Whole30 Eggless Breakfast Hash

This could be my favorite breakfast creation ever. Eggs or no eggs. It’s delicious.

So much of Whole30 breakfasts are centered around eggs. And after ten days of nothing but eggs for breakfast, I just couldn’t do it. Not another egg. (I’ll go back to eggs tomorrow.)
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The beauty of this dish is the variety of veggies. It is truly a rainbow.

What you need:

  • 2 apple chicken sausages, cut into half-moons
  • 1 small yellow squash, cut into half-moons
  • 1/2 onion, diced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 large handful of spinach
  • 1 sweet potato, mashed
  • salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

Bake your potato the night before and put in fridge.

Heat a medium skillet with avocado oil to medium-high heat. Add in the onion, squash and bell pepper. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add in the garlic, red pepper flakes and sausage. Stir well to combine. Make sure the mixture evenly covers the pan. Cook on medium-high heat without stirring for about 5-6 minutes. This will give your meat and veggies a nice crust on the one side. Stir in spinach until it starts to wilt. Remove from heat and set aside.

Take your sweet potato from the fridge. Remove skin. Mash with a fork, and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Top with breakfast hash.

Enjoy.

 

Easy Salmon Cakes with Steamed Asparagus

Sometimes you need dinner to be simple.

Simple dinners are winning dinners.

After a weekend full of travel and hours in the car, I was ready for a real meal. Not something I threw together. But something easy and planned.
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The awesome thing about this dish is the convenience aspect of it.

What you need:

  • 2 cans of wild caught pink salmon
  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • A dash of coconut flour
  • Salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried dill and dried parsley, to taste
  • 1 bag of frozen whole asparagus spears

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk eggs in a large bowl.

Open cans of salmon and drain off any excess liquids. Stir into eggs. Add almond flour and coconut flour. The consistency should be well combined and hold its shape when formed into patties, but the mixture should not look dry. If dry, add a splash of water or avocado oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley and dill.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form patties out of salmon mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the salmon cakes cook, open the bag of asparagus. In a microwave safe dish, steam asparagus until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain off excess liquid, and season with avocado oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

When cakes are ready, plate the asparagus. Top with the salmon cakes.

I served my salmon cakes with a drizzle of Primal Kitchen Ranch and Chipotle Mayo.

Very tasty. Super easy. Low maintenance. Happy bellies. This is one you definitely want to make.

What are your favorite ways to used canned salmon?

 

Nashville, The Ryman and Judah & the Lion

I cashed in a major Christmas present this weekend. Brad got me tickets to see Judah & the Lion at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. And it was the best concert I’ve been to in a long time.

First, it was the Ryman. Formerly known as the Grand Ole Opry. The birthplace of bluegrass. The mother church of music. An icon. A bucket list venue of mine.

Being the good boyfriend that he is, he made sure we got meet-and-greet tickets so we saw them play a couple of acoustic songs and answer some questions. And get a photo.
Judah and the Lion
As you can see, I was super happy. My eyes were all squinty. They are one of the funnest bands to watch live. So much energy. So down-to-earth. We loved every single minute of it.

While we waited for the night’s festivities to start, we explored Nashville. We had Whole30 approved salads at the Famous Bar. We visited the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, and I totally geeked out on all the music memorabilia.

What you see here: Garth Brooks’ very well-used acoustic guitar, Elton John’s baby grand and grand pianos, and Jimi Hendrix’s electric guitar.

But there was so much to see. So many iconic items. Walls of silver, gold and platinum records. It was a super fun way to spend some time waiting for the show to start.

Would I go back to Nashville? Absolutely. The Ryman is THE place to see live music. I can’t wait to go back.

We rounded out the weekend with a drive around the farm before heading home.

It was absolutely perfect.

Mornings on the Farm

When I was a little girl, I use to spend weeks at a time on my grandparents’ farm in Tennessee. I would go and stay, and then wail when my mom would come up to take me home.

As a kid, it was my favorite place. My grandparents would drop everything when I would get there. And we would play outside, ride four-wheelers, ride horses, go fishing. It was always perfect.

Fast-forward twenty-something years, and the farm still holds a special place in my heart. But getting to spend time up here is scarce. So I was super excited to get a stop-over here on our way to Nashville.

Who wouldn’t want to wake up here? Have coffee on the front porch? Couple minutes of journaling? Quiet time?

My Papaw’s been gone several years now. But whenever I’m up here sitting on the porch, I still feel like he is around. Watching over us. Quietly participating by keeping this place so beautiful.

I miss him terribly.

But visiting the farm always makes it a little better. Bittersweet. But a little better.

This place feels more like home than anywhere else.

So many memories. I’m so grateful to remember.

Whole30 Parmesan Chicken

I’m a big fan of Italian food, but I don’t eat it very often. Pasta does weird things to my blood sugar.

On a rare occasion, I will whip up something inspired by Italy. But when you’re on Whole30 and the Italian craving hits, you have to improvise.

And so was born this Whole30 version of Chicken Parmesan.

After throwing the chicken in an egg wash, I breaded the chicken in a mixture of almond flour and coconut flour with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Heated up a jar of Thrive Market tomato sauce.

Sautéed some Veggie Noodle Co. butternut squash noodles.

And called this dinner.

And it is spectacular.

Full of flavor and texture. We loved every bite.

What are your favorite weeknight dinner shortcuts?