Recipe: Stuffed Butternut Squash with Curried Cauliflower

This is a super healthy and easy meal that can be adapted to work with whatever you have in your fridge!

Ingredients:
1 Small Butternut Squash
3-4 Florets of Cauliflower-broken into pieces
Garlic-chopped
Olive Oil
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare butternut squash by cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds
3. Rub butternut squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
4. Toss cauliflower, garlic, spices, olive oil and salt and spoon into the open area of the butternut squash where the seeds were scooped out
5. Place the squash on a baking sheet lined with foil and pop in the oven
6. Bake in the oven for about 45-60 minutes depending on the size of your squash and how soft you like it.  You can test by inserting a fork which should easily go through the flesh of the squash.

If you don't have the spices a mentioned above or cauliflower, you could easily swap for any vegetable or beans with olive oil and garlic.  I served it with a wild baby arugula salad with roasted golden beets- recipe to come!

Let us know if you give this recipe a try. ;)

Enjoy!!

DIY: Raw Honey Facial Mask

Good Morning Beauties!

I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite new additions to my beauty routine- the Raw Honey Mask!  

First off, I bet you are wondering- what on earth are the benefits of honey for my skin?  Well, let me fill you in:

• Acne: Honey is naturally antibacterial, so it's great for acne treatment and prevention.
• Aging: Full of antioxidants, it is great for slowing down aging.
• Complexion boost: It is extremely moisturizing and soothing, so it helps create a glow.
• Pores: Honey is clarifying because it opens up pores making them easy to unclog.

There are a ton of additional benefits that I won't bore you with....simply put- it's perfect for every skin type and is a wonder mask that benefits your skin in pretty much every way you could ever imagine!

This is my favorite raw honey and I keep multiple jars for cooking, baking or beauty.  The price ranges, depending on where you buy it, from $7-$12.  Before you start thinking about how that may be a little pricey for honey- this is far cheaper than the majority of masks that are on the market AND will last you at least 6-12 months!

Here are the dets:

1.  Apply honey to face with fingers or wooden craft stick 
2.  Leave mask on for 15-30 minutes (Note: while this raw honey is quite thick, your body temp will melt the honey a bit so make sure to have an extra towel around so that it doesn't drip it's sticky goodness all over you! :)
3. Wash off with warm water

Viola!  It's really that easy.  I try to do this at least once a week.  Give it a try and let us know how you like it!

Enjoy and have a wonderfully sweet Tuesday!

XOXO,

Kaitlin

7 Bean Soup Recipe (vegan, gluten free)

I LOVE soups- I eat them all year long, no matter what the weather is like outside, BUT there is nothing better than a hot cup of soup on a cold day.  While here on the west coast, we can't complain about "cold" compared to what ya'll are dealing with all over the country......I'm a total whimp and freezing 90% of the time, especially when it drops anything below the 50's- I know. I'm ridiculous.  I live for the summers! Nonetheless, I create random soup recipes on a regular basis based on what I have in the cupboard or fridge.  Let's be honest, it's really hard to make a soup that tastes bad!  This is a super easy, healthy and delish soup recipe that I hope you will try soon.

Ingredients:

32 oz Chicken Stock or Vegetable Stock

2-3 Cups Water

15 oz Tomato Sauce

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

1 Cup Bean Mixture (whatever mix you have on hand or can find- 7 bean, 12 bean,etc)

2 Cloves Garlic- minced

1 Small Onion or 1/2 Large Onion cut into strips

2-3 Carrots cut into chunks

1/2 Tablespoon Cumin

1/2 Tablespoon Paprika

1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder

Salt to taste

Olive Oil

Cumin Seeds, Cilantro & Avocado for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Drizzle a large sauce pan or stock pot with oil.  Once heated, toss in onions and stir. Saute for about a minute or until translucent in color then add carrots and cook for about a minute. 

2. Add salt and spices- stir until the carrots and onions are well covered (do not let spices burn).  Add garlic and continue stirring for about 30 seconds.

3. Add stock, water, tomato sauce and tomato paste- bring to a boil

4. Pour in bean mixture and return to a boil.  Cover and simmer on med-low for about 2 hours or until beans are well cooked through.

5.  Check soup halfway throughout and add water to achieve preferred consistency.  Same with salt- add until preferred saltyness is reached! 

6. My favorite soup garnishes are cilantro and avocado, garnish with these or your favorite toppings!

My original plan was to make this in the crockpot in the morning so it would be ready when I got off work but I completely forgot! Next time I am going to try this in the crockpot with the 2-3 cups of water added from the start and will cook on low for 6-8 hours.  I also just used whatever vegetables I had on hand so feel free to do the same! This is a versatile recipe that can be adjusted to fit whatever is in your fridge.

What's your favorite soup recipe?  

XOXO,

Kaitlin

Banana Muffin Goodness (Paleo and Gluten Free)

Happy Saturday Beauties!

Hurray for our first recipe post!  We hope to bring our favorite, go-to recipes from our homes to yours.  Disclaimer: I am HORRIBLE at food pictures!  Who knew they were pretty much the hardest thing ever?  So, please be patient while I work on that random skill set and I apologize in advance for cray pics that maybe don't portray these delish recipes in the best light. :) 

I know what you are thinking-no way on earth am I trying ANOTHER healthy recipe that ends up tasting like cardboard!

Well , I am here to PROMISE you that this is my go-to, fail proof, AH-mazingly delicious naturally sweetened, gluten free, Paleo, all natural, easy recipe that you just gotta try!  Even though I love the banana recipe, the Dude is a chocoholic and insists I make a chocolate version of everything.  Thus, I included the chocolate version that I make him as well.  :)

(If you don't already have these ingredients in your pantry, most of them can be found at your local health food store. I also linked to my favorite brands on my favorite health webstore.)

Ingredient List:

2 Cups Almond Flour

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon All Spice

1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1 Cup Dates (Pitted)

3 Eggs

3 Bananas

1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil

***For Chocolate Version add:

1/4 Cup Raw Cacao Powder

2 additional Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix almond flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a food processor add dates, eggs, bananas, ACV, coconut oil and mix for about a minute (until dates are pureed and all ingredients are mixed well.

4. Add in dry ingredients into food processor and mix until all ingredients are blended well

5. In a muffin pan (reg size will make about 12, mini size will make about 24) spoon in mix.  I do two spoonfuls per muffin for reg size or one per mini muffin.

6. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes for reg size/ 15 min for mini size.  Check doneness with toothpick until it comes out clean.

***For Chocolate version- add cacao powder to dry ingredients and additional coconut oil to wet ingredients and follow directions above.

Enjoy Muchachas!  Let me know if you give this a recipe a whirl and what you think.  OR email us your fav muffin recipe! 

Xoxo,

Kaitlin