healthy food Archives -

C’mon, fall, it’s pumpkin spice cookies time!

So here we are, coming up on the end of October, and it was so hot here in Houston today that my kids wouldn’t play outside.

Funny… Mr. Incredible traveled up to the mountainous wilderness of Wyoming last week and frolicked in the snow. He shot himself a big ol’ elk that I can’t wait to get my hands on and cook up. I hear elk meat is some of the tastiest, though I don’t recall tasting it myself.

I don’t think it snows in Houston. Or recognizes fall or winter as official seasons at all. But I’m ignoring that. I made a yummy clam chowder for supper tonight in the Instant Pot, so maybe I’ll just will the weather in from my kitchen. (By the way, the whole family loved that clam chowder, so you can expect to see the recipe soon!)

But I’m also in the mood for things like pumpkin spice cookies and ice cream. Below, I’ll give ya one of ’em so you can make ’em too (even if it is actually cold where you live!).

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Paleo Pumpkin Spice Sugar Cookies

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: cookies

Author: Jaclyn

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cassava flour
3/4 cup maple sugar
1/3 cup room temperature ghee butter, or palm shortening
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp baking soda
Optional natural food coloring like this

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350*.
In a large bowl, beat the ghee on high with a hand mixer, until creamy.
Add the maple sugar, pumpkin spice and baking soda, and beat once more until combined, scraping the sides to mix well.
Beat in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.
Add the flour and mix with a rubber spatula until mostly combined, then finish mixing with the hand mixer.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on the counter and place the ball of dough on it.
Flatten it out and place another piece of parchment paper on top, then carefully roll it out to 1/4" thickness with a rolling pin. Don't press too hard or the parchment paper will stick. Remove top piece of parchment.
Use cookie cutters to cut out festive shapes, then carefully transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet with a spatula.
Space cookies 1-2" apart before baking on the top rack for 10-12 minutes, until edges become lightly golden.
Meanwhile, repeat cookie cutting process with remaining dough by combining dough scraps into a ball and rolling it back out. Bake remaining cookies.
Allow cookies to cool before transferring them to a serving dish.
Frost using one of the options below.

Frosting Options

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup ea butter and cream cheese, softened but cold 1/4 cup thick, raw honey 1 tsp vanilla Combine ingredients in a medium bowl and beat on high with a hand mixer, scraping sides, until smooth.
Other frosting options
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting or Simple Mills pre-made organic and paleo(ish) frosting

Photo credit: Kelly Lockett Studio

The idea for these enchilada stuffed sweet potatoes came from the same place all my food inspirations do: hunger. And the desire to have healthy food to eat with very little time or effort.

Our day was all screwy today because I slept in til 10. Oops. A dear friend came over to keep me company last night and we chatted until somewhere around 2:30 or 3 this morning. And it was stupid and it was worth it. Because girlfriends.

So then it was free-for-all and my kids ate whatever they found for breakfast, then my oldest made a batch of muffins for a late morning snack and then it was nap time.

But while my littles were snoozing or ~~playing quietly in their rooms~~ sneaking out of their rooms to wreak havoc every five minutes, I started to get really hungry. I broke into my stash of secret cookies (no crying in my closet, just good, old fashioned indulgence on the sly), but that didn’t hold me over for long.

I remembered the sweet potatoes I’d put in the Instant Pot earlier in the morning because I wisely knew I’d need something easy to eat while I was dragging through the day (still worth the soul-nourishing time spent with my friend!). I also remembered I had a small bowl of browned hamburger meat and a jar of salsa verde somewhere in the back of the pantry. Boom. Late lunch/early dinner/whatever was ready to eat in five minutes.

Tips for fast, easy, and HEALTHY eating

While our family is in this weird transition pre-move and having to show our house while it’s on the market and going through a general cruddy period of major adjustment, my commitment to eating as well as we’re used to has waned.

I told you we ate Chick fil A earlier this week because we had two showings through the lunch hour, and that was ok, even if it wasn’t ideal. (Why Chick fil A is, like, the health-obsessed’s fast food of choice, I don’t know. But I like waffle fries.)

But I really did decide that I was ready to get back on the horse and do my very best to nourish us with our normal healthy fare. I meal planned the simplest of menus, but kept it paleo, and it was easier than I expected.

I prepared a breakfast casserole the night before the showings with eggs from our backyard hens, sausage, onions, green chilis, and cheese and we all loved it. I made two loaves of paleo banana bread Sunday night that we ate over the last few days and it was awesome.

We made my 10 minute oven-cooked lemon thyme salmon and I felt so nourished with truly minimal effort.

And I set aside that left over browned hamburger meat from earlier in the week and used my Instant Pot nearly every day.

So now, I’m working on making Sundays my prep day, even if I just make some bread and a casserole.

If you have a busy schedule and aren’t home much to cook during the week, I suggest browning a couple pounds of hamburger meat, baking some sweet potatoes, and chopping some veggies for the week ahead. Just a little planning will go a long way.

If you need some fresh ideas for fast, healthy, budget-friendly food:

Check out the new e-book 30 Minute Clean Eats on a Budget, a cookbook featuring recipes from some top paleo bloggers (and even a few of my own!). You can check it out here.

For some more fast, healthy, kid-friendly meals, try these:

Homemade Chicken Nuggets (grain-free!)

Egg Roll in a Bowl

Greek Burger recipe with Special Sauce

Oven-Cooked Lemon Thyme Salmon

For another quick, easy, healthy meal you can get on the table in no time, grab the recipe for Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes below.

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