eggs

06.04.19

Breakfast Prep Baked Egg Cups

Posted on by Lexi , Views: 127819

These healthy baked egg cups make the perfect breakfast meal prep for when you are rushing out the door but still want your protein-packed nutrient dense meal. They also make a great snack as well! And they’re paleo and whole30 friendly!

breakfast baked egg cups in meal prep containerBreakfast Egg Cups Recipe

This recipe goes out to all of those people who LOVE and NEED a good breakfast but don’t always (read: ever) have time in the morning to whip up a freshly cooked eggs! These easy oven baked breakfast egg cups are nutrient dense and so delicious! Make these on Sunday and you’ll be thanking yourself all week you did!

This breakfast meal prep eggs have a sweet potato bottom crust and and you can top with two different options: sunny side up with bacon or veggie omelets! You choose! And if you are feeling it, you can mix and match and make both!

sunny side up baked egg cup

Make it how you like it!

The best part about these baked eggs is that you can truly customize it the way you like it! We love the sunny side up with some crumbled bacon, but you can omit the bacon to make them vegetarian or add in another type of meat like ham!

The veggie omelets have a standard pepper, onion and tomato mix but you can literally add in any veggie here, so long as you chop them up small enough, or precook them. 

Here are some other suggestions you can add to the egg muffin cups:

  • zucchini
  • mushrooms
  • spinach
  • cheese
  • ham
  • prosciutto
  • kale

Can you freeze them?

Yes! Make sure to cool the egg cups completely before placing in a air tight container and freezing for up to 1 month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and warm it up in the toaster or microwave before serving.

sweet potato crust in muffin tin

Looking for other paleo breakfast recipes?

make ahead baked egg cups on a plate

If you like this meal prep recipe, check out these others:

On-The-Go Baked Egg Nests
Yields 12
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Two Ways
  1. Over easy or omelette style
For both
  1. 12 organic or farm-fresh eggs
  2. 1 medium sweet potato
  3. 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  4. Himalayan sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  5. Optional: 5 slices nitrate-free bacon, cooked
For Option 2- Omelettes
  1. Veggies of choice: tomato, onion, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms
  2. Himalayan sea salt, to taste
  3. Freshly ground pepper, to taste
  4. 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  5. 1/4 tsp onion powder
Instructions
  1. 1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tins
  2. 2. Grate sweet potato using cheese grater or food processor, squeeze out excess water
  3. 3. Mix 1 tsp oil, salt, and pepper with sweet potato
  4. 4. Line the bottom of your muffin tins with the sweet potato mixture
  5. 5. Let bake for 20 minutes then remove muffin tins
  6. 6.
  7. Option 1: Over easy: crack egg into the muffin tins (add optional pre-cooked bacon)
  8. Option 2: Omelettes: mix eggs in a bowl, add in veggies, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, add into muffin tins
  9. 7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until eggs are firm
  10. 8. Remove and serve hot
  11. 9. Store in air-tight tupperware in refrigerator
Notes
  1. Make sure to spray/grease your muffin tins so the sweet potato nests do not stick
Lexi's Clean Kitchen https://lexiscleankitchen.com/
05.05.19

Saucy Chorizo Skillet Baked Eggs

Posted on by Lexi , Views: 190501

These Saucy Chorizo Skillet Baked Eggs are a great addition to your next Sunday brunch! It’s low-carb, paleo and Whole 30 friendly, dairy-free and most definitely delicious.

Skillet baked eggs with chorizo before serving.Skillet Egg Bake with Chorizo and Beans

This savory egg bake recipe is delicious way to start off the day! It’s almost like a southwestern version of Shakshuka, flavored with paprika, cumin, and spicy chorizo. We opted to add black beans to this skillet egg bake to round out the lower carb and dairy-free dish, but you can feel free to omit for paleo or Whole30.

Up close portion of skillet baked eggs

What ingredients you need for these easy baked eggs:

  • chorizo sausage, casing removed (or fully cooked chorizo diced)
  • onion
  • canned diced tomato
  • cumin
  • paprika
  • can black beans (optional, omit for Whole 30 or Paleo)
  • baby spinach
  • eggs

What skillet should I use for this recipe?

Any oven safe skillet will work here. If you are using cast iron, make sure it is enameled as prolonged tomato exposure can ruin the seasoning on a regular cast iron skillet.

Two portions baked eggs and chorizo on a plate.

If you like this savory breakfast recipe, check out these others:

Saucy Chorizo Skillet Baked Eggs

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Prep Time 00:05 Cook Time 00:36 Total Time 00:41 Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. chorizo sausage, casing removed (see note)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1-15 ounce can diced tomato
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
  • 2 handfuls baby spinach
  • 4 eggs

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  2. Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot add chorizo until cooked through, about 8 minutes.
  3. Add oil and onion and and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring often until softened.
  4. Add diced tomato, salt and pepper, cumin, paprika, and beans and cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Stir in spinach until wilted.
  6. Remove from heat and using a spoon, make 4 indentations in the mixture for the eggs.
  7. Gently crack in eggs sprinkle with salt.
  8. Place skillet in oven and let bake for 15-18 minutes until eggs whites are cooked through.

Recipe Notes

  1. You can also use the fully cooked chorizo sausage here. Dice it up and cook it until it is fully heated through and then proceed to the next step.
  2. This recipe was updated on 4/24/19 to reflect a more streamlined process and it eliminated the addition of bacon in the original recipe.
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!
04.03.19

How to Naturally Dye Easter Eggs Using Food

Posted on by Lexi's Clean Kitchen , Views: 6034

There are so many options out there for natural Easter egg dye using ingredients you have already in your kitchen and we’re showing you some of the options we loved with tips, tricks, and more!

Naturally Dyed Easter eggs in cartonNatural Easter Egg Dye

Did you know that it is so easy to naturally dye Easter eggs with food ingredients you likely already have in your pantry? It will be no surprise if you’ve been on this website for a while that we love to switch out artificial colors and unnecessary chemical additions to foods as much as we can, like these Naturally Colored Buttercream and these plant based decorated Sugar Cookies. If we wouldn’t eat a product with a long list of ingredients we can’t recognize why would we add chemicals in the form of artificial dyes to the food we make at home?

Some might say that you are just dyeing the outside of the egg: but anybody who has ever colored eggs know more often than not that color seeps in through the shell and colors the egg. So making festive colored eggs with actual FOOD coloring is a no-brainer. And honestly, it’s so simple and so FUN to experiment. You can create unique looking eggs that even will change color over time, the longer they sit. Kids and adults alike will find this holiday craft turned science experiment so fun!

Results of natural Easter egg dye recipe

How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

Take a look in your pantry! We used white eggs, but you can experiment with brown eggs as they will have a different effect. All the eggs you see in these photos were dyed with these four foods:

  • Beets (red/pink/brown): 1 large beet, diced + 2 cups water
  • Red Cabbage (blue): 1/2 red cabbage, sliced + 2 cups water
  • Red Onion Skins (deep orange/brown): Skins from 4 large onions + 2 cups water
  • Fresh or Dried Turmeric (yellow): 1/4 cup sliced fresh turmeric or 2 tablespoons dried + 2 cups water

Other natural color suggestions:

  • Blueberries (grey/blue): 2 cups frozen blueberries + 2 cups water (don’t boil this, just let it steep)
  • Carrots (orange/yellow): 3 large carrots, sliced + 2 cups water
  • Spinach or Parsley (green): 2 cups spinach or 1 bunch parsley + 2 cups water
  • Yellow Onion Skins (orange): Skins from 4 large onions + 2 cups water
  • Coffee (brown): 2 cups strong brewed coffee

Natural Easter egg dyes in jarsHere is what you need to know to naturally dye eggs:

  1. Make the boiled eggs. We recommend using the water boiling or steaming method. Check out this post here. We normally love the Instant Pot for steaming eggs, but not here. We don’t recommend using the Instant Pot for colored eggs because they are more likely to crack in the food coloring. Let the eggs cool completely before coloring.
  2. Bring the food item in 2 cups of water up to a boil, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and let cool. Once cool add 2 teaspoons of vinegar.
  3. Gently drop the white eggs in the color. They must be completely submerged.
  4. The longer the eggs sit in the color, the more brilliant the color will be. Letting the eggs soak overnight yielded the best color for us.
  5. When you are ready to take the eggs out of the color, place a clean kitchen towel down and gently pull out the eggs and place on the towel, or you could place them on a wire rack to prevent and the towel from wiping off any of the color. Let it air dry, do not rub it. If you’d like to dip the egg again to get a darker hue do that once it has dried. In addition, if you want to combine colors to make different hues (think coloring an egg first yellow, then blue=green) now is the time to do it.
  6. Once completely dry you can gently rub it with oil to help prevent the color from changing. We found that some of the eggs changed colors over a few days time (especially the beet one). Do them the day before Easter if you’d like them to be as close to the color as you want as possible.

Eggs dyed with natural egg dyeHow to Make Green Naturally Dyed Eggs:

To make green we first dyed the egg with turmeric (yellow) and then dyed it with red cabbage (blue) to make the egg green!

Do you have to use vinegar to dye eggs?

Yes! Without going into all the science behind it, the short answer is that the added acid from the white vinegar brings it to the correct pH level needed for the dye to adhere to the egg shell. The approximate amount of vinegar needed is about 1 teaspoon per 1 cup of dye. We experimented by adding more vinegar to some of our dyes and we got a cool spotted effect.

How to Make Different Effects on Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

  1. Add more vinegar: When we added more vinegar to the dye it created a bubbly effect which created the dots you see on our eggs.
  2. Dip for different lengths of time: You can try dipping the eggs for shorter periods of time. For our pink spotted eggs seen above we just briefly dipped the eggs in the beets for like 10 seconds and then let it dry.
  3. Double dipping eggs, depending on the different colors can create different effects. Honestly we had different results each time, so have fun experimenting.
  4. To create an ombre effect you can start dying a batch of eggs, and then every few hours take one of the eggs out of the dye.

Should eggs be cold or at room temperature for coloring?

You want both the boiled eggs and the natural dye to be cool during the dye process, so that not only do the eggs not overcook in the natural dye, but also for safety. Leave the eggs in the dye in the refrigerator overnight.

Natural Easter egg coloring

Don’t want to make your own dye but want to try naturally coloring eggs?

There are also a few different products on the market. Try these good brands:

Tools we used in this recipe:

Lastly, check out these other healthier Easter recipes:

How to Naturally Dye Easter Eggs
How to Naturally Dye Easter Eggs With Food
03.14.19

Easy Corned Beef Hash

Posted on by Lexi's Clean Kitchen , Views: 5077

This Easy Corned Beef Hash is the best way to use up leftover corned beef OR the best excuse to make corned beef from scratch! It’s a simple dish that is hearty and comforting, made under 20 minutes with only a handful of ingredients. Top with a fried egg, a splash of hot sauce and this gluten-free and paleo and whole30-friendly breakfast is ready!

Corned beef hashEasy Corned Beef Hash

We don’t know what we look forward to more when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day eats, the actual Corned Beef and Cabbage or the subsequent leftover meal that follows: this Easy Corned Beef Hash. It’s such a hearty, comforting breakfast: meat, potato and eggs. It’s such a classic meal and the best part is that the components are mostly already cooked so it’s just a matter of heating them all up together and topping with an egg, if desired. If you don’t have leftover corned beef laying around, trust us this breakfast is totally worth cooking corned beef for.

This is one of those recipes that really is more of a guideline. If you have leftover carrots, or onions or root vegetables that were cooked with your corned beef you can feel free to add those in! This can also work with any other leftover beef you may have, though it won’t have that classic flavor as it does when cooked with the corned beef. If you have leftover roast beef, pot roast or even steak, you can make this work. If you don’t have any leftover potatoes you can cook up some fresh. Just dice up some potatoes and boil for about 12-15 minutes, or until fork tender. They brown better when they are cold, but fresh cooked will work in a pinch.

How to Make Corned Beef Hash

How do you make corned beef hash from scratch:

  1. Cook some onions
  2. Add cooked corned beef and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes undisturbed, and then flip and cook another 5 minutes
  3. Season with garlic powder and pepper, and add salt if needed.
  4. Serve with eggs!

Why is corned beef so salty?

We talk extensively about the process for brining your own corned beef here, and then go into details about how to cook it from scratch here. If cooked properly (meaning rinsed really well and cooked in enough water) corned beef shouldn’t be overly salty, but when making corned beef hash you definitely want to taste the dish before adding any additional salt!

Corned beef hash recipe

If you like this breakfast recipe, check out these others:

Easy Corned Beef Hash

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Prep Time 00:05 Cook Time 00:18 Total Time 00:22 Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, small dice
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1-½ cups leftover corned beef, fine dice
  • 16 ounces leftover potatoes, about 12-14 small potatoes, diced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Eggs, for serving (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat a large cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once hot add oil and onion. Cook until soften, about 8 minutes.
  2. Add butter to the pan and turn up heat to medium high. Add beef and potato and stir to combine. Then let cook, undisturbed for 5 minutes. Flip over the hash and cook on the other side for another 5 minutes, or until the hash is heated through.
  3. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and serve with hot sauce and a fried egg (if desired)

Recipe Notes

  1. This can also work with some other cooked cuts of beef like brisket or pot roast.
  2. To make fully dairy free feel free to sub in ghee or additional oil in place of the butter.
  3. If you are using an oven proof skillet you can also crack a few eggs inside of the hash after step 2 and cook under the broiler for a few minutes until the eggs are cooked!
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!
03.03.19

Breakfast Fried Rice

Posted on by Lexi's Clean Kitchen , Views: 16630

This Breakfast Fried Rice is made using only 4 ingredients and is a super easy meal to whip up anytime of day, not just in the morning! It takes the base of leftover rice and switches up the traditional fried rice by adding in the leftover breakfast staples of bacon and eggs. You can have it on the table from start to finish in less than 15 minutes which makes it a breakfast (or dinner) win!

Breakfast fried rice recipeBreakfast Fried Rice

After testing and testing and testing our Best Rice Ever recipe a few weeks back we found ourselves with piles of rice in the test kitchen. Not that we are complaining or anything, because it really is the best rice ever, but we knew we needed to put that rice to good use by testing a few new leftover rice recipes, and this Breakfast Fried Rice was one of them!

We love the idea of being able to make a double batch of something easy, like rice, when you are cooking dinner and then also being able to use up the leftovers again for a fresh meal later in the week. This Breakfast Fried Rice is the perfect example of this. This dish takes a total start to finish time to make of 15 minutes! On busy days (which they seem to be innumerable) this is the perfect breakfast, or lunch or dinner! And likely you already have the ingredients on hand or in your freezer: bacon, eggs, rice and green onions.

Rice breakfast recipes

What is in a Breakfast Fried Rice?

This is not the most traditional Asian-style type of fried rice, as we really wanted to keep the ingredient list as minimal as possible so there aren’t any add-ins like coconut aminos or other spices. Think of this as more of a breakfast stir fry! We wanted this to be a savory options for breakfast made with ingredients you likely had on hand that could be a satisfying meal. We limited it to bacon, eggs, green onions and leftover rice with optional hot sauce.

What are some other options to add to Breakfast Fried Rice?

If you wanted to add in a few more things there are plenty of options. You can add in:

  • diced bell peppers (after you fry up the bacon)
  • baby kale or spinach (add it when you add the rice and green onion to wilt)
  • frozen baby peas (add it when you add the rice and green onion to wilt)
  • cauliflower rice (add this after you fry up the bacon and cook for a bit before adding the eggs)

Breakfast rice

If you like this rice recipe, check out these others:

Breakfast Fried Rice

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Prep Time 00:04 Cook Time 00:11 Total Time 00:15 Serves 2

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a nonstick skillet or well seasoned cast iron pan, cook bacon until crispy, about 6 minutes. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Reserve leftover bacon fat for another use or discard.
  2. Lower heat to medium low and add scrambled eggs. Using a spatula move the eggs around the pan until they are fully cooked, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add rice and green onion and cook, breaking up the rice if needed with a spatula, until it is heated through about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Check the seasoning and adjust with additional salt and pepper if needed. Divide between two plates and garnish with hot sauce if using and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

  1. If you are using seasoned leftover rice (like our recipe for the BEST RICE EVER) you will not need any additional salt because the rice and the bacon add salt to the dish already.
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!
02.06.19

How to Make Marshmallow Fluff (Paleo)

Posted on by Lexi's Clean Kitchen , Views: 12681

Learning How to Make Marshmallow Fluff may seem intimidating, but as long as you have a thermometer and an electric mixer and a few simple ingredients, you can have this made in under 20 minutes and it’s far superior to any store-bought version. This version is made using only honey and maple syrup!

Easy Paleo Fluff

How to Make Marshmallow Fluff

Here in the New England area Fluff is so beloved that a local Boston suburb has a festival every year to celebrate the iconic Marshmallow Cream. If you haven’t tried Fluff, it’s basically a sticky sweet marshmallow spread that is classically known to be the other half to peanut butter in a Fluffernutter Sandwich and it’s delicious. The bad news is that it’s made with corn syrup and a few other suspect ingredients. The good news, we’ve cracked the code on How to Make Marshmallow Fluff at home because it’s easy and a super fun treat! And what makes it even better is making Homemade Marshmallow Fluff at home uses only a few simple ingredients: egg whites, cream of tartar, honey, maple syrup and vanilla! And we promise, it’s really simple!

Easy Paleo Fluff

Tips and Tricks for Making Marshmallow Fluff

The first thing you need to know about How to Make Marshmallow Fluff is that you are making candy! You’ll be cooking up a very hot sugary syrup and then pouring it into beaten egg whites and whipping them up until the whole mixture has transferred into magical Marshmallow Fluff. It’s like a marshmallow without the gelatin to set it.

  1. If you are wondering if this is a lot of sugar—it is. You are making candy and one of the principal components of candy is: sugar! If you lower the sugar content it may not work. We orginally tried this recipe with less than ½ cup maple / honey and it failed miserably. We did successfully make it by reducing the honey from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup, but really liked the stability that this amount of sweetener offered.
  2. The bowl and whisk attachment must be cleaned well because if there is any grease in it, it will prevent the egg whites from whipping up properly.
  3. Use a large pot in case the sugar boils up high. If it is still coming close to the edge lower the heat a bit. It will take longer to get to the correct temperature but it will still work without boiling over.
  4. The added water in the sugar mixture helps the sugar come to a boil without burning. Put the water in the pot first, then the other two sweeteners. Do not stir the pot. Do not move the pot. You run the risk of crystallizing the sugar. If you have one, use a candy thermometer, or you can also use an instant read thermometer.
  5. You want your sugar mixture to reach the “soft ball” stage or 235ºF-240ºF. This stage gets it’s name from the fact that if you put a droplet of cold water into the boiling sugar, it will turn into a soft ball. This hot sugar mixture is what cooks the egg whites and turns it into Marshmallow Fluff.
  6. Troubleshooting: If the egg white mixture hasn’t thickened up and become glossy, either the sugar syrup was not the proper temperature, or you haven’t whipped the egg whites long enough. So If it isn’t looking thick and glossy, try whipping longer. And of course use a thermometer to make sure the sweetener has boiled enough!
  7. You can store the Marshmallow Fluff in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1 week, though we recommend using it within the first 3 days. After a few days the mixture might start to weep, and this is totally normal for Fluff made without any artificial ingredients. All you have to do is re-whip the whole thing until it is glossy and thick again. Do not store your fluff in the refrigerator.
  8. This Fluff tastes amazing toasted with a kitchen torch!

Marshmallow fluff filling for cakeWhat recipes can you use this Marshmallow Fluff with?

  1. You can’t go wrong with a fluffernutter! This is a peanutbutter and marshmallow fluff sandwich!
  2. Use it in this Gluten Free Hostess Cupcakes recipe.
  3. Use it in this S’mores Pie recipe.
  4. Use it to make marshmallow cream s’mores.
  5. Use it to top any pie!
  6. Use it as a frosting on any cake! This is a great option because it’s dairy-free!

What can I use instead of marshmallows

Tools we used in this recipe:

Like this How to recipe, check out these others:

How to Make Marshmallow Fluff (Paleo)

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Cook Time 00:20 Total Time 00:20 Yields 8 cups

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a clean mixing bowl for an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, add egg whites.
  2. In a large pot add water, honey and maple syrup, in that order, being careful not to get any of the mixture on the sides of the pot. Turn the heat to medium and let the sugar mixture cook undisturbed.
  3. When the sugar syrup reaches about 225°F, start whipping the egg whites on medium-high speed. Once they have started to get frothy add the cream of tartar and salt. Whip to soft peaks.
  4. When the the sugar syrup has reached 240°F, remove from the heat, turn mixer to medium and very slowly and carefully pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites in a thin, steady stream. Aim to get the syrup in between the bowl and the whisk attachment so you don’t spray the hot mixture everywhere.
  5. Once all of the syrup is in, increase the speed and continue to whip for 8 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and glossy.
  6. Add in vanilla extract and whip for one one more minute.

Recipe Notes

  1. Read through the whole article to get additional tips.
  2. The bowl and whisk attachment must be cleaned well because if there is any grease in it, it will prevent the egg whites from whipping up properly.
  3. You can use a candy thermometer attached to the pot to monitor the temperature, or an instant read thermometer.
  4. Use a large pot to prevent the sugar mixture from boiling over. If it is still boiling close to the edge of the pot lower the heat. It will take longer to come up to the correct temperature, but it will eventually.
  5. Troubleshooting: If you mixture hasn’t thickened up and become glossy, either the sugar syrup was not the proper temperature, or you haven’t whipped the egg whites long enough. So If it isn’t looking properly try whipping longer to see if that helps.
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There may be affiliate links in this post! By clicking on them, or purchasing recommended items I may receive a small compensation, at no cost to you! However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use in my own home! Thank you for supporting Lexi's Clean Kitchen when you shop! See my privacy policy for more information about this, the information we save, and more!

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Easy Paleo Fluff