foil together at the ends tightly to form a large foil packet. 5. Bake the salmon and squash for 30 minutes or until salmon is flaky. Open the foil packet carefully. Serve this delicious salmon and squash with fresh herbs and drizzle that leftover juice all over, yummy! Always craving good food, Jillian
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6/19/2017 0 Comments Simple Blueberry Scones What E.T. was really trying to say was, "Scone home." Scones are my jam ya'll! I'm not sure why I sounded country just then, but "ya'll" just seemed like a perfect fit to that sentence. You know what else is a perfect fit? Scones + Coffee! Every time I visit a new local coffee shop I always check out their scone situation, because to me there's nothing better than a fresh cup of coffee paired with a homemade scone. This blueberry scone recipe is grain-free and freakin' delicious! My mom is the queen of sweets, and after she tasted these bad boys she immediately asked to take three scones home with her. When your mom wants to take food home, then you know it's good! If you're not a very good baker, like me, then this is the perfect recipe for you! If I can't screw up these tasty scones, then you will have tremendous success. Scone, sweet, scone!  SIMPLE BLUEBERRY SCONES
makes about 12 scones Ingredients: Dry
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients together stirring them with a fork. Make sure to get all of the lumps out of the almond flour. 3. Next, add in your wet ingredients except the blueberries. Using a whisk, mix all of the ingredients together. Gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula at the end. 4. Lay a large sheet of parchment paper onto a large baking pan. Pour the scone mixture onto the pan in a pile. 5. Using a large piece of saran wrap, place this over the scone mixture and flatten with your hands until it is about 3/4 inch thick. 6. Using a butter knife make triangular cuts to shape the scones (about 11 - 12 scones) as best as you can. You don't have to separate the pieces. The mixture will be slightly sticky but doing this will help guide you when cutting the scones after they bake. 7. Bake scones for 25 minutes or until lightly golden. Do the toothpick test too. Stick a toothpick in the scone and it should come out clean. 8. Let scones cool for about 5 minutes before slicing and separating scone pieces. *Put these in an air tight container and freeze if you can't eat them all. The defrost nicely in the toaster! Serve these delicious scones to loved ones, and a cup of hot or iced coffee might be nice too :) Always craving good food, Jillian  My weekly dinner plan is simple: pizza, burgers, tacos, brinner and repeat.
Cooking and eating healthy food doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. Simply choose healthy meals you love to eat and tweak to change them each week. My favorite meals are pizza, burgers, tacos and brinner (breakfast for dinner). I eat these meals every week for dinner, but change them slightly to keep them new, exciting and fresh! Let me show you an example... Week 1 Monday: Bacon Bacon Frittata Tuesday: My 8 Spices Tacos Wednesday: Chicken Chorizo Burgers Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Sausage + Asparagus Pizza Week 2 Monday: Grain-free Waffles Tuesday: Chicken Chorizo Tacos Wednesday: Turkey + Prosciutto Burgers Thursday: Leftovers Friday: Chicken Sausage + Krispy Kale Pizza Consistency is the difference between a healthy life, and a not so healthy life. Create a weekly dinner meal plan that is fun and delicious for you and your family! Choose your family's favorite meals and tweak them slightly each week by changing the protein and/or the type of veggies you pair with it. We also add in seafood meals like salmon, cod or shrimp in place of tacos or burgers to jazz up our weekly dinners. Find a fun food pattern to help make dinner meal planning a little easier :) Always craving good food, Jillian 6/19/2017 0 Comments Personal Potato Pizza Crust Leftover food always has a purpose! This pizza crust was invented because of two reasons. Number one, I had leftover baked potatoes in my fridge. Second, I've been experimenting with simple grain-free pizza crust recipes, because not eating pizza once a week isn't really an option for me :). I have failed miserably at making my own large cauliflower pizza crusts in the oven, and personally it takes to long to prepare. So I have been having a lot of fun creating personal grain-free pizza crust recipes that take less than 10 minutes to make. If you haven't tried my Skillet Cauliflower Pizza Crust yet, then give it a go! It's a quick and simple way to get a healthy and delicious pizza on the dinner table. The great thing about both grain-free pizza crusts is that all you need is a skillet, an egg, either leftover potatoes or cauliflower rice and some salt and pepper. Not too shabby, right?! I also love the fact that the crusts are personal, which means one person gets to create their own pizza masterpiece. This process helps both adults and kids take ownership over their eating habits. Score! Let's heat up the skillet, get out some fun pizza toppings, and start creating our next healthy masterpiece!  PERSONAL POTATO PIZZA CRUST
serves 1 Ingredients:
Optional Pizza Toppings:
1. Heat ghee or butter in a medium sized skillet on medium heat. 2. In a mixing bowl, using a fork mix chopped potato, egg, salt and pepper altogether. Mash the potato slightly with the fork to help blend ingredients better. 3. Pour the potato batter in the heated skillet, making sure it is spread out evenly to the size pizza you would like. 4. Cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until egg has cooked well enough to gently flip. Flip the potato crust to cook on the other side for another 3 minutes. 5. Once crust has cooked, add your favorite toppings and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes on 400 degrees. Serve your pizza with some fresh basil and freshly grated parmesan. Enjoy this delicious healthy pizza! Always craving good food, Jillian 6/7/2017 0 Comments SIMPLE SKILLET SALMON So long farmed salmon, and hello fresh wild-caught salmon!
Salmon is such a healthy and simple dinner choice for the busy week day. I usually foil bake salmon for a quick dinner, but this past week I decided to break out the ole skillet and get that fish real nice and crispy instead! Baking the salmon in a foil pouch makes it very moist and tender with lots of tasty juices from the lemon and olive oil to add flavor. Frying the salmon in a skillet gives the salmon a blackened crispy crunch on the outside, but it stays very tender on the inside. Since there are lack of juices in the skillet to accompany my salmon, I usually whisk up a quick sauce to pour all over my fish before serving. This Simple Skillet Salmon only takes 10 minutes to make and can be served with your favorite veggies! Serve this crispy and tender fish with a lemony Simple Salmon Sauce made with only 4 ingredients. Real ingredients, simple to make, and ridiculously delicious! Let's get cookin' good lookin'! SIMPLE SKILLET SALMON serves 3 Ingredients:
Simple Salmon Sauce
1. Heat a large skillet on medium heat with coconut oil or other healthy fat. 2. Dry salmon fillets with a paper towel and season well with salt and pepper. 3. Once pan is hot, place salmon (skin side down) in the skillet, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. 4. Flip salmon over, cover with a lid again and cook for 10 more minutes. The lid can slightly be cracked to let some steam out. 5. While salmon is cooking make your Simple Salmon Sauce by whisking all of the ingredients together, except capers. Add in the capers after the whisking. 6. Serve your delicious salmon with your favorite greens, half of a sweet potato and drizzle that delicious sauce all over your plate :). Add some fresh squeezed lemon juice and chopped basil for added flavor! Always craving good food, Jillian 6/4/2017 0 Comments Whole 30: Week 4 Meal Plan Woo hoo! You are almost to the finish line with your 30 day gut journey! Is your body feel energized? Hopefully you are learning a lot through this experience and building a strong mind and body connection (what foods it responds well to and what foods it doesn't). Remember how your body is feeling at this very moment, so when you start introducing dairy, sugar, legumes, and alcohol back into your diet you can decide if those foods are worth eating or not. Here is your last full week meal plan of Whole 30 approved meals to make this journey a little easier for you. You got this!
Whole 3O: A Gut Experiment Week 4 Meal Plan Breakfast: 1-2 cups of organic coffee with coconut milk Coconut Milk Chia Pudding or Breakfast Salad -2 boiled eggs over salad greens (spinach, fruit, avocado and topped with Frank's Red Hot Sauce) Lunch: 1 baked chicken breast (season with ground pepper and lemon juice) 1-2 cups of baby spinach or arugula 1/2 cups chopped grape tomatoes Snack Choices: RX Bars Lara Bars Fruit Almonds + Walnuts Veggies Guacamole Dinner Meals: Monday: Mexican Cod Baked green beans (toss in olive oil, season with garlic powder, S + P) 1/2 baked sweet or white potato Tuesday: Salsa + Mozzarella Beef Burgers (no mozzarella) Roasted broccoli (season with garlic powder) + Fresh raw peppers Wednesday: Leftovers Thursday: Brinner: 2 poached eggs, sausage link, and sauteed kale in coconut oil (S+P) Friday: Chicken Sausage + Krispy Kale Pizza on top of a Skillet Cauliflower Egg Pizza Crust (no cheese) Are you enjoying the recipes? If so, please leave me a comment because I would love to hear from you! Sending positive vibes your way this week :) Always craving good food, Jillian  Nachos are all about cheese, cheese, and more cheese.
Chips are overrated. Yes, they are crunchy and salty which makes them extremely addicting. But, literally who needs them? Our bodies sure don't need them! Chips are very low in nutrients which means our bodies aren't going to use them for fuel. They will most likely be stored away in the "fat department" where are bodies have a very difficult time a accessing it later. So if you and your body are ready for a change in the nacho scene at home, check out the new nutrient-dense "chip" on your next nacho plate...roasted brussels and cauliflower! For me personally, nachos are all about the cheese and the best toppings. So as long as there is cheese, guacamole and buffalo chicken involved, I am all in baby! When all else fails, just add cheese! BUFFALO CHICKEN NACHOS WITH ROASTED CAULIFLOWER + BRUSSELS serves many hungry people Ingredients: Buffalo Chicken
1. Place chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with water. Place the pot on high heat. Once the pot has boiled, let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken breasts are tender (165 degrees). 2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl toss chopped cauliflower and brussel sprouts in olive oil and S + P. Place veggies on a large aluminium covered baking pan and roast for about 25-30 minutes or until veggies are slightly browned and tender. 3. Once chicken has cooked, shred chicken with two forks and put aside. Use the same pot for boiling the chicken (rinse it out first) and place 1 tbsp of ghee or butter in the pot on medium heat. 4. Once the ghee or butter has melted, place the shredded chicken, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, and S + P all in the pot. Stir to coat chicken evenly with sauce and spices. Cook and stir for 5 more minutes, then cover pot and let simmer. 5. In a large baking/casserole dish, place and toss roasted vegetables, goat cheese, tomatoes, and onions altogether. Next, top this mixture with shredded buffalo chicken. Last, cover all of the chicken with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese has melted. Enjoy this heavenly + healthy twist on your traditional nachos! Always craving good food, Jillian 6/3/2017 0 Comments Salsa + Mozzarella Burgers These salsa burgers will "dance" in your mouth with incredible flavor!
As a full-time teacher I like knowing that I can whip up dinner in under 30 minutes. Burgers are always a good choice for my family during the week because everyone loves burgers, and there's always leftovers for a future meal. Cook once, eat twice! The salsa and chipotle chili pepper really give this burger a smoky and tangy kick! My sister ate one of these burgers as a leftover lunch, and she couldn't believe it was still moist and juicy 3 days later. Are you ready for a quick weekday dinner that you and your family will love? Let's keep it simple and cook some burgers! SALSA + MOZZARELLA BURGERS makes about 8 burgers Ingredients:
1. In a large mixing bowl combine the beef, grated onion, salsa and spices together with your hands. 2. Form beef mixture into 8 medium size patties. 3. Grill burger patties or cook them in a large skillet in either ghee, butter, or beef tallow for about 7 minutes on one side and 5 minutes on the other side. Lay slices of mozzarella on top of the burgers 2 minutes before they are done cooking. 4. Once the mozzarella has melted, serve your burger with your favorite roasted vegetable, some arugula, crunchy peppers, and top it off with a big dollop of salsa. Enjoy the flavor-dance party! Always craving good food, Jillian |