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Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers over Zoodles

9/23/2019

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My coworker was telling me about her sausage and peppers she made for dinner and I knew immediately what I was making for meal prep the following week. You are probably thrown off by the zucchini noddles and sweet potato glass noodles, but over top of all that is the Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers recipe below. I thought this entire meal turned out absolutely delicious and I seriously looked forward to eating it all week. I usually cut up the sausage more, but I was happy with cutting it into thirds for this meal - it made it extremely easy making sure I got an entire sausage serving in each meal. I found some Italian Chicken Sausages at BJ's and opted to use three bell peppers instead of two, but other then those minor tweaks I made the recipe as is. I sliced the onions and peppers the night before, so that I could wake up Sunday morning and quickly get this meal in the crockpot. The only prep left to do after that was brown the sausages and saute the onions, then everything went into the crock pot on low for 6 hours. Later in the day I spiralized about 7-8 zucchinis (this got me about 3 oz of cooked noodles in 10 meals), and I heated it on the stove top until they were soft. Besides adding some salt, I didn't flavor them with anything since I knew the sausage and peppers would have plenty of sauce. I also boiled up some Sweet Potato Glass Noodles (found at Wegman's) as my carb source in this meal. Those are just the vegetable and carb pairs I chose for this meal though. Feel free to use another spiralized or riced vegetable, whole wheat pasta, or rice instead. Of note, zucchinis are by far the easiest vegetable to spiralize yourself, so totally worth saving the extra money and skipping out on the pre-made zoodles. The two spiralizers that I own are the Veggetti (really only usable for Zucchini though) and this 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer (great for all vegetables, including potatoes). Anyways, the recipe itself was super easy to throw together and turned out tasting amazing. If you are looking for a new slow cooker recipe to make then I definitely recommend giving this one a try! 

Crock Pot Sausage and Peppers
Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil — divided
  • 2 1/2 pounds Italian turkey sausage links — uncooked, in their casing, cut into thirds (sweet or spicy both work here, depending upon your preference)
  • 1 large yellow onion — halved and cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic — chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes — plus additional to taste
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1 large red, yellow, or orange bell pepper — cored and cut into 1/4-inch strips
  • 1 large green bell pepper — cored and cut into 1/4-inch strips
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
For Serving:
  • Cooked whole wheat pasta
  • Zucchini noodles
Directions:
  1. Lightly coat a 6-quart or larger slow cooker with nonstick spray. Heat a large skillet over medium high. Add 1/2 tablespoon oil. Once the oil is hot, add half of the sausages in a single layer (do not crowd the pan or the sausages will not brown properly). Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on all four sides, or until the outsides are golden brown (the sausages do not need to be cooked all the way through.) Transfer to the slow cooker. Add the next 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and repeat with remaining sausages.
  2. Increase the heat slightly. Add the final 1/2 tablespoon oil, then the onions, 1 tablespoon water, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onions are starting to brown and become tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 additional minute, then add the wine. Let cook until the wine evaporates, scraping up any bits that have stuck on to the bottom of the pan. Transfer the onions and any pan juices to the slow cooker with the sausages.
  3. Add the bell peppers and crushed tomatoes to the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on low or 2 to 3 hours on high, or until sausages are cooked through and tender. (I prefer and recommend the low, long cooking time, as it makes the sausages more tender, but high works if you are in a hurry.) Serve over pasta or zucchini noodles.

Original recipe found here
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Instant Pot Zucchini Bolognese

3/4/2019

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This one is a Nom Nom Paleo recipe, and as always, did not disappoint in the least bit! I actually had this one saved for a while now and finally decided it was time to try it out. I mean I preach that variety is key to getting more nutrients, but I've been eating cauliflower rice, broccoli, and chicken way too much these days. Anyways, this meal was a TASTY one to mix my meal prep up with! Before you read the Magic Mushroom Powder ingredient below and write this one off, let me throw it out there that I did not use that ingredient, nor did I go out and purchase it (although I am intrigued and love mushrooms and will probably check it out in the future). Instead, the recipe suggests using salt and adding a few drops of fish sauce, which is what I did. I'm sure you can even leave out the fish sauce though and still enjoy this meal. I mean I forgot to get a lemon, so I left that out and didn't think it drastically made a difference to the recipe. Just saying. Also, instead of the diced 1½ pounds zucchini, I grabbed a frozen bag of Wegman's Grilled Vegetables since that mix had some zucchini in it and plenty of other vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, and onions) to add to the meal. I threw these into the food processor to dice up real tiny so that Robbie and my mom would never know they were eating all these amazing vegetables. My last note on this recipe is that I ended up getting closer to 6 lbs of sausage, 2 onions, 2 lbs of diced zucchini (really the Wegman's Grilled Veggies that I just mentioned), and then 8-10 zucchini's to spiralize and serve the meal with. That put my serving size at 24 instead of the 4 servings you get below. If that info helps you let me know and I'll start adding that to my write ups more! Also, I lied, I have one more note... If you don't have a spiralizer you can purchase some freshly pre-made zucchini noodles in the produce aisle or check out the frozen section for some (Green Giant Veggie Spirals® Zucchini is a great option and Trader Joe's also has one). The two spiralizers that I own are the Veggetti (really only usable for Zucchini though) and this 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer (great for all vegetables, including potatoes). Really simple to make your own vegetable noodles and WAY cheaper then buying them pre-made. Alright that is all. I clearly enjoyed this one a lot since I wrote so much detail about it. Like I said in the beginning though, I had this one saved for a while and I don't know why I didn't try it earlier. Just trying to convince you to do the same! Enjoy 😋

Instant Pot Zucchini Bolognese
Ingredients:
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
  • 1½ pounds zucchini, diced into ½-inch pieces
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Magic Mushroom Powder or Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt (with added umami boosters detailed in the instructions)
  • Juice from ½ lemon
Directions:
  1. Grab your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and turn on the Sauté function. When the metal insert is hot, pour in the olive oil.
  2. Toss in the diced onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly softened.
  3. Add the Italian sausage and break it up with a silicone spatula. Cook the sausage until it’s no longer pink.
  4. Dump in the zucchini, minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of Magic Mushroom Powder or Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt. (The salt won’t add extra umami, so you may want to add a few drops of fish sauce or a couple of dried mushrooms to the pot for extra savoriness.) Stir well.
  5. You don’t need to add any extra liquid. Trust me—the zucchini will release enough liquid for the contents to reach high pressure. Lock the lid and program the Instant Pot to cook for 35 minutes under high pressure.
  6. When the sauce is done cooking, you can wait for the pressure to release naturally or you can manually vent it if you’re impatient.
  7. The zucchini and onions should be fork-tender and easily mashed with a spatula to form a chunky sauce.
  8. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with additional Magic Mushroom Powder, salt, or freshly ground pepper. Stir in the juice from half a lemon and taste it again. (Always, always, ALWAYS taste your food and season accordingly!)
  9. When the sauce is ready, grab a spiralizer to prepare some zucchini noodles (or grab some ready-to-go spiralized veggies at the store). If I’m serving this sauce on zoodles, I drop the raw spiralized zucchini straight into the pot and toss ’em around until the hot sauce softens the zoodles to my liking.
  10. Top with your favorite herbs and dig in! This sauce freezes really well so make a batch whenever your vegetable crisper is overflowing with zucchini!

Original recipe found here
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Easy Paleo Breakfast Casserole

8/6/2018

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Showing you guys how simple and easy it is to make a nutritious and delicious breakfast casserole for your week with very little prep on your part! My good friend makes these casseroles like every week for breakfast, and I never realized how much easier it was to just use pre-prepared frozen vegetables, so I am spreading the word. All you need to do is go to the store, pick out 1 lb of your favorite ground meat (I chose 365 Pork Breakfast Sausage), 2 bags of your favorite pre-prepared frozen vegetables (I chose Stahlbush Sweet Potatoes and Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend - Bell Peppers & Onions), a carton of eggs, and unsweetened coconut or almond milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Sugar Free Original). Only 5 ingredients, plus some spices! Next, take your frozen veggies out in the morning to thaw, or let them thaw out while you make your lunches for the week. When you're ready to make the casserole, just cook your 1 lb of meat on the stove top until done. Then, oil your casserole dish, and throw in your cooked meat with your frozen veggies. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and spices together, then pour over the meat and veggie mixture. Last, bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, and done! This casserole makes 6 servings, and with the specific ingredients that I used (mentioned above), each serving had 17g Fat, 13g Carbs, and 23g Protein.

Unsure about where to start with changing your health and lifestyle around? Setting aside 20 minutes of prep time to make a super easy breakfast casserole (like this one) is all I recommend for now! You now have a pre-made delicious and satisfying breakfast full of whole food sources to start your days for the next week. Pick ONE daily habit (or meal) to change, and implement! Only ONE! No need to do anything more until you have consistently implemented that ONE daily change overtime, and are confident you secured it's spot into your life. Focusing on less helps you achieve more. Reach out if you need help or have any questions! 

​Easy Paleo Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:
  • 1 pound Italian sausage or breakfast sausage (no added sugar)
    • (I  like to use Jones Dairy Farm Pork Sausage found in Wegman's frozen meat section, or 365 Pork Breakfast Sausage from Whole Foods) 
  • 2 bags of Frozen Veggies (below is a list of my favorites):
    • ​Stahlbush Sweet Potatoes 
    • ​Stahlbush Colorful Sweet Potatoes 
    • Cascadian Farm Fire Roasted Sweet Potatoes
    • Cascadian Farm Root Vegetable Hashbrowns (Yukon Gold Potatoes, Carrots, & Sweet Potatoes)
    • Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend (Bell Peppers & Onions)
    • Cascadian Farm Riced Cauliflower Blend (Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Kale)
    • Green Giant Riced Cauliflower 
    • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower & Sweet Potato 
    • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower with Lemon & Garlic
    • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower Medley
    • Green Giant Riced Veggies Cauliflower & Broccoli
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk or almond milk (no added sugar) 
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
Directions:
  1. Take frozen bags of vegetables out of freezer to thaw.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Cook and crumble sausage. Drain excess grease and set aside.
  4. If your vegetables are still pretty frozen and you wish to cook them some first, throw some ghee or coconut oil in the skillet, and toss the vegetables until soft. However, if your vegetables have thawed out enough you can skip to the next step.
  5. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish with ghee or coconut oil. Pour all vegetables and cooked sausage into the dish, and mix around evenly. 
  6. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper (a few shakes of each), garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour evenly over sausage mixture.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until eggs are cooked.

Inspired by this recipe here
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Sausage, Spinach and Kale Breakfast Casserole

7/23/2018

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Another breakfast casserole for my mom to enjoy all week long! This recipe was originally for egg muffins, but I changed it up some to make sure my mom was eating enough for breakfast. Plus, she is not a huge kale fan, so I added spinach and kale together, and even ran it all through the food processor to make it real tiny, so I can get her to eat more vegetables. It's like I am feeding a child or something ;-) just kidding, sort of, love you mom! Anyways, I followed the directions below, but instead of using a muffin pan, I filled the casserole dish. I greased the dish down with some ghee too, just to make sure that spinach and kale mixture tasted even yummier. This came out looking and smelling delicious, as these casseroles always do! I snuck a couple bites too and it really did taste some good. 

Sausage, Spinach, and Kale Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:
  • 1 pound berakfast sausage (find gluten free and sugar free if possible)
  • 1-2 cups kale, roughly chopped 
  • 6 oz bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped (or onion)
  • 10 eggs, scrambled, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • salt
  • pepper
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Line a muffin pan with parchment paper liners or spray with oil and set aside.
  3. In large pan over medium high heat, brown sausage until cooked through.
  4. Reduce heat to medium. Remove sausage from pan, reserve about 1 tablespoon of the fat from the sausage to cook the shallot. If there is not enough fat from the sausage, add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the shallot and cook for a few minutes, until starting to soften, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add the kale and a pinch of salt, carefully stir to mix with the shallot. Cook until kale is wilted down but still bright green, about five minutes. Remove from heat.
  6. Evenly divide the shallot and kale mixture between the muffin liners, then top each with some sausage. Each muffin liner should be about halfway filled with the kale and sausage.
  7. Pour the scrambled eggs into each muffin liner, evenly dividing between each. It is OK to fill them to the top, just be careful not to go over the edge.
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins are puffed up and set on top (they may be shiny, but will no longer be liquid).
  9. Remove from oven and immediately remove from the muffin tin and cool on a wire rack.
  10. Allow to cool completely before transferring to the refrigerator. Store in the refrigerator for up to five days.
  11. To reheat, microwave for about 30 seconds.

Original recipe found here
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One-Pan Paleo Chicken Apple Sausage & Sweet Potato Skillet

6/11/2018

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I've had this recipe saved for a while now as a quick and yummy meal option to make for when I didn't have much time to meal prep, and that day finally came! I don't prefer to prep food mid-week, but I came home from vacation on a Tuesday night and had to make sure I had some meals to get me through the rest of the week. It's always tough coming back from vacation and getting back on track, so I've found it best to just prepare a real tasty meal to ease back into things. This meal was just that! I picked up a package of Aidells Chicken & Apple Smoked Chicken Sausage (which comes in a pack of 4), some already cubed sweet potatoes that I found at Whole Foods, and 2 medium apples. Talk about a simple and easy recipe! I ended up slicing the sausages, but not all the way through so that I could easily just place each sausage into the 4 meals, then I divided up the cooked apples and sweet potato evenly into the meals. I will point out that my meals ended up being 16g Protein, 11g Fat, and 49g of Carbs, which is high in carbs and lower in protein. If you need more protein and less carbs, I suggest using less sweet potatoes and adding some eggs to the meal, or purchase some more chicken sausage and make a couple more meals. Also, you can easily sneak some veggies into this meal by throwing in spinach at the end and mixing around until all of it wilts. Overall, this meal was delicious and super easy to get done, so that I had a few extra meals to get me through the week!

One-Pan Paleo Chicken Apple Sausage & Sweet Potato Skillet
Ingredients:
  • 4-6 Chicken Apple Sausage links, sliced (Applegate Organics and Aidells are great choices!)
  • 2 medium apples, cored & diced
  • 3-4 sweet potatoes, diced
  • ¼ C water
Directions:
  1. Heat large pan on stove or electric skillet on medium high heat.
  2. Cut sausage into slices. Add to the skillet.
  3. While sausage cooks, dice apples into small chunks (I left the skin on) and cut the sweet potatoes. Add to skillet.
  4. Gently stir to combine, add water, and cover.
  5. Let all ingredients cook together until potatoes and apples are just fork tender.
  6. Serve warm & enjoy!

​Original recipe found here
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Egg Muffins with Sausage, and Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Rice​

4/9/2018

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This is the same exact egg muffin recipe I made about a month ago, I just swapped out the ham for some breakfast sausage. The only prep for this one is cooking up the sausage and heating up the riced veggies in the same pan. Easy! While that is on the frying pan and you are waiting for the oven to preheat, you can prepare the egg mixture and oil your muffin pan. I filled my muffin cups pretty much to the top and this recipe ended up making me 14 muffins. The classic egg muffin is such an easy on-the-go breakfast meal prep to prepare and you can simply swap out a couple ingredients for whatever ones you enjoy. I especially like using the frozen riced veggies lately because not only do I get some more veggies into the meal, but they are also already diced up. This is a quick, simple, and delicious recipe that makes meal prep efficient and painless! 

Egg Muffins with Sausage, and Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Rice
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb pork sausage (no added sugar) (I  used Jones Dairy Farm Pork Sausage found in Wegman's frozen meat section)
  • 2 cups Riced Veggies Cauliflower & Sweet Potato
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 8 eggs
  • 1-2 tsp coconut oil for sauteing, plus extra for greasing muffin cups
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin well with coconut oil to prevent sticking.
  2. Heat a medium or large skillet over medium heat and add 1 lb of breakfast sausage. Cook until browned. 
  3. Once sausage is browned, push to side of the skillet and add cauliflower and sweet potato rice. Cook and stir for about 2-4 minutes (cook rice until soft), then mix with sausage and remove from heat.
  4. Fill muffins cups evenly with sausage and rice mixture.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, salt, and garlic powder. 
  6. Pour egg mixture into muffin cups (these were filled to the top for me).
  7. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the muffins just begin to brown.
  8. Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes before serving. If making ahead, you can refrigerated them in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Enjoy!
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Sausage, Pepper, and Sweet Potato Paleo Breakfast Casserole

3/5/2018

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This turned out pretty amazing! I made this with breakfast sausage and used one orange pepper instead of red and green. I make these breakfast meal preps for my mom and she tends to pick out red peppers and anything green, so I thought the orange pepper would camouflage in better. Anyways, this was a delicious casserole to prep ahead of time and have ready for breakfast all week. Just like egg muffins, you can adjust this casserole to your liking and simply throw in any ingredients you enjoy. If you want a leaner protein source just swap the sausage out with some lean ground meat, or if you don't eat meat then add in some butternut squash, spinach, or other veggies! Who has time to make breakfast in the morning? Meal prep a casserole like this and be set, eating good, for the week! 

Paleo Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
  • 1 pound Italian sausage or breakfast sausage
  • ½ green pepper, diced
  • ½ red pepper, diced
  • 8 eggs
  • ½ cup almond milk or coconut milk (I used SO Delicious Original Culinary Coconut Milk)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cook and crumble sausage. Drain excess grease and set aside.
  3. Cube sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces and cook in some cooking oil in a skillet until soft, about 15 minutes.
  4. Combine together sausage, sweet potatoes, and peppers, and pour evenly into a 9x13 baking dish.
  5. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper (a few shakes of each), garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour evenly over sausage mixture.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until eggs are cooked.

​Original recipe found here
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Paleo Sausage Pancake Muffins

8/14/2017

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Remember those Paleo Blueberry Pancake Muffins I made? Well this is the same recipe just using breakfast sausage links. Real creative, I know! I unfortunately haven't seen the Birch Benders Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix at Whole Foods since the first time I bought a couple, so I might have to purchase it from Amazon for now on. I make these breakfast type muffins for my mom because they are easy to prep ahead of time and also easy to grab in the morning for breakfast. My mom loves them and as someone new to the paleo lifestyle, I think these muffin recipes help her not think she is necessarily on a "diet." I mean who eats delicious muffins on a diet? Anyways, I add a Paleo Protein scoop to the muffin mix just to get some more protein into my mom's diet, so that ingredient is totally optional. These have been a staple and easy breakfast option for my mother and one that I will continue to experiment with!

​Paleo Sausage Pancake Muffins
Ingredients:
  • 3/4 Cup Birch Benders Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix 
  • 2/3 Cup Water
  • 1 egg
  • Breakfast sausage links, cut in 4ths (check ingredients for no unwanted ingredients)
  • 1 Scoop Protein Powder, optional (I used one scoop of Paleo Protein)
  • 2 Tbsp 100% Maple Syrup, optional
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together all ingredients, minus the optional mix-in’s
  2. Spray muffin tin pan with nonstick spray or use muffin liners. Fill ⅔ way full. Top each muffin with three sausage pieces.
  3. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
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Paleo Egg, Sausage, and Sweet Potato Muffins

7/10/2017

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Another yummy egg muffin recipe! There are seriously so many ways to mix up the egg muffin. We had left over spiralized sweet potatoes that had to be put to use, so I incorporated those into this weeks egg muffin. I found a chorizo muffin recipe (link is below) for inspiration and ended up using breakfast sausage and adding caramelized onions with the left over spiralized sweet potato noodles. These muffins were for my mom, so I did not actually eat them, but if I were to pick my favorite one that I've made so far I think it would be this one! I love breakfast sausage, onions, and sweet potatoes and I took my time cooking them before assembling in the muffin pan and baking, so I just know they had to of turned out amazing. Give them a try and let me know if you enjoyed them!

​Paleo Egg, Sausage, and Sweet Potato Muffins 
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb pork sausage (no added sugar)
  • 8 eggs
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ onion, diced
  • ½ medium sweet potato(or one small sweet potato), grated or spiralized
  • Coconut oil
Directions:
  1. In a large pan, melt coconut oil and add diced onions. Cook for about 5-8 minutes and set aside.
  2. Add more coconut oil to the pan if needed, then toss grated sweet potato and cook until soft (about 8-10 minutes). Remove and set aside with onions.
  3. Add breakfast sausage to pan and cook until browned.
  4. While sausage is cooking, generously grease muffin pan with coconut oil or spray.
  5. Add sweet potatoes to bottom of each muffin pan and top with onion.
  6. Add browned sausage into muffin pans.
  7. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, salt, and garlic powder. 
  8. Pour eggs into muffin tins.
  9. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until completely cooked through (a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin will come out without runny egg).
  10. Remove and enjoy!

Inspired by this recipe 
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Caramelized Onion Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash

6/5/2017

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My friend really enjoyed this one a while ago and I finally gave it a try. I ended up doubling the entire recipe to make enough for eight meals, with the exception of only using 8 sausage links and 3 small/med squashes. (I made two extra meals for my mom, decided I only needed one sausage link per meal, and I ended up scooping out extra squash to complete the two extra meals.) I was a little nervous to meal prep this recipe because I've never had acorn squash before, but it was an amazing pair with the chicken sausage, apples, and caramelized onions. All the comforting fall foods! I totally forgot to add in the spinach, but I did make some roasted brussels sprouts with some of the diced apples I set aside. If you need to change up your typical meal prep, this was a flavorful, comforting, and tasty meal that I really enjoyed!

Caramelized Onion Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients:
  • 2 small/med acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds/strings scooped out
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, sugar free* (I used Nature's Promise Mild Italian Chicken Sausage, found at local grocery store)
  • 1 large onion (or 2 small) cut in half and sliced thin
  • 3 tbsp ghee, coconut oil, or other cooking fat (for caramelizing the onions) + 2 tsp (for sauteing the garlic)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium-large apple, cored and diced
  • 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Place the 4 acorn squash halves (seeds removed) open-side down on the baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes, or until the top of your squash feels tender when gently pressed. You can always check them and continue to roast a few more minutes if they aren't tender enough. Set aside after removing from oven.
  3. While the squash roasts, make the filling. Begin by caramelizing the onions (this process takes a good 20-25 minutes to really bring the flavor out!)
  4. In a medium skillet, heat the ghee or coconut oil over low heat and add all the onions, stirring to coat. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and cook over low heat, stirring every 5 minutes ago to prevent burning. Once onions have been cooking for about 25 minutes and are deep golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.
  5. While the squash roasts and the onions cook, heat a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the remaining 2 tsp cooking fat to melt. Add the garlic and cook until just tender, then add all the sausage and increase the heat to medium.
  6. Cook the sausage and stir to break up lumps, about 5-8 minutes until just browned. Add the apples and herbs and continue to cook, stirring until the apples soften. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the spinach wilts.
  7. Add the caramelized onions to the sausage mixture, leaving excess cooking fat in the pan. Preheat your broiler, then fill all 4 halves of the squash with the stuffing mixture (you may have leftover depending on how big your squash was)
  8. Arrange the squash on the baking sheet, stuffing side up, and put under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until the tops get nice and toasty, checking often to prevent burning. Once nice and browned, remove from oven, allow to cool a bit and then serve warm. Enjoy!
NOTES
*Check labels or look out for your local store's store-made sausage, since they usually leave out sugar and preservatives. You can also check out the sugar free pork breakfast sausage from U.S. Wellness Meats, or their sugar free Italian Sausage links!

​Original recipe found here
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    Erika Copeland

    Sharing the recipes I prepare to help others eat more nutritious food and begin their journey to a healthier life.

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