BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH PANCETTA & ONIONS - GLUTEN FREE

This is a super easy recipe to whip up. There may be only three ingredients but this dish has so much flavor. Even my friends who don't like Brussels Sprouts enjoy this recipe. I ate this one night as a main but it can easily be a side dish. Also its gluten free and doesn't have any carbs so YAY for that!

INGREDIENTS:

Brussels Sprouts
Pancetta - about 150g cubed
Medium Onion - chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Clean the Brussels Sprouts, cut off the bottom and cut in half.

Steam the brussels sprouts until they turn bright green about 5 minutes.

While you steam the brussels sprouts throw the cubed pancetta and chopped onion into a pan and cook on medium heat. The pancetta will release its own oil which will cook the onion down and caramelize them. Make sure to stir periodically so that they do not burn.

When the brussel sprouts turn bright green add them to the pancetta and onion. I like to move everything over and put the brussel sprouts face down and pile the bacon and onion on top. This will let the brussel sprout get a little crispy from the pancetta oil. Leave it to cook for 2 minutes before stirring. After that let it continue to cook and stir every couple minutes until the onion fully cooks down. Now its ready to eat.

You do not need to add salt because the pancetta is salty.

Easy right!? If you liked this recipe or have any comment please feel free to leave them in the comments section below. I love hearing from you guys and hope you enjoyed this recipe!

BANANA OATMEAL MORNING GLORY MUFFINS - VEGITARIAN AND DAIRY FREE

I wouldn’t say breakfast is my favorite meal. Most people skip breakfast and I tend to be guilty of this too. Give me my coffee in the morning and perhaps a banana around 10:30AM and I’ll hold out till lunch. Studies have shown that skipping breakfast actually leads to overeating at lunch or worse choosing the wrong things to eat. When you are hungry you make the wrong choices just to get something quickly and those things tend to be full of calories and sugars that don’t give you the nutrition you need and only leave your body wanting more. So what can you do? BE PREPARED! I made these breakfast muffins as an “on the run” meal (cause Beyonce and Jay-Z ain’t the only ones). Full of fiber, protein, potassium and a little bit of sugar to give you the energy and fullness you need to get through till lunch.  I made mine with almond milk to avoid dairy but you can do as you wish. Happy eating my friend!

You may be wondering why I used a circular tray in theabove photo and it is because I lost my muffin tray recently during my move so I had to use this circular tray instead - it worked great.

INGREDIENTS

3 Ripe Bananas mashed
1 Cup Almond Milk (or equivalent)
2 Eggs
3 Cups of Oats
1 TBSP Baking Powder
2 TBSP Cane Sugar
1 TSP Vanilla Extract
1/2 TSP of Cinnamon (optional)
Chocolate chips (optional)

MATERIALS

Baking muffin tray
Baking muffin tray paper cups

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees on Bake.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Line your muffin tray with muffin paper cups

Scoop out the ingredient mixture into each cup evenly and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. You should smell the muffins, if not let them stay a little longer or test with a toothpick to see if they are done. If they are ready there should be nothing on the toothpick when you stick in into a muffin and pull it out.

Allow to cool before eating.

 

Did you find this recipe easy? What do you think of preparing this on Sunday night for the week - a realistic task? I would love to know what you think of this recipe! Please let me know any comments you have down below and I will be happy to hear from you and answer any questions you have.

 

QUINOA PASTA WITH BACON, SPINICH AND GOAT CHEESE - GLUTEN FREE OPTION

I originally found this sauce recipe on Pinterest (I'm a huge pinner) and I am always nervous to try them. When it comes to food on Pinterest everything always looks appetizing but I feel like itsbecause of the photography not necessarily because of the taste. I see a photo and my imagination and pallet start to imagine what it would taste like. I obviously subconsciously imagine what I want it to taste like more then it probably does in reality. This recipe was one of those pleasantly surprising ones that matched my taste buds imagination. Although I altered some ingredients and ingredient portions it essentially takes the same foundation and I recommend you go further and try to make it your own (by like adding chilly flakes for example).

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 Packs of Quinoa Spaghetti Pasta
1 Pack of Bacon cut into 1 inch width
1 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar
1 TBSP Maple Syrup
10 oz Baby Spinach - washed (this will later shrink down so don't worry if you think it is a lot)
10-14 OZ Goat Cheese (4 OZ will be used for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

Boil water for the pasta in a large pot. Add salt when it comes to a boil and let it dissolve for a minute before adding in the pasta.

While you wait for the water to boil, in a large skillet start cooking the bacon. Cook the bacon on a high heat until the edges of the bacon get crisp and brown then reduce the heat and continue to cook until all the bacon has become crispy and the fat has been rendered. You can remove the bacon from the skillet and set it aside in a bowl. You will need the bacon in a second. Do not though away the grease.

**You may think there is a lot of bacon grease left in the pan but this will be the base of your sauce so you can remove some but leave at least 3/4 of it in the skillet.

Next turn the heat up on the stove and add it your red wine vinegar. This may not smell nice at first but it will help to pull all the crispy bacon bits that are stuck on the bottom of the skillet back into the sauce and adds more flavor later. Make sure when you pour the vinegar in you mix it around in the grease and scrape the bottom of the skillet to help loosen the bits of bacon stuck there.

At this point your water should be boiling so put the quinoa pasta in. You will need to stir the quinoa pasta often for the first three minutes so that it doesn't lump together. After the first three minutes you can let it cook for an additional 9-10 minutes stirring occasionally. After that it should be al-dente! 

After about two minutes of scrapping the skillet add the bacon back in and the maple syrup and mix together.

Next slowly start to introduce handfuls of spinach into the pan. Stirring the whole time until all the spinach has been introduced.

Strain the quinoa pasta and add it into the skillet when ready. If the pasta is not ready just put the skillet to the side until it is. When pasta is ready add it in stir it up in the skilled so it is covered in bacon grease, bacon and spinach (no heat required anymore) Next add 9-10 dollops of goat cheese on top and stir in (the heat from the pasta will melt it into the pasta).

Twirl and place on a plate with a dollop of goat cheese on top as garnish and it is ready to be served.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Id love to hear your thoughts below. Please leave me a comment and I will try and answer all your questions. Did you make it your own? Tell me about it!

** some goat cheese has gluten in it. If there is no gluten in your goat cheese this recipe will be gluten free - obviously hehe