Chicken Fried "Rice"

This dish is GOOOOD. When I say good, I mean the thank god it's cauliflower or I'd weigh 900 pounds, nobody better talk to me while my entire face is in this pan, I know I'm getting a third degree steam burn but I can't stop eating, just try and get in on this and you're gonna lose an arm kind of good... not to mention easy to make!

So I will get right to the point since my little ankle biters are a bit impatient these days.

What you'll need:

A head of cauliflower

5 green onions, chopped

1 zucchini, cubed small

1 large carrot, cubed small (or shredded carrot)

1 bell pepper, diced

This is what I happened to have left over in the frige. You can add any vegetable you like.

2 chicken breasts, cubed small

2 eggs

What you do:

Cut a head of cauliflower up and blanch it for 8 to 10 minutes. (blanch is a fancy word for boil it). Drain it and chop it fine... like rice.

I use a wok, but it's not necessary. Get a large fry pan out and melt a little coconut oil in it. Get the pan nice and hot and stir fry the chicken. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm. Quickly stir fry the raw veggies. Add the ginger powder, garlic powder and Tamari.When the veggies are cooked down, add the cauliflower and chicken. Crack the 2 eggs in and stir quickly to break the egg up and scramble it.

Taste and adjust the Tamari to your liking.

Enjoy!

Chicken with sun dried tomato and onion relish

Many of my recipes are accidentally on purpose. Now you're thinking... "What exactly does that mean?" Well, what it means is that I haven't grocery shopped in more than a week and the ratio of food to laundry in my house is way out of proportion. If only the fridge were as full as the laundry basket we'd be in recipe makin' heaven! But alas, that is not the case... not even close.





I've managed to actually defrost some chicken so that's a start. I open my refrigerator to find the usual... A tumble weed rolling by, an old cow skull, the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly plays in my head as I stare down the last onion. (Gosh I love Clint Eastwood). Fortunately this time around it's a blessing to be limited on time and ingredients in the kitchen.





I pull out my trusty jar of sun dried tomatoes, a lonely purple onion, some olive oil and a smattering of pine nuts that I've found in the depths of my freezer. Good enough for me! Let's make some chicken.

What you'll need:

All of the above ingredients, plus boneless chicken breasts, garlic powder and pepper

What you do:

Start of by marveling at the lack of ingredients in this dish. Remember that feeling as you take you first bite and are shocked by the wonderful flavor. It can't be this good and this easy... can it?

Slice your raw chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound the thicker side down a bit so the chicken breast is an even thickness. Give it a sprinkle of garlic powder and ground black pepper on both sides. Get a pan nice and hot with a swirl of oil and lay the chicken breasts (two at a time... don't crowd the pan or the temperature will drop and you will have "steamed chicken"...ewww). Cook for about 3 - 4 minutes per side and remove to a plate. While the chicken cooks dice up the onion and cut about 7 large pieces of sun dried tomato into strips. You'll also need about 1/4 cup of pine nuts. Tent the chicken with foil to keep warm.

In the same pan, add a little more oil and drop in your onion. Saute it until its nice and soft. Add in the tomato and give it a stir for a minute. Lastly, stir in the pine nuts, lower the heat and keep stirring until the pine nuts brown. You can go from brown to burnt really fast here so pay attention!

Place the chicken on a plate and top with the sun dried tomato and onion relish. It looks very gourmet when you are done so don't let our little secret out!

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken with Mushrooms and Olives

Sometimes I think I need to rename this blog "The chicken blog". We eat A LOT of chicken in this family. My true favorite is grass fed beef, but there are only certain things you can do with a piece of grass fed beef besides grill it. I love the true flavor of how meat should taste and don't like to muck it up with a lot of sauces and spices.



Chicken on the other hand is a different story. I can think of nothing more gross than a plain old piece of chicken with nothing on it. Ewww. No thank you. It reminds me of "Cybergenics" if any of you are old enough to remember along with me. I think it must have been the late 80's when Cybergenics hit the market. It was all the rage. Take 413 different kinds of supplements with god knows what in them and eat nothing but boiled chicken and green beans and watch the weight fall off! The package came complete with full color photos of before and afters that were mind blowingly awesome (and equally photo shopped, I'm sure). I must admit, I fell for this diet. And so the journey began...



The journey ended as promptly as it started. By the third day of eating nothing but boiled chicken and green beans I had succumb to the desire for a supersized #3 combo. I remember the exact feeling as my eyes glazed over, I grabbed the car keys and drove like a maniac straight to the golden arches of doom. That started a chain reaction and by the end of the week my Cybergenics story ended with a three pound weight gain.



Years later when I actually learned to cook, I vowed to myself and all eating my food that I would never make a plain old piece of chicken. This chicken recipe has some of my favorite flavors and a good healthy dose of fat from the olives. I hope you love it!

What you'll need:

4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

3T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1tsp dried rosemary

1tsp dried oregano

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup black olives, sliced

What you do:

Start in the morning by mixing up the lemon juice with the spices, olive oil and green onion in a zip lock. Add in the chicken and give it a good squish. Let it sit in the fridge all day until you are ready to cook in the evening.

Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken pieces in a lightly oiled pan. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Add the mushrooms and olives to the pan and continue baking covered until chicken is cooked through (about 15 more minutes give or take).

Alternative method: Have that hunk of a man (woman) in your life fire up the bbq and grill the chicken. Sautee the mushrooms and olives on the stove top. Pour the mushrooms over the chicken and serve. This is my preferred method as long as my husband is grilling shirtless :)

Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala

It's Wednesday and the images in my head of my team mate and me carrying a 140 pound log up and down the field at the CrossFit Southwest Regionals are finally starting to fade. I only wish the two giant black bruises on each of my shoulders would fade just as fast. I had the most amazing time over the last weekend. I got to meet new friends, cheer my team on, root for the individual athletes and see some of the most awesome displays of fitness in the world. I was all to sad to see it end. But everyday that passes by is a day closer to getting to go the CrossFit Games and cheer some more. I am inspired!

Seeing this incredible display of fitness reminded me of how important fueling our bodies properly really is. So let's get some good protein going in a delicious dish that's easy to make and really quick.

What you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (free range is best)

2 tsp ground fennel seeds

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3 1/2 cups Marsala wine or chicken broth (low sodium/gluten free)

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (Mother's or other health food store)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 shallots, thinly sliced

olive oil

4T plain coconut yogurt (So Delicious brand, Sprouts/Whole Foods/Mother's)

What you do:

Coat the chicken pieces with the fennel, pepper and red pepper flakes and set aside. In a deep saute pan, add the Marsala wine (or chicken broth), the garlic, shallots and dried mushrooms. Bring this mixture to a boil and then simmer it until it reduces by half. While the sauce is simmering use a grill pan (or your barbeque) to cook up the chicken. I like to slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound out the thick end to make more of a cutlet before cooking. When the sauce has reduced, remove it form the heat and whisk in the yogurt. This gives the sauce a creamy texture. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Enjoy!

PS. When choosing your Marsala wine there are three choices. Secco, semi-secco and dolce. The Secco has under 40 grams of sugar per liter. In this recipe we are not using a whole bottle and there are about 4 to 6 servings in this meal. So the sugar content is respectable. If you are freaked out by this go ahead and use the chicken broth. The taste is still devine!

Marinated, Grilled Chicken

Sometimes I feel really limited by eating so much chicken. I'm actually having a huge craving for something beef but I can't do a thing until my order from US Wellness comes in. I'm trying a few new cuts this go round so I'll have to see what I can create. Seafood is almost completely out for this family. The smell of it makes my husband sick. What I do like about eating so much chicken is that it makes me more creative in my recipes.

This chicken has a distinct Middle Eastern flavor. It's quite delicious and of course easy to make. I have to admit, I don't ever use the grill. It's not because I'm a girl, or because I think of grilling as the "man's job". It's because some years ago I had a freak grilling accident where I singed off a good percentage of my eyebrows and let's just say my bangs didn't need a trim for about six months. My daughter still laughs about it to this day. Of course she wasn't the one faced with a two-foot flame shooting out of the grill scaring me so badly that I dropped my cell phone into the BBQ. Well, okay... it is kind of funny now, but I can assure you I wasn't laughing back then. Can you imagine the look on the guys face at my local T-Mobile store when I brought in the half melted phone?? Priceless.

What you'll need:

4 Boneless chicken breasts (free range)

for the marinade:

1T. Dried mint

1T. Olive oil

1T. Lemon Juice

1T. Soy sauce (I know it's not paleo. Stop wagging your finger at me)

1tsp. Chili powder

1/4tsp Pepper

4 Garlic cloves, minced

What you do:

Wake up to another glorious morning. Stretch and smile... It's going to be a good one. Meander over to the kitchen and open the drawer that contains the staff of life... no, not bread silly... COFFEE. Root around in the drawer and realize that you have none. Drop to your knees and scream like Stanley Kawalski in Street Car Named Desire. Pull yourself off the ground using as much drama and histrionics as possible. Check out of the corner of your eye... Is your husband watching? This is the perfect time to smile meekly and give him the "will you go get me coffee" look. It usually works.

While you are waiting for your coffee throw all the marinade ingredients together in a bag and toss in the chicken. Give the bag a good squish to coat the chicken well. Let it sit in the fridge all day. Come dinner time it's ready to grill! You can bake it at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear if you don't have a grill.

Enjoy!

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

Today was crazy. Wait... I think I say that every day. For now, I will blame the time change because it seems that the extra hour we were robbed of is growing exponentially, but only in my home. Perhaps the hour of loss is directly related to the pile of laundry that magically appeared right in front of the washing machine. It must have been some type of time warp where my family changed their clothing 400 times. Could I have been in a coma? I just did laundry!!! How does this keep happening? It doesn't help that my washing machine is in my kitchen. It's not even behind a door. It's right there... staring at me... taunting me. It's laughing at my neurotic nuance called task completion, knowing that I will never be done with laundry until I take my last breath. It knows it has won. I bow my head in defeat and feed the hungry beast for the fourth time today.

I owe this blog to my washing machine. I owe this blog to my dirty dishes, my piles of paper, my dust bunnies, dog hair and bath tub ring. I owe this blog to my two beautiful twin boys who keep me running from sun up to sun down and quite often from sun down to sun up. If it weren't for all of the aforementioned I would have a leisurely life. I could spend hours in the kitchen creating divine four course meals set on beautiful china. And you wouldn't be the least bit interested, would you.

You see, I understand that you have no time just like I have no time and that is why I do what I do. So let's get in the kitchen and make some super yummy chicken cutlets. It was originally going to be fried chicken but it just didn't turn out that way. When things go south in my kitchen, I don't get to upset about it. I just turn the dish into something else. This time it turned out to be a delicious bonus. I hope you enjoy it!

What you'll need:

free range chicken breasts

1 small coconut yogurt plain flavor

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups almond meal

2 T Italian seasoning

2 T parsley

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes (omit for the kiddies)

ice and water

coconut oil

What you do:

Get out one deep bowl and two shallow bowls. Put ice and water in the deep bowl. In the second bowl mix your yogurt and three crushed garlic cloves together. In the third bowl mix the almond meal with the next five ingredients. Now take your chicken and soak it in the ice water for ten minutes. Really cold chicken holds the breading better. Next take the chicken out and pat dry. Butterfly the breasts and pound the thick part of the breast down so they are even and thin. Coat the breast with yogurt and then the almond mixture.

Get your pan hot with the coconut oil and fry up these little guys. They only take a couple of minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel if necessary.

There you have it! No, it's not fried chicken... I have to re-engineer that one. But it is all kinds of yummy. The yogurt keeps the chicken moist and gives a hint of tang while the spices wake up the senses. Just in time too... I think I heard the washer buzz.

Enjoy!

Szechuan Chicken and Veggies

I don't really know if this is actually "Szechuan" but it sounded like a good title. I couldn't think of anything else mostly due to the fact that I am fairly certain that I have incurred slight brain damage. You see... I have been fighting inflexibility of my joints due too lots of CrossFit and little stretching. I don't recommend it. I've gone from slightly less than Gumby to what feels like an old, arthritic woman. Oh... wait...I am an old, arthritic woman...

So what's an old, arthritic woman to do but try to increase her flexibility with a nice dose of Bikram Yoga. Just in case you are not familiar with Bikram Yoga, it's the type of yoga that is done in 200 degree heat (I exaggerate, but that is what it feels like). The instructor is borderline militant while taking you through 26 different poses that require ultimate control both mentally and physically. You're not allowed to leave the room even if you feel like you are going to black out, have a stroke and crap your pants all at the same time.

I couldn't imagine doing this on my own so I convinced my honey to go with me. I had a small idea of what to expect... he was blind sided. If I had been angry with him Bikram Yoga would have been the perfect revenge. But I wasn't. All I could do was occasionally glance over at him doing his best to wrap his arms around his chest three times while simultaneously standing on one leg in a full squat with the other leg wrapped around his body in the opposite direction. Oh and breathe deeply through his nose only. Are you kidding me? Breathe??? He was a trooper. He not only lasted the entire class, he could actually do most of the poses . I was duly impressed.

In the end we had a good laugh. We talked about mental toughness and breaking barriers in CrossFit. Bikram Yoga is definitely a way to surmount the aforementioned barriers. Remember the saying in CF about the "unknown and unknowable"? Bikram Yoga would be a great way to experience this. After my rave review above, I fully expect everyone to try it. No, I'm not kidding. The feeling of accomplishment is amazing. (Or maybe I'm confusing that with the shear joy that it's over and we survived). You will gain more flexibility, balance and a mental strength that takes you to a new level. Besides, it's just plain good for you. So get out there and give it a whirl... even if you loose a few brain cells the first couple of times.

And now... Szechuan Chicken!

What you'll need:

Free Range Chicken Breasts

5 T. low sodium soy sauce (gluten free)

2 T. rice vinegar (no sugar, no salt)

1 T. sesame oil

1 T. powdered ginger

1 T. Chili Oil (trader joe's)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

one or two red bell peppers

a bunch of green onions

a few slivered almonds

What you do:

Cut the chicken into bite sized chunks. Slice the bell pepper into thick strips and cut the green onions into two inch lengths. Mix the rest of the ingredients into a marinade. Pour the marinade over the chicken and mix it up. Let the chicken soak while you saute the vegetables. Once the veggies are crisp tender add the chicken to the pan. Make sure the pan is hot. You want to cook the chicken quickly.

Taste. If you want extra heat go ahead and add some more red pepper flakes. Plate it and sprinkle a few slivered almonds over the top. This is an easy and oh so spicy dish. Perfect for when you are sure that most of your brain cells have gone missing.

Enjoy!

Salsa Chicken

I can't believe it's Monday. The weekend flew by. Saturday and tonight were our kickoff meetings at CrossFit 714 about starting the paleo challenge. We had a great turnout! I am so excited to get this thing underway.

I am committed to putting up as many easy recipes that are paleo friendly as I possibly can. I want everyone to have the same success that my family has had. We have experienced all that paleo has to offer. We have more strength, more energy, clearer skin, less body fat, and we are more healthy than we have ever been. How on Earth would we be able to handle twin toddler tornadoes at nearly forty years old if it wasn't for our paleo diet! My husband's stomach issues left right around the same time his little spare tire was replaced by six-pack abs thanks to paleo. Many of you know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am happy to report that I take no medications what so ever. Paleo eating is not "snake oil". I still have a few bad days mixed in with all the good. However, I firmly believe eliminating grain from my diet plays a pinnacle role in keeping my joints flexible and has halted my disease progression.

With that said, I wanted to take one more moment of your time to say thank you so much for supporting me and loving my recipes. My goal continues to be to provide you with quick and easy meals that get you in and out of the kitchen so you can get back to your busy lives. My family has found that if we eat meals packed with flavor, we don't feel deprived. For us, big flavor is the most important part of making it easy to stick to the paleo way of life.

And so, it is now time to bring you... wait for it... SALSA CHICKEN!

What you'll need:

Salsa

Chicken

(really... that's it???)

What you do:

Get out your crock pot. Spray it with a little olive oil so you don't have to spend the evening scrubbing. Put in your chicken breasts. Put the salsa over the top. Cover and cook on low about 6 hours.

I know you are thinking, "Am I missing something here?" The answer is a resounding no... no you're not. Sometimes the simplest things taste the best and sometimes the simplest things are so simple, we don't think to make them.

What you do with the chicken when you are done is up to you. Taco salad? Lettuce wraps? Eat it plain? What about stuffing it into a pepper? The sky is the limit!

A key point to remember is that not all salsas are created equal. I personally like Santa Barbara Salsa in the Roasted Garlic flavor. It's all natural and gluten free (yes, they put gluten in salsa as a thickener and filler... can you believe that sh*%.) You can pronounce everything on the Santa Barbara Salsa ingredient list which is always a plus.

Let me know what you make with your salsa chicken!

Enjoy!

Chicken Puntanesca

Here is the recipe that proves we can live without pasta! It is totally and completely possible and quite yummy to boot. Just make a quick sauce and put it over chicken (or steak) instead of noodles. This is another one of those blink and it's done dishes. I'm in love with those, especially on nights like this. I knew that I was going to make chicken "something". I had made about four runs at the kitchen to try to make dinner but the more I tried, the more my efforts were thwarted.

One of my sons is nonverbal. His way of communicating is to look at me, take me by the hand, and lead me to what he wants. Trust me, we are celebrating that he is doing this... it's a huge accomplishment. So tonight was one of those nights where every time I tried to make dinner he would come in and take me by the hand and off we'd go. We played on the trampoline, I pushed him on the swing, we had a wrestling match. All the while dinner was falling further and further behind, but you know, who really cares when you've got the most important part of your life right in front of you trying like heck to communicate. He is awesome and I love him dearly. So my point is the later it got, the less time I had to come up with something. The idea of a beautiful bounty soon turned into whatever I could make that was fast and simple.

I love strong flavors so consider yourself warned. This one is not for sissies. The flavor is as intense as it is delicious. This is true paleo cooking at it's finest. So good, you will never know that it's healthy. And it's true Primal Mama cooking. So fast, dinner is on the table in 15 minutes.

Feel free to adjust the amounts of ingredients to your liking. I hope you love it!

What you'll need:

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

10 kalamata olives, rough chopped

1 large (or 2 small) cans diced tomato, low salt!

1 T. capers, rinse them off to get some of the salt off

chicken breasts

What you do:

Start by cutting through the chicken breast to make two thin pieces out of one breast. Pound the thicker end slightly to form a chicken cutlet. Throw a little cracked pepper on both sides. Saute the chicken on the stove top in a little olive oil until cooked through and remove to a plate. Using the same pan, add a little more olive oil if necessary and throw in your garlic and olives. Give that a good stir for about a minute and be careful not to burn the garlic. Add in the can(s) of tomatoes and mix. Get the flame going on high and stir until the tomato liquid is absorbed and you are left with a thick tomato sauce. Toss in the capers. The smell of this dish alone will cause you to fall in love immediately. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce on top. You have just made a wonderful meal in 15 minutes flat. No drive thru, no chicken nuggets, no "cream of god knows what" soup needed! And most of all... no pasta!

Enjoy!

Chile Relleno the Primal Way

I am a Southern California native and Mexican food is in my blood. Since I've been eating the paleo way, I've missed many of the dishes that I used to enjoy. One of my favorites was Enchiladas. They are so gooey and cheesy and yummy. The down side is that they are really carby and unhealthy. So needless to say, I've given them up. Another Mexican dish that I've given up is Chili Relleno. I've really only had it a couple of times but I really enjoyed it when I did. Who wouldn't love a giant chili stuffed with a huge hunk of cheese, battered and deep fried in lard? It goes down so good until you wake up one day with blocked coronary arteries and buns the size of Texas and wonder how it happened. I'm here to tell you, it was the Chili Relleno.

A couple of days ago I started to think, "What if I could take the healthy parts of both of those dishes and combine them to make something totally new?" I love Anaheim Chilies and I love chicken with sauteed onions and I love red sauce... Alright! I think I'm on to something. And so the Primal Chili Relleno was born.

As a side note, I have to say that this recipe turned out so good that my hubby and I stood over it at the stove and inhaled the entire pan. We didn't sit down, we didn't get a napkin, we even shared utensils because neither one of us wanted to break away from the heavenly flavor. I may make this again tomorrow.

What you'll need for 4 Chili Rellenos:

4 fresh Anaheim Chilies

2 eggs

1 rotisserie chicken from the market

1 big can enchilada sauce **Watch out** read the labels! Enchilada sauce can have really nasty ingredients. I like El Pato brand. Nothin' in there except tomatoes and seasoning.

1 onion

4 slices of jalapeno pepper from the jar

a brown paper bag

Guacamole (premade is easier!)

What you do:

First you want to fire roast your Chilies. Hopefully, you have a gas flame stove. If you have electric you are going to need to buy the chilies ready to go in a can. Look for whole Anaheim Chilies. You may be able to roast your chilies under the broiler, although I have never tried that. Ok, so, get the burner going and put your chili right on top of the flame and let it sit there. You want the skin to blister and turn black. Get it good on all sides using tongs. When all the skin is blackened put the chili inside the brown bag and close the bag up tight. Listen up! Make sure that the chili is not on fire when you put it in the bag! The bag will catch fire and you will have to play fireman with that little spray thingie you have attached to your sink. Do not ask me how I know this! Follow with the remainder of the chilies. Let them sit in the bag for 10 minutes. Rip open the bag and peel off the skin on all your chilies. You should have a very soft, skinless chili now. Cut down the chili vertically and take out the seeds and veins. You may have to use a knife to cut the seed pod out. Leave the chili intact with just a slit going down the center of it like a little pocket.

Now here's the part where you should either get out your electric mixer or pray that CrossFit has been good to you and your arm strength. It's called whipping egg whites for time. Separate your egg whites and yolks. In a large bowl start whisking your egg whites until they are stiff. Whisk like your life depended on it. Those egg whites aren't going to get all fluffy by themselves! Get to it! Once they look like merangue you can gently fold in one of the egg yolks. Your mixture should still look quite fluffy and airy.

Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan and get it hot. Dip the chili in the egg "batter" and fry the chili in the olive oil on each side just until the egg is cooked and browned. It only takes a few seconds per side. Drain the chilies on paper towels.

Chop and saute your onion using the same pan that you cooked the chilies in until soft. While the onion is cooking take about 2 cups of chicken meat off the bone and chop it up. Mix the onion with the chicken in a bowl. Mince up about 4 slices of jalapeno (I use the ones in the jar already sliced) and add it to the chicken. Mix in enough enchilada sauce to coat the chicken mixture nicely. Now spoon the chicken mixture into the chilies and put them in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until everything is heated through.

To serve, pour some enchilada sauce on an empty plate and place the stuffed chili on top of the sauce. Spoon some guacamole on the side of the plate. Sprinkle with oregano. Take a bite. Cry tears of joy because nothing on this Earth should taste this good.

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken on Cauliflower Mash

Doesn't this look fancy? It has the look of a gourmet meal. It takes a little more work than most of my recipes but it's worth the time. The key is in the presentation. Do you have someone to wow? This would be your dish. I love to make dinners like this. People eat with their eyes first and this dish says, "Marvel at my creator because I taste great!", even before they take the first bite. I've actually seen a dish like this at a local restaurant for about $26.00.

You can make this dish with bone-in chicken or with boneless breast or thigh. It's really up to your preference. The cauliflower mash is super simple and not bland at all with the addition of caramelized onion and garlic powder. You may even consider making this for Valentine's Day dinner in lieu of an overpriced and super-rushed, crowded and noisy meal where they usher you in and out in an hour so they can seat their next group of victims... I mean, patrons. Don't gasp at me! It's just a suggestion.

So let's get to makin' some chicken!

What you'll need:

For the chicken:

Chicken pieces of your choice

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of parlsey

2 lemons

a ziplock bag

For the Cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower

chicken broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1 white onion

1 tsp garlic powder

A bag of spinach

A garlic clove

an additional lemon for the sauce

pepper

What you do:

Wake up way too early in the morning. Stumble to the kitchen and step down full force on the GI Joe that was left strategically in the middle of the kitchen floor. Wish you could scream in pain but hold it inside. The twins are still sleeping and you just...need... five... more... minutes...of...peace. Hop to the coffee pot holding the injured foot in your hand while trying not to trip over your robe tie and fire that sucker up. Catch your reflection in the window, recoil, and ask yourself when you turned into the Bride of Frankenstein.

Meander in a half fog over to the fridge and take out your ingredients to get the chicken marinating. Suck down half a pot of coffee. Grab your ziplock and put in the olive oil. Chop up the garlic and throw that in there too. Tear the stems off the parsley and rough chop it. Get that in the bag. Half the two lemons and squeeze the juice in the bag. Throw the whole lemon rind in the bag too. Put in your chicken and seal the bag. The key word here is SEAL. Although you may be in a twin induced coma, you are going to want to seal the bag so when you shake it marinade doesn't slosh all over you causing the opposite sex to become suddenly intrigued (and quite hungry) with your new scent. Get the chicken in the fridge. That's it for the morning. You can go about your day now.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Put a little olive oil in a pan, get it hot, and add the sliced onion. Stir it around a bit. Cook it a couple of minutes and then turn the heat down low. Let the onion cook slowly. This pulls the sugar out of the onion creating the caramelization. The onion is done when it's soft and shiny and a deep caramel color. Smell the sweetness... mmm... sooo good. Remove the onion from the pan and chop it up. While the onion is cooking, cut the cauliflower into chunks and steam it for about 7 minutes until it's slightly soft. Put it in the food processor with a tsp of olive oil and a little pepper. Pulse to desired consistency adding chicken broth as necessary for smoothness. Transfer the cauliflower mash to a bowl and gently stir in onion and garlic powder.

There are two ways to cook the chicken. If you are using boneless breasts, I like to butterfly them and saute them in the pan with olive oil. When the chicken is cooked through remove it to a plate add about 1cup of chicken broth and another lemon squeezed to the pan. Boil the broth with lemon and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.

If you are using bone-in chicken like in the picture, you can bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes or until chicken in no longer pink inside. If you want to get fancy you can trim the wing so just the drumette remains. Use the pan drippings as sauce with an additional squeeze of lemon.

If you want to get all crazy you can saute some spinach in olive oil with a little chopped garlic for a side. It adds a great pop of color.

And now for the piece de la resistance! Get a shallow bowl and put your cauliflower mash on the bottom like a little mountain. Oh yeah, that's lookin' good! Add the chicken on top, at an angle you're amazing, and a little dab of spinach on the side... such talent! Top with a little pan sauce. Bobby Flay could not have done this one any better.

Pesto Stuffed Chicken

By now if you've been following this blog you know that I don't do anything bland. This dish is no exception. I am on a mission to prove that paleo style eating does not have to be all about eating the same boring thing day after day. There are infinite possibilities and I'm just starting to scratch the surface.

As usual, this recipe was not planned out. I was at Sprout's Market getting a few things. I was reaching for the kale and these giant trays of basil started flying off the shelf all over the floor. I think it was divine intervention. Either that or it was just me being extraordinarily clumsy with my reach causing a landslide of basil along with a few loathful stares from nearby patrons. I don't even like basil but after that showing I resigned to put a few in my cart while trying to make it look like I had planned the basil explosion all along. I don't think I pulled it off.

So I get home and I have all this basil along with a bruised ego. What does one make with basil that does not have a giant slab of fresh mozzarella along side it? My answer was pesto... Yuck... pesto. But by this time I was committed. I despise pesto. How can I change it up? And then it came to me. Spinach, pine nuts, garlic, sun dried tomato. You've heard those ingredients before. Well, that's cuz they're my favorites. I cut the "basily" strength way down by using spinach. My experiment worked. Not only did it work, this is my new favorite dish. I hope you will feel that way too.

What you'll need:

1 packed cup basil

1packed cup spinach

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1 jar sundried tomatoes in olive oil (8oz)

olive oil

4 free range chicken breasts

pepper

3/4 cup low sodium, gluten free chicken broth

1 lemon

toothpicks

What you do:

Place your pine nuts in a dry and hot skillet. Stir them around until they become toasty brown and then remove them from the heat. Pay attention! They burn easily. Prepare the pesto. It doesn't matter if you have a blender or a food processor, either work. Put the first five ingredients into the bowl of the processor and pulse/blend until you have a paste like consistency. You may need to stream in a little more olive oil than what is in the tomato jar to achieve a smooth pesto. Take a long, deep smell. Feel the stress of the day leave your body. Resist the urge to give yourself a pesto facial. You'll need every drop for the chicken.

Now for the chicken. Take one chicken breast and slice all the way through the center of it horizontally. You should have two very thin chicken breasts now. Repeat with the rest of the chicken. Take your meat mallet and with the flat side pound out the chicken to about 1/4 inch thickness. The trick here is to make SMALL chicken rolls (like the size of a roll of quarters). You want three or four on a plate so you may need to cut the chicken in half vertically to make small enough pieces. Ok, so you have your chicken all pounded flat and each piece is cut about the size of a deck of cards. Throw a little cracked pepper over the chicken. Take a heaping tablespoon of pesto and slather it all over one side of the chicken like you're buttering bread. Sorry, bad analogy. Now, ever so gently roll the chicken up like a jelly roll... oooh, did it again. Secure the seam with a couple of toothpicks.

Get your pan hot with olive oil and place the chicken with the seam side down into the pan. Yes, you can cook the toothpicks too. Brown it for a couple of minutes and then turn it over. After both sides are browned turn the chicken over one more time (seam side down) and pour 3/4 cup of chicken broth into the pan. Watch out for the sizzle. Cover the pan and turn down the heat to medium-low. Let those little babies simmer for about 6 minutes. When you lift the lid you will notice that some of the pesto that has fallen out of the chicken and the stock have made a heavenly sauce purely by accident. Do not... I repeat... do not go face first into the pan when you are overcome with desire for the exquisite meal you just made. First of all it's not polite to lick every one's meal and secondly plastic surgery is expensive.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Enjoy!

Coconut Yogurt Marinated Chicken

I have always loved this recipe. It was a staple in our house until we eliminated all things dairy. With great hesitation, I tried it with plain coconut yogurt in place of full fat plain yogurt. To my surprise, I could not tell the difference between the two which inspired a spontaneous dance of victory all around the kitchen.

If you have five minutes in the morning make up this quick marinade and throw some chicken breasts into it. When you get home, all you have to do it cook them up and you have a quick and tasty dinner. If you don't have five minutes, wake up five minutes earlier. This chicken is worth it!

what you'll need:

chicken breasts

1container of plain coconut yogurt (6oz) We use "So Delicious" brand

3 cloves of minced garlic

2T lemon juice (or half a lemon)

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

3/4tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp ground cumin

1T olive oil

what you do:

Combine the yogurt with all of the ingredients except the chicken breasts in a big ziplock. Close it tight and squish the ingredients all around to mix them.

There are a couple of options when adding the chicken. You can add it in whole breasts or butterfly it and pound it flat then add it. I personally like to butterfly it. It gives it more surface area to soak up the marinade.

Add your chicken to the bag and squish it all around again to cover the chicken up with marinade. If you have teenagers put the chicken in an additional ziplock before putting it in the fridge. They will undoubtedly forcefully move the chicken aside while foraging for a meal just before they tell you there is "nothing to eat in this house" causing the bag to explode and spew yogurt all over the contents of your fridge. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience...

Give the chicken at least eight hours to marinade. More time if you've got it. When you are ready to cook it you can do a couple of things. Number 1: If you've kept the chicken breasts whole, give them to your husband/boyfriend/father, or some hot looking guy and command him to BBQ the chicken for you. Guys, if you're reading this... you're on your own. Number 2: If you've butterflied it you can cook it on the stove in a grill pan with a little olive oil. Watch the flame though, the yogurt can burn easily. Number 3: Bake it in the oven. Since I've never done that make sure you let me know how it goes.

Enjoy!

Herbed Chicken - Blink and it's done

Recently, I have had numerous requests for fast recipes. I think this one tops the charts. It comes in at about 8 minutes flat. It requires little to no attention span and if you have the advantage of having twins, you can even make this as each twin clings to one of each of your legs. Just think of them as ankle weights as you trudge through the kitchen building muscle all the way. You can easily steam some broccoli and have it ready in the same amount of time.

Here's what you'll need:

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

granulated garlic

herbs de' provence

olive oil

Here's what you do:

After you've cut the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, place them in a bowl and coat them with a little olive oil. Liberally sprinkle the granulated garlic and herbs de' provence on the chicken and mix it all around with your hand. Remember, LIBERAL is the key word here. Don't be shy with the spices. Coat every piece with spice. When you think you have enough, add a dash more.

I use a flat top to cook mine, but if you don't have one you can use a regular pan. Get it hot with some olive oil. Throw your chicken in. Don't mix it around; let it sit and get nice and brown. Turn the pieces with tongs and brown the other side. When both sides are brown you can start mixing it all around to cook it evenly. Doesn't your house smell yummy? Serve it up with your veggie and a side of fruit. It's so easy! Enjoy

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breast

Today was a busy one for me. I went strong from about 5am until now, which is about 10:15pm. I'm sure in most cases, I'm preaching to the choir. However, the reason I tell you this is that there is still time to make a delicious meal even if you don't eat it until 9pm. I mean, really... we could have eaten at 6 but my husband and I thought it more important to go torture ourselves with 250 wall ball shots and 125 pull-ups for time.

This chicken is so delicious. It's really fit for a dinner party but it's so easy to make why not have it anytime? It took me a total of 15 minutes to put it together using some little short cuts from my favorite spot: Trader Joe's.

Here's what you'll need:

2 free range chicken breasts

1/2 can artichoke hearts (TJ's)

2T. sun dried tomato strips in olive oil (TJ's)

1 box of frozen spinach

2T. olive tampanade (TJ's)

2T. pine nuts (TJ's)

Here's what you do:

Cut through the center thickness of the chicken breasts nearly all the way through (Butterfly them). Open up the chicken breasts and saute in a little olive oil about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a dish and keep warm. While the chicken is cooking, microwave the spinach as the package suggests and chop the artichoke hearts. When the spinach is done you must squeeze all the water from it. Place the spinach in a strainer and press down on it with a clean kitchen towel to extract the water. No, I'm not kidding. I know it sounds weird, but it's the only way I know of to get all the water out without going to the ER with a third degree, molten spinach burn. Mix the spinach, sun dried tomato strips, olive tampanade, pine nuts and artichoke hearts together. Take a giant bite when nobody is looking. Revel in your mastery of the cullinary arts. Zap the filling in the microwave for about 30 seconds just to heat the filling through. Plate the chicken and add the stuffing in between the two pieces of chicken. Marvel at the beauty of your creation. That is it my friends. Something this simple should not taste this good! Enjoy

Chicken Piccata

This Chicken Piccata is sinful. After your first bite you are going to think you are doing something so wrong. I assure you, you are not. I would take a bath in this sauce if I could. It's really that delicious.

What you'll need:

4 free range chicken breasts

1 egg

about 1 cup of almond meal

olive oil

1 cup of chicken broth

juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

half a can of artichoke hearts quartered

1T. of capers, rinsed

1T. of Paleo approved butter (I use Earth's Balance gluten/casein free)

Start by pounding out the chicken breasts with a meat mallet. You know the drill. Pound them like they just slapped your mama. Get them nice and thin. Whisk up your egg in a bowl and pour out some almond meal onto a plate. Take a chicken breast and dip it in the egg then coat it with the almond meal.

Put your olive oil in a saute pan and get it hot. I will let you be the judge on how much to use. I am not fearful of olive oil so I probably use about a quarter of a cup all together. When the oil is hot put one chicken breast in the pan. When the edges are browned flip it over. Remove it from the pan. If you over did it on the oil, blot it off with some paper towels and flog yourself repeatedly. Cook the remaining chicken breasts one by one removing them to a plate. Cover with foil to keep them warm.

Here comes the best part. Keeping the pan hot, pour in the chicken broth. Stand back or you will get a chicken facial. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the browned bits. That is where all the deep flavor comes from. Add in the crushed garlic and lemon juice. Boil the sauce rapidly and reduce it by half. Finish the sauce with the butter and stir it in really well. Smell it. That's called nirvana. Add the artichokes and rinsed capers. Heat them through and poor over top of chicken. Try not to eat the whole pan.