Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday--mostly because of the food--so it was not without a bit of anxiety that I experienced my first Paleo Thanksgiving a few years ago. My mom has always done a fantastic job coming up with Paleo-friendly Thanksgiving alternatives, so this year I used her as inspiration when Relay Foods asked me to make them a Paleo Thanksgiving-themed dish. It's full of sweet potatoes and sausage and love.

Get the full recipe here.

  

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After we went apple picking the other weekend, we had a bunch of apples in our kitchen. Imagine that. I spent a few days slicing one up and dipping it in almond butter, but I really felt like we couldn't go through fall without a dish that at least somewhat resembled/tasted like an apple pie. So I made this Paleo Apple Pie-ish Crumble. That's the scientific term for it.

It tastes just like apple pie without the sugar or grains. And it makes your house smell like the holidays.

Ingredients:

Four cups sliced apples

One tablespoon agave nectar

One teaspoon vanilla

The juice of half a lemon

One teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl before transferring to a buttered casserole/pie dish.

3. Top with Paleo crumb topping:

2/3 cup almond flour

1/3 cup arrowroot powder

1/3 cup butter, cubed

Two tablespoons honey

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until topping is browned. (You can broil it at the very end if you like.)

  

I've been really into squash this fall. Pumpkins, butternut squash, and acorn are definitely my favorites, but I have to say I just love acorn squash the most. They're the perfect shape and make a fantastic side dish, just by cutting one in half and roasting it up in the oven. I decided to get a little fancier and actually serve dinner in the squash the other night, and we loved it so much that I made it again that same week!

Ingredients:

For the squash

One acorn squash

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt, pepper, onion powder

For the beef

One pound of (grass-fed) beef

Half of an onion, drizzle of olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Sprinkle of onion powder

Sprinkle of crushed red pepper

One 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 350. 

2. Carefully cut the squash in half and season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

3. Roast squash at 350 for 45 minutes.

4. While squash is in the oven, saute onions in olive oil over medium heat. When they've softened, add beef.

5. Season the beef with garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and salt + pepper.

6. Once the beef is cooked through, reduce heat to low/simmer and add can of tomatoes.

7. Continue to cook on low until squash is done.

8. To serve, place each squash half in a bowl and spoon beef into the center.

I made these on Saturday afternoon and put plastic wrap over them for dinner on Sunday, so you can totally make them ahead of time if you like to do that (I know I do). Enjoy!