A lots a changin' and Butternut Squash fries!!

So its been a month! I am planning to post more often the once a month but things have been pretty busy for us. I don't remember if i had mentioned it before but my husband is working on his masters degree and is working as well. So as u can imagine with three kids its pretty busy around here. For the last 8 weeks he has been working full time and going to school so it was crazy busy with little down time for this mom. So we are now back to part time and a more normal life as of this week!! 

I have been wanting to post this recipe for a new weeks now but every time I made it I would not take a picture! They are in the oven now and I am assuring you a picture will be in the near future!! I also wanted to fine tune the recipe since this is the third time i have made it and was still working on the temp and the seasoning:)

So as I have mentioned before I am potato intolerant hence the new recipe Butternut squash fries!! I am able to do Sweet potato in moderation but its just easier to stick to something i know will not hurt me:) Speaking of food drama lol even though i have been doing my best to stay away from potato, grains, dairy, and sugar, I still have been having issues mainly itching after every time i eat :( I am trying my hardest to not fall back into my anorexic tendencies of just not eating since I can't stand the itching but I can not do that to myself or my family.Even today I was struggling with eating or not eating or feeling hungry all the time vs. itching. Its tough.  I have been trying my best but just when i think i have it figured out i will have a headache or itch and i am back at the frustration ugh. So the last couple of days i have been wanting to find more answers so I decided to dive deeper into why would foods make me itch. One way I itch is when i have my eczema which is all the time but its pretty mild right now. Its been really bad in the past as one time it was all over every itch of my body besides my face. I was sooo uncomfortable. I read up awhile ago on what triggers it and sure enough i have trouble with those foods. But even when i wasn't having those foods i would still itch. So i kept researching and just the other day came across an article taking about eczema being an autoimmune disorder or causing other autoimmune disorders. I remember my friend Alicia telling me about how she is on an autoimmune diet for her own autoimmune struggles. I have now decided I am going to get tested for all the foods that cause me trouble and I am going to embark on a new food journey that helps me not itch. It sounds like I have to say goodbye to eggs, arghh. Oh well. When I was vegan i didn't have eggs for quite some time and so i have done it before! But luckily for me Butternut squash will still be on the menu!! And Chicken Burgers as u will see below!

So here is the Butternut Squash Fries!!!

Up top is my fries with my California Chicken burger on a Cabbage leaf bun!! And to the right is just them in all of their glory!! lol

 

Butternut Squash Fries

 

Half of a Butternut squash the long side

1 tbs Olive Oil

Dashes of whatever seasoning u want!

My favorites are garlic, chili powder, Italian seasoning, herbs or whatever u want!

1 t Sea Salt

 

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees

1. Cut and Peal the butternut squash. I use the long part since its easier to make into fry shape:)

2. I cut in lengthwise and then in half several times until all the fries are cut!

3. Place in a shallow bowl and drizzle olive oil over them.

4. Sprinkle with the seasoning! This time I used Italian Seasoning, organic herb blend, and garlic.

4. Sprinkle with Sea Salt, I used Himalayan Sea Salt.

5. Gently toss with your hands until fully coated.

6. Place on a cookie sheet lined in foil and place in oven for 12-14 minutes.

7. Then turn oven to broil for 1-2 minutes. Watch closely! Take them out when they are browned on top!

8. Enjoy! There are many dipping sauces u can try I like spicy mustard or ketchup or tartar sauce!

 

Happy Healthy Eating!!

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy Recipe building and Paleo Chicken Spaghetti!

Happy New Year! I am so excited I have almost hit 100 views!!

Ok, so now  I really want to try and post at least one every other day but I just realized a few days ago that when I cook I do not follow a recipe and I also do not measure anything! So that makes it really hard to post a recipe for other to make:) I am going to try really hard to know at least the measurements so i can give them to you to make!

When i was deciding what to cook for my family tonight I got a hankering to make Chicken Spaghetti! My mom used to make us chicken spaghetti growing up and it was always one of my favorite recipes. I have always done it simply in the past with just the chicken breast browned with a jarred bottle of sauce thrown on and put it over noodles. Tonight it was homemade!!

 Well, a little over a year ago my husband and I decided we wanted to eat extremely healthy and so we stumbled upon the grain free lifestyle! Their are a lot out there from Primal to Paleo to just grain free. A little over a year ago we followed a little Primal with some low carb thinking built in. So in doing that we discovered a substitution for spaghetti noodles that we fell in love with. Spaghetti Squash. Yum! It became our main staple and even when around this time last year we decided to not follow a plan anymore due to it aggravating my anorexia, this was something that never went away. We continue to love this! So when January first hit and we decided to once again embark on a healthy endeavor we decided on Paleo. What I love about Paleo is that is grain free, dairy free and sugar free. As previously posted I found out I had intolerance's to combining grains and potato and also to dairy.  When I found out I decided to make it easy and just not eat potatoes anymore. It turned out not to be easy since potatoes are hidden in everything from bread to rice. Therefore, I was still having problems and then I remembered when I went grain free I felt so awesome! So after much prayer and making sure I am ready for it not to affect my eating disorder I am Paleo and loving it!

I decided tonight to make homemade from scratch Chicken Spaghetti but of course its Paleo! I had my moms recipe in the back of my mind but came up with my own and it turned out amazing!!

(I first pick of my food! All I could figure out was the webcam but u can see it!)


Paleo Chicken Spaghetti
(For those of u that are not Paleo or dislike squash u can make brown rice noodles like my kids like!)

2 lbs bone in Chicken breasts or thighs (whatever cut u like best, you can also use boneless anything it just changes the flavor slightly)
1 28 oz can of tomato sauce (make sure there is not sugar added)
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tea salt
2 tea Basil
2 tea oregano
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tea olive oil
1 tea Coconut Sugar
1 tea Italian seasoning
1 tea granulated garlic
1/2 large yellow onion minced
1 tea Apple Cider Vinegar
Dash of garlic, salt and pepper to season chicken
1 spaghetti Squash

Directions:
1. In a large pan place olive oil over medium high heat. When hot, drop chicken in skin side down. Sprinkle a dash of granulated garlic, salt and pepper over the chicken. Cook to brown then flip. Brown until no longer can see pink on the outside. Remove from pan set aside.
2. Cook minced onion and garlic in chicken fat and olive oil left in pan from the chicken. Cook until soft then add tomato sauce, paste, and the rest of the seasoning and coconut sugar. Add chicken back in cover for 30 minutes or until chicken is done.  Taste the sauce and make sure it has enough salt, garlic and Italian spices for your taste.( I also like to add a little drizzle of olive oil to the sauce and stir before I serve it!)
3. The last 10 minutes the sauce has to cook make my spaghetti squash. Half it with a knife and scoop the seeds and pulp out. Place it in a shallow baking dish with about a quarter inch of water in the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and place in microwave for 8 minutes or until soft. Remove from dish. Scrap with fork to get your noodles!!! Put some chicken and sauce over your noodles and Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas without the drama!!

Merry Christmas!! I had a wonderful holiday with family as we celebrated love and Christs birth! One of the family gatherings I went to was at my Aunt Stephi's in West Seattle. It was so much fun laughing and catching up and of course the best part eating!!

This hasn't always been favorite part of the family gathering. Just a few years back I remember going to one and having my stomach hurt so bad afterwards and my head pound that i was not even thinking straight. I have always known dairy did not agree with me so i tried to avoid that,but did not know what other stuff would be harmful. I tried everything. I went Gluten free, I went vegan for a while, I tried no grains. Nothing seemed to be helping. So after much trial and error finally went in for blood panel for food intolerance's. Low and behold it showed up dairy as I knew it would but also showed up red meat and potato. Now you may think potato that doesn't sound that challenging. That is what i thought too until the doc told me that potato is in almost anything. Its in almost all wheat and Gluten Free products as well as almost all alternative milks and cheeses. I was like What?! lol. That was the reason why when i eliminated Gluten over a year prior to my test that i was still having issues. So i adapted to my new found diet the challenges and the freedoms of eating and not getting sick for once!! One of the recipes I immediately thought about was one I had stumbled upon and really enjoyed when my husband and I went low carb last year. It was after my third child, my little girl, that I wanted to lose the weight and so did my hubby lol. One of our favorites was a recipe for mashed cauliflower. It was sooo good. Now see I have never been a fan of the potato ever since i remember ( now i know why) so I was thrilled when I could pour gravy on something!! I also love veggies so this made me doubly happy, and because of this sole recipe I knew my potato free days were going be drama free!

So when my Aunt invited me to Christmas dinner I was asked to bring my famous Mashed Cauliflower!! It turned out really well. It was a great blessing of a day and best of all I wasn't afraid to eat the things i knew I could eat and it felt great, no drama, it is possible!! I am definitely healing and feeling my best:) I wanted to post the recipe for all of you to enjoy as well!

Mashed Cauliflower

2 head of Cauli (serves about 8-10)
1/2 cup chicken broth. plus 2 tablespoons
1 tbs Earth Balance spread
1 clove garlic minced
2 tea. fav milk subsitute ( I use either rice milk or coconut milk, rice milk makes it not as creamy so depends on what consistency you like it)
salt and pepper

1. Cut the Cauli into chunks and place into a pot. Add the chicken broth and bring to boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium for about 15- 20 min. If the chicken broth evaporates add a splash more at a time to keep it steaming.
2. Once the cauli is falling apart and a little mushy. Turn off heat. If there is a little broth at the bottom then do not add the 2 tbs just use that but if its all evaporated then add the 2 tbs of broth. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend with an immersion blender right in the pot. It might need more salt and pepper just add to taste. Also the texture is to taste as well. If u want it creamier add more "milk." Be careful it can get too watery cauliflower already has a lot of water so u don't need much if u like it thick just add a splash of "milk" and broth. Play with it and enjoy!!

Sorry no pics but i am sure I will get one soon:) I make this often.

Welcome to my blog!!

I just did the simple standard blog but i think I love it! i am going to work on it everyday and see if i can add some great pictures and all that stuff. I will definitely be adding recipes as i make them and also telling some back stories of my life and struggles and with food. I am going to love sharing all the recipes with you all!

I wanted to introduce myself!

I am Megan Miller, wife of Jordan Miller for the last ten glorious years and mom to three fun loving kids Diego, Ellington and Sonrie. Long story short I love food and I love to cook. I love to go out to dinner and try new things. I love to cook for other people and especially  I love to serve the less fortunate with a meal. But I have had drama with food that with the support of family, friends and God, I am healing everyday from!

My food drama started when I was a teenager. I had always loved food and cooking. My mom cooked for us every night and she is an amazing cook! She still continues to teach me every time we cook together:) I was always a little bigger then the other girls. When I look back on pictures I cant believe I thought I didnt look good but sadly my body image was flawed. So I decided that i was going to do something about it and became anorexic. Addicted to exercise, which meant that if i didnt do it 2 hours a day i would have a meltdown. I would only eat like an apple and half a sandwich a day on somedays. I will let you more about that later but needless to say it started a battle with food that would last 15 years.

I ended up in outpatient rehab for food disorders at 31 years of age. I was pregnant with my second child and was not eating.  My husband noticed something was not right and told me i needed help. It was such a blessing. Even though i had learned in college how bad starving yourself was and all that it just never stuck because of my disease. And that is what I had to learn it was a disease. I had something wrong with my brain that caused me not to see myself correctly and I had to change that. I had to learn to love the person God made me whether I was skinny or not. After one year I was happy to graduate a healthier happier wife and mother. It helped but the disease always lingers. I deal with it from time to time but now i know how to combat it and thats a good feeling. I no longer let it trap me.

Continuing on my journey, I have tried many different ways of eating to lose the baby weight three times and to also live a healthier lifestyle. Along with my battles with anorexia I will also be sharing about my stuggle with food intolerances and how my faith has helped me though as well as some healthy recipes ranging from my famous no bake cookies to savory dishes like spagetti squash Alia Olio!  I hope to help many that stuggle with food drama become healthy, happy and to love food again!!