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: 

• 3-4 salmon fillets
• 2 yellow squash, sliced 
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Salt + Pepper, to taste
• Fresh basil or parsley, chopped (optional for serving) 

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 

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!

makes about 11-12 scones

Ingredients:
Dry

• 2 1/2 cups of almond flour (don't pack flour tight when measuring)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Wet

• 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup blueberries (chopped apples work well too!) 
• zest of 1 lemon *optional

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 wooden spoon, 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.  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. 

7.  Let scones cool for about 5 minutes before cutting. 

8.  Using a knife make triangular or square shaped scones (about 11 - 12 scones).

 *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 

P.S. WANT MORE simple HEALTHY GOODIES?  
>>> Get my FREE Simple Weekly Meal Planner here, plus all the easy recipes to make cooking dinner less stressful at home :)

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 :) 

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                                Always craving good food,
                                            Jillian 

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: 

• ​​1/2 tbsp ghee or butter
• 1/3 cup leftover cooked potatoes, chopped (I used russet potatoes)
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper, to taste

Optional Pizza Toppings:

• Tomato sauce
• Kale, chopped
• Red onion, sliced
• Chicken sausage link, sliced
• Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• Fresh basil, garnish
• Parmesan, grated before serving

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! 

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                            Always craving good food,
                                                Jillian 

So long farmed salmon, and hello fresh wild-caught salmon! 

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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'! 
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SIMPLE SKILLET SALMON
serves 3
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​Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil, ghee, or butter
• 3 wild caught salmon fillets 
• salt + pepper, to taste
• Optional when serving: 1/2 lemon, sliced and fresh basil

Simple Salmon Sauce

• 1/4 tbsp avocado oil mayo 
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp capers

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