by Christina | Apr 24, 2018 | Recipes, Wellness
This post will be short and sweet, but it might just change your life if you don’t already know about this technique to toss your veggies before roasting them. We’re discussing grocery shopping and cooking hacks this week in my Paleo Women Lifestyle Program, which got me thinking about one of my favorite, ridiculously simple tricks in the kitchen.
The days of getting your hands messy while tossing vegetables are over. The days of struggling to get your veggies perfectly, evenly coated with oils and spices are about to be LONG GONE!
I call this the “bag trick.” Lame name, I know, but it works. My mother always tossed vegetables this way before cooking them, so it was the only method I ever learned, and I assumed everyone else tossed their veggies like this, too. When I lived in my first apartment with roommates, though, they were absolutely amazed when they saw me doing this, and they told me it changed their lives. I was shocked that they didn’t already use the bag trick, but I was happy to teach them this easy little cooking hack.
Since then, I’ve realized that only about half the world uses this technique. The other half needs to! I have a lot of food-blogger friends who spend plenty of time in the kitchen, yet somehow hardly any of them have ever tried this before I show it to them. It pains me to see people wasting oil and spices by drizzling them on top of a sheet of vegetables and then trying to spread it all around with their hands. It’s messy, inefficient, and a hassle. I’ll do that if I have to, but usually only when I’m not in my own kitchen.
Anyone who has ever gone grocery shopping with me thinks I’m really weird because I collect the plastic bags in the produce section and usually take more than I need, simply to use for tossing vegetables. This is also why whenever I buy veggies, I always put them in a bag, even if the bag isn’t totally necessary. For example, I’ll put an avocado in a produce bag just so I have the extra bag when I get home. I store all of these extra free plastic bags in my kitchen drawer so that I always have plenty to grab from when it’s time to toss my vegetables before roasting them (which we all know I do VERY often)!
So, what’s the technique?!
Instructions:
- Buy vegetables and put them in the free plastic bags provided by the grocery store.
- Remove vegetables from the plastic bag. Do not throw away the bag.
- Chop vegetables up, and put the chopped veggies back into the bag.
- Pour your oil and seasonings into the bag. No method to the madness – just toss it in.
- Grab the top of the plastic bag and twist it around a few times so it closes completely and forms a bit of an air pocket inside (the extra air isn’t necessary, but helps a bit).
- Shake the bag up vigorously for about 10 seconds, so that the veggies slide around and get coated evenly with the spices and oil.
- Untwist the top of the bag and pour the coated vegetables onto your baking sheet!
- Toss out the oily bag.
IT’S THAT EASY. Your vegetables will be coated evenly, your hands won’t have oil or spices on them, and you won’t have gotten any other utensils dirty. This is how I toss all of my vegetables to get them coated nicely, and it also helps you avoid wasting any cooking oil! You can really tell the difference when you’re using colorful spices, and you’ll know you’re “done” tossing as soon as the veggies are all coated in an even color. This method is very quick, and I’m all about efficiency in the kitchen. You can also use a ziplock gallon bag if you’re in a pinch and don’t have a produce bag, but I generally don’t like to do that because 1) ziplock bags are expensive and 2) they’re not as big as the plastic produce bags from the store. The more room in the bag, the better!
If you didn’t already know this trick, then try it out! I bet it will make tossing your vegetables much easier, and cleaner too! Do you have any other favorite simple cooking hacks?!
by Christina | Apr 18, 2018 | Recipes, Wellness
If you haven’t tried a sweet scramble yet, you’re in for a treat! I’ve been eating this for breakfast almost every day since I first tried it, and I can’t believe I didn’t make this earlier on. I was missing out, BIG TIME. It’s old news that I’m obsessed with cinnamon roasted vegetables, I know. I’m a savory person 95% of the time, but when I want something sweet for breakfast, I usually go for a bowl of cinnamon roasted veggies with coconut yogurt, some nuts, and nut butter. Maybe a sprinkle of 100% cacao.
I was getting a little sick of coconut yogurt though, if I’m being completely honest, and I wanted to find more ways to make use of cinnamon roasted veggies. They are the best trick for getting in something “sweet” without actually needing any sweetener. They taste like a treat and they’re actually good for you. Almost too good to be true! It’s also a great way to get veggies into someone’s diet if they don’t usually like vegetables. My favorite vegetables to roast in cinnamon are eggplant, cauliflower, and zucchini – they taste completely different!
For anyone going through a candida protocol or any other sugar-free diet, I highly recommend adding these into your arsenal. I used to think I could never have “dessert for breakfast” if I was eating low carb or sugar-free, but I was wrong. A breakfast with cinnamon roasted veggies and lots of fun toppings is like dessert to me. This is the paleo, sugar-free, keto-friendly, candida-friendly version of breakfast for dessert!
Anyways, I love my cinnamon vegetables, but there wasn’t much I liked to pair them with other than coconut yogurt. I don’t like pairing sweet with savory, so the idea of cinnamon roasted vegetables with meat was not appealing. I forget how it came up, but when I was in Dallas, we started talking about sweet omelettes. Apparently this is a thing that a lot of people in the bodybuilder world make – egg white omelettes sweetened with a vanilla protein powder and stevia.
While that idea on its own definitely didn’t appeal to me, it made me realize that eggs could be the perfect thing to pair with my cinnamon roasted veggies! Eggs are amazing because they’re another “chameleon” food, as I like to call them. They go well with sweet or savory, depending how you make them! 
As soon as I got home from my trip, I experimented with a cinnamon roasted veggie scramble, and I immediately became obsessed. I love this because it’s a super quick breakfast that keeps you full and satiated for a long time, and it’s a nice way to switch it up from the coconut yogurt. Eggs always leave me really satiated because of their fat and protein content, so it’s a great way to start my day! I feel like this is old news, but DO NOT FEAR EGGS! High-quality, pastured eggs, like Vital Farms, are incredibly nutrient-dense and healthy. The yolks are the most nutritious part!
All you have to do for this recipe is add some eggs, veggies, and pecans (or any other nut) into a pan, toss on some cinnamon, salt, and vanilla, and scramble it all up until it’s cooked through! I like to add a dash of coconut milk into my eggs when I’m scrambling them to make them extra fluffy, but it’s totally optional! The pecans end up toasting in the pan, and they add the perfect crunch to round out the dish. If you have vanilla bean ghee, I highly recommend using that to cook in. The flavor is unreal! If you don’t, then coconut oil will also taste amazing. 
I use vanilla bean powder so that I can add it on like a spice. I highly recommend investing in some high-quality, raw, organic, vanilla bean powder. It tastes incredible, and it’s a much better source of vanilla than the liquid extract. I prefer the pure source when I can have it! I order vanilla bean powder off of Amazon, although sometimes I see it at Whole Foods. I don’t use vanilla extract in this recipe because it would most likely just cook off. The vanilla isn’t required, but it definitely makes this dish extra delicious. Also, even though this recipe is a scramble, sometimes I do the exact same thing but put fried or poached eggs on top instead. Might sound weird, but runny yolks taste amazing over cinnamon vegetables!
If you love cinnamon roasted vegetables, you’ll love this quick breakfast! (Or lunch, dinner, or dessert!) I used eggplant, cauliflower, and zucchini, but feel free to switch out the veggies or change the amounts of anything. I never measure when I make this – I just toss it in the pan and scramble! I love to top this with extra coconut butter, nut butter, or cacao nibs. Recently I’ve been putting some 100% cacao on top and letting it melt all over the scramble – it’s insanely delicious. Feel free to use any toppings you like! This sweet cinnamon scramble is paleo, vegetarian, totally sugar-free, Candida-diet friendly, low-carb, keto, and even low FODMAP if you leave out the cauliflower! It’s a great way to get more vegetables into anybody’s diet (especially kids), and the perfect way to satisfy that sweet tooth. You’ll get plenty of protein, healthy fats, and fiber to start your day off right, and it only takes a few minutes to throw together!
Sweet Cinnamon Veggie Pecan Scramble (Paleo / Sugar-Free / Keto / Candida-Friendly)
Serves: 1
Total time: about 10 minutes
Ingredients:
*Feel free to sub other veggies or nuts, or alter the amounts! Everything can be adjusted to your preferences. This is just my personal go-to combo!
- 1-2 tbsp coconut oil or vanilla bean ghee for your pan
- 3 pastured eggs
- 3 tbsp raw, organic pecans (I used chopped)
- 1 cup chopped zucchini
- 1 cup cauliflower rice (or cauliflower florets)
- 1 cup chopped eggplant
- Himalayan pink salt
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla bean powder (optional)
- dash of full-fat coconut milk (also optional)
- Optional toppings: coconut butter, nut butter, cacao nibs, 100% cacao, etc.
Instructions:
- Heat your coconut oil or ghee in a pan over medium heat until melted and the pan is covered.
- Toss the zucchini, cauliflower rice, eggplant, and pecans into the pan.
- Sprinkle the pink salt and cinnamon on the veggies generously until well coated. Sprinkle the vanilla bean powder on top if using.
- Mix the veggies and spices up in the pan so everything is coated, and keep moving them around / flipping them over as they cook. Using a lid will make everything cook faster.
- After a few minutes (the veggies shouldn’t be raw anymore – they’ll start to soften), crack your eggs into a separate bowl and stir them together with a fork. If you’re adding in the coconut milk (this isn’t required, but it makes the eggs “fluffy”), stir this in as well.
- Pour the egg mixture into the pan – now it’s time to “scramble”! Move the eggs around consistently as they cook on the pan. Scramble everything together with the veggies! Feel free to sprinkle on some more cinnamon, salt, or vanilla if desired.
- Once it’s all cooked through, turn off the heat and transfer into a bowl. Top with anything you like! I used some coconut butter and nut butter.
What type of breakfasts do you prefer – sweet or savory?! Let me know in the comments!
