There is a lot I love about my Polish heritage but what I love most is the food. Stuffed cabbage is such a great fall meal as it is so warm and comforting. You can really get creative here with your filling too, which is so fun to make it your own.
My mom used to make these with different types of ground beef and pork, rice, and tomato soup. While this isn’t the traditional recipe as I substitute some ingredients for ones that make me feel my best, it has all the same flavors that you won’t even notice.
These can be quite a time commitment but I encourage you to gather the family or your friends together to make these. Memories of making traditional food with my family is some of my absolute favorite memories that I plan to carry out with my own children one day!
Ingredients:
1 head of green cabbage
1 lbs. ground beef
1/2 head of cauliflower, riced
2 stalks of celery, diced
3 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
15 oz canned tomato sauce
1/4 cup of coconut cream
1 tbsp of fresh parsley
1 tbsp of ghee
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil
Cut the center core out of the cabbage and peel away the leaves
Boil each leaf for 3 minutes and place on a paper towel to dry
Brown onion and garlic in ghee in a separate pan
Brown ground beef in the onion and garlic mixture
Add cauliflower rice and spices and allow it all to soften for 5 minutes, then turn heat to low
In a separate sauce pan, place tomato sauce, coconut cream, and salt and pepper to and bring to a slight boil. Turn off heat and coat the bottom of your slow cooker with about 1/4 of this mixture. Reserve the other 3/4 cup to put on top of the stuffed cabbage
Grab a dray cabbage leaf and begin to stuff with the mixture
Place cabbage leaves on top of the tomato sauce and stack each layer with a layer of tomato sauce between, almost like you would when making lasagna
There is something about the cooler weather that drives me to make meals from my Polish heritage. Chicken Paprikash, Stuffed Cabbage, Pierogis…I’m getting hungry just thinking about it all!
Chicken Paprikash is definitely one of my favorites though. I have definitely had to make some substitutions in my recipes for ingredients that make me feel my best, but you would never know with all the flavor in this dish.
When I think comfort, I almost always think Chicken Paprikash. There are so many ways to make this your own. I used to bone-in thighs, but you could always use boneless chicken thighs or chicken breasts. Whatever you have on hand!
When my mom makes this, she dumps an entire helluva chip dip to mix in with the traditional spetzels (which is so damn good). However, as I don’t do so great with dairy anymore, I use full fat canned coconut milk. Get creative though and make this dish your own! I love to serve this over cauliflower rice, cauliflower mash, or even brown rice pasta if you do well with that.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 lbs. bone in chicken thighs
15 oz crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp ghee
2 Tbsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp sat
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped very finely
1/4 cup of coconut cream, chilled in the refrigerator two days prior preferably
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Serve over cauliflower rice, or mashed potatoes
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
Pat the chicken thighs with a paper towel and make sure they are dry. This will help the skin get crispy. Season with salt and pepper
Place the chicken skin down in a medium hot skillet that has oil or ghee in it and is oven safe
Let the chicken cook for 5 minutes then flip
Add onion and garlic allow to become translucent and fragrant while the other side of the chicken cooks (about 5 minutes). Continue to stir the onion and garlic so it does not burn
Add spices, and tomatoes to the pan then place in the oven for 15 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through
Remove from oven and add coconut cream and lemon juice
Mix the sauce together and service over cauliflower rice, potatoes, or any form of starch you like!
Pumpkin Spiced Lattes get ALL the love once the cooler weather sets in. Don’t get me wrong, I love myself some PSL – homemade or not. But let us not forget to give love to the other delicious fall flavors.
I’ve seen a maple pecan latte recently and it looked delicious! But of course the ingredient list was terrifying. So why not create my own with ingredients I already have on hand in the house.
I love to make specialty “weekend coffee” as we call it in our house. Drinking my morning coffee is almost like a sacred ritual at this point. Enjoying an extra special, delicious tasting coffee on a fall Saturday morning is one of my favorite things.
So let’s give some love to the other fall flavors. I used almond butter because that’s what I usually keep on hand. You could always use pecan butter (or make your own), cashew butter, or whatever nut butter screams fall to you.
Ingredients: 6-8 cups of STRONG coffee
2 tbsp of pure maple syrup
1 tbsp of almond butter (I used Justin’s but imagine how delicious the new Rx Vanilla Almond Butter would be in this!)
1 cup of almond or cashew milk (could even use nutpods here if you wanted)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/8 tsp of nutmeg (totally optional)
1 tsp of ghee
Directions:
In a sauce pan on medium heat mix syrup and nut butter together until combined.
It’s officially fall…although I may have already been acting as if it was for the last month. Fall means ALL the crock pot meals around here. There is something so great about coming home from work to a wonderful smelling house, that you didn’t have to put much effort into.
I was genuinely shocked by how delicious this was for how simple the ingredient list was. I wasn’t even planning on making this a recipe until I tasted it. I realized it would just be wrong of me to not share it with the world.
The beef gets SO tender after cooking all day along with the softened vegetables. It is perfect for a week night meal with easy clean up but also comforting enough for a Sunday meal with all of your loved ones.
Ingredients: 2 lbs. of pot roast beef or beef shoulder – I used “boneless beef chuck under blade pot roast” but whatever you can find at your local store will work just fine!
2-3 lbs. of red potatoes, quartered
1 lbs. of carrots, sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 package of crimini mushrooms
2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups of beef broth (can substitute water if you don’t have broth on hand)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a crock-pot with the meat on the bottom.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours
Tip: If you want to make the broth thicker, take out about 1 cup of the broth when it is finished cooking. Place 1 tbsp of arrowroot or tapioca starch and mix together until there are not chunks left. Then place back into the broth and stir until it starts to thicken.
My nickname growing up was always “Happy Hannah”. Which maybe felt more authentic when I was younger, but grew to be more ironic to me as I became older.
I spent a lot of my life being pretty unhappy, but keeping it all inside. I am a people pleaser to my very core. It is significantly easier to pretend to be happy and go with the flow than to fight it for me. No arguments with loved ones, and definitely no need to let people know about my depression or anxiety and futhermore be open to vulnerability.
Being overweight was the root a lot of my unhappiness growing up. But as I’ve gone through my weight loss journey, I learned that a lot of happiness comes from inside and has nothing to do with the number on the scale. I’ve put together the first few steps that led to my happiness and keeps me feeling (mostly) happy every day (Because no one is ALWAYS happy). Hopefully this can help you all too, to take the first steps needed to living a happier life every single day.
#1 : Put Yourself First
Sounds selfish, right? WRONG! You have to fill your own cup first in order to fill others. If your cup is empty, you have nothing to provide to others. Starting my morning with self-care and doing what I know I need in order to have a successful day is non-negotiable for me these days.
For example, I wake up before my boyfriend and spend some alone time preparing for the day, moving my body lightly – maybe with some yoga flows, setting my to do list, maybe saying a few prayers, and drinking some coffee or bone broth. I have noticed that since I began this routine, I have so much more focus and energy for the day. I have so much more of me to give to my loved ones, my coworkers, my blog even, when I have filled my own cup first.
#2 : Find What Gives You Energy
I now actively avoid things that I know drain my energy. If there is an activity I know I won’t enjoy, I don’t go. I don’t come up with excuses either, because I just don’t think I need to justify it.
I journal a lot to help evaluate what in life gives me energy. Sometimes it even takes writing out each activity you did during the day and how it affected your energy. Perhaps rating it on a scale of 1 – 10, where a 10 represents the activity that gave me the most energy. That meeting in front of executives? Probably fell around a 2 on my scale as it drained me and made me anxious. Whereas preparing a great dinner for me and my boyfriend may have been around a 9 on my scale, because I truly enjoyed that.
So, what do you do if there is an activity that drains your energy that you cannot avoid? For instance what if talking with some of your family members whom you love, leave you feeling around a 3? We can’t always avoid these people or even spend less time with them without seriously hurting their feelings.
I have put serious focus into not allowing those people to have a negative effect on my mood. I have to almost detach myself emotionally from the conversation. This may sound cruel, but it is the only way I know how to control my emotions and keep my sanity, leaving the situation feeling closer to a 6 than a 2 or 3.
#3 : Learn Something New Everyday
This is a big one for me as I am constantly looking to learn new things. Right now, I am very interested in nutrition and healing my body naturally. This requires a lot of research and reading, which I have grown to love and look forward to. I listen to at least one podcast throughout the day that I know will better me in some way, shape, or form.
Why not learn from so many people in this community that have already gone through similar issues. It’s often inspiring to hear more from these people and remember that is there is hope and to not give up! This also gives you a sense of accomplishment. If nothing else, you can say you became more knowledgable today!
#4 : Keep a Journal of Your Daily Thoughts
Have you ever looked back on your diary from 6th or 7th grade and just laughed at what you found horrifying or tragic then?
I find this still applies to me even weeks apart now. I find journaling and sometimes re-reading my journal entires an extremely helpful task in keeping perspective on life or situations currently bringing me down. If I had a very bad day a few weeks ago and I look back on it now, it helps me to remember that emotions come and go so often and so quickly. There are really good times in life and there are really bad times in life. We can only learn to be grateful for both. There are also days that are just “meh”, but I have found through journaling a whole new appreciation for days you don’t have much to write about.
#5: Find Joy and Gratitude in the Little Things of Life
THIS is probably the most important advice I can give on leading a happier life instantly. A lot of what I have talked about before this takes a bit of time and effort. But finding joy in the smallest things is a simple task you can start doing right now! Doing this is truly what makes me a happier person.
Once you start this mindset, I find the positive thoughts carry over into other aspects of life. For instance, as I walk in to work and someone is smoking a cigarette by me. Instead of judging that person or being annoyed by the smell, I am suddenly grateful for the fresh air I breathe the majority of the time. That spirals into me being grateful that I even have a job to walk in to. And that I get to spend my walk alone to process my thoughts for the workday. This then immediately puts me in a much better mood for work than had I chosen to focus on the particular smell I don’t personally enjoy from cigarette smoke.
This is just an example of how quickly you can CHOOSE to change your outlook on a situation. Instead of focusing on the negative, focus on the joy you can find in that moment right there.
There is so much pain in life that we cannot control. My thoughts are that situations are going to happen anyway whether we want them to or not. Only we can control our reaction and how we choose to let it affect us.
I feel very strongly that a sauce can make a break a meal. No sauce? No meal at ALL. I know that may sound dramatic to some, but I truly mean that.
This Thai Cashew sauce is perfect to throw on top of a pad thai, a stir fry, or even my Asian lettuce wraps. It truly takes any dish to the next level.
Investing in a few key pantry items slowly each week, as you can afford, really pays off. You can have a sauce like this on any given evening and don’t have to spend a ton of money on pre-made sauces. While those are always convenient, in my opinion, it is SO easy to make one of your own that tastes even bettering fresher!
Ingredients:
3 tbsp of coconut aminos
1 tsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of rice vinegar (check your labels)
2 tbsp of cashew butter (I used Justin’s Cashew Butter)
1 tbsp hot sauce
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp of ginger
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp of salt (I always use Pink Himalayan Salt)
1/2 tsp of pepper
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a sauce pan
Cook garlic until it becomes soft and fragrant
Add remaining ingredients
Allow the cashew butter to melt and then remove from heat
TIP: This step does not take long and I suggest continuously stirring the sauce
Did you know I spent extended periods of my life as a vegetarian? Well now you know! When I was younger, I felt bad for eating the animals. As I grew even older and learned about factory farming, my guilt got even worse. I now at least try to get my animal products from highly sustainable and humane outlets (which is not always easy or cheap).
Because of this background, I always try to think resourcefully and have one meatless day a week at least in my food freedom. Meatless Monday is a fun trend that I like to participate in. For me, Meatless Mondays often involve chickpeas or some form of a legume that my stomach/digestion reacts well with.
This chickpea curry is so flavorful you won’t miss the meat, but you could certainly always add some of you wish! I love to place this over cauliflower rice or mashed cauliflower. I especially love this dish in the fall but it can really be enjoyed any time of the year. It freezes great as well if you want to double the batch and have some on hand for a later time.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
4 stalks of carrots, chopped
15 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp of coconut oil (or olive or avocado)
3 tbsp of coconut cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp curry
1/2 tsp ginger
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pan
Add onion and allow it to become translucent
Add the garlic and let it become fragrant
Add the chickpeas, carrots, tomatoes, and spices. Let this cook for 20-30 minutes to let the carrots soften.
Tip: If you are looking for this dish to come together even quicker, boil the carrots separately, or even the night before!
Add the coconut cream and mix it in
Tip: put the canned coconut milk or cream in the fridge a few days before you are going to use it to allow the cream to firm
Is it Tabouli, Tabbouleh, or Tabuleh? I was never a great speller. My mom can attest to the lack of spelling knowledge I’ve always had! In fact, she’s actually kept notebooks from 5th grade year for proof of how bad it was.
I’m not sure if it matters in this case because we will all probably just smash this dish down before I can find the a definitive answer on this one. You know what though? We don’t need to know how it is spelled as long as it is delicious. Who needs to know how to spell anyways?? Certainly not a blogger.
I love this dish because it has so many fresh elements but also has a great filling aspect to make it a complete side with the cauliflower. You can really enjoy this any time of the year and especially with some of the other dishes I have on my blog such as my Greek meatballs or my Greek salad with roasted chickpeas.
Ingredients: 1/2 head of cauliflower head, riced
1 1/2 cup red grape tomatoes
1/4 cup red onion
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbsp oil olive
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 medium cucumber, diced
Juice of one lemon
10-12 pitted kalamata olives
Directions:
Cook riced cauliflower and oil until soft in a pan
Add riced cauliflower and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix until combined
Meatballs are seriously my jam! I’ve never met a meatball I didn’t like, and these are certainly no exception! I am always pleased to have a stocked pantry of spices to throw something delicious together like these Greek meatballs without any hassle.
These are perfect to enjoy with my Cauliflower Tabouli to make a complete meal. But you could also always serve these as an appetizer with my tzatziki sauce and have a healthy Whole 30 and Paleo compliant choice at a gathering! This travels great as well and almost always makes our menu for parties, tailgates, or just when we want have some Greek inspired food in our life (which is always).
Yields about 18 meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (I use grass fed and grass finished)
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1/2 Tbsp kalamata olive brine (optional)
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped roughly
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped roughly
1 tsp of dried chives
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. My beef usually retains a lot of liquid and adding the brine also creates nice liquid. If you do not have extra liquid in yours, you could always add some oil or an egg. It helps keep the meatballs juicy and avoids dry meatballs
Form small to medium meatballs onto a baking dish
Cook in oven for 22 minutes
Turn oven temperature up to 425 degree F and allow the meatballs to bake another 5 minutes. This creates a crispy top of the meatballs. (Optional step)
I think most of my inspiration for developing recipes comes from a longing to have old flavors I used to enjoy in a different way. For instance, I used to LOVE the chicken bacon ranch sub from Subway. In my first few years in college, I think I ate one once a week. When I stopped eating majority of all fast food because the processed junk upset my stomach, the desire for the flavors didn’t go away.
So here I am wondering how I can recreate this taste of my beloved chicken bacon ranch sub. For once, it didn’t make sense to put this on cauli-rice or some form of zucchini. But a stuffed pepper could really do the trick! And here we are. Trust me on this one, you can mend your cravings with this and know that you are still fueling your body with nourishing, whole foods!
Ingredients:
1 lb Shredded Chicken
4 strips of whole 30 compliant bacon, I used Pederson’s farms (link)
