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Shepherd’s pie is a true family favorite but we’ve recently been working on cutting potatoes from our menu repertoire. So, we recreated our favorite meal with whipped sweet potatoes instead and we love it even more than the original! I wish I had words for how good this is!

Ingredients:

2-3 Tablespoons coconut oil

5-6 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled, still quite warm

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 turnip, peeled and finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon thyme

1/4 cup red wine

3/4 cup beef broth

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup cream

sea salt

black pepper

Create:

Preheat oven to 350.

Put potatoes in food processor or blender, add cream and butter, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Add oil to a large skillet and add onion, turnip, and carrots. Salt and pepper as you saute until onions are translucent.

Add beef and continue to brown. Add a little more salt and pepper, Worcestershire and thyme, then saute until browned. Add broth and wine and simmer, covered, 10 minutes.

Add beef mixture to 9×11 baking dish. Top with sweet potatoes.

Bake 30 minutes.

Simple, light, and just the right amount of sweet. One of my favorite go-to brunch treats…and healthy enough for Jessie’s breakfast on the go!

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups almond flour

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon almond flavor

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

pinch sea salt

Filling

Organic raspberry jam

Crumble Topping

1 cup almond flour

3 Tablespoons coconut sugar

3 Tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon almond flavor

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8 X 8 pan with parchment.

Crust: Add all ingredients to food processor and pulse until it makes a nice crumble. Press into pan and bake 8 minutes. remove and cool 15 minutes.

Filling: Spread raspberry jam across crust

Topping: Add all ingredients and pulse together. Sprinkle loosely over the filling and bake 13 minutes.

Let coll and cut into squares.

After two and a half years of mayhem, keto, and transitions, we’ve decided to go back to a simple, whole foods lifestyle.

With the pace we’ve been on, we’ve eaten out alot and resorted to quick, modersately processed meals at home. Now is the time to reign it all in and begin to enjoy nourishing, scratch-made, farm-to-table meals together as a family once again.

I’ve always believed that the best food for you is the food that makes you feel your best which is different for most people. For example, my oldest daughter feels best on a primarily dairy-free, vegetarian diet. I, on the other hand, feel best when my diet is rich in healthy fats and free of grains, sugar, and most legumes. What matters most is the nourshment foods provide your body and how your body intereacts with the nutrients within.

So, with our continually changing at-home family members and fast paced lifestyle, I’m taking us back to a simple, doable menu rich in nourishment and low in processed or chemically enhanced ingredients.

In our kitchen, simple nourishment comes from simple, organic or chemical-free ingredients brought together in a bautiful symphony of flavor and color: simple hearty soups, homemade bread, real butter, bountiful salads and stir-fries, eggs and bacon, simple nutrient-dense casseroles, and decadent but healthful desserts.

I plan to share a number of these recipes with you to enjoy in your own kitchen over the next few weeks so be sure to check back!

I can’t believe I’m writing about mac’n cheese while begiing 30 days of keto, but I’ve had so many requests since making it for friends last week so here you go!

This recipe was one of the first recipes I developed on my family’s quest to live a more wholesome healthier life. Not only is this recipe easy and but it’s going to be a family favorite!

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Ingredients

12-16 oz cooked (but al dente) 100% semolina or duram pasta

3 cups whole milk (I prefer grass fed, raw for nutritional benefits)

2 cups fresh grated cheddar

1 cup any other real cheese like parmesan, greyere, muenster

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 stick organic butter

2 tablespoons organic “Better than Bouillion” chicken base

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum

Real salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread pasta into casserole dish.

Meanwhile, melt butter, cream cheese, and chicken base into milk stirring often. Add onion powder and mustard. Allow to grow bubbly but not to a hard boil. Add xanthum gum and stir two minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally add half the cheddar and all of the other cheese. Stir until rich and creamy. Pour over pasta and mix well. Sprinkle with remining cheddar and roughly mix leaving lots of cheddar on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until beginning to brown.

Enjoy!

Spiced cakes and layer cakes are enjoyed with afternoon tea throughout Scandinavia during the winter months (they probably need more calories to combat the freezing temperatures than we do here in central PA! — rats!).

This super moist gingerbread is soft and fluffy like the ginger cakes I remember from childhood, but the flavor is somehow brighter. It’s really pleasant and rich without being overpowering. And this light fluffy whipped frosting is an amazing compliment…however, while I was taste testing, I was thinking that a touch of orange flavor — zest and flavor would be an even better compliment. I’m excited to give that a try next time.

This picture is the cake recipe doubled, but only a single recipe of the frosting.

Cake Ingredients

1 cup dark brown sugar, sucanant, or coconut sugar

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 2/3 cups cake flour

1/2 cup plain yogurt

7 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons molasses

2 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon baking soda

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Whipped Spiced Frosting Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

2 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

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To Make the Cake

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium low for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 egg at time, mixing each into mixture before adding the next. Add the molasses and yogurt and let cream on medium about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients together. Add the dry into the wet and mix well.

Pour into a greased 9-inch round spring form pan and bake on middle rack at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool.

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To Make the Frosting

Beat the cream cheese on medium until smooth and then add the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Scrape all the batter from the sides and then trun onto medium low. Slowly pour the whipping cream in a small steady stresm down the side of the bowl, occasionally scraping the sides. Once all the cream is added, increase the speed to high and beat 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks begin to form.

Apply 1/3 of the frosting atop the bottom layer of cooled cake. Add the top layer of cake and frost.

Enjoy!

TIP: This frosting is best when it’s kept refrigerated so if you aren’t serving right away, keep in fridge.