The Babe Frittata

I love bacon. Doesn't everyone love bacon? Actually before I was pregnant with our son, I didn't eat pork. I don't think I touched it for over a decade. Pigs are super intelligent creatures and I didn't want to eat them. But you know, pregnancy cravings are a strong force to deal with and this baby boy wanted bacon. And so I caved..

My frittata recipe today is an homage to the delicious barn yard animal. There maybe a day I return back to my no pork ways, but for now.. yeah, I love bacon.

Babe Frittata
5 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 sweet potato - peeled and mandolin sliced with the 3mm blade
2 zucchini - sliced thinly (I peeled, but you could leave it on)
1 white onion, diced
6 large eggs
1/4 cup almond milk
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375
1.) Cook bacon in a large stock pot over medium heat until crispy - about 5-6 minutes. Pull bacon out and set aside.

2.) In the same stockpot, saute the sweet potato slices in the bacon grease. Cook for 7-9 minutes, or until the potato slices are a golden brown and soft to the touch. Pull potato slices out and set aside.

3.) In the same stockpot, cook zucchini and onion in the remaining bacon fat. If your veggies are sticking to the bottom of the pot, add about 1/8 cup of water to loosen the yummy bits. Cook for 6 minutes or until veggies have softened.

4.) Toss the bacon, potato and veggies into a 9" pie pan.

5.) Whip up the 6 eggs with the milk and pour into the pie pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to preferred taste.

6.) Place frittata in oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until eggs are set.

Enjoy! This is a delicious fall frittata. When I created this for dinner, I served it with a fresh butternut bisque. It was enjoyed by everyone - including the baby!

Paleo Carrot-Date Mini Donuts

In our family, Sunday means Catholic Mass first thing in the morning and Sunday School for both girls. The girl's favorite part? The donuts after! Eek! As much as I love supporting our Parish's Women's Group, regular gluten full donuts taste fabulous in my mouth and then my stomach cries for the rest of the day. But who wants to give up donuts? Not me!

I made these mini doughnuts with a Babycakes Nonstick Coated Donut Maker (affiliate link) that my daughter received as a gift. It's kind of like a George Foreman grill, but with doughnut shaped molds. If you would prefer to bake doughnuts over frying in grease, this is well worth your money!

Paleo Carrot-Date Mini Doughnuts
Recipe makes 2 dozen mini doughnuts

3/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
4 tbsp of ghee (what's ghee? check out what Alton Brown has to say)
4 tbsp maple syrup or honey
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup chopped dates (don't get the ones covered in powdered sugar - just chop whole, pitted dates)
1/2 minced ginger

1.) In a medium bowl combine almond flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
2.) In a separate bowl whisk eggs, ghee, maple syrup, carrot, raisins, dates and ginger.
3.) Gently fold the mixed dry ingredients into the doughnut batter.
4.) Fill each mini-doughnut mold with 1 1/2 tbsp of batter. This doesn't sound like much, but 2 tbsp will overflow. Trust me.. I know
5.) Bake for 4-5 minutes and then enjoy them hot! These are sweet, buttery morsels that need no glaze. My kids wouldn't stop asking for more.

Healthy doughnut? Check!

The Hungry Quilter - #3 Blueberry Crumble Overnight Oats

I've always been a fan of a breakfast. I wake up hungry! Kiddo doesn't seem to need to eat till the afternoon, but Baby wakes up starving too. I've been on the look out for more clean eating recipes for breakfast as there are only so many egg whites I can happily eat. I've been seeing lots of overnight oat recipes and thought I would create one of my own. It is scrumptious and was devoured by my kids quickly!

Blueberry Crumble Overnight Oats
1/2 cup old fashion oats
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (you can substitute with any type of milk you prefer)
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
2 tbsp dried blueberries
2 tbsp chia seeds
dash of cinnamon
dash of agave
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1.) In a mason jar gently combine oats, milk, walnuts, blueberries, seeds, and cinnamon. Seal the lid and pop it in to the fridge.
2.) In the morning it will be a tad dense. Add the dash of agave and yogurt, and stir till combined.
3.) Enjoy the deliciousness and healthy start to your day!

The Hungry Quilter - #1 Tropical Mock Lara Bars

Some background...
I've decided to add a new segment to the blog called "The Hungry Quilter". I've always been a cooking enthusiast and for quite some time I had planned on becoming a pastry chef. I had a small bakery on Etsy while Kiddo was an infant and entered into countless cooking contests before Baby was born. Now I cook just for fun and well because the family expects dinner every night!

Last year I researched clean eating and feel in love. I lost weight quickly and in a healthy manner. It was amazing to see the impact on my family as well. My eldest daughter's digestion issues were radically improved in just a week and my husband enjoyed dropping the pounds without trying. It was easy for me to stay on track since I was training for a number of athletic events. When you are spending precious time training, you really don't want to eat garbage. Then our winter hit and I had a bad experience running.. I stopped exercising and enjoyed junk food for about 6 months. My weight went up 15#'s, my mood was not nearly as positive, and I watched sadly as both of my daughters return to suffering from reflux and other digestion issues.

Enough.
It's spring time, it's time to train again for events, and it's time to permanently change our eating habits. I'm hoping that the more clean eating recipes I learn and create, the more likely I am to stay on track. My regular quilt/crochet/life posts will continue in the mornings with the food related ones in the evening. I hope that you will be inspired to try clean eating and see what a difference it can make in your life. I promise the food will taste good. I loooove food and won't eat something that doesn't taste delicious.

I love Lara bars! If you look at their ingredient list, you will recognize every one listed. There are no harmful chemicals or junk. My only complaint is that at $1/bar (and our family loves them!), they quickly make a large dent in our grocery budget. The answer? Make your own!

I didn't come up with the basic recipe, if you Google for Lara bar recipes you will find plenty! Here is my take on a tropical bar.

Tropical Mock Lara Bar
2/3 cup chopped dates (plain dates, not dipped in sugar or anything like that)
1/2 cup dried mango slices
2/3 cup plain cashews (again..plain..no extra salt or anything)
a dash of unsweetened coconut flakes
a smaller dash of banana extract (probably not "clean", but it's a teensy insy drop)

Steps
1.) In a food processor, chop up the dates and mango slices until it forms a gooey paste. Remove from the processor and set aside.
2.) In the same processor (but you don't have to bother cleaning it first), chop up the cashews until they are good and small.
3.) In a medium bowl, mash the date mix with the cashews chunks. Sprinkle in just a pinch of coconut flakes and just a drop or two of the banana extract. Mash it up until it is well blended and sticks together; I use my hands for this step.
4.) Roll out the mixture and slice into bars. Wrap the individual bars with cellophane and toss into the fridge.

I love these for the super rushed mornings when I know I'll be tempted to stop for an artery busting breakfast sandwich. The kiddos love them too and are pretty sure they are a treat!

Bountiful Baskets

A couple weeks ago I shook things up at home - clean eating..only! A friend suggested it and I haven't looked back. If you Google it, you'll find lots of blogs and books about it. Basically it's taking out everything processed and chemically charged. We eat tons of fruits, veggies, lean meat, whole grains, and some dairy. Since most food at the grocery stores is not clean, I cook almost every meal from scratch. While I'm not fond of the increased dish washing, we have already reaped big health benefits in as little as 3 weeks. I can't encourage this way of eating enough.

However, it does cost money. I try to have most of what comes in our home organic, but we simply can't afford to have it ALL organic. It's a huge bummer that healthy foods cost more than processed junk, but that's the truth.

In an effort to save money and keep on with our healthy ways, I tried a co-op group this calledBountiful Baskets. They have all kinds of fruits, veggies, breads, and more you can order. Now you don't get to choose what type of fruits & veggies - it's whatever is in season.

This week I bought 2 baskets & 1 Mexican option. It was a TON of food, but we go through produce so quickly now. I think I'll probably do 1 basket & 1 Mexi one week and 2 baskets & 1 Mexi the next. I'm also planning on freezing whatever I can mid-week.

Now on to the delicious food pics!

The full bounty!

The fruits

The Mexi pack

The veggies!