Author: Megan

O’ Christmas Tree…O’ Christmas Tree, how steadfast are your branches?

We all have a favorite pastime, and in some instances we may even have a few pastimes even if they only happen once or twice throughout the year. One of mine is Christmas and everything that IS Christmas. For me it’s been such a heartfelt passion for as long as I can remember and when you are passionate about anything it’s very evident to those around you.

I truly love decorating for Christmas whether it’s our main Christmas tree or our several smaller pencils trees each showcasing a different but unique theme. Each tree has specific ornaments I use to display from my personal collection since we got married.

This love of all things Christmas doesn’t just stop at my house, rather it continues on with my Mom’s Christmas tree and decorations too!  By Thanksgiving, if not before, I will already have put up and decorated my mom’s tree even if it’s sooner than even she would like it to be.   It eliminates one more ‘item’ off of her ‘to do list’.

In addition to my mom’s tree, I have helped my mother-in-law decorate her tree on several occasions, because she knows that it’s not a chore for me but rather a heart-felt passion.

This year we purchased a new Christmas tree, a Balsam Hill Christmas Tree and let me tell you…WOW! As a ‘Christmas Connoisseur,’ they are truly the very BEST at what they do. If you are looking for a tree that is as real as ‘physically going into the woods to cut one down ‘Clark Griswold Style’, then Balsam Hill is the company for you.

My mom and sister both have had Balsam Hill trees for several years and marvel at their realistic look, exceptional quality, and attention to detail. Each Christmas tree branch is carefully made to look real using their true needle ultra-realistic foliage to replicate nature’s design.  You have the option to choose a tree that has only clear lights or a tree with the combination of clear and colored lights to give any home a festive pop of beautiful Christmas tidings. So when the time came to upgrade our tree it would only make sense to purchase a tree from the company that LOVES Christmas as much as I do!!!

You will certainly NOT go wrong with Balsam Hill.  They say ‘delight is in the details’ and it certainly is.  With Balsam Hill, you can have it all.  I can’t wait for the festivities to begin!!

May this Christmas season bring you all the joy, peace, and love the whole year through.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

XOXO,

Megan

Hello sweet friends! It’s hard to believe October is almost over when it just felt like it started. Frosty mornings and chilly nights need some serious soul food. This time of year calls for Hallmark movies paired with some healthy and hearty soul food!!
Like so many, I’m sure having a quick meal that’s not only hearty but delicious can often be hard to make, find, or prepare when time is not always on your side. With the inevitable time change quickly approaching, these earlier darker evenings are ready to descend on us all like a tsunami and the last thing you want to be doing is preparing dinner on a weekday night when you get home from work.
I often like to plan additional meals in advance especially on the weekend for the following week or to freeze away for a quick meal. In this case, an excellent family favorite of chili seems to always hit the spot.
When I make chili or soups I like to make larger batches to freeze for quick dinners later. My chili recipe always consists of hearty kidney beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans, Cannellini beans, organic lean ground beef and vegetables which are all types of freezer friendly ingredients.
In a large pot, I add my chopped white medium onion with 3 cloves of garlic and Sauté until translucent. Next, I add my thawed ground beef and break apart any larger chunks to properly cook. After the meat is cooked, I always drain any leftover grease and fat because its’… well… gross. Even though this beef is organic, free-range and low-fat there will always be excess grease fat even in the lowest fat option especially after browning the meat. After draining the grease, I add my chopped celery, and yellow and red peppers and sauté. I then add the meat with onions and garlic back to the pot and allow the celery to simmer with the meat.
Rinse and drain your canned beans and add to the pot. Add a can of either crushed can tomatoes or diced tomatoes keeping in mind that you may need to add 1-2 cans. Add your chili powder (I did not, and it still tasted hearty and delicious) and simmer. After everything was done I turned my stovetop heat down low and slow and continued to occasionally stir for another 30 minutes.

Let your Chili cool and serve!

XOXO,
Megan

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. low fat ground beef (Optional: I used Organic lean ground beef)
• 1 can of rinsed Cannellini beans
• 1 can of rinsed dark red kidney beans
• 1 can of rinsed garbanzo beans
• 1 can of rinsed pinto beans
• 1 small clamshell of fresh grape tomato’s sliced
• 1 diced yellow pepper
• 1 diced red pepper
• 2-3 stalks of celery
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 28 oz. can of diced or crushed tomato
• 1 15 oz. can of diced or crushed tomato
• 2-3 cups of water
• Chili powder to taste
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a large pot add chopped onion, garlic and sauté. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly.

2. Drain excess grease from beef and set beef aside.

3. In the large pot add your chopped celery and peppers for about 3-4 minutes. Add your meat mixture back to the pot.

4. Add your crushed or diced tomatoes, rinsed beans and add your salt and pepper and chili powder. Add your water and simmer.

I’m sure you all have tried an apple crisp at some point, but have you ever tried a pear crisp?

I have never tried a pear crisp in fact I would probably never have thought of making such an incredible easy dish if it wasn’t for a large oversized bag of organic pears from Costco which needed to be used up and fast.

I have made gluten and dairy free apple crisp many times in the past, but I figured if pears and apples are often times added with cinnamon to whole oats, why not try it.  For a fleeting moment I thought of combining both pears and apples together to make it a fruitier crisp but wanted to see how this one would turn out using only pears.

So out of the 9 pears that were still in the bag 3 had to be thrown out because they were overripe and were quite bruised.  So I washed and cut about ⅓” inch slices and laid them in an ungreased baking dish.  When I was cutting the pears I was able to get fairly close to the core because they were very ripe.

Once I finished slicing my last pear, I sprinkled cinnamon evenly over the pears in the dish and mixed them around to coat both sides.

In a small bowl, I added gluten free oats from Seven Sundays, which also include dried apples, dried wild blueberries, pumpkin seed, chia seed, and coconut flakes all adding a little bit of extra texture to the oats.  I added 100% organic maple syrup, roughly chopped pecans, organic gluten free flour (all purpose or almond flour), and olive oil (coconut oil).

I evenly topped my pears with the crisp mixture and then lightly sprinkled more cinnamon over the top.  I placed it in the oven between 35-40 minutes checking sporadically to see if the fruit was starting to bubble and brown up.

On a side note, looking back after making this recipe you are going to want to make sure the pears you are using are fairly ripe if you want to keep the skins on of which I did.  Once the pears were baking I could hardly differentiate between what was cinnamon and what were pear skins.   If you are using pears that are not as ripe, you may want to peel the skins.  One thing to keep in mind is that pear skin and apples skin are quite different and even if you do not peel the skins I still think the pear crisp would turn out just delicious.

Friends that was it…super easy, healthy, and a guilt free dessert you can start sharing this fall!!

XOXO

Megan

Ingredients:

• 6 large ripe pears
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

• 1 cup unsalted pecan halves
• 2 cups of gluten free oats (I used Seven Sundays)
• 1 cup Gluten free all purpose flour or Almond flour
• ¼-½ cup regular Olive Oil
• ½ cup Pure Organic Maple Syrup
• ¾ -1 teaspoon Himalayan Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Rinse pears
3. Slice pears into ¼ inch to ⅓ inch thick slices (I left the peel on my pears because they were quite ripe)
4. Places pears in an ungreased baking dish and sprinkle the cinnamon on top evenly coating the pears.  Mix if needed
5. Give pecans a quick rough chop
6. Combine organic maple syrup with remaining ingredients in a medium sized bowl
7. Cover your pears evenly with the mixed topping
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until fruit is bubbling with the topping is golden brown
9. Let pear crisp cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.  Store leftover crip at room temperature.