Recently, I got the chance to chat with one of my food biz friends, Concita Thomas. Concita is a Food and Fitness Strategist who helps busy moms find figure friendly alternatives to Get It Off and Keep It Off for life long healthy habits. 
During the podcast interview, we talked about all things food, but because I know you're busy, I'm sharing the highlights below in case you don't have time to hear it all (even though you should), so instead you can fast forward and get what you really need to hear. You can also listen to the full episode here.

Check out the video below to get more information about how to join the Daniel Fast 21 Day Food and Faith Challenge. 

• Thinking about doing the Daniel Fast this year and need some help with what you can and can't eat? 
• Have no idea what the Daniel Fast is, but want to learn more about this vegan based fast and what it has to do with Christianity? 
• Looking for easy vegan recipes?

Here I explain what the The Daniel Fast 21 Day Food and Faith Challenge with Chef Ashley Shep is all about in detail, but if you ain’t got the time then just check out the info here or request access to the group.
Here’s what folks had to say about last year’s challenge:

• "I loved that I stuck to a challenge but also that other people were going through the challenge with me and the leadership of [Chef] Ashley!"
• "The meal plans were great! I loved getting to try new recipes that will become staples in my weekly meals."
• “It’s given me clarity of purpose, and I’m better than I ever thought.”

2019 is almost here which means that it's time to check in with ourselves and see what kind of things we can recycle, declutter, and get rid of finally! Check out this recording of where I speak with Nonnahs Driskill of Get Organized Already about how to get our kitchens in order quickly.
Also, get your free checklist of the 10 things you can easily toss or donate to make your kitchen feel less cluttered! 

Recently, I made this dope recipe and decided to record the steps on Instagram & Facebook Stories. On a whim, cuz people like to see stuff as they unfold. 

Now honestly, the recipe was inspired by one that I saw the other day that just looked….like it didn’t have enough seasoning on it to be honest. Lately, there’s this trend with all these 30 second cooking videos where the seasonings only include things like salt and pepper. Or they rely heavily on getting their flavor from cheese. 

Y'all, it makes me feel like Oprah in that clip that resurfaced recently where she was eating some $1 million chicken….that didn’t have salt and pepper on it.

Now I’m not saying get rid of the salt and pepper, but what I am saying is, let’s add some other stuff or mix it up with some garlic salt, or fresh herbs like basil. In this recipe, I even use a seasoning blend to save on some of the work of mixing it up yourself.

There's too many ingredients on God’s green earth for you to be foolin’ with the same 5.

So, I decided to change up the recipe, add my own twist on it and share the deliciousness online. Since the response was so great, I thought maybe I should type this up so others can eat good too. (Now if you’re already on meal prep services, don’t worry, this is already on the menu for next week.)

Serve this with pasta or over potatoes for a quick weeknight meal. There’s also a lighter variation if you’d like to go dairy free or don’t want to use whipping cream.

Sun Dried Tomato & Shrimp with Spinach
Source: www.chefashleyshep.com
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
Total 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Serving: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 (10 ounce) pack cherry tomatoes halved
• 1 lb shrimp peeled, deveined
• 4 tablespoons garlic
• 1⁄3 cup fresh basil about 10-12 large leaves
• 1⁄3 cup sun dried tomatoes sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms (optional)
• 3 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 1.5-2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning Blend
• 3⁄4 cup heavy whipping cream or 1/2 cup white wine if doing the lighter version
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock add more as needed to thin out sauce
• 1 pack fresh spinach
• garlic salt & pepper to taste
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions
1.Slice tomatoes in half, dice garlic, slice basil, defrost shrimp,
2.Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until butter melts some. Add in tomatoes, garlic and stir. Season with about 1 tsp garlic salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend.
3.Add in shrimp and cook until slightly done (until they are still a little see through.
4.Lighter option: Add broth/white wine, and all remaining ingredients here and bring to a low boil. Cook on low and add spinach. Serve over pasta.
5.Regular version: Remove shrimp & set aside. Add in cream and butter. Let butter melt some. Add all other remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to a low boil and add basil, spinach, & shrimp back in. Combine and serve once shrimp are fully cooked (no longer pink)
6.Squeeze lemon juice on top and serve over pasta. Add shredded parmesan and parsley to top (for pics, otherwise leave it off because it does nothing lol).
7.Tips: If you want more sauce, stretch out the cream by adding more broth 1/8 cup or 2 tablespoons at a time.
8.Add a pinch of red flakes to spice it up a bit.

Prep Notes
The day of: Prep all ingredients (cut, measure, etc).
If you liked this recipe and want to know more ways to use seasonings other than (seasoning) salt and pepper, then be sure to join me Sunday, December 23rd over on Facebook Live for Season Til You’re Satisfied: 12 Must Have Seasonings You Need . 

Or if you can’t wait til then or know good and well you’re not gonna watch, get the Season Til You’re Satisfied Guide here and start living your best food life.
Tag @ChefAshleyShep on Facebook or Instagram and #SimplifyMealTime when you make it for a chance to get featured on my page.

:Black Friday is here and there's deals all over the place that started way before Thanksgiving and will end well after you're tired of the turkey. 

But...do you really need all of that stuff? 
Probably not. 
But how do you decide? 
Well, that's where I come in! 
This year, I'm happy to present to you the 2018 Black Friday Kitchen Deals Guide so you can know what's really worth buying and what can sit in your Amazon cart til next year. 
​In this guide you'll find:

• The BEST deals on the latest appliances that will help you save time and money
• What's ABSOLUTELY worth buying this Black Friday
• Breakdown of how much you're saving
• My personal recommendations for products that I use every day. 

Many of the deals are already live and will be available til Monday....or until supplies run out at stores. 

So get your copy of your guide today and get shopping! 

Black Friday is almost here and you know what that means: getting lots of great deals on things you need and some things you want.

I love Black Friday, because it gives me a chance to get those things that have been sitting in my Amazon shopping cart for a while. 

​​If you're anything like me though, you probably didn't already check and go through what you had before you bought that new thing.  

Now we all know when there's a sale that sometimes we get a little click happy and end up buying stuff we may or may not need. 
​
“But it's on sale!”
is often used to justify some purchases for sure. But before you spend another dime or add something else to that Amazon shopping cart, I want to invite you to join me on Tuesday the help you get organized already! 
(This training is for me too ? cuz sometimes, life is a mess.)

On Tuesday, I'll be speaking Nonnahs Driskell, the founding organizer of Get Organized Already (Southern California). They are a team of professional organizers who help people like you (and me) declutter and organize their stuff every day.

She has organized about 251 kitchens. She’s been featured on Hoarders, The OWN Network ?, Good Housekeeping, and many more!
Y'all, she's seen it all and knows what’s in your kitchen.

• The giant container of peppercorns from Costco? Check.
• 4 different bottles of balsamic vinegar you never use? Check.
• Enough Tupperware to survive the apocalypse? Check.)

Join us on Tuesday @ 8pm EST or catch the replay over on my Facebook page. 

"What's that smell?"
That’s often a phrase that I hear at work.
Now when you’re around kids all day and you hear it, that could often mean one of two things...
But in this case we were in the teacher’s lounge, so usually the smells are safe. 🤣
In this case the person was talking about my Roasted Salsa Verde Soup that I was eating for lunch (pictured above. Since it's one of my favorites, I made it for my photo shoot back in the summer).
In this case the person was talking about my Roasted Salsa Verde Soup that I was eating for lunch.
Then my coworker followed up with a
“OMG, that smells SO good!”
So I decided to bring her some for lunch the next day. Then she proceeded to tell me how good it was. Words she used were fresh and filling. 
My coworkers make the perfect taste testers!
Anyway, I realized that I should probably not be stingy and share with everybody, so here’s a link to a video I did making the soup along with the recipe, so you can eat good too.

And no it's not a bunch of steps. 
And yes you can make it into a freezer meal. (I show you how in the video.)
And yes, healthy and tasty at the same time (so you can save those calories for sweet potato pie instead). 
If that's not enough of a reason to check it out, here's a few more. 

​Here’s a few more reasons why you should check it out:

• You’re probably hungry right now anyway.
• You can make some for now and then some to freeze for later (Don’t worry, I show you how.)
• The ingredients can easily be found at any major grocery store
• It’s $2 a serving. (The last time you spend $2 on lunch, you were probably in elementary school.)

Check out the video above and the recipe below.
Stay warm out there y’all!

Office potlucks are the never-ending classic that make for a great way to test out recipes on a large group of people. In my case, my office is a school which means there's always something to celebrate.

• Babies
• Weddings
• Birthdays 

In this case, the last option was what led me to choosing this recipe from PlainChicken.com to adapt for my school peeps. I like to keep options on my Breakfast?  More Like Brunch Pinterest Board for situations like this. 

I needed something quick and tasty and this proved to be a great option after a few changes from the original. 

First, the recipe suggested to let the mixture soak for an hour or overnight in the fridge, but since that it was already 9pm, that was not going to happen. I let it soak for about 15 minutes and everything was good to go. 

Second, I added cinnamon to give it a bit of a change in flavor. (And cuz I love cinnamon. Almost as much as peanut butter.) If you want it to be even more like french toast, add vanilla extract as well (see below).

Third, since I made this the night before, I made sure to not cook it all the way so I could reheat it the next night (directions below). 
​

1.  Cook sausage according to package directions. 
2. Using a large knife or scissors, chop waffles into smaller pieces (about the size of a quarter/coin). 
3. Combine eggs, milk, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla extract (optional) together in a bowl and whisk well. 
4. Layer half of the waffles, cheese, and sausage and repeat until all ingredients have been used. 
5. Pour egg mixture on top.
6. (optional) Let soak 1 hour up to overnight. 
7. Cook at 325 degrees for 30 minutes (If you're making this ahead of time, be sure not to overcook since you'll reheat it later to eat.)

Tips:

• If you're going to soak it for an hour or overnight, don't mix the ingredients in a glass dish. Glass can shatter when shifting from cold to hot or hot to cold too quickly. Use a metal pan instead. 
• Only have sausage patties? No problem! Cook them 4 minutes on one side and then break them up with a spatula once they're flipped. 
• Reheating: Reheat uncovered on low for 250 degrees for 20 minutes. 
  • Glass Dish: Let dish sit on the counter for about 10 minutes to give the glass some time to get to room temperature. (250 degrees isn't that hot, so the glass was fine. after sitting out for 10 minutes).