~ The Crystal Dish ~

This morning I had the pleasure of having news reporter, Melissa Cabral with Good Day Sacramento come to my home and do a live news feed making Thanksgiving Casserole. I of course did a really bad version and a healthier version. Thanksgiving doesn't have to be a meal you eat only once a year. You can have Thanksgiving year round, but without having to eat all the calories you intake on Thanksgiving. With a simple modification, you can eat a healthier thanksgiving meal year round and even on thanksgiving if you choose to do so. For those of you who missed the show, here are the clips:   Good DayPart 1 Good Day Part 2 Thanksgiving casserole: healthier 1 cooked turkey breast, sliced 1 zucchini, sliced 1 yellow squash, sliced 1 yellow onion, minced 5 celery stalks, minced 2 tbs coconut oil 1 tbs fresh thyme, minced 2 tbs fresh parsley, minced 2 cups low sodium chicken broth 4 cups cubed stale wheat or gluten free bread Salt and Pepper t...

When I was pregnant with Brooklyn, I craved Mexican food my entire pregnancy.  I experimented with a ton of recipes and if we'd go out to eat, I wanted Mexican food. Needless to say, Brooklyn loves Mexican food.  I've done more carnitas recipe than I can even remember. The only thing I usually change is the spiciness depending on who is eating over for dinner. The kids surprisingly like a little spice in their food.  Ingredients: For the rub: 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp sea salt 1 tsp ground pepper 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp oregano 1 tsp garlic powder For the Crock Pot: 3lb pork shoulder 1 sweet onion sliced in thin strips 1 small can of mild green chiles 1 jalapeño diced (remove seeds if you don't want it spicy) 2 tomatoes diced 1 cup chicken stock 2 bay leaf A few shakes of sea salt and ground pepper Directions: Mix your rub together and rub onto all sides of the pork shoulder. If possible, refrigerate the roast with the rub overnight. If this i...

    I'm always trying to find new ways to eat chicken. Since we have been doing a lot of paleo dishes, I decided to try this one and it was amazing.   This recipe was very simple and easy to make, so it made preparing dinner very easy with my two little rugrats running around.   Nothing like an easy and quick meal to cook for the family. Jack and kids both loved it. My little garbage disposal, Brooklyn ate 1/4 chicken breast and picky Nicholas ate 1/4 chicken breast with ketchup of course. It's so hard for me to get him to eat meat. If he has ketchup though, he'll eat just about anything from chicken to fish.  This dinner was amazing last night for dinner and taste just as good today when I ate it for lunch.   Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts 3/4 pound ground pork 5 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon celery salt 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1 package of bacon Instructions: Preheat o...

Chicken Pot Pie is one of my favorites. Paleo chicken pot pie is definitely new to me. It was so fun making though.   It came out great, however due to the almond flour added to chicken broth, I would definitely 1/2 the amount of almond flour so the broth doesn't thicken up so much. Luckily I had saved some of the broth cause it wouldn't fit in the ramekins, so I warmed it back up and poured into the pot pies after cracking open the crust.  Ingredients : CRUST: 3 cups Almond flour  1.5 tsp Kosher Salt 1 tsp Baking Powder ½ cup Coconut Oil (room temperature) 1 Tbs. Cool Water PIE: 2 Chicken Breast Halves Roasted and Cubed (about 1 lb raw) 2 cups Yellow Onions Chopped 2 cups Frozen Green Peas 2 cups Frozen Carrots ¼ cup Coconut Milk (full fat) ¾ cup Almond Flour 4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock 3 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) 1 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. oregano 1 tsp Black Pepper 1 Egg (for egg wash) Directions: ROASTED CHICK...

Those  of you who know me, know that I'm slightly obsessed with seafood. I eat just about everything that comes from the sea. Shrimp is one of my absolute favorites. Since Jack and I are on this paleo kick right now, I wanted to make something with shrimp. I found this recipe on Pinterest, so I decided to try it. It was very good. Jack even liked it. I was a little worried at first because I tried to make a paleo stroganoff one time and the sauce came out too sweet because of the coconut milk. This one on the other hand was amazing. I of course added a few things of my own to make it my own and increased a few items on the recipe. This is definitely a dish that I will make again. Maybe throw a diced up tomato in next time and some fresh basil. I bet that would be delicious in this recipe.   Ingredients 1 spaghetti squash 4 pieces bacon 1 lb. shrimp 1 head roasted garlic 1/2 tsp. oregano 1/2 tsp. rosemary 1/2 tsp. thyme 1/4 teaspoon garli...

Sometimes I crave a different type of popcorn, so I just threw some things together. I love Muddy Buddies, so I thought, why not do it with popcorn instead of chex. It came out great. I delivered some to both my family and Jack's and we still had an abundance of popcorn leftover, so the kids have been having a little bit here and there for a snack. Ingredients: 6 cups popped popcorn 1/4 cup coconut oil 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup chocolate chips 2 cups mini marshmallows 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar Instructions: Place popped popcorn in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, combine coconut oil, peanut butter, chocolate chips and marshmallows over medium low heat stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.  Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and combine with two lightly greased baking spatulas until marshmallow mixture is evenly distributed on popcorn.  Add powdered sugar and continue to combine until well mixed.  

Finally made my first batch of stew for the fall season!!! Growing up I remember my parents cooking soups and stews during the fall and winter. There are definitely a handful of them that are my favorites so I decided to try and make a stew of my own. Usually I just do the typical beef stew or chicken noodle soup. I decided to mix it up this time and try something new and started looking through the fridge deciding what else I could add to this stew. Since we're trying to eat healthier, I decided to use sweet potatoes and butternut squash rather than using Yukon potatoes and instead of using spinach I used kale because kale "the Queen Of The Greens!" It is filled with so many nutrients, low in calories and tastes amazing! I definitely recommend trying this recipe and if you don't like kale, try using spinach or mustard greens. Ingredients 2 pounds chicken breast or thigh (no need to chop these, just throw them in. They'll shred later) 2 ...

My dad was was the Chili King in my household growing up. He would actually grind his own meat for it and slow cook it all day long on his day off. He would serve his delicious chili with warm cornbread and butter. It was so good and the perfect meal on a cold day. I've made everything from beef chili to chicken chili. This chili is a pulled pork chili. A definite first for me. It was amazing though. I may like the pulled pork chili better than regular chili! For the squash that I added to the chili, I roasted a butternut squash and cut into large cubes. You can use whatever your preference is with squash though. Serving the chili in a pumpkin was different, but as I ate the chili, I scraped the sides of the pumpkin down and mixed into the chili and it was almost a thickening agent like when you dip cornbread in your chili. This meal would've been completely paleo, however, I sprinkled a tiny bit of cheese on mine. Ingredients: 3 lbs pork roast 2 onions, diced 2 1...

Jack and I have been clean eating for about 2 weeks now and jack likes eating the caramel Fiber 1 bars for his snack, so I decided to try and make some homemade bars. This recipe is for just fruit and nut ones. Next I think I am going to try and replicate a fiber bar. I ended up eating 2 pieces after I made them cause they were so good. They're all natural too! No sugar added. Guilt Free! Ingredients: 2 Cups Dates, pitted (about 12 oz) 3/4 Cup Raw Almonds 1/4 Cup Dried Apples 1/4 Cup Dried Apricots 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil, melted 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon (more to your taste) In a small skillet roast almonds, stirring until just golden, you can hear them start to sizzle and smell when they are about done. Watch you don't let them burn.   Place your dates and 1/2 C. almonds in a food processor. Pulse until they are in small chunks or how you prefer and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add you 1/4 Cup almonds, apples and apricots to the proce...

Meatloaf was one of those staples in my home growing up. I actually mastered my meatloaf at age 10 and began making meatloaf once a week for my family. Over the years I've tried several meatloaf recipes using beef, pork, turkey and chicken. Some recipes were definitely better than others. Last nights dinner meatloaf was good. Since it was Sunday Football day, buffalo chicken was a must, so I decided to go with buffalo chicken meatloaf.  Ingredients: 1 pound ground chicken 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese 1/4 cup Franks hot sauce 1/4 cup almond flour 2 egg whites 1 tbs. parsley 1/2 tsp pepper Instructions: Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly mist a 9” x 5” x 3” nonstick loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine chicken, blue cheese, almond flour, hot sauce, egg whites and spices until well mixed.  Transfer mixture to pan and spread so that top is flat.  Bake 35 to 40 mins or until chicken is no longer pink. Cut into 8 slices. I decided to serve this with broccoli and mashed potatoes...

      With Jack and I trying to eat healthy, I want to eliminate as much as I can to succeed in clean eating. This dish was amazing. Usually I love burgers on a bun loaded with bacon, mushrooms, onions, pickles, tomatoes, etc. This was a simple fix to eating a healthier version of a burger and the sweet potato latkas were amazing. I loved them. Jack thought they were good too.   Since these latka's were made healthy, no flour needed and the healthier twist, there's zucchini in it too! You can't even taste the zucchini though. It tastes like a potato pancake. Yum!   For the Sweet Potato Latkas: 1 large sweet potato, grated (not yam) 1 large zucchini, grated ( skin too) ½ cup chopped green onion including white ends Salt and pepper to taste 1 egg beaten coconut oil   Instructions: Combine grated sweet potato, grated zucchini, green onion and seasonings. Let stand in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes allowing the juice...