Good morning! Thank you so much for all your sweet words on my post yesterday. I totally had one of those “omg we are getting married in 8 months” feelings yesterday. It’s so surreal, really. In an unbelievably, awesome way!
But, today isn’t about wedding talk. It’s about food talk. Because food talk is right up there behind health and fitness talk for me, which means I love talking about it 🙂 I have 2 recipes, both coincidentally from Alexis, over at Hummusapien.com, that have been huge hits. One of them I’ve actually made FOUR times at this point- crazy, right?!
The first one, though, is her Vegan Butternut Squash Pasta dish. I made a lot of variations to the recipe, making it not vegan in any way, shape or form, but I can only assume that if it tasted good with variations, it must taste equally as good if following the recipe to a T.
Here are the variations I made if you’re not looking to follow a vegan diet:
- I tried a new-to-me gluten free “pasta” made with just brown rice flower and water and you literally couldn’t taste a difference.
- 3-4 chicken thighs, chopped into small cubes and sautéed with garlic, salt, pepper and EVOO
- spinach, broccoli & onions- chopped small and sautéed in a pan with plenty of EVOO, salt, pepper and garlic
- 1/8-1/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese (separated)- I added half into the amazingly delicious butternut squash/cashew/vegetable broth/maple syrup “sauce” (side note: I literally could’ve just drank that mixture- it was that good!) and then topped the casserole with the other half before I baked it.
My friends were skeptical at first because it didn’t look terribly appetizing, but everyone raved about it and went back for more- I call that a success!
The other recipe that has been a huge hit with friends and RM, specifically, are her Paleo Pumpkin Bars. As I said earlier, I’ve literally made these 4 times- sometimes with pumpkin spice chips, sometimes with chocolate chips and most recently just with pecan pieces to make them a super healthy sweet treat. I mean, can you ever have too much pumpkin?!
These are moist, chewy and ridiculously flavorful- you really have to make these. It’s an order and you will thank me later 😉
I want to hear from you though! What’s a recipe you’re loving these days and have made more than once? Is there any that I just HAVE to try? I’d love to have some new recipes to add to our rotation!
Burpees to Bubbly 
I’ve made those pumpkin bars four different times now. Round five will be this weekend for Friendsgiving!
Yes! I love how easy they are and how they don’t taste “healthy” whatsoever!
Salsa chicken!
I need to make that- do you do it in the crockpot?
Those pumpkin bars look amazing. Definitely a must try! I just recently adapted a recipe from my old school Better Homes & Gardens cookbook – Applesauce Spice Cake. It’s delicious! I made it with butter and a little more applesauce than it calls for to replace the shortening/crisco in the regular recipe. Definitely a dessert, and not something you’d want every day, but it’s really good. Another recipe I make all the time and people LOVE are caprese turkey meatballs. Basil, sundried tomato, mozzarella cheese, ground turkey, garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper. SO GOOD and perfect for parties!
Oh that sounds delicious! I’m all about full fat desserts and healthy desserts- I love them all, but try to keep them healthier if i’m going to eat them daily 😉 I’ve made something similar and they are so good!! but i’ve never brought them to a party- that’s a great idea!