That’s a mouth full. I hate shortening my titles for my recipes, but I did. I didn’t talk about the cinnamon or salt in the recipe. Anywho, Thanksgiving is on the way, so this week will be filled with recipes to help you eat paleo through the holidays. Yayyyy!
If you’ve done paleo before during a holiday or party and are a legit foodie, you know that it can be ultra annoying to be at parties and not be able to eat everything that’s there. And when I say “not be able to eat everything that’s there” I mean you’re having an internal battle on whether or not you should eat that piece of pumpkin, blueberry AND apple pie, along with the 6 different dips that are paired with chips and crackers. You know what I’m saying if you’re a foodie for life. You’re acting like you’re listening to the conversations around you, but you’re actually just thinking about the dessert table and if you should just have a taste. Just a fork full. Even though you know that the fork full will turn into a whirlwind of pounding food without even know what you’re consuming, you just know if has frosting on it. And that’s really all you care about because you haven’t had frosting in months, maybe even years. If you act like you’ve never been there, you don’t love food near as much as me. Because that was me at a party the other night. And I gave in. Frosted pumpkin squares?? Eff me.
I didn’t have my best eating choices over the weekend. I think some people think that since I create paleo recipes that I will never ever ever fall off the wagon. Which isn’t totally true. I have my moments. Life is all about living, but it’s also making the best decicions you can in certain situations. Sometimes you don’t get to choose where you get to eat while traveling. You’re at other people’s disposal when it comes to food choices. So I did my best. Then not my best. Then my best once again at the airport. Eating at airports is my least favorite. Except when I got to eat at Root Down at DIA and had a burger with sweet potato fries and a bloody mary. Made me feel like I wasn’t even in an airport, which I love. Either way, I don’t feel my best but I’m back home and back on the track that I want to be on.
I just watched a woman stuff an incredibly greasy burger king bag into her purse. It creeped me out. Which is odd since I’m pretty much a huge grease ball after what I shoved in my face over the weekend. Call me butterball. Do it.
Thanksgiving Side Dish: Maple Bacon Pecan Roasted Butternut Squash
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 6–8 pieces of bacon
- 5 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (640 grams)
- 1 cup pecans, roughly chopped (100 grams)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (70 grams)
- 2–3 tablespoons bacon fat (rendered from cooking bacon)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4–1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Place strips of bacon on a foil lined baking sheet
- Cook bacon for 20 minutes. Bacon should still be slightly soft (not crispy) when you pull it out of the oven. Remove from baking sheet to cool on a paper towel lined plate. Chop bacon into small pieces once cooled. Place the rendered bacon fat in a large bowl.
- Add the cubed butternut squash, pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt to the large bowl with the bacon fat.
- Mix together to coat the squash well. Add pieces of bacon to the mixture and mix well.
- Add mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish.
- Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
- Place dish in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on size of cubed butternut squash) or until squash is soft.
- Serve immediately.
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More Sweet Sides:
Last Minute Thanksgiving Smashed Maple Sweet Potatoes
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Oh my god are you kidding me? This is like, everything I love.
this looks freaking amazing for anything. i’d eat it for breakfast on the daily.
I LOVE these recipes! Keep ’em coming …..
We’re hosting Thanksgiving for the first time since becoming Paleo, and this is totally going to be on my spread! Thanks for sharing!
I. Just. Died.
Looks amazing! I just bought a container of cubed organic butternut squash from Costco. This is going down tonight.
This looks AMAZING! Okay now, this has nothing to do with this post…but I am having difficulty with coffee creamers. Canned coconut milk makes my coffee greasy and anything from a carton I find had to many preservatives in it. What do other people do…? thinking of using light canned coconut milk with vanilla and maybe water to thin it out? Any suggestions?
Not sure if it’s on her website or just in the new book, but Against All Grain has a really nice coffee creamer that combines a bunch of goodness!
Coconut milk getting oily? I’ve never heard that. Are you sure you aren’t using coconut oil? I use coconut milk everyday and I’ve never seen mine get like that? I do have to swirl my spoon when I poor it in slowly so it mixes in well. Maybe try a different brand of coconut milk.
Yes. Coconut milk from a can. Not the carton. The stuff in the cartons always has way to much garbage in it.
Coffee ‘creamer’ is easy: I make hot chocolate with organic cocoa powder, almond milk or coconut milk, stevia, vanilla, and a touch of mineral salt. I use that for mocha creamer. You can also make homemade egg nog with almond milk or coconut milk. Add some pumpkin pie spice and you have another awesome creamer. I also mix up cocoa powder, organic dried milk, stevia, and a pinch of mineral salt for a dried cocoa mix I sometimes stir into my coffee.
I can totally relate to the foodie paragraph. Sometimes the dessert table just has to win…
I am so making this…. I will probably add in some sweet potatoes too, because sweet potatoes are amazing.
I am thinking the same thing! Totally with you on the sweet potato goodness! Thanks, Juli! This is awesome-sauce!
Yum yum yum!! I can’t have maple syrup, what do you think, replace w/ honey or leave out all together?
I have no idea if it will work, but I know I have a big jar of molasses I’m thinking of using, since I have about 2 or 3 tablespoons of maple syrup left… But honey sounds like it would work too!