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Prep Day Breakfast Sandwiches!

March 6, 2023

Healthier ingredients and saving money at the same time?! YES please! Let’s have a quick prep day and make our own breakfast sandwiches for the freezer!

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Begrudgingly becoming a meal planner…

If you have been around since I began this blog (9 years ago!), you know that in those earlier years, I would often field the question of “how do you meal plan” by telling you that I didn’t. I worked from home, and had babies at home, and I feel like most days back then, I was flying by the seat of my pants! There is absolutely nothing wrong with that if it is working for you. And it actually did work for me…until it didn’t. As the girls have gotten older, even though I still work from home, we are pulled away from home more often between school, after school activities, friend’s houses, and teens that want to “do something fun this weekend,” that I need to have meals more thought out. We probably have more down time than the average American, and so I can confidently say that if I’m finding meal planning helping our schedule, I would imagine so many of you would benefit from some meal planning hacks…like make ahead breakfast sandwiches!

Move over McDonald’s!

I started making these little breakfast sandwiches in bulk when we had a number of days or weekends where we had to “be somewhere,” or in a car earlier than our usual, and I still wanted something filling and healthy for my family to eat. When life gets busy, it is ok to not want to compromise on the food filling up your family. In fact, it is in those busy seasons that your family needs nutrient dense, healthier food that counts the most! Those little fast food Sausage McMuffins with Egg are such a convenient idea, but not only can we save money by making our own (I’ll break this down for you later!), our bodies are going to feel SO much better when we fuel with ingredients that are sourced well too.

Let’s start with the eggs!

I just love this little time saving hack! There is nothing fancy here – just a sheet pan of seasoned whipped eggs in the oven for 15 minutes, and you can cut up the squares into whatever size you want! Simply whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl with seasonings of your choice, and pour into a buttered sheet pan. I kept the seasonings in the eggs pretty basic in the recipe card below, but you can read the “Notes” section at the bottom of the recipe card for ideas to dress up your egg squares with sautéed veggies, or other seasonings.

Baking and slicing your egg squares

Once the eggs have baked for 15 minutes, you’ll want to let them cool for a bit – they will come out of the pan easier this way, and you will be able to slide it onto a cutting board for easy slicing too. The beauty of making your own is getting to control the size of your egg squares. If you have littles in the house, and are using something like my little breakfast biscuits, or a pancakes for the sandwich part, you can make the egg squares smaller. If you are using something larger, like the Trader Joe’s gluten free English muffins shown in the pictures of this post, or are using larger waffles or pancakes for the sandwich, you can make your egg squares bigger.

Next, let’s talk about sausage options!

I like to use the grass-fed ground beef from the cow that we purchase every year. It is super affordable, packed with so many vitamins, minerals, and compounds that you just won’t get out of conventional beef. It is also really easy to season like sausage using my sausage seasoning blend that is in the recipe card below. But there are other options too! If you have access to quality pasture raised pork or pork sausage, or even if you have access to ground turkey, lamb, or venison, you can make your own using the sausage seasoning in the recipe card below. You may also be able to find a decent breakfast sausage at the store. Brands like the Swaggerty’s Natural or Swaggerty’s Natural Sage sausage, or even the Jenny-O turkey sausage, may not have all the added benefits of a pastured meat, but the ingredients are super minimal, and it is a great option for those of you that don’t have a pastured meat source available to you.

Now for the “bread” part of the breakfast sandwich…

There are really quite a few options here! And there is something for everyone – no judgement either way. There are going to be people reading this post that under no circumstance want to homemake any sort of baked good or bread, and I would rather you use a store bought English muffin with decent ingredients than go to McDonald’s! So here are some choices for both sides – my “everything from scratch” crowd, as well as my friends that just want to grab something from the store:

Homemade GF biscuit :: Whether you use my GF/DF Butter”milk” Biscuit from my cookbook “The Little Lunchbox Cookbook” (pictured below), or my GF Savory Spinach & Cheese Breakfast biscuit recipe from the blog, biscuits make a great vehicle for a breakfast sandwich! Or maybe you have a favorite breakfast biscuit recipe in your house that you can use!
GF Pancakes or Waffles :: Other than my biscuit recipe, my GF/DF protein waffles recipe is probably the one I use the most for these breakfast sandwiches, on a weekly basis. I typically make a double batch of the waffles for Sunday breakfast weekly, so I have leftovers available for quick sandwiches during the week. These waffles really taste so good as a breakfast sandwich versus a sweet breakfast waffle! You can use pancakes too! Probably the easiest and fastest recipe to knock out a bunch for the freezer would be my Paleo Pancakes from my cookbook, “The Little Lunchbox Cookbook.” Or maybe you have a household favorite pancake recipe you can use!
Store bought English muffin :: Examples that I have checked out are the Trader Joe’s or Udi’s Gluten Free English Muffins. One of the biggest reasons I took most of the pictures for this post using a store bought English muffin is to show my cooking-hesitant or baking-hesitant friends that you can still do this thing. As I said above – there will be zero judgment in this space, and I found them pretty tasty and convenient too! (Please note that typically, gluten free store bought breads like these English muffins have a much better texture when toasted – you can toast them on the same day you prep your items! I don’t have a toaster, and I tend to use my large electric skillet to toast a bunch at a time!)
GF Bread/Toast :: As simple as this sounds, this is a very easy and tasty option too. Costco always has a good GF bread option, and quite frankly when it comes to GF bread, toasted is the way to go anyway for the texture, so you might as well make a breakfast sandwich from them! We also love the homemade GF bread mix from Bob’s Red Mill – this is the closest you will ever find me to making homemade GF bread because making GF bread from scratch is SO. HARD! This mix is very fast and easy to use.

So let’s break down the price…

I actually set out to figure out the price per breakfast sandwich with the intention that I was going to have to make my case for you wanting to make these breakfast sandwiches based solely on the fact that they have better ingredients than, say, a Sausage McMuffin with Egg from McDonald’s. As it turns out, I’m spending $2.13 for a breakfast sandwich that I can truly feel good about, and the McDonald’s where I live sells a Sausage McMuffin with Egg for $4.49. I don’t even want to know where the eggs and sausage come from on that McDonald’s sandwich, and the biscuit ingredient list is long (not to mention has gluten which wouldn’t work for some people anyway!). (Keep in mind these prices will vary from state to state, and country to country. If you live in a country where a certain type of meat, like lamb, is easier to get, or more cost effective than pork or beef, then use that – I get this comment from many of my readers outside of the States! I live in Michigan, USA, and grass-fed beef is pretty easy to access, and really quite affordable when bought as a side of beef from a local farmer. That is not the case everywhere. You may raise your own chickens or have access to quality farm-raised eggs at affordable prices – do that if you can! You may also not have access to English muffins that are affordable or have ingredients that you can have – quite frankly, making your own pancakes, waffles, or biscuits is even more cost effective anyway!)

1 English Muffin
- 1 Trader Joe’s English Muffin: $1.00/English muffin
- 1 Udi’s English Muffin: $0.96/English muffin
2 egg squares (16 eggs divided into 24 squares is about 1 1/2 eggs for 2 squares):
- Sam’s Club Pasture Raised Eggs: ($5.92/18 eggs = $0.33/egg x 1.5 eggs = $0.50 for 2 egg squares
- True Goodness Meijer Pasture Raised Eggs: ($4.99/doz = $0.42/egg x 1.5 eggs = $0.62 for 2 egg squares)
- Vital Farms Pasture Raised Eggs: ($7.09/doz = $0.59/egg x 1.5 eggs = $0.89 for 2 egg squares)
1 sausage patty (1 pound meat made into 8 patties)
- Grass-fed Ground Beef Sausage Patty: $5/lb x 8 patties = $0.63/patty (I can get a side of a grassfed cow for my freezer every year for under $5/pound here, but that is definitely not the case everywhere. I made this meat at $5 per pound for easy math)
- Swaggerty’s Natural Sausage Patty: $3.68/lb x 8 patties = $0.46/patty
- Jennie-O Ground Turkey Sausage Patty: $4.49/lb x 8 patties = $0.56/patty

Ok, ok, you’ve convinced me…now how do I store them?!

I’m so glad you asked! Because I was super shocked that the eggs squares froze and un-thawed well. They really do! My suggestion would be to freeze in individual sandwiches, OR just freeze the components. I tend to choose to re-heat my breakfast sandwiches in the oven. If I’m going to spend the money on pasture raised eggs and sausage, there is no way I am going to kill off all those good things in the microwave, as convenient as that is. I pop the cold sandwich or the components for the sandwich on a sheet tray and put that in the oven cold. Then I pre-heat to 350 degrees and by the time it pre-heats and then bakes a good 5 minutes, they are nice and hot to serve.

On-the-go storage options!

Here are some options for those of you that need your breakfast sandwiches to be on-the-go. Obviously a re-useable container is the most eco-friendly, but if you can’t bring something like that along because you need to save space, need a smaller option to store away, or need something that you can throw away, I have found these to work well!

The “If You Care” Brand parchment paper or sandwich wraps will keep your sandwich warm and the bread tasting great, and you can throw it away too. They are even compostable!
Beeswax wraps are great if you want a re-useable option that stores away easier than a large re-useable box or lunchbox. Just fold it up and slip it back in your purse or bag and you can rinse it off at home later. They wrap around a sandwich SO nicely, and keep it warm and the bread texture great.

15-MINUTE SHEET PAN EGGS

Here is the recipe for the eggs. Again, these freeze up in squares so nicely, and warm up in the oven with great texture! You could even do 2 sheet pans at a time and bulk up your freezer stash when eggs are on sale, or when those farmers have them priced well in the in-season summer time!

Print Recipe

Sheet Pan Baked Eggs for Prep Day Breakfast Sandwiches!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter for the sheet pan
16 pastured eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk or raw milk
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a large sheet pan/jelly roll pan. The eggs will puff up so make sure to butter the sides too so they don't stick. If you can't have butter, avocado oil or ghee should work.
Vigorously whisk all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until smooth, and then pour the seasoned eggs into the buttered sheet pan.
Bake the sheet pan eggs at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. You can cut the eggs right there in the pan, or you can wait for them to cool, and scoop the egg rectangle out onto a cutting board to cut. I like to run a spatula under the eggs to be sure none of the bottom is sticking.

Notes

You can definitely dress these eggs up or down! This is a pretty basic recipe. Add cooked & crumbled sausage, sautéed veggies, and/or shredded cheese of your choice. The Viola Life coconut based cheese works well if you are not able to have dairy. We like the sheep’s milk or goat’s milk cheeses since that is what we tolerated best.
To freeze the eggs, cut them up into squares after they have cooled completely, and store in freezer bags flat. They really do thaw out and re-heat well and keep their taste and texture!

DIY SAUSAGE PATTIES

And for those of you wanting to experiment with making your own sausage patties, get ready to save some money and have super delicious sausage too!

Print Recipe

Homemade Sausage Patties

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp marjoram
Pinch cayenne pepper to taste or leave it out if you want to keep the heat down
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 – 1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb pastured ground pork or grassfed ground beef ground lamb, venison, turkey etc work too
1 tbsp butter to cook in

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the seasonings together until combined, then add the ground meat to the bowl. Mix the meat with the seasoning blend until combined.
Form patties out of the meat, and cook in a hot skillet coated with butter. I get 7-8 patties out of each pound of meat, but you can make your patties as large or small as you want.
This recipe doubles and triples well, and the sausage patties freeze well both uncooked, and cooked.

More real food recipes you might like!

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Creamy Roasted Rutabaga Soup :: Gluten & Dairy Free

January 31, 2023

Roasted rutabaga soup is beautiful simplicity, and a super kid friendly creamy soup way to get mineral rich veggies in!

Creamy Roasted Rutabaga Soup :: Gluten & Dairy Free

Beautiful simplicity…

If you haven’t noticed from the last year of recipe posts on the blog, our family is most definitely knee deep in pre-teen and teen years. I’m so happy to hear from so many of you with teens, that you are pumped about the help you are getting from this space as my girls make their way through their teenage years. It’s interesting though…when I really stop to think about it, we aren’t truly doing a whole lot differently than when they were very little. Sure, we have to double (and triple!) the portions and recipe sizes for bigger kids, but my M.O. has always, always been…beautiful simplicity.

Nourishing soup for ANY age!

Because those big kids in the picture above? They still eat the same power packed soups that I fed them as little ones. The pictures below? Dear momma with little ones at home, please let this be your inspiration…and motivation! Those babies in your house are absolutely *blank slates* for developing taste palates! I’m gonna get all tough love on you, and promise that if you skip the toddler puffs and cereal, and go for the beautiful simplicity of a little mug of veggie soup, you will be rewarded with older kids that actually *ask* for certain veggie soups in their thermoses for school lunch. My 3 very different personality kiddos are living proof! So let’s learn how to make a very simple veggie soup that your little ones (and you too, momma!) can sip from a mug, slurp up from a bowl, or lick off a spoon!

Why rutabaga?

Well other than the absolute budget saver that this simple root veggie is, rutabagas are packed with fiber and vitamin C. They have the perfect balance of minerals including potassium which so many of us and our kids need more of! The slow burning carbohydrates give busy, growing kids the energy they need, and that coupled with a load of antioxidants? Well, let’s just say sometimes I think the humblest of foods sometimes don’t get enough credit!

Yes, rutabagas are absolutely divine!

At least when you know how to cook them they are! Rutabagas are just like every other root veggie, in that when you roast them, you’re going to get a slightly sweet, very satisfying starchy taste, that any little one that hasn’t been inundated with sugar will find very, very appealing. And when you blend it up with some bone broth? Those natural, slow burning starches make for a smooth, creamy, very potato soup like texture, and a sweet root vegetable flavor. So let’s learn how to make roasted rutabaga soup!

The Method :: Prepping the veggies

To get your soup started, peel and chop your rutabaga. The skin is super thin, so a simple peeler is all you need. And since this soup gets completely pureed in the end, no precision cutting skills are needed here! Just a coarse chop, and you’re ready to roast. This bods well for busy families, new mommas with active toddlers, and those newer to cooking!

The Method :: Roasting the veggies

Once the veggies are chopped, transfer them to a large baking sheet. If your baking sheets are smaller, simply use two of them! Toss the veggies with melted butter or olive oil and sea salt, then let the oven do the rest! While your veggies are roasting, you can change the baby’s diaper, read the toddler that book, or *gasp!* take that shower you have been trying to get in all day!

The Method :: Finishing the soup

When the veggies are soft and starting to caramelize, you can blend it with your bone broth and a little cream or coconut milk. That is literally it! You get to control the texture and thickness! Add or subtract more or less broth to get a thicker or thinner soup.

Tips for feeding soup to little ones

Here are some thoughts to keep in mind when serving soup to babies, toddlers, and younger children!

Serve the soup at a cooler temp than you would probably enjoy the soup. Hot soup is very intense for little ones, and I always found that they ate soup better at pretty close to room temp. That might gross you out, but they will eat it better! You can cool it off with an ice cube, or pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.
Try different serving vessels! Most little ones like to “do it myself” so try a very small tea cup with a straw or small spoon. Or a smaller bowl. They may even prefer to drink it from a cup or sippy.
Some little ones love to dunk! Make some grilled cheese and cut it into strips for dunking, use some crackers or pita bread, or toast up some tortillas in a hot pan as “chips” to dunk.

Don’t forget about the school aged kids and teens!

These are the soups that my kids live for! Easy to eat and super yummy! The girls used to pack straws with their thermoses of soup when they were younger. My teens either drink it right out of the thermos like a cup, or pack a spoon now. But the possibilities are endless, really. Pack whatever sides and protein they need to go with it! Below are chicken quesadillas from dinner and some apples. My teens packed some more chicken quesadillas, as well as guacamole to dip the quesadillas in.

Serving suggestions and freezer friendly tips!

I just love soups like this for the versatility and because they freeze for later use so well. When I had very little ones at home, those 2 points were game changers. If your little one loves this soup, it is versatile enough to serve in a little mug with a plate of eggs for breakfast, or in a bowl with some grilled cheese dunkers for lunch! And if you want to double up and freeze, that just makes life that much easier during busy weeks that you don’t have time to be in the kitchen. I like using these SOUPER freezer cubes for soups that I want to portion out for little ones.

Print Recipe

Creamy Roasted Rutabaga Soup :: Gluten & Dairy Free

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 small/medium onions coarsely sliced into strips
3 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole
1 rutabaga peeled and cut into 1-inch sticks
½ large head of cauliflower coarsely chopped
4 tbsp olive oil or melted butter I like to use a combination of both olive oil and butter for the flavor
1 ½ tsp sea salt
1– 1 ½ quarts bone broth depending on how thick you want the soup
¼ cup coconut milk if you tolerate dairy, cream or milk works too
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees
Toss the onions, garlic, rutabaga, and cauliflower on a large sheet pan with the olive oil and sea salt. Roast at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, until the veggies are soft.
Blend the roasted veggies in a high speed blender with the bone broth and coconut milk until smooth. If you do not have a high speed blender, you can pour the veggies and broth into a large soup pot and blend with and immersion blender.
Season the soup with sea salt and pepper to taste. I like cracked black pepper to garnish, or a drizzle of olive oil.

More real food SOUP PUREE recipes you might like!

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Dinner Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Lunch Ideas Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips school lunches Soup

Creamy Sausage, Potato, & Spinach Soup :: A Copycat Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana Done Gluten & Dairy Free!

January 16, 2023

This creamy sausage, potato, & spinach soup is a Copycat Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana with all of the creamy flavor, and none of the gluten and dairy!

Creamy Sausage, Potato, & Spinach Soup :: A Copycat Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana Done Gluten & Dairy Free!

Cold weather comfort food, and a teen favorite!

Earlier this fall, my 13 year old had a potluck to cook for at school. We scanned the sign up, and noticed it was fairly “Italian” themed with different pastas and salad. When I saw the section that asked for someone to bring soup, I thought I’d show my middle schooler the delicious comfort of an old Olive Garden restaurant favorite, with a healthy real food spin of course!

A new teen hit with an old restaurant favorite

She helped me make that “Zuppa Toscana,” and I’m telling, you those middle schoolers licked every last drop clean! Creamy sausage and potatoes…what teenager wouldn’t love that?! We have made it a number of time since, and the girls have claimed this as one of their favorite winter soups now, so I just had to share!

The Method :: Brown the Sausage

You’ll start your Zuppa Toscana by browning some sausage in a soup pot. I like to use a little of the bacon grease leftover from the weekend to cook in to add even more flavor to the soup, but a little butter or olive oil work great too. And speaking of options, you have choices for the sausage too! If you have a local farmer that you like to support, you can get either their ground sausage, or get plain ground pork and season it yourself! I have an MSG free and sugar free Sausage Season Blend on the blog! There are even some store bought sausages that aren’t so bad in the ingredient department if you look around. At our home, we tend to use our grassfed ground beef from the cow we get for the freezer each year, and season it with my own Sausage Season Blend. If you have ground venison, turkey, or chicken, that does work too!

The Method :: Cook the veggies

After you brown the sausage, you’ll scoop the meat out with a slotted spoon, leaving behind all of the cooking fat. Use this flavorful cooking fat to sauté your veggies in. This step gives a yummy caramelized flavor to the veggies that will flavor the broth – don’t skip this step!

The Method :: The Potatoes & Creamy Broth

Once your veggies have softened, you’ll stir in some garlic and flour of your choice to coat the veggies. I use a GF flour blend. I would not try using almond or coconut flours as these will not yield the same texture results for the broth. The flour gives the broth a rich, velvety texture that will mix with the coconut milk or cream at the end to create a super creamy, decadent broth. After you stir the flour in, you can pour in the broth and toss the potatoes in. You’ll simmer this until the potatoes are soft, stirring along the way.

The Method :: Finishing the Soup

Once your potatoes have softened, you can stir in the spinach to wilt and also the coconut milk to add creaminess. You have some options here as well. I like to use baby spinach since I always have a large box of it on hand, and it wilts super quick. Baby kale works well too. If you want to use large kale, you’ll want to add it in while the potatoes are cooking for the last few minutes so the tougher kale has a chance to soften. If you don’t need to be dairy free, you can swap the coconut milk for cream or milk. If you are using raw cream or milk, be sure to add it after the heat is turned off so you don’t ruin the beautiful health benefits of the raw dairy!

Leftovers!

The leftovers of this soup are…incredible! The flavors marry over time and just get better the next day. So plan this one into your dinner, and you can have it for lunch the next day, or pack it in the kids’ thermoses for school the next day! My teen and tween in particular ask for this in their lunchboxes a lot lately. I’m not a fan of freezing soups that have potatoes – they just don’t have the same texture when they thaw out, and I wouldn’t waste it. Make enough for the week and leftovers and enjoy. It’s simple enough to make on a monthly or bi-weekly basis if the family loves it that much!

Print Recipe

Creamy Sausage, Potato, & Spinach Soup :: A Copycat Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana Done Gluten & Dairy Free!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp bacon grease butter, or olive oil to cook in
1 lb ground sausage of choice See Notes for options
1 large onion diced
2 large carrots peeled and diced
1 celery stalk diced
4-5 cloves of garlic minced
¼ cup GF flour blend
1 ½ quarts bone broth
4 large yellow potatoes cubed in ½ inch pieces (ends up being about 4 cups of cubed potatoes)
4 cups baby spinach or baby kale chopped small
1 cup coconut milk or cream
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Melt the bacon grease in a soup pot over medium high heat, and brown the sausage. Using a slotted spoon, remove the sausage from the pot once it is browned, leaving the cooking fat behind in the soup pot. There needs to be a good tablespoon of fat in the pot leftover from cooking the sausage – if there isn’t, add a little more bacon grease, butter, or olive oil so you can cook the veggies.
Over medium heat, saute the onion, carrot, and celery in the leftover sausage cooking fat with a pinch of salt, until the veggies are soft and sweet, around 7 minutes or so.
Add the garlic and flour and cook for 1 minute.
Add the bone broth and potatoes, stir to combine, and put the lid on your pot. Bring the soup to a simmer, and cook until the potatoes are very soft – about 10 minutes. Stir the soup every few minutes to be sure the potatoes don’t stick to the bottom.
Once the potatoes are soft, stir in the cooked sausage and the chopped spinach to wilt in. If you are using kale, you’ll need to cook it down a few minutes to soften.
Turn the heat off, add the coconut milk, and then salt and pepper the soup to your taste.

Notes

You can use farm-bought, store-bought, or homemade ground sausage. I typically use my own DIY sausage seasoning blend mixed into ground beef actually, since we get a grassfed cow every year and our freezer is stocked with grassfed ground beef. The blend also works in ground pork if you have access to good ground pork. If you are a deer hunter, ground venison would work nicely!

More real food recipes you might like!

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Batch Up Meals Dinner Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Lunch Ideas Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips school lunches

Mayo Roasted Chicken :: The most flavorful & tender roasted chicken – EVER!

January 3, 2023

This rotisserie style roasted chicken is the most flavorful & tender roasted chicken – EVER!

Mayo Roasted Chicken :: The most flavorful & tender roasted chicken - EVER!

Winter Storm Elliott – and I’m finally blogging!

So, we live in a part of the US that doesn’t get a whole lot of storms with “names,” if you know what I mean – no hurricanes or tropical storms here! Sure, we get completely dumped on with lake effect snow every winter, but it doesn’t usually make national news. The week before Christmas, our little corner of the world DID, in fact, make the news, as we experienced a “Bomb Cyclone,” and an actual named winter storm/blizzard that came our way! My little people are Michigan born and bred, and *love* the snow – so they were pretty much in seventh heaven for this experience with all the snow play they could endure!

Hunkering down and perfecting recipes!

Over the past couple of months, I’ve taken a little blogging break to refresh, as well as recipe test and perfect some new content for you! The winter storm had us pretty homebound for a number of days, and I was able to get some real work done – including a this recipe that I have been working on for a YEAR!

A pretty hefty claim….

The *most* flavorful & tender chicken – EVER. I know that is a lot to claim, and I can truly say that after a year of working on this recipe, I use this chicken method almost every week now, simply to hear the rave reviews from my family, and completely devoured chicken every single time. Picture the most tender, flavorful rotisserie chicken made right in your home! It is truly mouthwatering – and I don’t say that about a lot of chicken recipes. But there are a couple of very simple secrets to getting the flavor, and I’ll show you just how to do it!

Flavor and Moisture Secret #1 :: The Salt Brine

I know what you’re thinking...I don’t have TIME to brine! I’m not talking about a fussy water bath, or salt water brine here though. This is literally rubbing the whole chicken in a ton of sea salt, and letting it sit in the salt all day. It’ takes minutes to prep – if that. You’ll rinse and pat dry your chicken, then set it up on a wire rack. Then sprinkle all the sea salt over the skin, and inside of the cavity of the chicken. The salt will get drawn into the chicken making every. single. bite – insanely flavorful. Like the best rotisserie chicken. This “dry brine” method is something I have done with my Thanksgiving turkey for years, and it really works well for a whole chicken too!

Flavor & Moisture Secret #2 :: Mayonnaise

I know, I know…but hear me out. Typically we butter or olive oil the outside of the bird, correct? Mayo is really just olive oil, seasoning, and a little egg…basically the same fatty covering to encourage a crispy, roasted skin! The mayo makes the *best* protective coating for the chicken to get brown and crispy, and it tastes so good too! I add just a few herbs – you can use whatever you want! Then rub down the chicken and it’s ready to roast. If you don’t happen to keep mayo in the house often, butter will work as well. If you have the mayo – try it at least once! You won’t be sorry!

Flavor & Moisture Secret #3 :: The Roasting Method

My original roasted chicken recipe is a more low and slow method. It uses liquid in a pan with a lid to do more of a “braise” than a true roast. It works well for pastured chickens that are lean, but it does take all afternoon to cook. Great for a Sunday…not so great for a weekday! This roasting method works just as well with lean, pastured chicken, but it is more of a higher intensity heat for a shorter duration. The sea salt brine locks in moisture – and I promise you will not have a dry chicken here! Simply roast the chicken for a little over an hour, and you’ll be good to go.

Flavor & Moisture Secret #4 :: Let the Chicken Rest

I’m making a whole separate section for this step because I want you to figure this time into your “cooking” time. Once your chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees within about 1 hour and a half, then you want to pull the chicken out to rest for a full 30 minutes before carving it. FIGURE THIS INTO YOUR COOKING TIME so you aren’t disappointed when you have to wait another half hour for dinner! It is worth the wait to let all of those juices redistribute into the bird so that when you DO carve the chicken, it is so juicy and not dry at all.

How do I use this roasted chicken?

Dear momma, this is a GREAT prep day chicken for your week. Sure, it makes a yummy Sunday dinner, but you can make one or two of these chickens on the same day and use it like you would a store bought rotisserie chicken.

Top your salads for lunch
Pack it like a deli meat sandwich for the kids’ lunchboxes
Use it to toss in a stir fry or soup for dinner

Tools you might be interested in!

Because I know I’ll get some questions about the pan & wire rack, what kind of mayo I used, and even meat thermometer recs, I’m going to leave those right here!

For 1 whole chicken, a “quarter” baking sheet and wire rack work great! If you are doing 2 chickens, you’ll use a larger sheet pan.
I get my avocado mayo at Costco. Most regular grocery stores where I live carry these healthier oil mayos now, but look around and see what you can find. You could also make your own! I have a classic mayo recipe in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!
If I could become a spokesperson for this little smart meat thermometer…I would! And I don’t particularly like “selling” things! This “Smart MEATer” would be fun to put on your birthday list for this year. I just pop it into the breast before I put the chicken in the oven, and it alerts my phone of the internal temp, and how long it will take to reach 165 degrees! That is a game changer, and takes the guess work out of how many pounds equals how many minutes! See the image below to see how small this thermometer is, and how it goes right into the meat so easily.

Print Recipe

Mayo Roasted Chicken :: The most flavorful & tender roasted chicken – EVER!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

1 – 5 lb whole chicken
1 ½ – 2 tbsp sea salt
¼ cup mayo soft butter or olive oil will work here too
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp coconut aminos

Instructions

Dry Brine the Chicken:

Cover your chicken in salt for at least 4 hours before cooking. This is called a dry brine. I salt my chicken in the morning and leave it uncovered all day until ready to cook for dinner. You can even do this up to a day in advance.
To do the salting (dry brine), rinse your whole chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Cover the chicken skin with the sea salt, including sprinkling some of the salt on the inside of the chicken. Leave the chicken on a wire rack on a small baking sheet. The chicken will drip some of it’s liquid, so it is best to not just set it on a plate, or it will sit in all the liquid and the bottom skin will not get nice and dry to crisp up.
Leave the chicken UNCOVERED in the fridge to brine. The chicken will need to be at ROOM TEMPERATURE before roasting, so be sure to take it out of the fridge an hour or so before roasting.

Prepare the Chicken for Roasting:

Once the chicken has brined in the salt all day, AND has come to room temp for at least an hour, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees for a conventional oven, or if you are convection/air frying do 400 degrees.
DO NOT rinse the salt from the chicken. I promise it will not be too salty – chicken needs the seasoning, and the salt was pulled into the chicken meat so that every single bite is flavorful.
Mix the mayo, garlic powder, thyme, and coconut aminos in a small bowl, and then brush over the outside of your ROOM TEMPERATURE chicken (top and bottom).

Roast the Chicken:

Roast the chicken at 425 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes depending on the size. Use a thermometer to get the internal temperature to 165 degrees. I recently got a Meater, and it just stays in the chicken while it cooks, and tells me on my phone when it is done – SO nice!
Once the chicken has roasted and reached 165 degrees internally, pull the chicken out from the oven and let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes before carving. If you cut the chicken right away, the juices will leave the meat, and it will dry out. This resting time allows the juices to redistribute – it is SO worth the wait so count this time into your cook time so you aren’t disappointed when you can’t eat it right away!

More real food recipes you might like!

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6 Ways To Use Leftover Chicken

September 14, 2022

Tips for stretching a whole chicken, plus a variety of recipes to use your leftover chicken!

Back to school schedule rhythms

We are back into fall routines, and we all know that means needing a little more rhythm to our meal plan! Many of us are back to busy schedules, after school activities, homework…and enjoying all of the fun fall events too! This felt like a simple enough post to write, but I felt very important, since this “using a whole chicken for multiple meals” thing is something that I rely on very heavily on a weekly basis during the school year.

My year ’round menu staple…

Learning how to cook a whole chicken was one of the very first things I learned how to make when I started my whole foods journey. I was actually quite sick at the time. After seeing doctor after doctor, I saw a more holistically minded practitioner that turned my focus to healing through food. I made my first whole chicken and my own bone broth, and over a period of a few months, and other diet clean-ups, I saw a significant change in my health. I was sold, and the practice of making a whole chicken and broth on a weekly basis became a household staple.

It isn’t as intimidating as it sounds!

Little did I know that years after I got into that rhythm of making a whole chicken and broth, and I started having children, that this simple kitchen task would actually end up becoming a budget and meal planning lifesaver! Whole chickens are less per pound than chicken parts, and you can really stretch that chicken into multiple meals. Of course if you have a larger family, you may need to make more than one chicken at a time to accomplish this! Here are a few posts to get you started on your own journey to making whole chicken! Use whatever kitchen appliance you have – I have a method for just about anything!

How to Make a Whole Chicken In the Instant Pot
How to Make a Whole Chicken In the Slow Cooker or Oven Roaster (an oven roaster allows for multiple whole chickens to be made at a time, by the way! If you like to batch up for a month, or you have a larger family, this is definitely worth looking into!)
How to Make a Slow Roasted Chicken in the Oven

Onto the recipes!

Whether you plan to make a whole chicken specifically to use in a recipe like these, or you plan to make a whole chicken for dinner, and use the leftovers for another meal, I think you’ll find that the possibilities are endless when it comes to utilizing the whole chicken for your weekly meal plan!

Recipe #1 :: Chicken Noodle Soup (plus other chicken soup ideas!)

The quintessential leftover chicken recipe, and my “go-to” on many weeks, is soup. Whether that be chicken noodle soup, or something heartier like stew, it is truly a no brainer. Save the juices that you cook your whole chicken in (called meat stock), and you can literally make soup in the same pot as your whole chicken! Also! If you need some biscuit ideas to go with your soup, you can try my Grain Free Butter Biscuits, my Soft Fluffy Pumpkin Biscuits, or my Cheesy Spinach Biscuits! Here are some of our soup favs with chicken (all of these are gluten and dairy free!):

Recipe #2 :: Chicken Fajitas

I can’t think of a way that I love using shredded chicken for more than fajitas. The texture from a whole chicken is out of this world, and I think you’ll find that the kids will love this on the meal plan rotation often! Go ahead and veggie load that fajita filling too (you can learn how to veggie load taco meat here, and use the same method!), and you can have the whole skillet as a meal to use in tortillas, shells, or on a big salad. If you need a fantastic fajita seasoning blend, you can find my recipe for fajita seasoning mix in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook! Or, if you prefer to buy, this is a good brand.

Recipe #3 :: Chicken Fried Rice

When my girls were little, fried rice was an easy lunchtime staple that I made often while they were home with me. Now that they are bigger, they love to take this savory meal in a thermos to school, but since they are bigger, the little bit of egg in the fried rice doesn’t go as far! I started adding chicken, and it is protein packed enough for a meal for big kids too! If your kids are sensitive to eggs, you can leave them out and add more chicken. This recipe is in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings – the flavor will definitely remind you of a restaurant fried rice! So good!

Recipe #4 :: Chicken Pesto Pasta

*The* most requested pasta dinner in my house is this! I know, I know…it’s green. But hear me out! This creamy, dreamy pasta is SO, so flavorful and comforting. The recipe for my pesto pasta is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook, but if you have a favorite pesto recipe, you can toss that with pasta and chicken and make your own! The recipe from the cookbook has some hidden veggies in with the pesto that the kids will never know are there because the sauce is so creamy, so you can truly call this a one pot dinner!

Recipe #5 :: Chicken Salad

Whether you are super short on time, or the weather is too hot to cook, chicken salad is a fast, no-cook way to use up the leftover chicken from your weekly whole chicken! My kids love to scoop chicken salad with veggies and crackers, which makes for an easy lunchbox protein. You can make chicken salad with a simple mayo (I like this brand from Costco, or here is my Paleo Mayo, or my dairy based egg free mayo), or get fancy with yummy add-ins. There is a really delicious chicken salad pinwheel recipe in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook that the kids will love, or you can try this Mexican Chicken Salad! (PS! If you want to try another “cold” chicken sandwich idea, try my shredded BBQ chicken sandwich recipe!)

Recipe #6 :: Chicken Stir Fry

Clean out the veggie bin at the end of the week and toss it with your leftover chicken! It can be as simple as that, or you can dress it up with some yummy stir fry sauce! Here are some recipes to get you started:

20 Minute Ginger Almond Crispy Chicken Stir Fry with Bone Broth Rice
Sweet & Sour Chicken Sauce for Stir Fry
Teriyaki Stir Fry Sauce
The *Best* Asian Take-Out Copycat (In my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook)
Chicken & Kale with Garlic Sauce Stir Fry
Spring Chicken & Pasta Stir Fry

Don’t forget the bone broth!

If you are investing in a whole chicken, you might as well squeeze the most out of it that you can! Having the bones leftover after pulling the chicken apart is like the gift that keeps on giving. My usual routine is to toss the bones/carcass into my Instant Pot or Slow Cooker as I am de-boning the chicken and make the bone broth right there. You can leave it to cook in the slow cooker over night, or pressure cook it it a couple hours using your Instant Pot (a lot of the times I end up pressure cooking after dinner, and then leave it it in the pot over night since it is so incredibly hot – it cools off by the morning and then I strain and freeze it.

So tell me!

What are your favorite things to do with leftover chicken? Also! I would love to hear from you if you try making a whole chicken for the first time after reading this post! Let us know how it goes!

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Our Favorite Herbal Tea for Kids

August 20, 2022

Our household favorite herbal teas, with lots of tips for using herbal tea with kids!

Over the years, you’ve watched our girls grow up before your eyes, and one of the things you may have noticed when I share breakfast bar set-ups, or our infamous “Breakfast Cookie Friday” tradition, is the herbal tea on the counter, or little teacups in the girls’ hands. A warm cup of “something” to go with breakfast, or as an afternoon pick-me-up, is always comforting, and with back-to-school rhythms commencing, I thought this might be a useful resource for you!

A few considerations before we get started

I just wanted to preface that I am not a doctor, naturopath, or herbalist. I’m going to share herbal teas that I have found that my girls really enjoy, herbal teas that have been recommended by our functional medicine doctor or herbalist friends, and teas that I have found work really well for my kids. Every kid is different, and I would just keep that in mind as you read through. I keep away from caffeinated tea for the kids, and stick to gently steeping the teas. For instance, for the most part I’ll steep tea for the girls for a few minutes so it isn’t as “strong,” or if it has steeped a while, my girls will dilute it with some water if need be. As they get older, I find them diluting it less, and enjoying a stronger tea. I never used honey to sweeten the girls’ tea, but if you prefer to do that, you may!

The benefits of herbal tea for babies

Babies, toddlers, kids, and teens alike can all benefit from being introduced to herbal teas. In my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings, I show you how I introduced my babies to little sips of different herbal teas off a spoon or teacup using colic or tummy calming herbs, fever supporting herbs, as well as mineral rich nourishing herbs. It’s a great way to broaden their palate to the taste of tea, and can help gently address any tummy ailments, colds, and overall health. If you have a baby in the house, I encourage you to pick up Nourished Beginnings, and use that as your starting point, as there are tips and instructions specific to using herbals with babies that will be helpful to you.

The benefits of herbal tea for toddlers

One of my favorite things about using herbs for any age is how easy they are for the body to absorb. When used appropriately, they are gentle and easy on the body, as well as very effective. And for little ones like toddlers who don’t have a reference to sweet beverages like soda or juice (hopefully!), tea can be a super fun beverage “treat” that you can feel good about. I also found herbal teas useful when my toddlers were fighting off a bug. It was something easy to get into them when all they wanted to do was drink instead of eat. Talk about that 2 birds and 1 stone thing! Hydrating, replacing minerals lost, as well as addressing symptoms through herbs is so helpful when a toddler is ill.

The benefits of herbal tea for kids

Similar to toddlers, herbal teas can be an easy way to address symptoms in your children in an easy to administer, as well as easy to digest and absorb way. I have found sending a diluted cup of tea in the girls’ water cups for school to be helpful on so many occasions. At the beginning of the school year adding some relaxing herbs to keep their first day jitters calm. During those sniffly months to add an immune system supporting tea to keep them bolstered. During testing weeks to use focusing or calming herbs. Or while they are on a hot and sweaty field trip or long day outside to use mineral rich, replenishing herbs.

The benefits of herbal tea for teens

As the girls have grown, I have started explaining to them more about how different herbs can help them, how to pick what tea they need, and how to listen to their body. I wish I had started explaining herbs a little younger than I did, because I really think they can learn so much even as little ones, but start where you are! Giving these older kids and teens the tools they need to target how they are feeling with herbs is a priceless life skill they will take with them when they leave the home. For instance, as my oldest has entered puberty, we have talked about herbs that will support her during every week of her cycle. Helping our girls feel empowered instead of helpless with how their body changes each week is going to make such a difference in how she views this season of her life. Helping teen boys and girls learn how to use herbs to support times of stress, times of joy, times of hard work, times of illness, and times of rest is also going to serve them well as they enter their young adulthood.

To tea bag or loose leaf…that is the question!

This part is up to you, but I do have a few thoughts to help you make your choice!

If you have little ones that “want to do myself” I do find that tea bags are less fuss, less mess, and you’ll be more likely to stick to it. I did use a little tea infuser and loose leaf for a while, and my little ones were mild mannered enough to handle it, but it does get messy, and it is more time consuming. The tea bag brands I list in this post all use UN-bleached tea bags, and have been tested for safety (ie no chemicals or junk).
If you have a certain herb, or blend that you come to find that you use on the daily, or more often than most, it will save you money to buy in bulk loose leaf, and make it yourself. I do this with nettle and hibiscus because we love the blend of those 2 herbs, and use it often.
Tea bags make for a tidy “tea corner” using a little organizer next to your electric tea kettle. It becomes an easy “self serve” spot for the kids to help themselves once they are independently fixing their own tea.
If you plan to loose leaf, I have found scooping herbs from the bags they come in, into jars with lids is neater and easier to use.

Electric kettle game changer!

I started using an electric kettle when my oldest was really in a “do it herself” stage. While I didn’t mind helping her stir a pot of soup here and there, boiling a kettle of water everyday was time consuming and, on those major “toddler days,” daunting. Using an electric kettle meant she could fill up the water, flip the switch on, and then “help” me pour the water in her cup. And your teens will enjoy how fast the water boils using an electric kettle. 😉

Onto our favorite household teas!

This is by no means a complete list. There are so many great tea blends out there. The brands listed here are organic, and use safe, unbleached tea bags, and so, in general, if you find another blend in the same brand that you want to try, it should be good to go, so try it out!

Organic India Tulsi/Holy Basil Tea Blends

Tulsi (sometimes called Holy Basil) is an adaptogenic herb, meaning it aides the body during stress by restoring and supporting. The Organic India brand carries just the singular Tulsi herb in a tea bag, but it also has several blends that my kids enjoy on the regular. I would say that in addition to making Nettle Hibiscus infusions in our house, these teas get used the most.

Tulsi Sweet Rose :: This tulsi blend uses rose and chamomile to make a soothing, calming blend. If you have a little one who has a sensitive heart, this is a beautiful blend for them.
Tulsi Sleep :: This tulsi blend uses ashwagandha and chamomile to support restful sleep. If you have high strung kids that have a hard time settling for bed, this is a great one to use at dinner time. One of my girls finds this blend helpful to have with her breakfast before school to calm her if she is experiencing anxiety about testing or changes.
Tulsi Hibiscus :: This tulsi blend simply has hibiscus added to the adaptogenic herb. Hibiscus tastes really yummy to kids, makes for a fun reddish pink color, and is a good source of vitamin C!
Tulsi Raspberry Peach :: This tulsi blend also includes hibiscus and elderberry with some natural flavoring for a really palatable tea for kids. It is a nice one to introduce to older kids that might turn a nose at more herbal tasting teas, and you’ll get the stress response supporting tulsi herb in there too!

Yogi Organic Elderberry & Lemon Balm Immune & Stress

Let’s face it, when our bodies are under the weather, that is a form of stress. So an herbal blend that addresses both the immune system and adrenals makes sense, right? This herbal tea not only tastes really good, it is a wonderful tea to keep around during the fall and winter months when the kids at school are passing bugs around. The girls will take this in their water bottle to school often during the winter months. This herbal blend also has a good amount of ashwagandha which I have found to be one of my favorite adaptogens for stress support.

Yogi Organic Honey Lemon Throat Comfort

The herbs in this tea are great to have around when you have that post-nasal drip feeling, scratchy throat, or cough. More than just “honey lemon,” this tea blend also has cherry bark is great for soothing coughs, and echinacea for supporting the immune system to do it’s job. Stevia leaf also makes this tea feel “sweetened” without adding any sugar.

Yogi Organic Mango Ginger Digestion Support

Ginger root is known for soothing an upset tummy – but it can also be known for being on the “spicy” side for kids. I only have one kid that enjoys straight ginger tea, but this blend is so great for kids, with dried mango right in the tea blend to tone down the ginger. This is a great tea for tummy upset, but I find the girls grabbing it even if they don’t have a sore tummy because it does taste good! Ginger is a wonderful “anytime” herb, so this is a good one to keep around. (This blend DOES still have the ginger as the main ingredient, so if you have little ones, it can be “spicy” if you steep it for too long – just a couple minutes to start is all you need, or if you happen to steep it longer and it tastes too ginger-y, just water it down a bit.)

Yogi Organic Relaxed Mind

I think of this one when I think of racing thoughts. If you have a child that is more high strung, a child who’s brain cannot “turn off”, or, as my husband likes to call it…you can literally see the wheels spinning in her brain making smoke (!), then this is a great blend for them (or you!). It also uses some berries so it has a nice flavor for kids.

Yogi Organic Relaxing Pumpkin Spice

Ok, so you’re enjoying your once or twice per fall “pumpkin spice latte,” and your kids want to have something fun too! This tea tastes so yummy, and it actually serves some purpose too! I love that! I can’t think of anyone that can’t benefit from relaxing herbs, and this blend not only tastes like a fun pumpkin spice drink, it also has chamomile and passionflower (one of my favorite calming herbs!) for relaxing. Make a big pot of it on Christmas Eve night and you can have a fun drink that also relaxes the kids!

Sleepy Teas

There are plenty of “sleepy tea” blends out there, and I wanted to share a few of our favorite, safe ones to drink that my girls like the taste of. Sleepy teas aren’t just for sleep either. While they are helpful for promoting restful sleep, they are not necessarily like a “knock you out” kind of a feeling. I mentioned above that my more “high strung” kiddo finds sleepy tea helpful to drink with breakfast if she is feeling anxious for a test day at school, or something new. More of a “bring you down a few notches” versus making you drowsy!

Organic India Tulsi Sleep :: This sleepy tea uses the adaptogenic herb tulsi blended with ashwagandha and chamomile to support restful sleep.
Organic Yogi Bedtime :: I mentioned above how well we find passionflower to be useful for calming nerves and promoting good sleep, and this blend has passionflower and valerian, making it one of my favorite sleepy tea blends. This blend does have some stevia so it tastes sweeter, and you may find the kids like the orange flavor pretty well.
Traditional Medicinals Organic Nighty Night :: Another option, and found in a lot of grocery stores, this blend uses passionflower, chamomile, linden, and catnip to promote easier sleeping.

Gentle Detox

Kids don’t need (and shouldn’t be) heavily detoxing. (In fact, adults shouldn’t be either!) But, there are some gentle herbs that can support the liver as it gets rid of toxins in the body, and that is a great thing to do!

Traditional Medicinals EverdayDetox Tea :: A blend of classic liver detox herbals with lemon peel to make it taste better, this is is a nice and gentle detox blend.
Yogi Organic Berry Detox Tea :: Dandelion root is the most common of liver detoxers, but it can taste bitter – in fact some adults like to use it as a coffee substitute! I have 2 kids that actually like the taste of dandelion root teas, but I would imagine many kids will need a little help to enjoy it. This berry detox tea tastes great, and you can get the herbal benefits of some gentle liver detoxers too! They also make a Peach Detox Tea too!

Nettle/Hibiscus Infusions

A staple for the girls water bottles throughout the year, I make half gallon jars of nettle/hibiscus infusions often. Nettles are a mineral rich, overall health herb. And because nettles pull histamines down, they are great for kids with seasonal allergies too. Nettles can taste pretty “grassy” on their own, so blended with more pleasantly tasting hibiscus, it is more palatable for kids.

Healthy Cycle (for pre-teen/teen girls)

I will be the first to admit that it took me years to learn about my cycle, how it works, why it works the way it does…and how to fix things that needed fixing. I am an 80’s kid, and 90’s teen, so I won’t even go there and tell you how we managed our cycles when I was a teen. And THAT is why I’m dedicated to helping my girls NOW, while they are pre-teens and teens, instead of walking into it blind and searching for answers in their adulthood. While I’m pretty new to having a cycling teen in the house, I’d like to share how we’ve navigated it so far, and I’ll update along the way if we come across anything else useful!

Yogi Organic Red Raspberry Leaf :: Red raspberry leaf tea is well known for supporting the uterus during menstruation. It can ease and soothe cramping pain. While we have only experienced some mild cramping so far, the difference this tea makes has been noticeable in my teen – enough that she has chosen to take it in her water bottle to school before. While the goal is to have minimal symptoms (severe PMS over the course of a few months is a red flag that something needs addressing!), it is absolutely normal for a newly cycling teen to have some ebbs and flows of cramping as her body starts cycling, and figures hormones out. Red raspberry leaf tea tastes a bit like black tea – it is on the bitter side. If you find that it works but the taste turns your teen off, try a drizzle of raw honey and squeeze of lemon or orange to brighten it up.
Traditional Medicinal’s Healthy Cycle :: I was trying to find a red raspberry leaf tea that tasted a little better than just plain red raspberry leaf, which can be on the bitter side. I wanted to be able to share something that even teens that are new to herbal tea might enjoy. My oldest actually really enjoys the plain tea, but I will tell you right now that my middle one will not when it comes her turn. I found this blend and I really like it for a couple reasons. It has a fun citrusy, minty flavor, and it has the benefits of some gentle liver detoxers like dandelion root. Anytime there are hormones changing, the liver needs to be in tip top shape to handle the hormone dumping. If there are liver clogs or stagnation, you’re sure to have more intense symptoms. I love the extra nourishing nettle in there, as well as relaxing herbs like chamomile (which I think we would all agree we need during our period!)

Ever changing, ever growing…

As I learn and grow with the girls, I’ll try to keep this post updated! As stated above, this list if tea options is definitely not the only options. If I come across something new that we like, I’ll be sure to share!

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Prep Day Instant Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

July 5, 2022

Save money using a whole chicken on your prep day for shredded BBQ chicken to use for salads, sandwiches, and baked potato toppers!

Summer vibes

All the sun, all the sand! Our barefoot days spent on the shore of Lake Michigan in the summer is what gets us through the snowy winters here, and this summer is no different! The weather has been incredible…which also means I don’t want to be inside cooking meals all day!

Growing tweens and teens nutritional needs

If you have been around here as long as this blog has been around, you have truly watched my girls grow up. I started this blog when my third born was just a baby, and you’ve gotten to witness so many seasons of their growth. In the last few years, I’ve slowly started a bit of a larger gear shift as my oldest went through her tween years, and then turned 13 this spring. Now, with my second born right smack dab in her tween-hood, I feel like I’m seeing a pattern in nutritional needs of these rapidly growing, hormone-shifting years. Protein. And a lot of it. Sure, this age needs some really good, healthy fats for their ever-changing hormones and growth spurts – in fact it is vital. Hormones *need* fats to work. But I am also seeing even more importantly that their growth spurts and rapid metabolisms need protein, or they will eat you out of house and home!

Keeping the tweens from being starving!

I remember the moment I decided I had to change *something.* My oldest was a tween, and I literally couldn’t keep satisfied – she was always hungry! She was growing out of shoes left and right, and within one school year grew at least 5 inches. I was feeding her the same sort of meals as I always had, with larger portions, and making sure there was healthy fat at each meal. What I noticed was that on days that we had more protein on the plate, she was happier and more satiated. I started working on getting more meat into specifically our lunch meals, and it really helped during those growth spurting tween years. (Side note! YES pastured eggs are a great source of protein as well, and we use them for my younger two – but my oldest cannot have them other than in baked goods so that source is out for her!)

Saving your budget with a whole chicken

With an increased need for quality protein in my growing kiddo’s diet, I changed a few things around, and started focusing on using whole chickens for meal preps. We already had our half grassfed cow in the freezer at around $4 per pound (an absolute budget lifesaver!), but I didn’t want to be blowing my budget in cuts of chicken day in and day out. I needed something to pull for meat every day without cooking every day too! The budget savings in using a whole chicken at $4 per pound or less, versus cuts of chicken at over $6 per pound – well that is a no brainer.

More than just the meat!

Of course the tender, juicy chicken meat off the bone is by far superior to cuts of chicken, but you also get to use the leftover chicken juices (called meat stock), as well as the bones to make bone broth – practically free broth to use for weekly soups, stews, gravies, and cooking veggies or rice in! When your whole chicken is done cooking – whether that be in a slow cooker, oven, or Instant Pot, just strain the juices off and you’ve got yourself a nutrient packed stock for cooking with – without having to buy it at the store!

Let’s talk BBQ Sauce before we get to the chicken!

For this post, and for most of the summer, I like to use my super quick 5-minute BBQ Sauce. It stirs up in a jar in literally minutes, and it tastes so good! If you prefer a more fruit sweetened sauce, try my date sweetened BBQ Sauce here – it blends up in a blender in just minutes without cooking too! Or, if you have a store bought version that doesn’t have a bunch of junk ingredients, that works too! There are plenty of brands out there now that have made BBQ sauce from the store healthier without using high fructose corn syrup, dyes, and preservatives. Since we are talking a bit about budget saving in this post, I’ll recommend trying to make your own, and saving the money!

The Method :: Cooking the Whole Chicken

My goal in this meal prep recipe is to make the prep part as simple as possible, so that you will want to do this regularly, instead of just one time! Since the purpose of this whole chicken is to be shredded up with BBQ anyway, I don’t even spend time fussing with seasoning the chicken. We are essentially boiling/poaching the chicken plain. That way, the meat stock leftover in the pot is a perfectly beautiful, unseasoned but flavorful blank slate that you can use for anything you want. To get started, fill your Instant Pot liner with a couple cups of water and fill with carrots, onion, and celery – this veggie mix along with the chicken will flavor the stock beautifully. Add the chicken to the water and veggies, and pressure cook on the poultry setting for 28 minutes. After the chicken pressure cooks, let the pressure release naturally for about 15 minutes before opening the lid and getting the chicken out. Be sure to strain off the liquid (meat stock) to use for soup or cooking veggies/rice in this week!

The Method :: Shredding the Whole Chicken

Once the whole chicken has been cooked, you can pull the meat off the bones as soon as it is cooled off enough to handle. Sometimes I don’t have the time to wait, and I’ll use some tongs or put some rubber gloves on to get it done! Put all of the meat from the chicken into a large bowl and shred with 2 forks. You could blend with a hand mixer if you want too – it really does work!

The Method :: How to Turn the Shredded Chicken Into BBQ Shredded Chicken!

The only thing left to do is stir in the BBQ sauce at this point! Use as little, or as much as you want! For this 5 pound chicken, I did use an entire pint of my 5-Minute BBQ Sauce. You may also need to salt and pepper your chicken to your taste since we did not season the whole chicken, and chicken tends to be bland without. It is truly a blank slate – make it taste how your family likes it!

How to serve your shredded BBQ chicken!

For this post, I’ve shown you how to use the BBQ chicken for sandwiches, but there are a couple other ways I like to serve it too! One of the girls’ favorite ways is over baked sweet potatoes. It changes up the starch from bread, and adds a veggie in there too! My kids will eat the chicken cold in a lettuce wrap as well. Another option is mixed into a salad, or you can go with the classic bun (we like the GF buns from Trader Joes’), pita (we like the GF pitas at Costco from BFree), or wraps!

Print Recipe

Prep Day Instant Pot Shredded BBQ Chicken

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks of celery coarsely chopped
1 Whole chicken between 4-6 pounds, rinsed
1-2 cups BBQ sauce of choice I like to use a pint of my 5-minute BBQ Sauce
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Put 2-3 cups of water into your Instant Pot liner, along with the veggies, and then the whole chicken on top.
Close the IP lid, seal the valve, and press "Poultry." Bring the time up to 28 minutes. The IP will start on its own, taking about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 28 minutes of pressure cooking time.
Once the chicken is done pressure cooking, let the IP sit for 15 minutes to naturally release some of the pressure. After waiting 15 minutes, release the rest of the pressure from the valve, and transfer the whole chicken to a large dish or plate to de-bone. Strain the juices (called meat stock) and use those for any soups, stews, stir fry, or cooking veggies/rice in another time!
De-bone the whole chicken, and then shred the meat in a large bowl using 2 forks. Once the chicken is shredded, stir in the BBQ sauce, and then season with salt and pepper to your taste.

More real food recipes you might like!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can cook your whole chicken using the slow cooker, or the oven!
Instant Pot Bone Broth
Instant Pot Potato Salad
How to make Prep Day Hard Boiled Eggs
Prep Day Paleo Crispy Chicken
Veggie Loaded Taco Meat for Taco Night
Mahi Fish Taco Loaded Buddha Bowls

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Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken, Potatoes, & Broccoli with Dairy Free “Cheesy” Herb Sauce

May 19, 2022

This yummy sheet pan lemon garlic chicken is an easy weeknight dinner packed with flavor the whole family will love!

Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken, Potatoes, & Broccoli with Dairy Free "Cheesy" Herb Sauce

My newest “tween”

It’s been a whirlwind of a spring around here, with all the school events that come with the end of the school year, a house move…and also our household spring birthdays! We have 2 of them in the spring to be exact, and my middle kiddo is officially 11! I feel like I have hit the tween jackpot so far, as my 2 girls in this age bracket have so far been quite a breeze considering. This age group also brings a different kind of busy to our household schedule than the baby, toddler, and little kid years, and boy oh boy have I been relying on sheet pan dinners during this “in and out the door every evening” season of having kids!

1 dinner, 2 sheet pans

I feel like sheet pan dinners are one of the most under-rated “fast weekday dinners,” especially with the Instant Pot craze, and the old faithful slow cooker all of our mothers used. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my Instant Pot, but when I am meal planning out my week, the dinners that come to mind for the busiest days are always sheet pan meals. And lately, they are on the rotation quite often. Protein, veg, starch all go in the same oven temp, and mom is hands free to tend to other things while it cooks? Sign. Me. Up.

But will my kids eat it?!

I know the lemon garlic flavors sound strong for a child’s palate, but this meal is super family friendly. The lemon and garlic are mild, though are enough to make an adult very happy too. And most kids are open to the idea of crispy potatoes and broccoli that tastes good after roasting. I would really encourage my young moms with babies and toddlers to toss a few bites of this on their highchair tray, or invite them to eat right off your plate too. The younger ages between 9 months old and 4 years old are super social eating ages – meaning, they are more likely to try something new if it is with you, and off your plate! You’ll be able to teach them to eat off their own plate with time, and with time they will actually want to do that -for now, don’t fret if all they want is what is on mom’s plate! Train their palates for these fun flavors, and this easy dinner meal can be on your rotation on the regular!

The Method :: The Lemon Garlic Marinade

The marinade for the chicken can be made up in advance, though is easy enough to make the night of as well. Just be sure you leave enough time for the chicken to marinade for at least 20 minutes. If you have a busy day, you can whisk it up before you leave in the morning, and toss the chicken in for the day. Or perhaps you get the chicken into the marinade before you leave to get the kids from school or practice so that it is ready to cook when you get home. Once you whisk the marinade together, you’ll want to scoop out about 1/4 cup into a small dish so that you have some to toss the veggies with that have not been touching the raw chicken.

The Method :: Prepping & Roasting the Potatoes

I like to spread this dinner out on 2 sheet pans despite the pictures. It allows for more even cooking and less “steaming” cooking versus roasting cooking so that you get a crispy outside on the potatoes and chicken. You can definitely back off on the amount and get everything on one sheet pan though if you have less people to feed. To get started, you’ll toss the potato quarters with a couple tablespoons of the reserved marinade and roast on the sheet pan first. The potatoes need more cook time than the broccoli and the chicken, so you’ll give them a head start.

The Method :: Prepping & Roasting the Rest of the Dinner

Once you stir the cooked potatoes around, you’ll toss the broccoli on the same sheet pan with the other 2 tablespoons of reserved marinade. I like to scoot the potatoes to one side of the sheet pan, and the broccoli goes on the other side, though you can toss them all together if you wish. Then, line up the marinated chicken thighs on the second sheet pan, and everything roasts together!

The Method :: The Dairy Free “Cheesy” Herb Sauce

The sauce…this sauce! You’ll want to dunk every piece, or drown the whole plate full in it because it just elevates every bite! While your dinner is cooking on the sheet pans in the oven, you can stir the sauce up in a small bowl in just a few minutes. This creamy dipping sauce will last for days in the fridge, so if you have any leftover (there is usually none leftover when I make it!), you can drizzle it on your salad, on a wrap, or any leftover chicken dinner you might have.

What if I can have dairy?

If your home consumes dairy, you can make the cheesy herb sauce with regular, plain yogurt, or Greek yogurt, and parmesan cheese instead of the coconut yogurt and nutritional yeast. Even sour cream is a good base – use what you have. It is delcious!

Are you a meal prepper?

If you like to prep a week’s worth of lunches for your busy day, this meal can be prepped on a Sunday to portion out for your lunches for the week so easily. Use portion containers to store it in, and you’ll have an easy lunch to pull from whether you are at work, or busy with littles at home.

Print Recipe

Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken, Potatoes, & Broccoli with Dairy Free “Cheesy” Herb Sauce

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the Lemon Garlic Marinade ::

½ cup olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of ½ lemon about 3-4 tbsp
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard or regular mustard
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper

For the Sheet Pan Dinner ::

1 recipe of the above Lemon Garlic Marinade
8 boneless chicken thighs
8-9 yellow potatoes quartered
1-2 heads of broccoli cut into florets (about 6 or so cups)
Sea salt/pepper to taste

For the Dairy Free “Cheesy” Herb Sauce ::

1 cup full fat dairy free yogurt such coconut yogurt I like the large tubs of So Delicious plain yogurt
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried chives
½ tsp dried dill
¼ tsp sea salt
Pinch of pepper

Instructions

Make the Lemon Garlic Marinade ::

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a container that has a lid. **Scoop out ¼ cup of the marinade into a small bowl to save for the veggies.**

Marinade the chicken ::

You’ll want to marinade the chicken for at least 15-20 minutes, but you can do this in advance in the morning if you want. Rinse and pat dry your chicken thighs, add them to the marinade that is in the container, put the lid on the container, and shake it up to mix the marinade and the chicken. Let the chicken marinade in the refrigerator until you are ready to make dinner.

Make the sheet pan dinner ::

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees and get 2 large sheet pans out. Do not spray or line the sheet trays.
Toss the quartered yellow potatoes on one of the sheet trays with 2 tablespoons of the reserved lemon garlic marinade and about ¼ to ½ tsp of sea salt to taste.
Roast the potatoes at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, and then give them on a stir on the sheet tray. S
Scoot the potatoes to one half of the sheet tray, and add the broccoli florets to the other side. Toss the broccoli florets with the other 2 tablespoons of lemon garlic marinade and sprinkle a few pinches of sea salt.
On the second sheet tray, line up the marinated chicken thighs, and then put both sheet trays into the oven together to roast for 25 minutes.

Make the Dairy Free “Cheesy” Herb Sauce ::

While the sheet pan dinner is in the oven, you can stir up the dairy free “cheesy” herb sauce. OR this can be made up to a couple days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Add all of the ingredients for the sauce into a small bowl, and stir together until combined.

Notes

You can swap the thighs for chicken breasts but you’ll want to fillet any breasts that are on the thick side to match the size/thickness of the thighs represented here.
You can swap the broccoli for whatever veg is in season! Use green beans, asparagus, zucchini, or a mixture of veg!
If you are not dairy free, you can use regular yogurt or Greek yogurt and parmesan for the cheesy herb sauce.
This dinner makes a great meal prep for a whole week to warm up for work.
Any leftover chicken can be cut up and used for salads, wraps, or stir fry

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Simple Prep Day Paleo Crispy Chicken Fillets

April 18, 2022

These simple, crispy chicken fillets are the Paleo answer to making healthy, delicious meal prep day success!

Simple Prep Day Paleo Crispy Chicken Fillets

The race to the finish line!

We are a week back into school since Spring Break, Easter has come and gone, and I really feel like we are starting to see that finish line to the school year in the distance! Those of you that have been around these parts long know that I just love our summers at the beach, and while we are definitely routine keepers around here, taking a couple months off in the summer is balm to our souls. One thing I have learned in the years since I have had kids in school is that May is….crazy! I don’t think there is one day that doesn’t have *something* on the calendar for me every May, and that means I’ve got to have a plan to keep us fed without compromising, and also without being in the kitchen all day.

Back to the basics

Something that helps me keep whole foods on the table during busy seasons, is having the protein figured out and prepped ahead of time. It can make all the difference in the world in faster, easier meals. For instance, getting a dozen hard boiled eggs made quickly every Sunday, makes school morning breakfast additions so fast so that I don’t have to rely on convenience breakfast staples like boxed cereals that don’t have the nutrition, and won’t keep my kids sustained all morning. Likewise, I have found if I have a protein like chicken or beef made up ahead of time, I eat lunches better while the girls are in school. Let’s face it – it is so easy to skip it or just grab quick little things when busy during the day when the kids aren’t there to force the stop for lunch….*Guilty as charged!* So if I get some chicken prepped ahead of time, I’ll add it to a salad for lunch, or as a side to veggie soup, and I’m way better at getting lunch in.

Not just for lunch meal prep!

But wait! Having a simple protein prepped or even just this method in your back pocket for a busy weeknight can make dinnertime such a breeze. Add this simple crispy chicken to a skillet filled with a veggie stir fry, or a pot of pasta and cream sauce, and dinner is so satisfying without having been in the kitchen all day!

Key players and keeping it simple

I don’t think there is anyone that would turn down a piece of crispy chicken…super flavorful outside, juicy inside – what’s not to love?! But the dredging, and the egging, and the flouring…most of us don’t have time for that other than special occasions. This lightly breaded chicken gets crispy without the fuss, and with just a couple of ingredients. Salt and pepper whisked with a simple sprinkle of cassava flour is as easy as it gets! I love cassava flour for a few different reasons. Even if you are not paleo, or need to avoid gluten, cassava flour is a great pantry addition that will help you keep your ingredients on rotation, so your family is getting variety. The cassava plant is a root vegetable, and the flour is quite literally just the plant, dried out and ground into flour. It is very absorbent, which makes for a nice crispy outside, and the health benefits from the natural pre-biotic fibers are so good for the gut too!

The Method :: Prepping The Chicken

I did photograph this entire crispy chicken method, but let’s not complicate this. Prep the chicken into the sized pieces that you prefer. I’ll show you what I typically do here, but you can make the pieces bigger or smaller, depending on what you are using the chicken for. I like to rinse, and then pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. I don’t even use an extra plate (less dishes, less kitchen time, amiright?!) – just rinse, pat dry, and place on your cutting board. I like to fillet the chicken thin, so I typically cut the thicker top half off to fillet, and leave the smaller bottom half as is. Sometimes I’ll fillet the bottom half as well.

The Method :: The flour coating

This cassava flour breading is as basic as it gets, though so flavorful. If you plan to use your chicken for a stir fry, you could add some ginger. Or if you are using it for a pasta meal, add some Italian seasoning! Just whisk the flour with the seasonings in a small dish, and then coat the chicken. I don’t even use a different plate or bowl – just toss it all right on the cutting board.

The Cooking Oil…

Before we move onto actually cooking the chicken, let’s talk about what to cook it in! I prefer a super hot, cast iron skillet with coconut oil. You’ll want to pick a very high heat stable cooking fat, that is also healthy and not filled with inflammatory fat that will cause free radicals in your body. Oils like canola or peanut oil do very well with high heat, BUT they are so inflammatory, and they will inflame the body when eaten on the regular. Healthier fats like coconut oil, ghee, or avocado oil also tolerate the high heat well, but are so incredible for your health. The feed your brain, your hormones, and actually work to keep inflammation down. I use a nice big chunk of the coconut oil in a large cast iron skillet, and get a really nice, crispy crust on the chicken!

The Method :: Cooking the Chicken

Once your coconut oil is heated, pull the chicken pieces right from the cutting board into the oil. You’ll want to keep some space around the chicken, so you may need to work in batches if your skillet will not hold them all, or if you are making a larger quantity of chicken. Allow the chicken to cook, undisturbed, for a good 3-4 minutes so that the golden, crispy outside can develop. If you start moving your chicken and it is sticking, you probably have not let it cook long enough to develop the crust. Flip the chicken, and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the chicken is golden and crispy on the other side and cooked through. I like to transfer the cooked chicken to a wire rack so it stays crispy.

The possibilities are endless!

Here are some ways that I like to use my crispy chicken, both for lunches or dinner!

Salad topper
Stir fry
Pasta dishes
Sandwiches or lettuce wraps
Sliced as guacamole dippers – my kids love this in their lunches
Or just eaten plain with sides!

Can I use chicken thighs?

110% yes! (Can you tell I’m a thigh girl?!) The method is the same, though you won’t need to use as much cooking oil since chicken thighs lend some fat as they cook very easily. If you prefer thigh meat, definitely use that! It is so good crispy and then used in all of the applications above for meal suggestions.

Print Recipe

Simple Prep Day Paleo Crispy Chicken Fillets

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

3 large chicken breasts
¼ cup cassava flour
Heaping teaspoon sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup coconut oil

Instructions

Rinse the chicken breasts in cold water, and pat any excess water off using a paper towel. Place the chicken breasts on your cutting board as you go.
Fillet your chicken breasts so they are thinner, and spread them out on the cutting board. I like to cut the breast in half horizontally first so the smaller end is one fillet, and the top half gets filleted into 2.
In a small dish, whisk the cassava flour, sea salt, and pepper and then sprinkle half of the mixture over the chicken breasts. Rub the flour around the tops of the chicken, and then flip them over. Sprinkle the other half of the seasoned flour on the chicken, and then toss the chicken on the cutting board to coat evenly.
Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over high heat. Bring the temperature to medium-high heat, and add the coated chicken to the hot oil, making sure to leave some space around each fillet. You may have to work in batches. With my 12 inch cast iron I can do this in 2 batches.
Once the bottom of the fillet is golden brown (this takes 3-4 minutes), you can flip the chicken to cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Properly cooked chicken should have internal temp of 165 degrees. I don't test this, but you can.
Once the chicken is cooked through, place them on a plate or drying rack to rest a few minutes before cutting. If you are storing your chicken for meals for the week, you can let it cool, and store in an air tight container. If you are adding your chicken to a dish or skillet meal, you can add it right in, or slice and add it it!

Notes

Avocado oil would be a good neutral oil to cook in as well. Olive oil and butter will tend to smoke/burn at the higher heat so I prefer the coconut oil. You can use refined coconut oil if you don’t like the taste of coconut oil. I love the mild sweetness it brings to the chicken.
Season the flour however you wish! I like to add smoked paprika sometimes, or ginger depending on what I am using the chicken for.

More real food recipes you might like ::

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Simple Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

March 28, 2022

This simple, no fuss, fool-proof Instant Pot hard boiled egg method is sure to become a part of your weekly prep day to set you up for easy grab and go meal add-in’s!

Prep day staples to make meals run smoother

Just about every time I post one of our breakfast bar mornings to my Instagram, I’ll get a private message or 2, and some comments asking how I do the hard boiled eggs in the Instant Pot. I never really gave thought to posting this, since it seems so simple, but truly, these are the kitchen tasks that make the meal plans we do during the week flow so much faster – in other words…this is how we do real food for real life families!

So let’s talk about what a Prep Day is in my house

For me, Prep Day is hardly a “day,” so let’s just get that out there! I know there are people that truly spend an entire day prepping food for the week or month, and I think that is great. Do what works for you. For me, I’ll pick a 2 hour spurt during the week (typically on Sunday’s, but this changes depending on the time of the year). During that 2 hour spurt of the week there are a few tasks that I *always* do (like these hard boiled eggs), and a task or 2 that will be specific just to that week, or maybe dedicated to replenishing a monthly pantry item like granola bars.

What in the world do you do with a dozen hard boiled eggs in 5 days?!

In my family of 5, this dozen eggs sometimes doesn’t even make it to the 3rd day, but let me give you some ideas! If you have a bigger family, by all means batch this up more!

Easy breakfast addition or breakfast bar item to go with muffins or breakfast cookies
Quick lunchbox add-in to go with everything from a soup or salad to leftover pancakes from the weekend to make a “breakfast for lunch” lunchbox
Fast morning or afternoon snacks
Egg salad for lunch or dinner
Crumbled onto a salad at dinner for extra protein for growing kids
Deviled eggs for a fun and easy addition to a charcuterie board lunch or dinner

So now that you know how to use them, let’s talk about what kind of eggs to use!

I’ll keep this as short as I can, because truthfully, I want you to use whatever are the best eggs that you can afford. However, I was reminded this week that some people may not understand the difference between cage free, free range, pastured, organic, etc when it comes to eggs, and I want to be sure you know! Because when you know better, you can do better, right? No beating yourself up – just work on fitting into your budget what you can. Obviously the best bet is going to be a local, pastured egg from chickens on pasture around where you live. Whether that be a friend down the street or a local farmer, these eggs will be the best nutrition for your family. Eggs with bright orange yolks are indicative of nutrients in the grasses and bugs that the chickens were eating. You’ll notice that conventional store bought eggs have a pale yellow yolk, and those eggs just don’t have the levels of nutrients that a pastured egg does. Unfortunately many may be tricked by the verbiage “cage free” because it sounds like the chickens are treated pretty great as they are not in a “cage.” Tricky, tricky wording because technically cage free chickens still can be kept inside with a certain about of space per chicken, and may not even get to feed on grasses or bugs at all. Chickens were meant to be on grass eating from the ground, giving their eggs the most optimal levels of nutrients. My recommendation would be to look for at the very least “free range,” and at the very best “pastured.” If you have further questions on this, please as in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer! I would also encourage you to visit your local farmer’s market to ask your local chicken farmers questions about how their chickens live and about their eggs – 9 times out of 10, farmers just love to talk about their chickens – especially if they are raising them right!

How to make Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

***First, you’ll fill your Instant Pot with a cup of water and place a steamer basket or the trivet your IP came with into the bottom of the pot. I love the steamer basket because at the end, I just pull the whole basket of eggs out and dunk them into the water

***Second, you’ll put the IP lid on and close the valve. Press “Manual” on the IP and bring the time down to 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will beep, and then take a few minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 5 minutes.

***Next, after the Instant Pot pressure cooks the eggs, you’ll release the valve right away, and pull the steamer basket out of the IP to dunk into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. If you are using the trivet, you’ll have to use a tongs to individually take the eggs out, which is totally fine. I just use a large mixing bowl in the sink to fill with cold water.

***Finally, after the eggs cool off for a few minutes, you can crack and peel them. I have left the eggs in the cold water up to an hour and that is fine too, although I have found they peel the best right away. Peel your eggs and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Get the kids involved in prep day!

Making the weekly hard boiled eggs is actually a fantastic way to get the kids in the kitchen. If you have little ones, have them help you peel the eggs – they will love this task! If you have older children, put this kitchen task on their plate entirely from start to finish. It is great life skills for when they are older, and they will feel proud contributing to the family. I’d even let them make some deviled eggs to get fancy if they love those!

Tips for introducing eating hard boiled eggs to little ones

Hard boiled eggs were one of my girls’ favorite finger foods as toddlers. They were an easy, compact protein for on the go little people, and I have a few ideas to make the introduction even more fun! Little kids *love* to be in charge. It all starts with letting them help you make the eggs, and for little ones this will mean gently placing the eggs in the IP, and maybe even helping you press a button or 2. Little ones also love peeling eggs – let them help you! Get a little egg cutter to make the prep a little safer (the egg cutter pictured below is one that I have had over a decade and I couldn’t find it, but there are so many in the stores, and if you like the Prime stuff, here are some to choose from there!), and let them cut the egg how they like – their choice. Let them sprinkle a little sea salt on the egg too!

Print Recipe

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

1 cup water
12 uncooked eggs

Instructions

Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your Instant Pot stainless steel pot, and place a steamer basket, or the trivet in the bottom of the pot.
Put up to 12 eggs into the steamer basket or on the trivet, close the lid of the IP, and seal the valve so it is closed.
Turn the IP on, press "Manual," and bring the time down to 5 minutes. The IP will beep, and then take a few minutes to come to pressure before counting down the 5 minutes.
Once the 5 minutes of pressure cooking is done, open the valve so the pressure releases, open the lid of the IP, take the steamer basket out, and place the steamer basket with the eggs into large bowl of cold water. I just fill a large mixing bowl with cold water in my sink. If you are using the trivet, you'll have to use tongs to pull out each egg and drop them into the bowl of cold water.
Let the eggs sit in the cold water at least a few minutes, though sometimes I forget about them for up to an hour. The eggs will peel the best after just a few minutes, but it still works if you have left them longer.
Once the eggs have cooled in the cold water for a few minutes, you can peel them. Store your hard boiled eggs in an air tight container up to 5 days in the fridge.

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Sheet Pan Teriyaki Meatballs & Roasted Veggies :: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free

March 8, 2022

A whole dinner all on one sheet pan! The kids will love these sweet, sticky teriyaki meatballs and sweet roasted veggies!

Sheet Pan Teriyaki Meatballs & Roasted Veggies :: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free

Real life, real food

For those of you who have followed me for a while on social media, you know that our family has been in the building and moving process for the last year – with the last 5 months living somewhere other than “home.” I haven’t overly talked about it, as I like to keep things zeroed in on our real food goals in this space, but let me just be real for a minute! Having a family, moving, cooking in someone else’s kitchen, and trying to keep “normalcy” for the kids…its a stressful, full-time job! While life has been a little extra busy, I’ve found it harder to blog, but what I *have* found, is that you all do enjoy these simple, everyday meals that are the only thing I have had time to write up for you, and that makes me super happy. It tells me that you are real people, not just looking for the fancy shmancy “health” food treats…you are looking for real food for everyday life!

Momma’s secret weapon for a busy weeknight…

Sheet pan dinners! Oh sure, the Instant Pots are all the rage. And quick skillets are great too. But seriously…dump it all onto a sheet pan and it cooks while you tend to other matters in the house or with the kids? Sign. Me. Up. I cannot tell you how much I adore that whole “kill two birds with one stone” thing – and sheet pan dinners allow me to get dinner in the oven, and be hands free for other things while it cooks.

What is teriyaki?!

In short, this sweet, sticky sauce is Asian inspired, and it usually used to toss with simple stir fry. I have found over the years that it is a great way to get veggie hesitant kids to try a stir fry, and it couldn’t be easier to make. Traditional teriyaki sauces or those that you find in the store will be soy based, which we avoid in our house, so years ago I developed a teriyaki sauce that we could enjoy in our house. I hear from you all frequently that your little ones adore it!

The Method :: The 5-Minute Teriyaki Sauce

Making versus buying this sauce may seem like a redundant extra step, but not only can the teriyaki be whisked up in 5 minutes, it can be made days in advance. Simply add all of the teriyaki sauce ingredients to a small sauce pan and whisk until thickened. Primal Kitchen does have a soy free, great teriyaki sauce if you prefer to buy it! It doesn’t usually fit in my budget, so I tend to just make my own.

The Method :: The Veggies

The sky is the limit here! For this dinner, I used what I had left in my veggie bin this week. I would definitely encourage you to try the purple onion and cabbage – they both get so sweet and kid friendly with roasting! It is a great budget saver as well! Get all the veg cut up into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces, and just toss them on the sheet pan with some olive oil.

The Method :: The Meatballs

These meatballs are SO delicious, and you can just roll them up and place them right on the sheet pan with the veggies! It doesn’t get any easier than that! The meatballs can also be made in advance – you can even freeze them if you have a prep day and want to stock up. That way on a busy weeknight you just have to pull them from the freezer.

The Method :: Brushing the Teriyaki Sauce, and Roasting

Once your meatballs are rolled up, brush some of the teriyaki sauce on each of the meatballs so their tops are covered – we aren’t looking for perfection here by the way! Then drizzle the rest of the teriyaki sauce over the veggies in the pan and roast the sheet pan off for 20 minutes.

Serving suggestions

We love to serve our teriyaki stir fry over rice, but if you prefer grain free, it is absolutely delicious over a baked sweet potato (or regular potato). I also think a little rice ramen (Costco carries this brand btw) would be incredible! Another way to serve would be to add another sheet pan of veggies to roast right along with this sheet pan and just have extra veg.

Prep ahead tips

While the actual roasting of this dinner is just a quick 20 minutes of hands free time, there are a couple of steps to get to that point, and you can do some of it ahead of time. You can make the teriyaki sauce days in advance so that part is done – you could even chop the veggies on a prep day so that it dumps in the pan fast. The meatballs are definitely something that can be rolled up ahead of time and frozen on a prep day. This sheet pan meal would also make a great meal prep for mom’s lunches all week to pull from. Make it up on a Sunday, and warm it up everyday for lunch!

Print Recipe

Sheet Pan Teriyaki Meatballs & Roasted Veggies :: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Refined Sugar Free

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the 5 Minute Teriyaki Sauce ::

1/3 cup coconut aminos
¼ cup water
¼ cup raw honey
2 tbsp blackstrap molassess
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp tapioca starch

For the Veggies ::

2 tbsp olive oil
1 purple onion cut into ½ inch thick strips
½ small head of cabbage cut into ½ inch thick strips
2 bell peppers cut into 1 inch strips and then halved to make them bite sized
2-3 cups broccoli florets
1 medium/large carrot peeled and julienned (or bite sized pieces in the shape you like)

For the Meatballs ::

1 lb grassfed ground beef
1 egg
¼ cup GF panko bread crumbs or GF flour blend
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees and get a large sheet tray out. The sheet tray does NOT need to be lined with parchment or greased.

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees, and get a large sheet tray out. The sheet tray does NOT need to be lined with parchment or greased.

Make the Teriyaki Sauce ::

Put everything into a small sauce pan, and bring the heat to high.
Use a whisk to stir every so often until it comes to a simmer, then continually whisk for about 1 minute until the sauce thickens. Turn the heat off and set the sauce aside.

Get the veggies ready ::

Toss all of the veggies with the olive oil on a large sheet tray so that the veggies are coated evenly.

Make the meatballs, assemble, and bake ::

Mix all of the meatball ingredients in a small mixing bowl until combined evenly.
Roll 1 – 1 ½ inch meatballs and place them on the sheet tray with the veggies – they can rest right on top of the veggies or on the sheet tray.
Brush each meatball with the prepared teriyaki sauce, and then drizzle the rest of the sauce over the veggies on the sheet tray.
Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Notes

If you don’t have access to good GF Panko crumbs, you can use any GF Flour Blend, or something simple like rice flour or even cassava flour if you are grain free.
Meal prep tips! You can make the teriyaki sauce days in advance so that part is done – you could even chop the veggies on a prep day so that it dumps in the pan fast. The meatballs are definitely something that can be rolled up ahead of time and frozen on a prep day.
The overall consensus for my kids is that the teriyaki sauce as written here is overly sweet for them – I think it tastes like a normal teriyaki you’d buy in the store which is why I left it as is. If you have little ones at home that aren’t trained toward sweet yet, I’d pull the sweet back a bit!
Change up the veggies to what is in season!

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Breakfast Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Holiday Recipes Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

Sausage & Potato Breakfast Casserole :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free

February 22, 2022

An egg free, dairy free, and gluten free breakfast casserole that everyone can have! This delicious sausage & potato casserole is filled with mineral rich veggies and protein packed sausage too!

Sausage & Potato Breakfast Casserole :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free

Weekend hikes & weekend breakfast routines!

Every weekend for as long as the girls were babies, my husband has taken Saturday morning breakfast making, and if you are a mom, I don’t have to tell you how much I craved those Saturday mornings! He has always made a frittata and hashbrowns, and I don’t even care that it is the same thing every weekend, because I am not the one making it! The girls just adore frittata and it works. We have a super hot, filling breakfast, and make our way to the woods for a long weekend hike (or when it’s the summer we hit the beach!)

Egg troubles

Those frittata Saturday’s are still a fan favorite in our house, but over the last 2 years I have come to the conclusion that while I can digest eggs, and they don’t make me feel yucky, every time I bring them back into my diet, my thyroid antibody numbers skyrocket…they are just inflammatory for my body. I also know that I have so many egg free readers in this space that either can’t have them because they hurt your body, or you have found they are inflammatory for you. So this winter, I’ve worked on a breakfast casserole of sorts that does work for me, and I’m so excited to share it with you! My entire family pounds this skillet down every time it’s served, so even if you can have eggs, I think you’ll enjoy this one!

Easy prep, pretty presentation!

I really hope to help you see how you can make this a weekly part of your meal prep to last for more than one meal. I know it looks fancy, but I promise you can make this without a ton of time in the kitchen. During your kitchen prep time for the week, you can get this casserole into a casserole dish, and leave it in the refrigerator up to a day or so until you are ready to bake it. Or you can bake it on your prep day, and eat from it all week long. Especially if you double the recipe, this could be a game changer for your weekday breakfast routine!

The Method :: The Sausage & Veggies

To get your casserole started, you’ll want to brown the sausage. If you don’t have a clean source of ground pork sausage, you can use my DIY Sausage Seasoning Blend and make your own using ground pork or beef. In fact, I used ground beef for the pictures shown in this post – the seasoning blend is fantastic! After you scoop the browned sausage out of the pan, you’ll use the drippings that are loaded with flavor to cook your veggies in!

The Method :: The Shredded Potatoes

I use a combination of white and sweet potatoes for the casserole, and you can see pictured here, that I like to use my food processor shredding attachment to make this faster. I’m not a huge fan of the ingredients added to frozen hashbrowns, but if you have a good source of them with good ingredients you are comfortable with, then you should be able to thaw them out to use for this recipe. I’d say shoot for a good 3-4 cups.

The Method :: Assembling the Casserole

Once your sausage and veggies are cooked, and the potatoes shredded, you’ll want to combine them together. I find this easiest to do in a mixing bowl, versus trying to mix it all up in the skillet. Combine the sausage, veggies, and potatoes, and return them to the pan.

The Method :: The Dairy Free Cream Cheese Sauce

Whisk up the dairy free sauce ingredients and then pour that over the casserole, and you’re ready for the oven!

Prep ahead tips & doubling for a crowd

There is absolutely nothing like having breakfast all ready to go for a week. If you are someone that doesn’t mind eating the same meal for breakfast everyday, then dear momma, I recommended prepping this for yourself to scoop from everyday! If you like to eat the same as the kids each day, then double up, and eat from this meal for a day or 2 until it is gone depending on how many kids are in your crew and how hungry they are! Like I said above, this recipe as written in my 12-inch skillet gets devoured completely by my family of 5 in one sitting. Double this into a 9×13 pan if you think you’ll need more, or are cooking for a crowd!

Print Recipe

Sausage & Potato Breakfast Casserole :: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the Sausage & Hashbrown Skillet Casserole ::

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground sausage See the Tips for making your own if you don’t have a good source
1 medium onion diced
1 medium bell pepper diced
1 head of broccoli chopped small
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups baby spinach finely chopped
2 medium russet potatoes shredded
1 small sweet potato shredded

For the Dairy Free Cream Cheese Sauce ::

1 ½ cups full fat coconut milk
1 cup full fat coconut yogurt you can use more coconut milk here if you don’t have access to coconut yogurt
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp potato starch or tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne if you like the heat. I light on this and then add more to my plate so it isn't too much heat for the girls – I like it spicy!
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Instructions

I make the entire casserole in a 12-inch cast iron skillet, but if you do not have one, you can use an oven skillet on the stovetop and then pour everything into an oven safe casserole dish. If you will be using the casserole dish, be sure to grease it before pouring the casserole in.
Warm some olive oil in your skillet over medium high heat and brown the sausage. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the browned sausage out of the pan, leaving the drippings behind. You’ll want 1-2 tablespoons of the drippings in the pan to cook the veggies – if you have more than that, you can drain some of the grease out.
After the sausage is browned, and removed from the skillet, add the onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and a pinch of salt to the skillet, cooking over medium high heat until the veggies are soft and sweet – about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic and spinach to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the spinach is wilted.
Next, the cooked sausage, veggies, and shredded potatoes and sweet potatoes need to be combined. I find this easiest to do in a large mixing bowl versus trying to stir it together in the skillet. Transfer the cooked veggies, sausage, and shredded potatoes to a large mixing bowl and combine well.
Return the sausage/veggie/potato mixture back into your cast iron skillet (or if you are using a casserole dish, pour the mixture into that instead), and spread out evenly.
In a liquid measuring cup, measure out the Dairy Free Cream Cheese Sauce liquids, and then whisk in the nutritional yeast, potato starch, and seasonings until smooth. Pour the Dairy Free Cream Cheese Sauce over the sausage/veggie/potato mixture in the skillet. It should spread evenly but you can use a spoon to ensure everything is covered well.
Bake the casserole, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. The top will be golden brown. Let the casserole rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes before cutting in.

Notes

This recipe as written fits in my 12 inch cast iron skillet. For a casserole dish, I’d say use smaller than a 9×13 pan, and you’ll be good.
If you want to double this recipe (which I would do if you have a bigger family than mine, or if you are making this for a crowd), you can double it into a 9×13 casserole pan.
If you don’t have access to a clean source of ground sausage, you can use my sausage seasoning blend, and add it to ground pork, or ground beef. What is actually pictured in this post is my seasoning mixed into ground beef because that is what I had.
You can use all sweet potato, or all russet potato depending on what your crew likes!
If you have access to a clean source of frozen hashbrowns, I think this would still work if you thaw them out. Just watch the ingredients for any extra oils or starches that might be added and whether those are ok in your diet.

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Dinner Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

One Pan Creamy Baked Chicken and Broccoli

February 4, 2022

Busy weeknights were made for dinners like this! Just one pan and a 5 minute prep for a creamy, decadent, baked chicken and broccoli dinner!

One Pan Creamy Baked Chicken and Broccoli

Just because I’m a food blogger and cookbook author…

…doesn’t mean that every meal is fancy. Does that surprise you? I know that sometimes when I talk to people, I feel like they are surprised that I don’t make fancy dinners every night. Behind this screen is a super real momma, with a super real 3-school-aged-kid schedule, and a super real budget. So while I do love to blog fun, new recipes to get everyone excited about eating real food, I have to remind myself sometimes to pull back to my “roots” and just blog some of my real, everyday food as well. Because *that* my dear friends is how we do real food everyday. You’ll burn out from it if you don’t have some of these really easy dinners up your sleeve!

All real food on a budget is the name of the game!

Because the real food part really does matter. Sure, we’ll do some out to dinners occasionally, or even some store bought packed snacks, but for the most part, I try to follow that whole 80/20 thing, and in my house its more like 90/10, because my experience has been that real food is actually more affordable than going out to eat, buying packaged and processed food, and even more affordable than boxed “healthy” dinners.

5 Minute Prep? Yes please!

YES, I absolutely think it is important that we *slow* down and enjoy cooking in our family kitchens again. I’m a huge advocate of the family dinner table, and going back to showing kids how to cook, where their food comes from, and the beauty of preparing food for our families. But that doesn’t always have to mean an all day slow cooked roast, or a fussy prepped lasagna. It can simply be chicken prepped with some yummy seasonings, and drenched a cream sauce that was whisked up in minutes!

The Method :: The Chicken & Broccoli

To start your dinner prep, you’ll rinse and pat dry your chicken breasts and prep them right in the pan you will be cooking in. Coat the chicken in some olive oil, and season to your liking. I left some seasoning instructions, but truthfully, this is one that I don’t measure – I’m talking grab the seasoning jars, and just sprinkle along as I go! Once the chicken is seasoned, you’ll spread the broccoli around the pan, and get the sauce made.

The Method :: The Dairy Free Cream Sauce

This is as easy as it gets! Measure it all up in your liquid measuring cup, give it a whisk, and pour it over the chicken. You can play around with the amount to your taste, and if you want more sauce, just make more! If I serve this meal with pasta, I tend to lean more toward the 2 cups of coconut milk so that my pasta has plenty of sauce to soak in.

The Method :: Baking the Chicken

Once the sauce is in the pan, you’re ready to bake. And that means you’re hands free for 25 minutes! You can either help kids with homework, boil the pasta for the chicken meal, or you can sit with a book for a few minutes! If you plan to serve your chicken with baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, just be sure you get those in the oven about 10-15 minutes before the chicken so they have enough time to get soft – I like to cut them in half or quarters to be sure they roast fast enough.

Serving suggestions!

Serving this meal over your pasta of choice works so well and feels so decadent! A lot of the times, I serve over a baked potato or sweet potato, which can bake at the same temperature as the chicken. Depending on the size of your potatoes, and how you cut them, you’ll need to put the potatoes in before the chicken, I usually bake small sweet potato halves, so I put them in about 15-20 minutes before the chicken goes in, OR I bake them on a prep day and just warm them up when the chicken is cooking.

Let’s talk real life

Because I want you to actually make this! Earlier this week, I shared to my Instagram how I prepped this chicken dinner before I left to pick kids up from school. The beauty of a recipe like this is that it can be prepped a day or so in advanced, and put in the fridge until you need it. I prepped the pans for this dinner, left to get the kids, and came home to pop it in the oven. You can also bake this meal off, and eat lunch off from it all week long, dear momma. THIS is how we can get real food into real life mommas, my friends!

Print Recipe

Creamy Baked Chicken & Broccoli

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the Chicken & Broccoli ::

4 boneless chicken breasts rinsed & pat dry
2 tbsp olive oil
½ to 1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ to ½ tsp sweet paprika
½ tsp Italian Seasoning
1 head of broccoli florets

For the Dairy Free Cheesy Cream Sauce ::

1 ½ – 2 cups coconut milk
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 – 2 tbsp tapioca starch Depending on how thick you want the sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp sea salt
Pinches of black pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Put the chicken into a 9×13 baking dish, and coat with the olive oil. Sprinkle the seasonings evenly over the top – no I don’t typically mix the seasonings separately, and I don’t usually even measure. This is just sprinkle and go on a busy day for me 😊
Place the broccoli florets around the chicken in the pan, nesteling it down on the sides of the chicken and around the pan.
In a liquid measuring cup, measure out your coconut milk, and then add in the rest of the Cream Sauce ingredients. Whisk the cream sauce to combine right there in the liquid measuring cup, and then pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli
Bake the chicken, uncovered, for 25 – 30 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken. Chicken is supposed to have an internal temperature of 165 degrees, so I tend to take it out around 160 degrees, and let it continue cooking to the 165 while it rests. No I don’t tend to take the temperature, but you can!
Once the chicken is done baking, let the pan rest about 5 minutes or so before cutting so the juices have a chance to redistribute back into the chicken.
Serve your creamy baked chicken & broccoli over your choice of pasta, baked potato, or sweet potato! See the Notes section for tips on baking the potatoes at the same time as the chicken.

Notes

You can swap the coconut milk for whole milk or cream if you can have the dairy. I’m not sure how almond milk would taste, but it should still make a good cream sauce if you prefer that.
You can swap the chicken breast for chicken thighs if that is what you have, or you prefer that taste – you’ll just want to pull the cook time down to about 15-20 minutes since those are smaller.
You can swap the tapioca starch for arrowroot starch, potato starch, or corn starch. If you leave the starch out, you will not get a creamy sauce – it will be runny.
Serving suggestions! Serving this meal over your pasta of choice works so well and feels so decadent! A lot of the times, I serve over a baked potato or sweet potato, which can bake at the same temperature as the chicken. Depending on the size of your potatoes, and how you cut them, you’ll need to put the potatoes in before the chicken, I usually bake potato halves, so I put them in about 15-20 minutes before the chicken goes in, OR I bake them on a prep day and just warm them up when the chicken is cooking.

More real food recipes you might like ::

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Dinner Ideas Healthy Kids and Teens Holiday Recipes Nourishing Staples Real Food 101 Real Food Tips

One Pan Paleo Chicken Divan Casserole :: Gluten, Grain, Dairy, & Egg Free!

January 4, 2022

This no fuss Paleo Chicken Divan Casserole is one of those “dump it all in,” one pan wonder dinners you can make even on a week day!

One Pan Paleo Chicken Divan Casserole :: Gluten, Grain, Dairy, & Egg Free!

Building progress, and winter comfort food made “busy life” easy!

We’re truckin’ along on the new home build, and with these new walls finally up, came a new sense of relief that soon (well, maybe more like soon-ish!), we’ll be “home.” There’s something about winter that makes me want to hibernate, and because of that, I’ve been busy in the kitchen creating comforting winter meals that not only help me feel like I’m cozy in my own home, but also work for a really busy season of life.

Chicken Divan…a childhood classic!

I don’t know one Mid-West adult that hasn’t grown up on some sort of version of a chicken divan casserole. I’m not even sure where it originated from, but in the Mid-West, a casserole is like a 6th food group. So, as a Michigan born and bred kid, it is pure childhood nostalgia for me.

Mid-West Casserole flavor, without the processed Mid-West casserole ingredients…

The biggest problem with most Mid-West casseroles from a health stand point, lies in those BPA lined red cans of creamed soups that are loaded with really crummy preservatives, and ingredients that are just not necessary. Years ago, I perfected a healthier condensed cream of chicken soup so that I could re-create all of my favorite casserole dreams, and that recipe is still so great! There is really nothing wrong with making that recipe to use in casseroles (it can even be done dairy free!), and there really isn’t even anything wrong with a little cheese in your casserole…that is, unless, you don’t have the time for a homemade canned creamed casserole assembly, and you don’t tolerate dairy well!

A faster, even tastier way to casserole!

I think one of the draws to a classic Mid-West casserole is the “dump it all in” style of prep work. We all have busy lives and dinner sometimes really does need to be that fast. While I loved the homemade “canned” condensed creamed soup I created years ago, I found myself having times where I just didn’t have it on hand, and really wished I could run to the store for a can! A couple winters ago this happened, and I decided to try making the creamed soup right in the pan that I was going to make the casserole in, and I truly haven’t looked back since! Everything went into ONE pot, there wasn’t any extra cooking or pans, and it was even faster than before!

One pan meal, creamy and delicious, and gluten, grain, and dairy free?!

Ah! You guys are going to just fall in love with this method, and I’m actually looking forward to hearing about any variations you make to use this method with your favorite childhood casseroles. I really feel like making the cream sauce in the pan, and then adding everything in, is a game changer, and can be used with just about any casserole. The secret to the rich, velvety cream sauce is all about using a little potato starch to thicken up your broth and coconut milk. It takes literally minutes to make, and the addition of the nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavor without the dairy. The result is really decadent, and feels just like every casserole sauce you’ve had!

The Method :: The Cream Sauce

If you have an oven save casserole pan that can be used stovetop, you are literally going to be making a one pan meal! (And if you don’t, you can still make this! You’ll just be making your cream sauce separately on the stove top and then adding it to your casserole dish!) You’ll saute your onion, carrot, and celery right in the pan to create some deep flavors, before adding the garlic and seasonings. Once you stir in the potato starch, you’ll add the broth and coconut milk to thicken the sauce. It really does just take a couple minutes to thicken the sauce. Simmer your sauce for a few minutes to develop the flavors, and you’re ready to assemble the casserole to bake!

The Method :: Assembling the Casserole

That’s right! You aren’t going to be browning your meat separately, par-cooking the potatoes, making a separate sauce, or doing anything else outside of this pan! Once your cream sauce is thick, you can turn the heat off, and stir in the potatoes, broccoli, and chicken, all completely uncooked. Pop a lid on your casserole, put it into the oven, and you’re free for the next 30 minutes to get that homework done with the kids, change the baby’s diaper, or read your toddler a book!

The Method :: Baking the Casserole, and Adding the Topping

You’ll bake your casserole with the lid on for 30 minutes and then add the crunchy almond topping. If you are nut free, you can just leave the topping off, or use sunflower seeds. Once you sprinkle the topping on, bake the casserole for another 15 minutes, and you can even use the broiler for the last few minutes to get that golden crust on the top! From there you are ready to serve.

Print Recipe

One Pan Paleo Chicken Divan Casserole :: Gluten, Grain, Dairy, & Egg Free!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter ghee, or olive oil
1 medium onion diced
2 medium carrots peeled and diced
1 celery stalk diced
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
2 tbsp potato starch tapioca starch or arrowroot starch would work here too
2 tbsp nutritional yeast divided
3 tsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp pepper
2 cups full fat coconut milk
1 cup bone broth or water
3 medium yellow potatoes sliced thin into rounds (I don’t peel them, but you can)
3 chicken breasts cut into 2-inch cubes
1 ½ heads broccoli cut into florets about 5-6 cups
¼ – 1/3 cup almonds blended into a fine meal

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. You’ll need a large oven safe casserole dish or large cast iron skillet to cook with on the stove-top and then transfer to the oven. If you don’t have one, you can make the sauce in a skillet and transfer everything into your casserole dish when you are ready to bake.

Make the Cream Sauce ::

Melt the butter in your large casserole dish over medium-high heat, and add the onion, carrot, and celery with a big pinch of sea salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes until the veggies soften.
Add the garlic, and cook for a minute.
Add the potato starch, 1 ½ tablespoons of nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, paprika, and pepper, and stir to coat the cooked veggies. Add the coconut milk and broth and stir until the sauce thickens. This takes a few minutes. Low simmer the sauce to allow the flavors to develop.
Taste the cream sauce and season to your liking. This cream sauce SHOULD taste like a very salty, condensed cream soup – it needs to be on the salty side because it will be seasoning and flavoring the unseasoned chicken and potatoes.

Assemble the Casserole ::

Turn the heat off the stove-top, and stir in the potato rounds, being sure that each of the potatoes are coated in the cream sauce.
Stir in the chicken breast cubes and broccoli next, coating everything in the cream sauce, and distributing everything evenly in the pan.

Bake the Casserole & Make the Topping ::

Place a lid on your casserole dish, and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
While the casserole is baking, blend up your almonds into a meal, put the almond meal into a small bowl, and stir in ½ tablespoon of nutritional yeast. This is your topping – set this aside for later.
After the casserole has baked for 30 minutes, take the lid off, sprinkle the almond/nutritional yeast topping, and put the casserole back in the oven for 15 more minutes without the lid.
After the casserole bakes the last 15 minutes, turn the broiler on high for up to 5 minutes to get the top nice and crispy and golden brown if you want too!

Notes

The Nutritional Yeast adds the “cheesy” flavor you are used to in a traditional chicken divan/casserole. You can leave it out, but you will want to season your cream sauce with a bit more sea salt.
If you have mushrooms around, I love adding them in with the carrots, onions, and celery part of making the sauce – I did not have them on hand the day I made this, but it does add an element of of the flavor you get from a can of mushroom cream sauce.
You can swap some of the broccoli for cauliflower or green beans for a change up!

More real food recipes you might like! ::

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Roasted Sweet Bell Pepper Soup :: Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

November 15, 2021

Give those sweet bell peppers a roast with creamy kid friendly sweet potatoes and carrots for a super smooth, velvety blended soup that the kids will ask for every time!

Roasted Sweet Bell Pepper Soup :: Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

First snowfall of the season, and a new kid favorite soup to warm up with!

The first snow of the season is quite possibly my kids’ most favorite day of the year. My little northern crew lives for fresh snow, and this weekend we got our first dusting, despite the fall trees not quite agreeing with the timing! We were visiting our new home, and the girls just had to make a snowman for the construction crew to enjoy this week. And with the plummeting temperatures around here, I hopped in the kitchen to play around with a new soup to the blog for you!

Weekly soup routine

During the cooler months of the year, I like to get a vegetable soup of some sort made every Sunday. Easy favorites like creamy broccoli soup (this one is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook – it’s just like Panera!), this blended winter veggie soup done in the IP, and Copycat Campbell’s Veggie Soup are among some of our staples. Not only does this help me with an easy lunch for Sunday afternoons that I don’t have to think about, it also gives me soup to pull from for the week to fill up lunchbox thermoses…and fill up my soup mug during the week to get more healing bone broth in.

The Veggie Line-Up!

Sweet bell peppers may be the “star” of the show in this soup, but the real “secret weapon” lies in the sweet, creamy vegetables saddling up next to those peppers! Sweet potatoes and carrots are on most kids’ favorite veggie lists, and when you roast them, they get even sweeter. This veggie line-up also happens to be loaded with vitamins and minerals that the whole family needs to stay healthy and focused all winter long.

The Method :: Roasting the Veggies

To get the most kid friendly soup flavor for this soup, simply toss the veggies on a sheet tray with some olive oil and little bit of smoky paprika, salt, and pepper, and roast away. You’ll have the soup more than halfway done at this point, and completely hands free while it all roasts!

The Method :: Blending the Soup

Once the vegetables are done roasting, I dare you to snitch a little bite! You’ll have to hold yourself back from eating the whole sheet tray at this point, but I promise it will be worth the wait to quickly blend the soup up! Scoop the roasted vegetables into your blender, pour in some bone broth, and buzz away. I like to use the soup setting on my high powered blender for optimal smooth texture. Use whatever you have though! I didn’t always have one of these, and have made this soup using a regular blender, and an immersion blender works too.

The Method :: Finishing the Soup

After you blend the soup, pour it into a soup pan and stir in the coconut milk. You’ll want to warm the soup through from here, and season with salt and pepper to your taste once it has simmer a bit. If you like your soup to have a more “brothy” texture, add another cup of bone broth as well. You can ladle your roasted sweet bell pepper soup and finish with a swirl of coconut yogurt or olive oil too!

Freezer friendly?

Absolutely! That is the beauty of soups like this. That whole “cook once, eat twice” deal works well for blended soups, and this one is not any differently. Let your soup cool completely, and store in these freezer safe BPA free quart containers, or in these incredible BPA free silicone soup dividers – you can freeze in 1/2 cup portions, 1 cup portions, or 2 cup portions!

Print Recipe

Roasted Sweet Bell Pepper Soup :: Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
4 large red, orange, or yellow bell peppers quartered and seeds scooped out (you can use a combo of those colors)
1 small/medium sweet potato cut into 1-inch wedges
2 medium carrots peeled, cut into ½ inch strips
2 small onions halved and then sliced into strips
3 cloves of garlic peeled (leave whole)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp pepper
2-3 cups bone broth
1 cup coconut milk

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. You’ll want to use a large, unlined baking sheet for the roasting.
On a large sheet pan, toss the bell peppers, sweet potato, carrots, onions, and garlic with the olive oil, smoked paprika, sea salt, thyme, and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
Scoop the roasted veggies into a blender (high powdered blender, if possible, for optimal smooth texture), add 2 cups of bone broth, and blend until smooth. I use the “Soup” blending setting on my Blendtec pictured in this post.
Pour the blended soup into a soup pot, add the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper to your preference. You can add more bone broth if you want a thinner soup.
Garnish with swirls of coconut yogurt and/or olive oil if you wish.

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Roasted Pumpkin Chicken Noodle Soup

October 12, 2021

Give your chicken noodle soup a flavor upgrade using roasted pumpkin to create a creamy and sweet kid friendly broth!

Autumn changes and family transitions!

There are just “barely there” hints of the leaves changing colors around these parts in the last few weeks, and as we watch the autumn transition in Michigan, our family is moving into new transitions as well! We aren’t leaving our sweet little beachy town that we love so dearly, but we are moving into a new home, and while the build finishes in the next couple of months we will be making all of the transitions that come along with moving a family of five, while trying to keep a sense of normalcy for the kids.

Comfort food

It is absolutely a thing, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with easing the stress of temporary life happenings with a bowl of something familiar and comforting. One of my kiddos was having a particularly hard time with the thought of leaving her bedroom for someone else, and after we talked it through, and worked through all the life skills one little 10 year old can muster, we talked about what we could possibly move on with that evening and have for dinner. Her choice was chicken noodle soup, and that just made my real food momma heart burst. I want my kids to think of the food from home when they think of comfort, and this just hits that mark for me!

Classic chicken noodle with a comforting, creamy fall twist!

I just happened to notice the little pie pumpkin still sitting on my counter that needed to be used up, and decided to give it a quick roast to stir into the broth of my chicken noodle soup. Sure, a can of pumpkin would do the trick, but filling the house with that roasted pumpkin flavor after a day of hard emotions was exactly what my family needed. There is also nothing like the depth, sweetness, and creamy texture that you get from putting a roasted pumpkin puree into a soup broth. It is one of my tricks to incredible soup broth in 3 soups here on the blog – the Beef & Kale Soup, Smokey Sweet Pumpkin Corn Chowder, and also the Autumn Harvest Chicken Stew, and I just knew it would take this chicken noodle soup to the next level!

The Method :: Roasting the pumpkin

There is really nothing easier. And pumpkins are easier to cut than a thick butternut squash – promise! Just cut the pumpkin in half, and butter the flesh. Sprinkle the pumpkin flesh with salt and pepper and also a bit of cinnamon. YES, cinnamon in a chicken noodle soup! There is just the slightest hint of warm sweetness that will knock your socks off when it simmers with the sage once it’s in the broth. It’s truly everything about fall that we love!

The Method :: The pumpkin puree

While your pumpkin roasts, you’ll make the base of the soup. It is a very classic chicken noodle soup base with a slight twist because the sage brings the comfort level up about 10 notches! After you pour the pasta into the broth to cook, you’ll scoop your pumpkin flesh into a blender and to puree until smooth. Give the kids a taste if they have never tasted roasted pumpkin before – be warned you may not end up with much left for the soup though! It is one of my girls very favorite side dishes all fall and winter long!

Finishing the soup off

Once you’ve blended your cinnamon roasted pumpkin, you’ll add the puree to the soup broth while the pasta finishes cooking. The squash will melt right in, giving a sweet creaminess to the broth. But we’re not done there! Once the pasta is cooked, and the heat is off, a generous splash of creamy coconut milk adds to the decadency of this soup, and you can also wilt in some finely chopped spinach. The spinach leaves zero flavor, but adds pretty color and a pop of nutrients too!

A few tips for prepping ahead for faster soup making

From start to finish, this soup may not be the most weeknight friendly in prep considering the roasting time for the pumpkin, BUT you CAN do a couple of things to prep ahead before the week so that you CAN make this soup on a weeknight. Firstly, the pumpkin can be roasted and pureed days in advance. Pop it into the oven on the weekend when you are at home, and stash it away in the fridge for later in the week. The chicken can also be a prep ahead item. If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can brown up chicken breast cubes right in the soup pot before you make the soup, or make it days ahead of time. There are multiple ways to cook a whole chicken every week in order to have leftover chicken for weekly meals! If you aren’t in to a Sunday dinner roasted chicken, you can cook a whole chicken in your slow cooker, or cook your whole chicken in your Instant Pot!

If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can brown up chicken breast cubes right in the soup pot before you make the soup. Remove the browned chicken and start the soup from there. There are multiple ways to cook a whole chicken every week in order to have leftover chicken for weekly meals! If you aren't in to a Sunday dinner roasted chicken, you can cook a whole chicken in your slow cooker, or cook your whole chicken in your Instant Pot!

A note about our favorite fall squashes!

Dear momma, squashes are not just “baby food!” If you have veggie hesitant kids, greens are not the easiest place to start in my humble opinion! Squash not only tastes amazing, they are absolutely loaded with minerals. These kids need real, and substantial fuel. Squash will replenish electrolytes, fill them up with slow burning carbohydrate fiber, and open their palates to the idea of veggies tasting good. Give the kids a spoonful of that roasted squash before you add it to the soup – I really think you are going to see how a buttery cinnamon roasted pumpkin can quickly become a veggie favorite for your crew.

Print Recipe

Roasted Pumpkin Chicken Noodle Soup

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter divided (you can use ghee, coconut oil, olive oil, or avocado oil if you are dairy free)
1 small/medium pie pumpkin halved and seeds scooped out
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 medium onion diced
1 large carrot diced
1 large celery stalk diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp ground sage
2 cups cubed cooked chicken I use leftovers from our weekly roasted chicken
2 quarts bone broth
2 cups dry pasta of choice I use the GF Jovial Rice Spirals
½ cup full fat coconut milk
1 big handful of baby spinach finely chopped
Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place your halved pumpkin flesh side up in a baking dish. Rub 1 tablespoon of butter over the flesh and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and some cinnamon. Roast the pumpkin at 425 degrees for 50 minutes, until the flesh is fork tender and fragrant. While the pumpkin roasts, you can prepare the rest of the soup.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large soup pot over medium high heat, and add the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of sea salt. Cook the veggies over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until the veggies are soft and fragrant, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic, thyme, and sage to the soup pot, stir to combine, and cook for a minute or two.
Add the cubed chicken and bone broth, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, and reduce to a simmer to cook the pasta until al dente. While the pasta starts cooking, you can prepare the pumpkin to add to the broth.
Scoop the pumpkin flesh out of the shell and into your food processor or blender. Blend the pumpkin until smooth. Add the pumpkin puree to the soup pot where the pasta is cooking and stir to combine.
When the pasta is cooked to al dente, turn the heat off, add the coconut milk and chopped spinach, stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Notes

If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can brown up chicken breast cubes right in the soup pot before you make the soup. Remove the browned chicken and start the soup from there.
There are multiple ways to cook a whole chicken every week in order to have leftover chicken for weekly meals! If you aren’t in to a Sunday dinner roasted chicken, you can cook a whole chicken in your slow cooker, or cook your whole chicken in your Instant Pot!
You can use regular milk or cream in place of the coconut milk if you are not dairy free.
You can use canned pumpkin if you wish – about 1 cup of puree. The roasted flavor from cooking a pumpkin is super worth it in the flavor though just fyi!
Save your pumpkin seeds to roast! I like to soak them in sea salt and water, toss with avocado oil, sea salt, and cinnamon on a sheet tray, and then cook at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.

More real food recipes you might like!

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Stuffed Butterkin Squash

September 21, 2021

A cross between a butternut squash and pumpkin, this little stuffed butterkin squash is sure to be a kid favorite!

Fall hikes and meal routines

We’re getting into the season of layers here in Michigan! We start out in hoodies and by the end of the hike the kids have peeled off all the layers to enjoy the golden warmth of the fall sun! We have a Sunday routine of hiking every weekend, and in the fall that routine also includes a roasted chicken for Sunday dinner. One of my favorite things to do with the leftover chicken is make an easy filling for a stuffed squash, and this week, we make it very weekday friendly – meaning super simple! So I thought you might like to see how to do it!

Stuffed squash basics!

While a stuffed squash looks fancy, I promise you this is a busy mom’s dream dinner. Comforting and satisfying without the fuss and time of usual comfort dinners, makes for the perfect weekday meal. Really, a stuffed squash is just a roasted squash filled with a protein/veggie stir fry, and topped with cheese or crispy topping. Its dinner all in one, hitting all of the protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs for growing kids. Win-win! You can truly use any squash, and once you try it, you’ll see why there are 3 other stuffed squash recipes on my blog, and one in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings!

Ok, sounds good! But what in the world is a butterkin squash?!

We discovered these cutie little squashes a couple years ago, and it has become a family favorite. The butterkin squash is a cross-breed of butternut squash, and pumpkin – get it? Butter-kin! In my taste palate opinion, while it has more of the shape of a pumpkin, it tastes more like a butternut squash – buttery smooth, and sweet. It has a really kid-friendly texture and honey sweet taste. If you don’t have access to a butterkin squash, you can make this stuffed squash with a butternut squash, pumpkin, or acorn squash – all equally delicious!

The Method :: Roasting the butterkin squash

I promise the cutting part is not intimidating, so long as you have a proper knife! I will also promise you that while it is much faster to just plop any squash in the Instant Pot to pressure cook away, the flavor and texture that you will get from properly roasting a squash is second to none – the kids are going to inhale this! Using a sharp knife, slice around the width of the butterkin squash, so that you have the top and bottom, equal transverse halves. Scoop the seeds out, and put them into an oven safe baking dish or cast iron skillet. You can have the kids spread the butter all over the flesh of the squash, and then sprinkle it with salt and pepper. You’ll roast the squash for 50 minutes, which gives you plenty of time to make the filling – in fact you will probably have time to clean up and do other things as well!

The Method :: The stuffed squash filling

The sky is the limit here! This week called for the simplest of the simple. I just needed basic. Some weeks I like to get fancy with more veggie variety, but I just didn’t have it in me this week, and truthfully those kind of dinners are sometimes the best. I had a lot of spinach to use up, and mushrooms just jive so well with that, so I went with it. Use whatever you have in your veggie bin – this filling is a great way to use up leftover veggies from the week and clear the fridge out. You’ll cook the veggies in butter until fragrant and golden, and then add the chicken, garlic, and spinach. This filling really only takes 15 minutes to cook, and it can be done ahead of time too! I like to use a few splashes of broth for flavor and moisture since leftover chicken can be dry. The result of the broth cooked down with the mushrooms, onions, and garlic leaves a very flavorful filling for your sweet squash!

The Method :: Stuffing the squash, and finishing the topping

Once your filling is cooked, and the squash is done roasting, all you have to do is load up the squash with the filling – don’t be shy! Pack it in! And then you can sprinkle the topping on. Again, on this day I needed simple. I used the Ian’s Gluten Free Panko Breadcrumbs mixed with freshly grated parm, and called it good. You can do all cheese if you want, or there are some notes in the recipe card for a topping idea that is both grain and dairy free if you need that. Once you sprinkle your topping, get it up under your oven broiler for a few minutes, and you’re ready to eat!

Leftovers?!

If there happens to be any leftovers (a rarity in my house these days!), they truly make *THE* best breakfast the next day topped with a fried egg. Seriously heaven. It could also make a great leftover lunch too. If you think far enough ahead, you could technically roast off 2 full squashes and double the filling if you want more leftover (or have a bigger family!)

Print Recipe

Stuffed Butterkin Squash

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

1 medium butterkin squash cut in half across the width, seeds scooped out
2 tbsp butter divided
Sea salt/pepper to taste
1 small onion diced
4 ounces mushrooms sliced
1 clove of garlic minced
2-3 cups leftover cooked chicken shredded or finely chopped (you could also brown up ½ pound of chicken beforehand)
3-4 cups baby spinach or baby kale chopped small
½ tsp dried thyme
2-4 tbsp bone broth stock, or water for cooking in
¼ cup GF Panko bread crumbs see notes below for grain free option
¼ cup parmesan cheese see Notes below for dairy free option
Sea salt/pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place the halved butterkin squashes flesh side up in a baking dish, and spread 1 tbsp of butter over the flesh of the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 425 degrees for 50 minutes. While the squash roasts, you can make the filling.
To make the filling, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes until fragrant and golden.
Add the garlic and the chicken, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.
Add the spinach, thyme, and splashes of bone broth and cook until the spinach wilts and the broth cooks off – this takes a few minutes.
When the squashes are done roasting, turn the oven off, and take the baking dish with the squash out. Scoop the chicken/spinach skillet mixture into each half of the butterkin squash, patting the filling down into the middle.
Whisk the GF Panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese together in a small bowl and sprinkle over each squash half.
Put the stuffed squashes under the oven broiler on “HI” for 3-5 minutes watching carefully for a beautiful golden color. Every oven broiler can run differently so take a peek after a couple minutes in case yours runs hotter.

Notes

I like to use leftover chicken from my weekly roasted whole chicken. It makes meals like this so fast and cost effective to stretch that one roasted chicken dinner into 2!
If you don’t have leftover chicken, you can brown up about ½ pound of chicken or beef.
If you are dairy free and/or grain free, you can swap the gluten free panko crumbs for 3 tbsp almond flour mixed with 1-2 tsp olive oil.
This is such a simple veggie mixture for this stuffing. If you have different veggies on hand, go ahead and swap! Stuffed squashes are a great way to empty the leftover veggies in the fridge from the week.

More real food recipes you might like ::

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Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Fall Inspired Part 1}

September 7, 2021

A cozy, fall inspired menu plan with busy families, school schedules, and nourishing goals in mind!

Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Fall Inspired Part 1}

Getting back into the groove…

We are a couple weeks into school, and I feel like most of my readers are flowing back into fall school routines, so I’d say it’s safe to start talking about fall menus! Fall certainly has a different feel than going from spring to summer menu plans – does it feel like that to you? For the most part it felt like late spring and into summer, the meal planning goes a little more “fly by the seat of your pants” style, and then once September hits, everyone has no choice but to plan a little bit more, or dinner will never hit the table!

Before we get started!

If you have never seen one of my meal plans, I would invite you to start with the Winter Meal Plan Part 1 and the Winter Meal Plan Part 2. Even though we are not full swing into cold weather, the information at the beginning of each of those posts will help you understand my meal plan approach, how I like to handle macronutrients to balance meals, questions you might have about portions and family sizes, and even more. Make a pit stop there first, and then come back to get some fall inspired meals!

School staples, and some lunchbox shortcut favorites

With school starting back up, and the long, daunting thought of the lunchbox packing task that awaits us for the whole year, I thought I would put some lunchbox staple favorites all in one place. Some because I didn’t have a ton of room to always label and link veggie/cracker dips and dressings for salads. And also so that you can see some examples of some store bought snacks and favs that I keep in my pantry. I’ll break these up so that you can find them easily!

Staple store bought lunchbox sides

For the most part, these are used sparingly and minimally – a hand full here, and a few there. But they are great to have on hand in the pantry, and especially help kids that are newer to “real food” make the transition to healthier lunchboxes without giving up some comfortable favorites. I also have a post with 11 Healthy Packaged School Snacks for Kids that I use for morning snacks at school here and there, but they also work well in lunchboxes.

Simple Mills Crackers (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)
Sweet Potato Crackers (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)
GF Pretzels
Lindsay’s Natural Olives (I get these at Costco, but you can get them at most grocers and online too)
Tortilla Chips (I get these at Costco, but you can get them at most grocers and online too)
Plantain Chips (I get these at Costco, but you can get this Prime brand online too)
Olive oil potato chips
Sweet Potato Chips
Terra Veggie Chips (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)
Bear Nibbles Yo-Yo Fruit & Veggie Strips (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)
Pure Fruit Bars (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)
That’s It Fruit Bars (I get these at Costco, but you can get them online too)

Charcuterie Board style lunchbox using the Simple Mills crackers & a Bear Nibbles Yo-Yo Fruit/Veg Strip!

Staple dressings and dips

I’m going to go ahead and list all of our favorite dressings below, and you can put your kids’ favs into your meal plan as you go. I also wanted to mention that we get guacamole cups and hummus cups at Costco. If you don’t have access to Costco, you can find them at most grocery stores these days. You can also find Wholly Guacamole cups and Go Go Dippers Hummus cups online. There are also fantastic, simple recipes for guacamole and super simple hummus in the Lunchbox Staple Chapter of my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!

Classic Ranch
Paleo Ranch
Thousand Island
French Dressing
Italian Dressing
Copycat Olive Garden Dressing
Classic Caesar Dressing
Paleo Caesar Dressing
Simple, Kid Friendly Pesto
Fajita Salad Dressing (from my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook – it goes with the Taco Tuesday Fajita Salad)
Fruity Poppyseed Dressing (from my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook – it goes with the Colorful Rainbow Chicken Salad)
Sweet Orange Vinegarette (from my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook – it goes with the Superhero Quinoa Salad)
Amazin’ Bacon Dipping Sauce (from my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook – it goes with the BLT Skewers, but is SO good with so many things!)

Fruity Poppy Seed Dressing in the Rainbow Chicken Salad from The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!

Veggie Soup Swaps

One of my goals each week in the cooler months of the year, is to get 1-2 bone broth based soups into the family by week’s end. Usually it is a veggie based soup, which the girls have devoured since infancy, and sometimes it is a heartier dinner soup with more protein and bulk. You’ll notice in the meal plan that usually my rhythm is to make the soup for the week on the weekend and that way it is easy to add to a thermos for school lunch later in the week. I know that not every kid will love every soup, and luckily for you, there are a myriad of soups to pick from both on the blog and in my cookbooks. If you have little guys at home, I would encourage you to start these young so that they develop a palate for these tasty soups that are such a great way to get nourishing bone broth and mineral rich veggies in! (Heartier, dinner type soups are linked in the dinner section below)

Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Nourishing Greens Soup (This is in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings and my girls very favorite soup!)
Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
Creamy Potato & Spinach Soup
Simple Pea Soup – Baby favorite! (This is in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings!)
Creamy of Zucchini Soup
Healthy Alphabet Soup – Copycat Alphabet Soup! (This is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!)
Creamy Roasted Carrot Soup (This is in my cookbook, Nourished Beginnings)
Simple Broccoli Soup
Creamy Cauliflower Kale Soup
Classic Vegetable Soup – Copycat Campbell’s Vegetable Soup!
Creamiest Dreamiest Broccoli “Cheese” Soup (This is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!)
Acorn Squash Soup
Split Pea Soup
Asparagus Soup
Creamy Cabbage Soup
Winter Blue’s Buster Creamy Chunky Potato Soup (This is in my cookbook, The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!)

Copycat Alphabet Soup recipe from The Little Lunchbox Cookbook!

So let’s kick off this Fall Menu Plan!

Here is a PDF for you to download for the full 2 week fall meal plan with links to recipes included. {See below this section for a blank version if you want to fill in your own!}

Want to build your own meal plan?

Go for it! My way of doing meals is definitely not the only way! And my recipes are not the only recipes around! Here is a blank PDF for you to print and fill out your own.

Dinner swaps!

I know that not every dinner chosen on the meal plan below will fit with every family’s tastes. There are so many choices for how to fill this in, which is why I never posted meal plans before. I really want you to fill the meal plan in to your family preferences. The plan below is simply inspiration and a guide to show you how I flow certain meals into others, how I double up meals, and how I balance a day’s macronutrient needs for my family. Here are some fall inspired dinner swaps for anything on the menu that you might want to change. Most of this list is from right here on the blog. Any recipe links that have a page number are from my cookbooks. Those with page numbers in green are from The Little Lunchbox Cookbook, and those with page numbers in pink are from Nourished Beginnings.

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Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Summer Inspired Part 2}

July 12, 2021

The weather is hot, and the produce is abundant! Create a nourishing 2 week meal plan with this fresh summer inspiration!

Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Summer Inspired Part 2}

Summer lovin’!

Whew! This summer is flying! I really wanted to get second summer meal plan up for you, and I sincerely hope that you are enjoying all that summer has to offer where you live! We have been hitting up all of the summer fruit U-Pick stands from strawberries to cherries, and this week, we’ll head out for those beautiful Michigan blueberries. The farmer’s markets here are loaded with veggies too, and I have some great meal ideas to help you through the rest of this summer!

START HERE!!!

If you are new to this space, I would recommend that you pop over to my PART 1 Summer Meal Plan before you go any further here. There is a load of really great information about how to cook in the summer heat, my approaches to meal planning, and some other helpful tips that will help make this whole process a whole lot easier for you! After you read through Summer Meal Plan Part 1, and get an idea of how those meals flow, you’ll be all set up to roll right into this Summer Meal Plan Part 2!

Let’s talk summer outings and packed summer lunches

One thing that I did not touch on in Summer Meal Plan Part 1 was that even though we aren’t in school for a few months, we DO still have to pack meals here and there! Whether its for a sunny beach day, a day trip to the park, or a road trip to the zoo, packed lunches don’t just disappear because school is done for the summer. I pack in different containers for family trips than I do for school lunches. When we go on family trips, there is usually a large cooler involved, instead of each child carrying their own individual lunchbox in their backpack. It’s just a different dynamic than school. As much as I am a sold-out, die-hard fan of our school year Planetboxes, they just don’t pack realistically very well in a cooler. They are heavy for one, and for outdoor spaces like the beach, I noticed how the sand would get in the metal hinges and it was just hard to clean. I have these Sistema lunchboxes That are super light weight and pack in a cooler well for the whole family. (There is also a larger one than the linked above and pictured below – my oldest uses THIS one)

Take advantage of your evening down time

Listen, I’m the FIRST person to raise my hand for an evening beach sunset swim and toes in the sand. We only get a handful of months to enjoy our powdery beach sand, warm sun, and gorgeous Lake Michigan sunsets! But we don’t do it every night, and on the evenings where the sun is just starting to think about coming down, a lot of times I’ll spend about 15 minutes getting *something* ready for the next day. It might be getting a batch of blueberry muffins baked off for the morning, or stirring up a summer salad to make lunchtime a little quicker the next day, or maybe you get a dozen eggs in the Instant Pot so that you have easy to grab hard boiled eggs for the next few days. If you have kids that stay up a little longer in the summer, pull them alongside you and make them a part of it. You’ll be surprised at how much it helps when there are 2 sets of hands in getting tasks done.

SUMMER MEAL PLAN PART 2!

Again, if you have NOT read through Summer Meal Plan Part 1, hop over there first, to see the flow, and then you can put both Part 1 and Part 2 together – that’s 4 WEEKS total of summer meals! Here is your free PDF of Summer Meal Plan Part 2!

Short and sweet!

So talk to me! How are summer meals going in your house? Are these summer meal plans helping you this season? Summer is so sacred. These few months are just so, so sweet, and I truly hope that having a little bit of a meal flow idea has helped you enjoy your summer just a little bit more!

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Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Summer Inspired Part 1}

June 12, 2021

The weather is hot, and the produce is abundant! Create a nourishing 2 week meal plan with this fresh summer inspiration!

Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Summer Inspired Part 1}

Sun, sand, and flip flops!

Those of you that have been around here for a while know that we spend most of our time at the beach in the summer! We don’t go through months of piled up snow for nothing! We truly live it up on some of the most gorgeous powdery sand beaches of our hometown during the summer months while the girls are home from school. Busy, fun summer days don’t mean we pull back on nutrition goals, though! In fact, these kids play so hard in the summer, I find I’m thinking about how to boost them even more during the summer.

Our summer schedule…and how yours might look different!

Everyone’s summers look different. Some families don’t have a lot of change with parents working, so instead of going to school for the day, the children are at day camps for the day. That is great! Some families are at home more and have more time to put into meals. That’s great too! And many of us fall somewhere in the middle. Since I work from home, there is a bit more flexibility, though the work still needs to get done (with children at home and a house to still run!). It can get a bit sticky, but we have a flow that has worked well for us, and I hope to inspire you to work with what you have to keep real food on the table, no matter the schedule. Whether your schedule looks very different from the rest of the school year, or things are business as usual, I hope to show you how our family functions with meals during the warm summer months – and while the abundant produce is around!

How does summer change our family meal plan?

I look forward to summer mornings the most. All school year long, we have a time table to keep in order to get to school on time, so in the summer we truly enjoy slower mornings. Some families don’t have that flexibility, and that’s ok! Sometimes, as a work from home mom, I get up early to knock out some work before the kids get up. But, for the most part, coffee on the porch in my PJ’s is totally the summer morning flow, and I’m absolutely here for it. We swap warm winter oatmeal for cooler yogurt with power packed add-in’s, and some hot weather options like smoothies to swap for egg casseroles that don’t heat up the house, but are still nutrient dense. I do still cook though. You’ll see my thoughts below on “cooking” during the summer, and if that isn’t your jam, do what works for you! For my household, there are a few days a week that I like to still lightly cook for the morning meal for variety and to get an abundance of produce in. ***By the way! If your kiddos are taking packed “school lunch” type lunches for summer day camp each day, you might get more lunchbox inspiration with warmer weather ideas in my Spring Meal Plans Part 1 and Part 2. In the summer, our lunches aren’t always the pack-able kind since we are at home more, but you will find a lot of inspo in the spring when my girls are in school still! ALSO! My friend Kristin from Live Simply has GREAT summer lunchbox ideas on her Insta for her Florida kiddos (insert REALLY hot weather!) that do more day camps in the summer – great, hot weather summer lunchbox ideas there!

Tips for cooking in the heat

Just like many of you, our summer weather is warm. Actually, as frigid as our frozen tundra is in the winter, you’d never believe the humidity that Michigan can get – it truly feels like walking through a tropical rainforest sometimes! So, in the summer we do tend to do naturally do a bit less “cooking” than in the winter months, but I think some may be surprised that there is still some cooking going on during the warm months here.

Our ancestors would have cooked over open fires outside all year long, and I kind of take that thought process as we are looking at meals in our house during the summer. As “modern day” moved our kitchens from the outside to the inside, there may have been a shift to more convenience foods or pantry staples during the hot summer, but I encourage you think about how your ancestors, before kitchens being located in the homes, would have naturally eaten.
If you have a grill that is a great start! Cook outside to keep the house cool, just like your ancestors would have done!
Since we have modern day kitchens, we also have the convenience of having appliances that don’t heat the house up like a pressure cooker Instant Pot, or slow cooker. Take advantage of that!
If you’re going to cook, make it stretch into other meals. You’ll notice in the meal plan that if I’m putting my oven on in the summer, I’m making that meal stretch into the next day so I don’t have to turn it on again. I’ll split a whole chicken to cook in the oven in 1 hour instead of all day, and then use that meat for an easy meal the next day.
I think one of the biggest differences you will notice in my summer meal plan versus the rest of the school year, is that since the girls are home for lunch, I tend to do either quick dinner leftovers, or a quick pan saute of all those beautiful summer veggies to serve tossed with pasta, or grilled chicken. It is a huge budget saver to just use what veggies are in season, and skip all the lunchbox specialties and snacks. Sure, it’s fun to make granola bars, or energy bites, or pack healthier choice packaged snacks for school, but in the summer, simple pan cooking is budget friendly, and actually much faster than you think. Besides, I would rather be at the beach than baking granola bars!

What’s with the pan sautéed veggies on the meal plan, and how do you do it?

I mentioned above that since the girls are home for lunch during the summer, I tend to do pan cooked summer veggies for lunch a lot, unless we are on an outing with packed lunchboxes. It takes less than 10 minutes, and when you get those in season veggies it is SUCH a budget saver. To make pan cooked summer veggies, melt some butter, olive oil, or coconut oil in a pan over medium to medium high heat. Add the chopped veggies with a pinch of salt, and just cook until tender crisp. If your kiddos are younger ages, you can cut the pieces smaller, and cook them through a bit longer so they are softer to eat, but this is how I have served summer lunch since the girls were just 1 years old! You can grill chicken, fish, or burgers to serve with the veggies, or even serve them with a PBJ – we absolutely do that too!

Raising Generation Nourished 2 Week Meal Plan {Winter Inspired Part 1}

More help means more outside play! Get the kids involved!

This really should be an all year thing, but especially when the kids are done with school work for the summer, it’s the perfect time to learn new kitchen skills – AND help with getting meals done so you can play outside more! No matter the age, everyone can help with something. My older girls take care of a couple of breakfasts per week, while my youngest helps me prep just about any meal. And I never wash a breakfast or lunch dish in the summer. <– Read that again! It’s true! When they were younger, did these tasks always “help” me? NOPE! A lot of times it took longer and made a bigger mess. But the skills they learn when they are little are SO helpful as they get older. You can check out this post for some help on navigating teaching your kids how to help you more in the kitchen!

Remember to think about WHERE you live, and how things grow where you live…

Where I live may have a different growing season than where you live. Summer where you live might also look differently than where I live. We have a very abundant summer growing season in Michigan. While it is pretty slow going in the winter, we can pick vegetables and fruit to our heart’s content all summer long. There are U-Pick patches, farm stands, and farmer’s markets on just about every corner, bursting at the seams through the first part of fall. If that isn’t how it is where you live, that’s ok! Just keep that in mind as you look at our meal plan, and just tailor the produce part to your environment!

Tell me about those popsicles on the meal plan!

They are literally whatever fruit we are picking that week, blended up, and frozen. That is truly how I roll in the summer! There is nothing fancy to it. We have had this ice pop container for years and years, and still use it all summer long to this day. Blend up whatever is in season, and the kids can have a frozen, in-season summer fruit after lunch in the summer. Give this easy blend up and pour task to the kids to do, and take one thing off your plate!

SUMMER MEAL PLAN PART 1!

Here is a free PDF of Summer Meal Plan Part 1! Right below the image will be a blank version, in case you want to fill in your own!

Want to build your own plan?

Here is a FREE Blank PDF Meal Plan so you can sit down with your family and fill in what works for you!

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Fresh Green Bean Salad

May 19, 2021

Warm or cold, this fresh green bean salad is the perfect veggie side dish change up any time of the year!

Our summer happy place

We endure a pretty long cold season in order to enjoy quite possibly the most amazing place in the world to spend summer – the beautiful coastline of Lake Michigan! There is really nothing like it! We have finally hit a warm spurt and it doesn’t even matter that the lake hasn’t warmed up yet! My crew is all in, and we are ready for a few months of sandy barefoot days.

A summer produce favorite

Green beans are one of the only garden items I can grow like weeds. Our dune-sandy soil is so hard for growing some things, but green beans – I can do that! The girls adore green beans too, so it really works out! As your summer green bean harvest starts coming in, or you see piles of them at the local farmer’s market, grab a big bag full, and try out this fun veggie side with your summer BBQ, or a big juicy burger!

Simple ingredients

Summer is definitely not the time to be spending loads of time in the kitchen. We only get a few months out of the year to really enjoy all that warm sunshine, so I want to be outside as much of our summer days as possible! This summer salad can be put together in 10 minutes and just hang out in the fridge to be your easy lunch or dinner side dish all week. A simple pound of summer green beans, pretty cherry tomatoes, and a handful of walnuts get tossed with a pantry friendly dressing that shakes right up in a little jar. It doesn’t get much simpler than that – perfect for summer!

Green bean steaming method options

For this green bean salad, I very lightly steam the green beans. You could potentially serve them raw, but I do find that the dressing soaks in a bit better and is better over the course of days if you give the green beans a light steam, or at the very least, a quick blanch. Here are some steaming options:

For the INSTANT POT put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pot, put the green beans in the steamer basket inside the pot, put the IP lid on, and seal the valve. Press the STEAM feature and bring the time down to “0” minutes. The IP will come to pressure in about 5 minutes in and then be done since you set the time to 0. Release the valve immediately.
For an ELECTRIC STEAMER, or if using a STEAMER BASKET OVER BOILING WATER, put the green beans in the steamer and set the timer for 5 minutes.
You could also blanch the green beans if you really want a very crisp bean salad.

Fuss free prep

10 minutes! I promise! Maybe even less if your veggies are already washed up! While your green beans have a quick steam, you’ll make the dressing. You probably already have all of the ingredients right in your pantry to shake up the dressing in the jar. Once the dressing is ready, the cherry tomatoes get sliced, and the walnuts can get a quick chop. Then you’ll toss the lightly steamed green beans with the dressing, tomatoes, and walnuts, and you’re done!

Serve it cold or warm!

If you happen to get a chance, enjoy a few bites of your freshly tossed green bean salad while it’s warm! Absolute heaven! If it feels like 100 degrees outside, I’m sure the chilled salad fit your menu the best, but if you happen to change up your meal plan in the winter, you can enjoy the cozy warmth of the salad right out of the steamer.

Nut free friends, and other swaps!

If you are nut free, swap out the nuts for sunflower seeds to add some texture to the salad. I also think that if you have the time to give the walnuts or sunflower seeds a quick 2 minute toast in the saute pan, you’ll really enjoy the flavor that brings. If you are a household that can do dairy, parmesan is a fun addition. And if your kiddos are more Ranch style salad kids, I say swap the dressing for your favorite healthy Ranch if that will make them more willing to try a new salad – you’re still a fantastic momma in my book! You can try my classic Ranch, or, if you are dairy free, use this Paleo Ranch or this better choice store bought Ranch.

Print Recipe

Fresh Green Bean Salad

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

For the dressing:

¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp juice from a lime about 1 lime
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2-3https://amzn.to/3wfuzVW tsp raw honey
½ – 1 tsp sea salt to taste start small and you can always add more
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ – ½ tsp dried basil use 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil if you have it

For the green bean salad:

1 lb fresh green beans trimmed and cut in half
10-15 cherry tomatoes halved
½ cup walnuts coarsely chopped
1 recipe of the dressing from above

Instructions

Put all of the dressing ingredients into a small mason jar with a lid and shake vigorously for 1 minute until combined. Set the dressing in the fridge to chill while you make the rest of the salad.
Steam the green beans to crisp tender. You could do this a few different ways. For the INSTANT POT put 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pot, put the green beans in the steamer basket inside the pot, put the IP lid on, and seal the valve. Press the STEAM feature and bring the time down to “0” minutes. The IP will come to pressure in about 5 minutes in and then be done since you set the time to 0. Release the valve immediately. For an ELECTRIC STEAMER, or if using a STEAMER BASKET OVER BOILING WATER, put the green beans in the steamer and set the timer for 5 minutes. You could also blanch the green beans if you really want a very crisp bean salad.
Once the green beans are lightly steamed, add them to a medium serving bowl, and toss with the cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and dressing. You can use half the dressing if you want it lightly dressed, or all of it – I would recommend starting with half to see how you like it! Sometimes I use about half and keep the other half for a salad later in the week. Keep in mind that the dressing will soak into the veggies a little bit too. You can eat the salad warm, or chill in the fridge.

Notes

This salad stays good in the fridge for 5-7 days. Make some up on a busy week to pull from all week long!
You can use a tasteless healthy oil, such as avocado oil, if your crew doesn’t love the taste of olive oil.
This salad and the dressing double up for a crowd very nicely. This amount feeds my family of 5 for a side dish plus a little leftover.
Balsamic vinegar makes a delicious swap for red wine vinegar to change things up. White wine vinegar is another way to change it up a bit.
Lemon or lime juice will work but I do love the lime the best!

More real food recipes you might like ::

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Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Spring Inspired Part 2}

May 13, 2021

Use this fresh, spring inspired meal plan for your growing family!

Nourishing 2 Week Meal Plan {Spring Inspired Part 2}

Finally!

I know you all have been waiting longer than you have wanted for Part 2 of this spring meal plan, and I thank you for your patience! It’s been a whirlwind of a spring – a welcomed whirlwind, with zoo visits, birthday celebrations, and lots of parks!

Read this first!

While we are creeping closer to needing summer meal plans, I still wanted to show you how to spin off that Spring Meal Plan 1 into this Spring Meal Plan 2. I had purposely put some food items on Meal Plan 1 that could be flowed another week to keep the time in your kitchen down, and I wanted to show you how to do that. I also added in more meal double duty in Part 2, and I really think you will like this flow! If you have not checked out Spring Meal Plan 1, you’ll want to take a peek at that first – this meal plan will make a bit more sense after seeing that!

Yes, we are still in school!

I know many of our friends to the south are wrapping the school year up in the next week or so, but up here in Michigan we don’t start school until late August, and so we are packing those lunchboxes until about mid-June in these parts! You’ll see our lunch routine change up a little bit in my summer meal plans, but for this meal plan, keep in mind the girls’ lunches in the plan are still packed up for school.

Let’s talk about special days and swapping treats!

I wanted to use my spring meal plan space to talk a little bit about special days! We have 2 spring birthdays in our house, and we absolutely want to celebrate that! If you have special celebrations, no matter the time of year, please swap some special meals in your these meal plans! As a for instance, perhaps the weekend of a special birthday you swap the breakfast for birthday scones or a coffee cake. And there may even be a night that you get to take the family out for a special birthday dinner, or end of the school year celebration.

Gluten Free Funfetti® Birthday Scones! :: Gluten, Egg, & Nut Free

FAQ’s!

If you haven’t taken a peek at the first 2 meal plans I created this year, there is some helpful information in both of those. Even if you don’t need winter inspired meals, you’ll want to check out the information on how to balance macro-nutrients for your kids, meal planning baby steps, food availability, (all of these points are in the Winter Meal Plan 1 post), and also how my husband fits into the meal plan as a commuter (in Winter Meal Plan 2).

SPRING MEAL PLAN PART 2!

Here is a free PDF of my Part 2 Spring Inspired Meal Plan! Right below the image will be a blank version, in case you want to fill in your own!

Want to build your own plan?

I’m all about that! here is a free blank PDF of the meal plan so you can sit down with the family and create your own plan of attack!

SUMMER is almost here!

I’ll be back soon with some summer inspiration very soon!

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Dairy Free Caesar Dressing

April 20, 2021

Free from common allergens, this delicious dairy free Caesar dressing is also gluten free, soy free, nut free, egg free, and fish free!

Spring teases, and a need for some dairy free staples

I *think* we’ll see the last of our cold weather snow flurries this week, and we can finally say we are on our way to some consistent spring like temps here in Michigan! We spent a cool but pleasant weekend hiking and even playing at the beach, and while I watched my crew race up and down the shoreline, I was thinking about just how far I’ve come in a health related sort of way.

A marathon, not a sprint

As I watched my kids sprint across the sand, I thought about how I had to change my thought process toward getting healthy so long ago. More of a “sprinter” in all things life, I have had to grow and change my method to more of a marathoner’s mindset. And you know what? Sprinters and marathoner’s are both great athletes. But when it comes to healing decades of growing up in a conventional, standard American health sort of environment, sprinting is only going to lead to more injury. It takes time to heal decades. I’ve had a recent set back toward the end of winter, and while I’m on my way, I have had to learn the hard way that while I’d like to sprint myself back into feeling my normal, a marathon mindset is really where it’s at.

Peeling back the layers

I have had more than one natural minded practitioner remind me that most healing journeys are like peeling onions. There are layers and layers of them, and before you can get to the center root of the onion, you have to get through the surface layers first. A chiropractor friend reminded me of this last week, and I’m hoping someone here needs to hear it too. There are layers of natural elements, like diet, mineral balance, and hydration. And there are also layers of lifestyle, such as sleep, stress, and activity levels. I’ve been working on the later, with over-exercising and not paying enough attention to stress…a very tough admission for this “Type A!” One layer I DO know how to help with, however is food. And if you need to have inflammatory foods out of your diet for a period of time for healing, I’ve got you covered, dear momma. I have been there, done that, and I have some recipe tricks up my sleeve that I hope will help you!

Our favorite Caesar, done without dairy

One of the first recipes I posted to this blog was a recipe for Caesar dressing. It was *the* dressing helped me successfully get my husband off store bought dressings years ago, and has been a staple around here for a while. But the dressing has dairy and egg, which can be inflammatory for those that are healing. Over the years when I have had seasons like I am in right now where I need to strictly be dairy free, I have played around with other ways to make it without the cheese, sour cream, and eggs, and I’m finally getting it here on the blog! This Caesar dressing is a handful of years in the the trial and error making, and I can proudly say it is free from dairy, gluten, soy, nuts, and egg…and it still passes my Caesar dressing critic husband’s taste test!

Dairy Free Caesar Dressing Method

It really doesn’t get any easier than a 5 minute prep, and I’m pretty sure that whether you are on a healing journey or not, less work is music to your ears! I don’t even use measuring cups. Simply use the marks on the side of a pint mason jar and measure to the 1/2 cup mark for the olive oil. Then spoon in your coconut yogurt until the line hits the 3/4 cup mark. The rest is all measuring spoon, and goes so fast. Finally, you’ll use a simple immersion blender to emulsify the dressing into the dreamiest creamy texture!

Important Notes!

Please take the time to read through the Notes section in the recipe card! I have been making this dairy free version of Caesar for a while, and I took the time to write down some of my thoughts on swaps and switches, as well as how to tailor this dressing to fit your unique taste palate!

Print Recipe

Dairy Free Caesar Dressing

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup full fat coconut yogurt
1 egg yolk if you are egg free use an extra tbsp or 2 of coconut yogurt for the creaminess
1 tbsp lemon juice about ½ lemon
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp mustard
1 tsp coconut aminos
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp pepper

Instructions

In a pint mason jar, measure the olive oil to the ½ cup mark, then add the 1/4 cup of coconut yogurt to fill until the ¾ cup mark on the mason jar (you could use measuring cups too, but this is my favorite way, and is less to clean up!).
Add the rest of the ingredients and use an immersion blender to emulsify until creamy and combined. Blend with the immersion blender for about 30 seconds to a minute.
Store the Caesar dressing in the refrigerator for 1 week.

Notes

If you are egg free, leave the yolk out and add an extra couple tablespoons of coconut yogurt for the creaminess.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the olive oil to a food processor or blender. Then, while the blender is running, you can drizzle the olive oil into the blender so that it can slowly emulsify the dressing until creamy.
Add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice if you like your dressing tangier. The recipe as written is very kid friendly, but I love extra tang, so when I make it for myself I use 2 tbsp – about a full lemon.
Add an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes if you want the dressing to taste cheesier.
If you don’t have coconut aminos, you can leave this out, but it does add a depth of flavor that I just love – traditional sardines would add this too if you have those.
If you want to use a neutral/flavorless oil, avocado oil works well and is safe, healthy oil. The olive oil flavor gets pretty covered up by all of the other ingredients, but I know some kids might be sensitive to that taste, and avocado oil is flavorless. Really good olive oil is known for it’s anti-inflammatory properties, so I always ready for the olive oil when I can, and my kids really like the taste of it.
I get the big, 32oz tubs of plain, unsweetened coconut yogurt from our local grocer for a very budget friendly price. Many regular grocers are carrying this now, just take a look!

More real food salad dressing recipes you might like!

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Kid Friendly Veggie Loaded Tacos

April 14, 2021

Learn how to get veggies into taco night with this kid friendly method of veggie loading taco meat!

Taco night and our first spring dip in the lake!

Lake Michigan is 37 degrees, and that, my friends, means I’m barefoot in the beach sand trying to soak in some early spring sun rays while these little Michigan born and bread kiddos of mine are in the water and happy as little larks! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can help you with those main staples that are on everyone’s meal plan list, by amping up the nutrient level while still keeping them kid favorites.

Taco Tuesday…Amplified!

I would venture to say that most households have a staple taco night. It is an easy kid favorite, familiar, and obviously so delicious too! Sometimes I over look the obvious staples to blog because I figure everyone knows how to make a taco right? But do you know how to make a taco that isn’t just meat a cheese? Something that will get some mineral rich veggies and fiber into the kids without the kids complaining? Without having to add the taco meat to a salad? Not that there is anything wrong with a salad, but I’ve been in those little kid years, dear momma! I know salads are not always first pick. And toddlers don’t always digest or chew salads very easily. They also will be full after one or 2 taco shells with taco filling…so let’s get more in every bite!

Making every bite count…taco style!

Little kids have little bellies. And while I have been the witness to bottomless pit kid appetites, when my girls were very little I found out very quickly that 1 or 2 tacos was about all their bellies could hold, so I had to make those bites count. The secret to veggie loading tacos is all about mixing the meat with veggies that have been cooked with the right technique….a slow, flavorful sauté. Sure, this does add about 10 minutes to your cook-time, but it will be so worth it. And one of the best parts about taco meat is that it can be done in advance on a prep-day, and even frozen for easier weeknights!

Older kid & teen benefits

Veggie loading tacos isn’t just beneficial for filling up little bellies. Those growing teenagers can seriously put the food away! Filling them up on protein is important, but fiber rich veggies will help fill up those appetites and help them feel fuller longer. Another benefit to veggie loading the meat is that the added extra veggie mineral nutrients is so vital to the function of all of their organs – hello teenage hormones! Hormones need these mineral nutrients from veggies to function properly, and this is a great way to get those in. And even better if your teen likes a big taco salad – double the veg!

Two Birds, One Stone…Veggie Loading & Budgets!

While my main focus in veggie loading these tacos is to get more veggies into your kids, I want to also help you see that this method of making taco meat really stretches that pound or 2 of ground beef for your hungry crew. My family of 5 can pound out a pound of taco meat and then some. But when I veggie load taco meat, not only does the volume of taco meat almost double, giving us more to fill into those taco shells, it is also getting fiber rich veggies into hungry bellies to fill them up.

A note about taco seasoning

You can swap the DIY taco seasoning for 1-2 packets of taco seasoning – just be real careful on those ingredient lists – staying organic usually helps with avoiding MSG, GMO’s, and other fillers. Also keep in mind that packets (even many organic ones) add starches, so you will need more bone broth or water because those starches thicken things up. I keep a jar of my DIY taco seasoning doubled or tripled up in my cupboard so it is easy to pull out on taco night.

Tips for families with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers

Dear momma, if you have an older baby or toddler, I would invite you to take my “jump in with both feet” method of feeding littles, and just add the veggies in without taking too much care to dice them up super fine. Obviously make it small enough for them to handle in their mouths, but I truly believe that my girls never batted an eye at any meal, from spaghetti to tacos, being “veggie loaded” in their lives because we started them out that way. Babies and toddlers have ZERO frame of reference for what a “taco” should look like. <—Read that again! If this is all they have ever known, it is exactly what they will grow up being used to! In fact when I veggie load these tacos, I typically double the spinach in this recipe – feel free to add more if you wish.

Tips for families with older kids and teens

If you have older kids used to “normal” tacos I have a few tips for you to ease them into this idea!

First of all, don’t make it a big deal – you make it a big deal and they will feed off that. I would actually just try the taco meat with the chopped veggies, and if they ask what it is, simply tell them! Don’t try to hide it – that really creates some trust issues. Just treat them like normal human beings, and be honest with them.
If you know for sure this is going to be a battle, try starting out with half of the veggies recommended here and work up to the full amount. As I said in the section above, this is actually toned down from my usual amount of veggies, but you can bring it down a couple of notches to work up to the full amount.
Try using a food processor to really finely chop the veggies so they are truly barely noticeable. Once the taco season is in the mixture, there is zero veggie taste – promise. But I know that some kids have texture issues, so perhaps making the veg super small will help ease those kids into this. In all actuality, the sauté and simmer cooking times really make the veggies very soft and manageable, but I do know that some children can be veggie detectives 🙂

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Kid Friendly Veggie Loaded Tacos

Author: Renee Kohley – Raising Generation Nourished

Ingredients

2 tbsp friendly fat for cooking in butter, olive oil, avocado oil, tallow, etc
1 small onion diced
½ small red bell pepper diced
½ small head of cabbage sliced thin or shredded
1 large carrot shredded
2-3 cups baby spinach finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 lb grassfed ground beef
4 tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup bone broth or water
Sea salt/pepper if needed to taste

Instructions

In a large skillet, melt the fat over medium heat. Add the onion, pepper, cabbage, and carrot with a big pinch of sea salt, and cook over medium high heat until the veggies are soft and sweet. This will take about 5-10 minutes depending on how small you chopped the veggies (smaller chopped veggies will cook faster).
Add the spinach, garlic, ground beef, taco season, and broth to the pan. Break up the beef, and cook the veggies, beef, and broth together for over medium high heat, until the broth comes to a simmer. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, stirring occasionally until the beef is cooked through, and the broth is reduced all the way down so that the taco mixture isn't runny. This takes about 10 minutes.
Serve your veggie loaded taco meat with traditional taco shells (we love these blue corn shells or yellow corn shells) or soft shell tortillas with toppings, or over a big salad to make a taco salad (use this French dressing or Fiesta Dressing for the salad!)

Notes

Instead of chopping, you could put all of the veggies in a food processor to chop up super small. This is a good technique for kids that don’t like “pieces” in their food, or have aversions to veggies. They will cook down and get so small you’ll never see them this way.
You can swap the DIY taco seasoning for 1-2 packets of taco seasoning – just be real careful on those ingredient lists – staying organic usually helps. Also keep in mind that packets add starches, so you will need more bone broth or water because those starches thicken things up.
When my kids were little, they always struggled with managing a taco and it’s fillings! I got these little taco holders and they are game changers!

More real food recipes you might like ::

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