Tag: healthy

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

Did you ever look at the ingredients in chicken nuggets? Hidden MSG, sweetener/sugar, soybean oil, canola oil, assorted corn products (all are GMO crops) anti-foaming agents containing silicone, sodium aluminum phosphate (aluminum accumulates in our bodies), water.. there’s more but I don’t need to go on. Even “healthier” and gluten-free products have many of these ingredients. Why not make your own healthy chicken nuggets? These are tasty and gluten-free/dairy-free as well! Continue reading “Healthy Chicken Nuggets” →

Better Oil Choices

There are so many oils to choose from. Your body and brain need fats. Some are considered good for you and others we need to stay away from. What do all these terms mean…refined, unrefined, expeller pressed, cold pressed, omega 3, 6, and 9, polyunsaturated? How do I decide which Continue reading “Better Oil Choices” →

Zucchini Apple Spice Loaf with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

This week I used the last zucchini in the garden. I used it to make this sweet bread recipe. It is tasty and moist with lots of good things in it like zucchini, apples, raisins, flaxseed Continue reading “Zucchini Apple Spice Loaf with Cinnamon Sugar Topping” →

Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Mushrooms

(Scroll to bottom for recipe)

Roasting vegetables gives them so much flavor. This is one I love to cook in the fall, especially with squash from the garden. Ingredient amounts are approximate. I usually just eyeball it, but I tried to come up with quantities for those who prefer that. It’s really hard to mess up this recipe other than burning it. You can play with the spices you use if you like.

Cubing the squash is a good arm workout, like real life exercise.

DSC00375After tossing squash in oil, roast in the oven. Caramelizing gives a good flavor. You can even just eat it like that. Parchment paper is a wonderful thing. What a time saver and cookie sheet saver. Where have you been all my life?

DSC00384Brown the onion in a pan with the oil. Then add the mushrooms and cook down. The shiitake are drier mushrooms, not much liquid comes out of them, however the baby bella I’ve used cook more liquid out. You will want to let that evaporate so it is not soupy.Then add the spinach. It looks like a lot, but as you can see, it cooks down to nothing. You can even add more if you like more spinach.

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Toss the squash with the base and enjoy! You can probably add many different types of roasted vegetables to the base mix. However, my favorite is the butternut squash.

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Roasted Butternut Squash, Spinach and Mushrooms

  • Servings: 6 sides or 2-3 meals
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 1 good-sized butternut squash
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (any type is fine, I’ve also used baby bella)
  • 4 big handfuls of spinach
  • 2 T avocado oil + 2 T more
  • 1 t onion powder
  • 1/2 t garlic powder
  • 1/2 t sea salt
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Cube butternut squash.
  3. Take 2T avocado oil and stir in onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Pour over cubed squash. Stir until well coated.
  4. Lay squash on cookie sheet in single layer, spreading evenly. Cook squash roughly 40 minutes in the oven turning half way through. You may need to adjust the time depending on how much squash is on the pan. It should be nicely caramelized.
  5. While the squash is cooking, pour the other 2T avocado oil in a large pan. Place the onions in the pan and cook until caramelized. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
  6. Add mushrooms and cook them down letting any liquid from them evaporate. Add spinach and cook until reduced.
  7. Add roasted squash to the base mixture (onion, mushroom and spinach) Toss until well mixed.
  8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Enjoy!