Category Archives: Meals

Gluten free, dairy free, paleo, sugar free, grain free meals

Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce!

| 2 Comments | Beatty Protocols, Meals, Recipes

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - Amanda NaturallyAhhh spaghetti. The epitome of comfort food. Slurping up those noodles, dripping in tomato sauce and covered in parm! Actually as a kid I was slurping up noodles covered in Becel margarine covered in parm…and I wonder why my belly was always sore! However, once I made it over to the spaghetti and meat sauce team, I was hooked. Making my own spaghetti sauce was one of the first things I learned how to make. In university I would make a huge bowl of pasta (whole wheat, cause you know, “healthy”) and simmer onions, garlic and fresh tomatoes on the stovetop with basil, oregano and maybe a splash of red wine if there was some leftover from the night before. Not too shabby for a 20 year old biosci student who was stressed beyond belief! 

 

This recipe, is a variation on the one my mom has Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - Amanda Naturallymade for my entire life, so I call it Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce! I believe the original recipe was in Chatelaine. It is, in my humble opinion, a perfect tomato sauce. And when you mix it with grass-fed ground beef? A bolognese that will make any Italian grandmother cry tears of joy. Okay so maybe I’m being a little melodramatic, but that’s only because homemade tomato sauce is AMAZING. Even using (organic) canned tomatoes! Trust me. It’ll change your life!

 

IMPORTANT: If you are going to put the time in to make your own spaghetti sauce (which is absolutely worth it, I promise!) be smart about it! Make as much as you can and freeze it in portions for a later date! The best thing is being able to pull homemade spaghetti sauce out of the freezer and dump it into sautéed ground beef. Toss that over noodles of your choice (I personally love zoodles or sweet potato noodles, but anything will do!) and you have a fabulous, home-cooked meal in less than 10 minutes. 

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce - Amanda Naturally

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce
Serves 12
Traditional spaghetti sauce, that is easily turned into a bolognese! Paleo, vegan, kid-friendly and delicious.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
35 min
Total Time
45 min
Tomato Sauce Ingredients
  1. 2 tbsp fat (olive oil, tallow, lard)
  2. 2 onions, diced
  3. 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
  4. 2 cans organic tomatoes (I used Kirkland brand from Costco)
  5. 2 cans organic tomato paste (Kirkland)
  6. 1 tbsp oregano
  7. 1 tbsp basil
  8. 1 tbsp chili flakes (optional)
  9. 1 tsp sea salt
  10. 2 bay leaves
Bolognese
  1. 1 lb grass fed ground beef
Tomato Sauce Directions
  1. In a deep pot, heat 2 tbsp fat over medium heat.
  2. Add diced onions and sautee until translucent, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add minced garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Add in canned tomatoes, tomato paste and all spices.
  5. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
  6. Serve over your choice of noodles or turn into bolognese (see below).
Bolognese
  1. Sautee grass-fed ground beef, seasoned liberally with sea salt, until cooked through. About 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add ⅓ of the tomato sauce, about 3 cups, to the cooked beef. Cook for a few minutes.
  3. Serve over your favourite type of noodle!
Notes
  1. This tomato sauce recipes makes enough for 3 meals for 4 people, so 12 servings. I typically use ⅓ of the tomato sauce and mix it with ground beef for 2 dinners and 2 leftover lunches. Divide the remaining sauce into 2 containers and freeze for a later date!
Adapted from Chatelaine
Adapted from Chatelaine
Amanda Naturally http://www.amandanaturally.com/

 

 What recipe did you always eat growing up that you can’t get enough of? Share in the comments below!

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash)

| 0 Comments | AIP, Beatty Protocols, Meals, Recipes

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda NaturallyWhen I first started cooking, I would follow a recipe exactly as it was written. As I got more comfortable in the kitchen, I started loosening up a bit. One tablespoon of oil? Approximately a quick circle around the pan. One tsp of cumin? I’d eyeball it in the palm of my hand. The more I practised, the better I got. I started to inherently know when an additional spice should be added, or what ingredients were okay to omit if I didn’t have them. Before I knew it, I stopped following recipes altogether! I learned some basic flavour combinations such as chill powder, cumin and oregano; lemon, garlic and rosemary; dijon and thyme – and started applying them to various  cuts of meat and veggie dishes. Now I rarely follow a recipe, which can actually make it challenging when I’m trying to post my recipes for you guys!

This recipe is a perfect example of that. I had a few ingredients in my kitchen, but no plan. I started with sausage and wanted to do something different with it. I mean, I love grilled sausages topped with sautéed onions and mounds of sauerkraut, but a girl’s gotta have some variety! I was trying to think about other ways that sausage is used and I instantly flashed back to the Sausage and Pepper Penne we served at the East Side Mario’s I worked at back in school. I decided on a pasta!

 Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally

As I do with all my squash, I turned the oven on to 400F and threw the squash in whole as it was preheating, for 25 minutes. It has never exploded on me and it makes cutting it open WAY easier! After 25 minutes, cut in half width wise, scoop out the seeds and place cut side down in a pan. Roast for another 15-25 minutes until the skin gives slightly under pressure. Scrape noodles out with a fork!

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally  Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally

Cook the bacon, set it aside and sautée the veggies and sausage in the bacon grease.

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally

Toss sautéed veggies and sausage with spaghetti squash. Top with the bacon and fresh basil. Voila – Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash)! 

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally

Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash)
Serves 6
Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - an easy, low-carb pasta, jam-packed with healthy fats, protein and flavour!
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
50 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
40 min
Total Time
50 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 large spaghetti squash
  2. 4 pieces of pieces of bacon
  3. 4 sausages, sliced into bite sized pieces
  4. 1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
  5. ½ red onion, sliced thinly
  6. fresh basil
  7. salt salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Cook spaghetti squash - set the oven to 400F and throw the squash in whole. After 25 minutes pull the squash, slice it across the circumference, width wise and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for another 15-25 minutes, until soft to the touch. Set aside until you're ready to assemble the pasta.
  2. Cook the bacon until crispy. Chop into small pieces and set aside.
  3. Pour half of the bacon grease into another pan. Add onion and mushrooms. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sautee.
  4. Meanwhile, in the original pan, brown the sausage slices. Approximately 3-4 minutes per side.
  5. When the sausages are done, add the onion and mushrooms to the sausage pan. Using a fork, scrape the spaghetti squash into noodles into the pan. Season liberally with sea salt and pepper. Toss everything to combine well and distribute the yummy bacon grease.
  6. Serve in pasta bowls topped with bacon and fresh basil.
Amanda Naturally http://www.amandanaturally.com/
Sausage & Mushroom Spaghetti (Squash) - Amanda Naturally

Plantain Chip Nachos

| 2 Comments | Apps, Snacks & Sides, Beatty Protocols, Meals, Recipes

Plantain Chip Nachos - Amanda NaturallyAnyone else absolutely love nachos? I was a weird kid and actually kind of hated chips. There was one exception though – tortilla chips. Maybe it’s because I have such fond memories of ski vacations with my family…the 4 of us curling up together after a long day of skiing, watching NCAA basketball and sharing a bag of Tostitos. I don’t know what it is, but I can eat an entire bag of tortilla chips I love them so much! 

Unfortunately corn is one of the riskiest foods to consume these days. While it’s technically gluten-free (and therefore used in practically every commercial gluten-free food product), it has 2 very serious properties.

1. The protein found in corn is incredibly similar to gluten, and as a result, is one of the top cross-reactors in the case of celiac disease. In plain english – if you’re sensitive, allergic or have an immune response to gluten, there is a fairly decent chance you might react to corn as well. 

2. Corn has been aggressively genetically modified – and in an incredibly frightening way. Genetically modified corn has had the gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis inserted into it. This gene codes for the production of a pesticide. What this means is every single cell within the corn plant is secreting it’s own pesticides. Scary right? Well, it gets worse. The way this pesticide works is by damaging the digestive lining of the insect. This causes septicaemia (a blood infection) in the insect, which results in death. Have you read my post about Leaky Gut? This pesticide kills insects by creating leaky gut in them. Can you say terrifying? To be fair, there are no studies confirming the danger of Bt Corn. To be equally fair, there are no longterm studies proving the safety either. So pretty much, we are all the subjects in this study right now, which I am personally opting out of, thank you very much!

While I do enjoy some corn on the cob in the summer (most sweet corn is not Bt corn) and the occasional organic tortilla chip, I some how can’t ever seem to stop at a reasonable portion. And boy do I pay for it. So, I started looking for another option!

Enter: the plantain chip.

Oh man do I love plantains. I make pancakes and biscuits out of them; fry them up in coconut oil for breakfast or a side at dinner; and indulge in plantain chips on a semi-regular basis. They have a very low risk of being an allergen and are well tolerated by most people. They are naturally gluten-free, grain-free, corn-free (etc etc) and they are a fabulous prebiotic (ie. a food for your beneficial gut bacteria). The main problem with most plantain chips? They contain crappy, damaged, seed/crop oils that result in chronic inflammation in the body. That’s where this amazing brand comes in! Check out those ingredients: plantain, palm oil (a stable oil, like coconut oil) and salt! Winner!

Plantain Chip Nachos - Amanda Naturally  Plantain Chip Nachos - Amanda Naturally

Note: palm oil is not the most friendly oil to the environment. But let’s be scientifically fair when we talk about oils. Genetic modification, aggressive spraying with pesticides and mono-cropping all cause horrific damage to the environment as well. We just don’t talk about that because Big Ag makes a ton of moula off of seed oils (canola, soybean, corn), which utilize all 3 of these practices. 

I’m pretty sure there are several brands of clean plantain chips in the USA, but in Canada, this is the only one I’ve ever found (ps. let me know if you know of another brand!). And the store? Dollarama! How funny is that? Any time I’m near a Dollarama, I go buy at least 10 bags of these guys. Oh man, they’re so delicious! Here’s how I turn them into nachos:

Plantain Chip Nachos

Ingredients

  • 2 bags of Inka Chip Plantain Chips
  • ⅔  lb of ground beef
  • tex mex spices (chili, cumin, oregano)
  • sea salt and pepper
  • onion
  • bell pepper
  • garlic
  • tomato
  • hot sauce
  • cilantro
  • homemade guacamole 
  • salsa
  • optional: raw cheddar cheese, goat cheddar or organic sour cream

Directions

1. Sautee a chopped onion, bell pepper and garlic for a few minutes. Add ground beef, seasonings, sea salt and pepper, and cook through. I usually make a full pound of ground beef and save some for leftovers or an egg scramble the next morning. I never measure my spices, so play around! If you want more specific measurements, check out my recipe for Lettuce Wrap Tacos.

2. Turn the oven to broil.

3. On a baking sheet, spread out the plantain chips evenly. Top with ground beef and additional toppings: red onion, diced bell pepper, tomatoes. Sprinkle with a little hot sauce. If you are using cheese, add it now.

Plantain Chip Nachos - Amanda Naturally

4. Broil for 3-7 minutes, depending on the heat of your broiler. Don’t let it burn!

5. Top with cilantro and serve with guacamole and salsa.

You’ll notice that the ingredients list and directions are pretty open-ended. I did that on purpose, because I don’t actually follow a recipe. It’s pretty hard to mess this up, so get creative! What veggies do you like on your nachos? Olives, mushrooms, fresh lettuce? Throw them on there! Do you love black beans and tolerate them well? Give ’em a go as well. Have fun with this recipe!

Plantain Chip Nachos - Amanda Naturally

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