All I want for Christmas is a Paleo French Toast Bake that practically bakes itself. Too much to ask? Well I must have been good this year, because this recipe passed the test with flying colors. The last thing anyone needs over the holidays is more work. But there’s always the pressure to prove to guests you’re a super host. This will be your genie in a bottle because it’s a few simple ingredients thrown together and ready to bake in the morning – plus I provide some healthier Paleo swaps that will take just as good as the OG. Read on for the dEATs that will save you Christmas morning.

This year, we’re traveling half across the country from Texas to Wisconsin to spend a couple of weeks with family. Pros: not having to a cook a thing! Cons: navigating the airport with the other half of the country. Before we head north, I had some ingredients to use up so that we didn’t come home to a fridge of expired foods as a New Year’s gift. But I also didn’t quite have the energy to make anything extravagant or too time-consuming given the looming last-minute shopping (I will never learn). So, with a loaf of bread, some eggs, non-dairy milk and canned pumpkin, I whipped up this Paleo French Bread Bake with fingers crossed it would be a masterpiece with zero effort – cha-ching! I’ll be saving most of this in the freezer so that when we get back, we’ll have the most decadent breakfast waiting for us!

What are some of your favorite easy, crowd-pleasing dishes? Drop some knowledge because we could all use as much help as possible this time of year!

Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
French Toast Bake
– 1 loaf of day-old bread (I used Mikey’s Paleo Bread)
– 5 pasture-raised eggs like those from Vital Farms
– 1 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk (option to sub milk)
– 1/2 C coconut creamer like Milkadamia (option to sub half&half)
– 2 T vanilla extract
– 1 T pumpkin pie spice
– 1 C pumpkin puree
-1 C coconut sugar (option to sub granulated sugar)

Streusel Topping
– 3/4 C almond flour (option to sub another flour)
– 1/3 C coconut sugar (option to sub granulated sugar)
– 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
– 1/3 tsp sea salt
– 1/4 C grass-fed butter, solid and chilled like that from Vital Farms
– 1/3 C chopped pecans

Directions:
Step 1: Roughly dice the bread* and place in a greased 9×13 pan. In a medium bowl, mix the remaining French Toast Bake ingredients together to create a custard. Pour the custard evening over the bread. Cover and place in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Step 2: Make the streusel topping by placing all of the ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Using your fingers, mix together, breaking down the butter until you form a crumbly topping. Set aside until ready to bake the French toast.
Step 3: When ready to bake the French toast, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the French toast and custard mixture. Place in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until its no longer jiggly. If the top starts to brown too quickly, place a piece of aluminum foil over the top. Remove from the oven once set and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with your favorite syrup.

Happy Holidays and enjoy the time with family!

The post Paleo Pumpkin French Toast Bake appeared first on The Shooks Life.

Coffee in one hand, confidence in the other. And when you make it MOCHA OVERNIGHT OATS amped with ingredients to improve gut health, that’s winning breakfast AND the week.

It’s officially week two in the new city and new job. Moving across the country from Chicago to Austin is kinda a big deal. And stress is sorta an everyday occurrence these days with moments of, “OMG my GPS isn’t working and I have no idea how to get home from work!” and, “where did we put ANY of our frying pans?”. Stress isn’t just impacting me though, it’s at an all-time high in the U.S. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret: the right foods, can improve your mood. Yup, there’s increasing evidence that there is a direct link between food and mood – specifically, gut health and mental health. Get the dEATs on gut health and find recipes for some sweet treats to boost that mood.

I’ve always been an advocate for the “eat real food movement” and couldn’t be happier that science is supporting the notion behind “you are what you eat”. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, every system in the body can be impacted by chronic stress and if this stress is not released, it could suppress the immune system and lead to illness – everything from mental illness such as depression to immune system illnesses such as arthritis. And get this – with more than 300 million people suffering from depression worldwide, it’s not the leading cause of disability.

So what’s the connection between your food and your mood? According to Harvard Medical School, 90% of serotonin receptors are located in the gut. And serotonin is often called the “happy chemical” because it contributes to happiness and wellbeing. When the balance of good and bad bacteria is disrupted in your gut, that’s when issues occur. Studies show that eating a healthy diet (such as the Mediterranean diet) and avoiding inflammatory foods could help keep your gut bacteria in balance and protect it against depression.

Here’s the tricky part though – everyone has a unique microbiome or balance of gut bacteria. So there isn’t a simple solution. But here are a few ways to improve gut and mood:

Good Mood Food
1.) Eat whole fruits and vegetables rather than juices to get all the good fibers to aid digestion.
2.) Reduce the amount of sugar in your diet with tricks like adding cinnamon to your morning coffee or latte rather than sweetener.
3.) Incorporate probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles and kefir into your diet.

If all of this sounds like a lot – it is. Gut health is complicated…and unique to everyone. One new discovery that’s making gut health a heckuva lot easier is Uplift. It’s a dietary supplement of gut healthy prebiotic fibers and resistant starches that nourish the probiotics in your gut, lifting your mood and making your mouth happy with a creamy vanilla flavor. You can add it to everything from your morning smoothie to pancakes. And below you’ll find two of the recipes I created to get the most out of your mood and your food! Read on for the recipes and enjoy the lift!

Mocha Overnight Protein Oats
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
-1 C of raw, old-fashioned oats
-2 T chia seeds
-1 scoop of Uplift (or substitute vanilla protein powder of choice)
-1/2 C of Apres Sea Salt Chocolate Protein Drink (or substitute chocolate almond milk)
-6 T of cold brew or strong coffee

Directions:
Add all of the ingredients to a mason jar, stir to combine, refrigerate overnight and enjoy in the morning! Option to top with chocolate chips.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Nice Cream
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Nice Cream
-2 bananas, frozen (peel and cut into chunks before freezing)
-1 scoop of Uplift
-1/8 C almond or coconut milk
-1/4 C natural peanut butter
-pinch of sea salt
-1/2 T maple syrup (optional)
Strawberry Chia Jam
-3 1/2 C of strawberries, quartered
-4 T maple syrup
-2 T chia seeds
-squeeze of lemon juice

Directions:
Step 1: Make the strawberry chia jam by adding the strawberries and maple syrup to a small pot over medium heat on the stove top. Stir to combine and continue heating until bubbling. Once bubbling, mash the strawberries, then add the chia seeds and stir to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Remove from the heat and give it a squeeze of lemon. Allow to cool.
Step 2: Make the peanut butter nice cream by adding the ingredients to a food processor. Blend until smooth and place in a small mixing bowl.
Step 3: Swirl into the peanut butter nice cream as much of the strawberry chia jam as you’d like. Serve immediately as soft serve nice cream or place in the freezer if you prefer a hand-scooped texture. Option to top with additional jam and granola, as shown.

The post Good Mood Food appeared first on The Shooks Life.