Sweet N Sassy Eats logo

Dairy Free

Gut Healing & Immune Boosting Soup

Are you looking for a soup that will ease your tummy troubles or chase that cold or flu away? Do you just want a really tasty healthy soup?  Well, I have the answer for you: this soup! What is so great is you can add or remove the veggies you want or to achieve the results you’d like.  If you aren’t making this for kids or those sensitive to heat, go ahead and add Siracha (I just add it to each persons’ bowl individually so they can adjust to taste), but that stuff will chase congestion away in a second! You can even add more seasonings, like cinnamon and turmeric… they have awesome healing properties to them! Below I have put together some of the highlights of the benefits of each ingredient in this soup.  I didn’t mention the awesome benefits of the Bone Broth, because I dedicated a whole blog post to that!

Bok Choy

A Powerhouse Veggie! Loaded with the vitamins and minerals responsible for helping your immune system function, & shields you from free radicals!

Celery

Enhances your immune system& loaded with antioxidants!

Kale

Kale can legitimately be called a superfood, aids in DNA cell repair, while at the same time slowing the growth of cancer cells, can ease lung congestion, and is beneficial to your stomach, liver, and immune system.

Gut Healing & Immune Boosting SoupBaby Bella Mushrooms

Low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber, Baby Bella’s are an excellent source of copper, which your body needs to produce red blood cells and carry oxygen through your body.

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are rich in vitamin C, they contain more than twice the vitamin C of an orange, helps protect against scurvy, & boosts the immune system.

Zucchini

Zucchini is also a wonderful source of potassium, a heart-friendly nutrient that helps moderate your blood pressure levels and counters the effects of too much sodium. In fact, a zucchini has more potassium than a banana.

Garlic

Numerous studies show garlic’s amazing health potential in nearly every area of the body, from removing heavy metals to the prevention of numerous ailments, such as the common cold, hardening of the arteries, and gangrene, destroying contaminants in baby formula, and even in slowing the aging process.

Ginger

A good source of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese, ginger promotes the release of intestinal gas; it relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract. That means it can settle an upset stomach, relieve vomiting, and ease gas and diarrhea discomfort; but it’s also effective in preventing nausea in the first place.

Green Onions

Full of Vitamin A, C, K, Potassium, Foliate, & Iron! They’re also traditionally used in the treatment of colds, influenza, abdominal pain, headache, and heart disease

 Cilantro

  • Rids the Body of Heavy Metals
  • Protects Against Oxidative Stress
  • Lowers Anxiety and Improves Sleep
  • Lowers Blood Sugar Levels
  • Protects Against Cardiovascular Disease
  • Prevents Urinary Tract Infections
  • Settles Digestive Upset
  • Protects Against Food Poisoning
  • Supports Healthy Menstrual Function
  • Prevents Neurological Inflammation
  • Protects Against Colon Cancer
  • Soothes Skin Irritations

Mint

Can help with the symptoms of the common cold by acting as a natural decongestant. Helps with indigestion and gas due to its soothing properties. It also helps protect the lining in the stomach, which helps prevent gastric ulcers.

Star Anise

  1. Star anise is rich in antioxidants and vitamin A and C
  2. The oil produced from star anise is used for treating cough and flu.
  3. Anise also helps improve digestion, alleviate cramps and reduce nausea.
  4. Consuming star anise tea after meals helps treat digestive ailments such as bloating, gas, indigestion, and constipation.

 

 

 

Gut Healing & Immune Boosting Soup

This soup is rich with all the good nutrients you need to heal your gut and fight off the cold or flu! The things you can do with this soup are LIMITLESS! 
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese
Keyword: Chicken soup, cold, flu, glycine, Gut healing, gut health, leaking gut, Pho, soup for the soul
Servings: 8 people
Author: sweetnsassyeats

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 tbsp Ginger minced
  • 2 tbsp Garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup Green Onions chopped
  • 2 whole Star Anise
  • 1/2 cup Tamari Sauce or Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Red Curry Paste
  • 1 whole Red Bell Peppers washed & sliced
  • 8 oz Mushrooms washed & sliced
  • 1/2 bunch Cilantro washed & chopped
  • 2 tbsp Mint washed & chopped
  • 1 whole Sweet Potato peeled & diced
  • 1 whole Zucchini washed & chopped
  • 1 whole Bok Choy washed & chopped
  • 1/2 bunch Kale chopped
  • 8 Cups Bone Broth homemade or store bought
  • 1 lb Rice Noodles
  • 1 whole Lemons juiced

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tbsp Coconut Oil in a large pot over med-high heat.
  • Add ginger, garlic and green onions, stir and saute 1-2 min. Add Star Anise & mushrooms, saute 2-3 min
  • Add white ends of bok choy and sweet potatoes, and 1 tbsp coconut oil, saute 2-3 min
  • Add Tamari Sauce & Red curry paste, stir & simmer 5 min
  • Add remaining veggies (including bok choy greens, but reserve 1/2 cilantro & mint for later) and stir. Add 8 cups of Bone Broth and bring to boil. (if you prefer your vegetable crisper, add the remaining veggies after noodles are cooked.
  • Add rice noodles and cook until soft. (according to package instructions). Top with remaining cilantro and mint, and squeeze lemon juice. Stir & serve. Serve with Sriracha on the side!

Video

Bone Broth

So for years, I have been making this awesome, super healthy and now SUPER trendy broth called Bone Broth. I didn’t realize how amazing this stuff was and was always confused on why my homemade broth would gel up when cooled… but HEY it tasted GREAT so who cares?!

Turns out that the Bone Broth I made every year after Thanksgiving Day was incredibly healthy for you in so many ways and that I could do the same thing with other animal bones for different flavors and applications. It also makes me feel SUPER cool to be able to use literally EVERY PART of that Turkey or other animals in every way.

So What Can This Powerful Brew Actually Do?

Bone broth can strengthen and improve:

  • Digestion
  • Immunity
  • Liver detoxification
  • Joints and cartilage
  • Bones and teeth
  • Hair, skin, and nails.

Have you heard of “Leaky Gut”?

So many of us (due to stress and environmental factors) deal with some form of the leaky gut syndrome. Bone broth has Glutamine and Glycine in it that are both important nutrients that help heal the small holes in your gut lining and normalize the acid production in your stomach. The Glycine also helps in detoxing your liver!

For your joints, cartilage, bones, teeth, hair skin and nails, the Glycine and the Proline (that are released from the gelatin found in bone broth) are the two materials your body needs to rebuild tendons, ligaments and other connective tissue like skin. These all help your body create collagen to help repair and rebuild your body!

Basically, this is a heal all broth that you should really make a part of your daily consumption… you can either drink it straight OR make it into yummy soups (my favorite way to enjoy it).

What do I need to make this?

So making Bone Broth is PRETTY simple. You can do it in a slow cooker/ electric roaster, instant pot or on the stove. I prefer the roaster for a couple reasons:

  1. The size, in the electric roaster I can make a TON of broth at once and it can hold my whole turkey carcass.
  2. I can have it run for the 24-48 hrs with less stress than having an open flame on my stove running that long.
  3. Flavor… the instant pot can make both broths very quickly (4hrs vs. 48hrs) BUT the flavor you get from slow and low roasting it I think is WAY better, plus I think it pulls more nutrients out.

 

HOW I MAKE MY BONE BROTH:

Turkey Bone Broth

  1. I like to use COLD bones.  Usually, I freeze my animal bones until I have enough to make a large batch.  For my Turkey, I break all the pieces down and put into freezer bags and freeze until I am ready to make it. (Typically I need a break from cooking after Thanksgiving and do not want to make anything for a couple days).
  2. Put cold bones in electric roaster pan; add enough COLD water to barely cover the bones (typically around 2 gallons).Turkey Bone Broth
  3. Add 2 TB of Apple Cider Vinegar, and allow it to sit for 30min before turning on the heat. (This helps the vinegar begin to break things down and pull more good stuff out).
  4. Add veggies ends  (as in onion ends, celery ends, carrot ends, garlic cloves etc) & herbs.Turkey Bone Broth
  5. Turn heat to med-high and cover & bring to boil
  6. Once at a boil, drop the temp to keep it at JUST ABOUT TO BOIL. (Typically around 175-200 degrees for me). Keep covered.
  7. Let it simmer for 24-48 hrs until everything is really broken down well. If water is getting low… add more. YOU DO NOT WANT IT TO DRY OUT, you need the broth!
  8. Strain out everything with a colander and cheesecloth.
  9. Pour into a container to cool, once fully cold, it should “gel” up and that means you did it right! To Store, you can freeze (I’d recommend freezing in 8oz portions for ease of use).

I love to make soups out of this Broth and here are some of my favorite recipes for them:

TURKEY SOUP, perfect for leftover turkey

Instant Pot Sausage Stuffing

Instant Pot Sausage StuffingInstant Pot Sausage StuffingI don’t know about you, but I LOVE stuffing! Hopefully, by now you’ve learned that cooking your turkey stuffed with this stuff is a big NO, NO! You run the risk of contamination from the raw turkey in your stuffing, so now if I cook a turkey whole instead of a Spatchcocked Turkey , then I fill the cavity with aromatics (like cinnamon, apples, onions & herbs) to help flavor the bird.

 

Even though we don’t stuff our bird, we’d still like to have stuffing as a side, it’s just not Thanksgiving without it! So, enter the yummiest stuffing ever! I cooked it in the Instant Pot, but you can totally follow these instructions and cook on the stove top if you’d like!

 

TIPS

  • Feel free to add or subtract any of the veggies or proteins, or even add your own ideas if you’d like! We love Chicken Apple Sausages at our house and love the added flavor and texture they add to this dish!
  • Make sure to scrape off ALL the brown bits on the bottom of the instant pot before sealing and pressure cooking or you will get a burn warning
  • Allow the pot to cool down a bit before sealing, and pressure cooking or you will get a burn warning

Non-Instant pot Instructions

  1. Heat Olive oil in large skillet or heavy-bottomed pan over med-high heat.
  2. Add chopped onions, carrots & celery and a little bit of salt. Cook for 2-3 min.
  3. Add sliced mushrooms, garlic & fresh herbs, cook 2-3 mins.
  4. Push veggies to the sides, creating space to add Sage Sausage and brown.
  5. Add Chicken apple sausages. Cook 2-3 minutes
  6. Add Chicken Broth (you will need about 3 cups of broth instead of 1.5 cups) & stir, cook 2-3 min
  7. Turn heat off, add stuffing cubes & stir. Cover for a few minutes.
  8. Preheat oven to 325. Loosely pack Stuffing in a buttered Casserole dish and top with Fried onions. Bake until crispy 20-40 minutes.

Instant Pot Sausage Stuffing

Instant Pot Sausage Stuffing

This stuffing has such a depth of flavor that is only this intense because it is cooked in the instant pot.  The pressure cooking enhances all the flavors like it was cooked for hours! Doesn't take up a pot on the stove either!
Print Pin Rate
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: sausage, Stuffing, Thanksgiving
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 22 minutes
Servings: 8 People
Author: Kristi Shields

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 cup Onion chopped
  • 1 cup Carrots chopped
  • 1 cup Celery chopped
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Rosemary minced
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Sage chopped
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Thyme minced
  • 1 tbsp Garlic minced
  • 1 lb Sage Flavored Sausage
  • 8 oz Baby Bell Mushrooms sliced
  • 1 whole Chicken Apple Sausage Links diced
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 pkg Stuffing Mix
  • 1.5 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 cup Fried Onions

Instructions

  • Turn instant pot onto to Saute mode. Add Olive Oil and saute onions, celery & carrots.  Cook for 3 minutes. Add fresh herbs and cook another 2 minutes.
  • Make space for sage sausage, brown sausage. Add mushrooms and diced chicken sausage links. Add Salt & Pepper, stir to combine.
  • Add stuffing mix, stir.  
  • Add chicken broth and stir.  Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pot to deglaze the pot.  Turn off Saute mode, allow the pot to cool slightly. Then cover and seal your instant pot.  Set to high pressure and 12 minutes.
  • Let instant pot release naturally, remove lid and fluff.  If you like a more wet stuffing, stop here and dish into a serving dish, top with fried crispy onions.
  • If you want to dry your stuffing out, place in casserole dish, top with crispy onions and bake at 350 degrees for 10 min, serve.

Video

Notes

*When scrapping the bottom of the pot, make sure to get all browned bits off of the bottom, otherwise, you'll get a burn warning during pressure cooking stage.  Also, allow the pot to cool down before moving to the pressure cooking stage.

Instant Pot Sausage Stuffing

Biscoff Coconut Cream Pie

Perfect coconut cream pie with biscoff cookie crustI am a sucker for a delicious coconut cream pie, but pre-made or store bought ones just don’t do it for me. Typically they are loaded with sugar and ARTIFICIAL coconut flavoring.  I like my pie to taste like REAL coconut! Since I cook A LOT with coconut milk, I thought I would try experimenting with swapping milk for coconut milk, adding unsweetened coconut flakes and real coconut extract.

Well, the results were INCREDIBLE! Never have I tasted a more delicious coconut cream pie and there is NO WAY I could ever eat a store bought or restaurant bought coconut cream pie again! Using Biscoff cookies definitely elevated the whole pie as well… but if you don’t like those cookies, feel free to do your favorite pie crust!

Perfect coconut cream pie with biscoff cookie crust

 

This pie is super simple to prep early as well, I typically make the crust and custard filling a few days before I need it.  Then on the serving day, I whip my cream, toast my coconut and top my pie, then serve!

 

Tips

Perfect coconut cream pie with biscoff cookie crust

  • I prefer unsweetened, finely ground coconut, but if all you have is sweetened flaked, cut the sugar to a 1/2 cup. I like to process the coconut in a food processor so that it’s fine instead of stringy.
  • Make sure to follow all my tips and be PATIENT with the custard making, do not rush it and mix in the ingredients at the correct times! Mixing ingredients out of order is probably the biggest mistake people make in following recipes.
  • Make sure to temper your eggs, meaning mix half the cream mixer with the eggs and then add that into the rest of the cream mixture and heat slowly, otherwise you’ll end up with scrambled eggs (yuck).
  • Covering your custard before you store in the fridge keeps it from creating a film on top that is NOT tasty.
  • Can be Dairy Free if you use ghee for the butter and if you make a coconut whipped cream instead of using heavy cream.

Biscoff Coconut Cream Pie

This decadent Coconut Cream Pie tastes nothing like those overly sweet and artificial coconut tasting things you get at the supermarket. If you love the flavor of REAL coconut, then this will easily become your favorite pie ever!
5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Biscoff Cookies, Christmas, Coconut Cream Pie, Thanksgiving
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Refrigerate: 2 hours
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Author: Kristi Shields

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg Biscoff Cookies 8.8 oz pkg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch plus 2 tsp
  • 3 cups coconut milk canned
  • 3/4 cup sugar plus 1 TBSP
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp coconut extract
  • 2 Tbsp Butter
  • 1 cup shredded coconut unsweetened
  • 1.5 cups shredded sweetened coconut
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tsp coconut extract
  • 2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Place the Biscoff cookies, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the cookies are finely ground. Then add the melted butter and stir to combine. Pour the crust mixture into a pie pan. Press the crumbs with your hands over the bottom of the pan, and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
  • Whisk the yolks in a bowl, set aside. Stir cornstarch, sugar, salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the milk carefully to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat. Let it boil one minute, then add half the filling into the yolks, whisking to temper the yolks. Add the mixture back into the pan and cook over heat, boiling for another minute. Remove from heat. Add coconut extract, butter, and coconut. Cool the filling slightly (about 30 minutes) and pour into a baked pie shell. Cover custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours until set.
  • To toast coconut: spread sweetened, flaked coconut over a cookie sheet and put into a 400-degree oven. Stir occasionally and shake around until coconut is golden brown. Don’t walk away (I’ve burned many, many sheets of coconut walking away.) Cool before using as a topping.
  • Make Whipped Cream: Pour Heavy Cream, coconut extract & powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix until you have stiff peaks. Place in a ziplock bag, snip the corner. Top the cooled, set pie with whipped cream, then toasted coconut. Serve and enjoy.

Video

Notes

*I prefer unsweetened, finely ground coconut, but if all you have is sweetened flaked, cut the sugar to a 1/2 cup. I like to process the coconut in a food processor so that it’s fine instead of stringy.
*Can be Dairy Free if you use ghee for the butter and if you make a coconut whipped cream instead of using heavy cream.

Perfect coconut cream pie with biscoff cookie crust

Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet Potatoes are one of my husbands’ favorite foods, but the ‘typical’ sweet potato casserole is packed with sugar that you can’t even enjoy the real flavor of the sweet potato.  I came up with this dish to satisfy our sweet potato casserole craving without a guilty conscience.

The great thing about this dish is it conforms to SO MANY dietary issues, so it is perfect to make for those who have those struggles! Dairy Free, Gluten Free, and processed sugar-free! You can even adjust the crumble topping ingredients so that it is nut free!

With this recipe, you can do a lot of the prep and assembly a day or two in advance, making this a perfect dish for the holidays because you can prep it and then just do the final baking step on the day of! I am all about easing my cooking to-dos on the day of the dinner, you could even freeze the filling, freeze the crumble topping and then assemble when you are ready to bake!

 

 

So toss those mini marshmallows to the side this year and make a sweet potato casserole that everyone can enjoy!

 

 

Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole

A delicious healthy twist on the classic Sweet Potato Casserole.  A yummy almond pecan crust over perfectly roasted sweet potatoes and coconut milk. 
Print Pin Rate
Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

Sweet Potato Casserole

  • 3 cups Sweet potatoes (about 5)
  • 1/4 cup Honey
  • 2 whole Eggs beaten
  • 1/2 cup Ghee
  • 1/2 cup Coconut MIlk
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Nutmeg freshly ground

Pecan Crumble Topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425º. Line baking sheet with foil. Place washed sweet potatoes on foil (skin still on).  Bake until tender (typically 40-50 min). Once tender, turn off oven and allow potatoes to cool down in the oven. 
  • Remove potatoes from oven and remove skin, put potatoes in the bowl. Add eggs, coconut milk, 1/4 cup of honey, 1/2 cup of Ghee, Sea Salt, Cinnamon & Nutmeg.  Blend until mixed well and smooth. Put in 11 X 7 casserole dish.
  • In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients to make the crumble topping. Sprinkle evenly over top the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the oven at 350º for 20 minutes or until golden on top. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.

Video

Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole, gluten free & Dairy Free