Whole30 Squash-titchio

WHAT!?  LOL!

I know, you're saying, WHAT THE HECK!?  This recipe is meant to represent the greek wonder-food called Pastitchio.  Pastitchio (or pastitsio) is basically Greek Lasagna.  It is a pasta, mixed with meat sauce, covered in a béchamel sauce, baked to perfection and served along side pita and a greek salad. I had a Greek friend whose mom made the  most amazing pastichio.  I would dream about it.  Literally.

Years ago, I made a version of it myself using spaghetti, cream cheese, and meat sauce.  I made it more "upside-down" and called it Spaghetti Pie.  You'd mix the hot pasta with the cream cheese, half and half and spread it on the bottom of the pan, then top with meat sauce and cheese.

I really thought my days of enjoying this dish were behind me.  BOY WAS I WRONG!

Squash-tichio
1 lb Ground Chicken/Beef or Turkey
1 28 oz jar Compliant Spaghetti Sauce (I used Aldi Simply Nature Organic - my regions is compliant)
4 cups cooked Spaghetti Squash threads, DRAINED (I used some leftovers I had from a previous recipe - see note)
4 oz Kite Hill Chive Almond Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Original Nutpods Creamer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large saute pan, brown ground meat and add spaghetti sauce mix well, and turn off the heat.

In a separate bowl, combine cooked, drained spaghetti squash threads, KiteHill Chive Almond Cream Cheese and Nutpods.  Mix until squash is covered well.

Spread squash mixture in the bottom of the deep dish pie pan, or other 2 quart baking dish.  Top with the meat mixture.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly on the top.

Serve.

Enjoy.

Whole30 Turkey Lunchmeat

One of my most difficult things while trying to continue to follow the Whole30 lifestyle closely when not on round is finding affordable lunchmeat that has no added sugar (or crazy preservatives that make them taste yucky!).  Note, I said affordable.  There are some compliant options out there, but they are expensive, and for a family that used to daily subsist of the convenience of lunchmeat constantly in the fridge, difficult is putting it mildly.

Yes, I know that you can't have sandwiches.  But even just a few slices with your salad, or when no on round a SWYPO bread-like substance, a lunchmeat is key.

I experimented the other day with a boneless turkey breast I purchased at our local grocery store.

It turned out pretty darned good!  And I was able to slice it really thin!  Thanks to my husband who bought us a really cool electric sharpener! :)

Whole30 Turkey Lunchmeat

2 lb Boneless/Skinless Turkey Breast
EVOO - about a Tbs.
Trader Joes 21-Seasoning Salute (Or your favorite compliant seasonings!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place turkey breast in a shallow baking dish that allows air to flow around it.

Spread the olive oil over the surface of the turkey breast and sprinkle liberally with your seasonings.

Sear for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.

After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.  Cook 18 minutes per pound - or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads at least 165 degrees.

Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil (or lid, if you placed in a roasting pan that has a lid).

Allow to cool completely before attempting to slice thin.

ENJOY! :)

Whole30 Cauliflower Chowder

It's fall, yawl. Up here in the North, it's dipping to freezing overnight, and we stubborn ones are refusing to turn on the heat until November 1st.  This means warming soup and comfort foods are necessary for heating up from the inside out.

I've been seeing a lot of recipes lately for cauliflower soups...creamy ones, chunky ones, brothy ones. Cauliflower is something we have come to love over the years in our house.  Even my kids love it.  My youngest prefers mashed cauliflower over mashed potatoes.  I'm never one to just follow a recipe as written, I always try to come up with my own flare and my own twist to make it mine.  So, this recipe is a conglomerate of about 9 recipes that I found while doing a deep-dive into Pinterest.

This recipe is benefitted by mis en place - prep all your veggies, etc. before starting.  Once that is done, the recipe itself comes together very quickly.


Whole30 Cauliflower Chowder

8 oz, No Sugar Added Bacon, sliced in small pieces
2 12 oz bags frozen cauliflower, defrosted (avoid ones with added sauce, looking for ONLY cauliflower here!)
2 large stalks celery, one a fine dice, one sliced
1 Medium white onion, half a fine dice, half roughly chopped
3 Cups Chicken Broth (make sure it is compliant!)
2 large carrots, 1/4" dice
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
2 large white or red potatoes, 1/2" dice (see note)
1 Cup Nut Pods original creamer (see note)
Sliced green onions
Salt & Pepper to taste

In one medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 Cups chicken broth with 1 full package of cauliflower, roughly chopped half onion, and the one sliced celery stalk.  Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook until the veggies are soft.  Once soft, puree in batches in a blender, OR puree using an immersion blender and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large soup pot (5 quart), place bacon and cook until crispy.  Drain and set aside.  Reserve about 2 TBS of the bacon fat for sauteing the vegetables.

In the same soup pot, after removing bacon and all but 2 Tbs of the bacon fat, sauté the finely diced onion, celery, carrots and garlic over medium low heat.  When the onions are just about translucent, add the potatoes.  Take the cauliflower from the 2nd package and dice into bite-sized pieces.  Add to the soup pot and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add the remaining broth and cover pot.  Bring to a boil and cook until the veggies are softer, but not mushy.

Once the veggies in the soup pot are soft, add the pureed cauliflower/onion/celery to the pot.  Stir well and allow to mix together.  Reduce heat to low and slowly add the 1 Cup Nut Pods.  Stir until combined, and slightly thickened.  Salt & Pepper to taste.

Serve with the reserved bacon and sliced green onions (not pictured, I forgot them! EEEK!)

NOTES:

1.  If you are not following Whole30 - you can use Half & Half or Cream in place of the NutPods.
2.  You may use white sweet potato instead of a white potato in place of the potato.