Tag Archives: chicken

When in doubt…get the fuck in your kitchen (Paleo Chicken Carbonara)

20 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by in Bacon, Chicken, Don't be afraid of your kitchen, informing the community, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes, squash, Vegetables

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We’ve said it over and over again.

We find  a lot of solace in our kitchen. That little space (and since our move that not so little space) where time slows down and we focus on the very thing in front of us and not the ever shrinking yet ever growing world around us.

The chopping and dicing. The adding of spices and measuring of liquids. The excitement over new recipes and the possibilities of left overs (with that good old friend of ours the fried egg).

Oh we’ll be the first to admit some days it just seems like a pain in the ass to get in there and make a meal or two after a long day knowing it’s going to be repeated in a few hours and all we can think about it zoning out with something on Netflix and some called in / picked up boxes of hot food ready to eat with the push of the front door buzzer.

Nothing, however, is more satisfying than sitting down (with a disaster of a kitchen that still has to be cleaned up) to something that we created. With our hands. With our hearts. With patience knowing that for a least a little bit, time has slowed down and that big bad world isn’t so big and isn’t so bad…

Make this meal.

Again and again.

It’s amazing!

ENJOY!

Paleo Chicken Carbonara

Ingredients:

  • 1 large spaghetti squash;
  • 2 chicken breasts cut into small cubes
  • 10 – 15 stalks of asparagus, cut into 1″ pieces
  • 1 large pepper (you pick the color), seeded and chopped.
  • 5 – 7 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (save the rendered fat!)
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F

To prepare the spaghetti squash, you’ll have different options (the microwave, bake it whole, cut in half….). We always cut in half, clean out the seeds, place on nonstick cookie sheet (squash side down) at 400F for about 20-25 minutes. A good indicator that it’s done is a fork will pierce the skin (we take it out when fork has a little resistance because we like it more el dente. While this is cooking in the oven get over to those veggies and start chopping and get that bacon started!!!

carbonara 5

Remember for proper handling of foods, chop your vegetables first THEN your meat. Don’t use the same chopping mat either…have a designated mat just for cutting raw meats and never ever (ever) use it for your veggies. Ours is red. You know for ‘warning! warning! You’re about to cut raw meat!”

Hopefully you have great time management skills in the kitchen and about the time you’re done chopping the veggies/meat the bacon will just about be ready. Set bacon aside but leave the rendered fat in the saute pan. If your time management skills need some improvement, do the bacon first so it doesn’t burn and set aside. Chop those veggies and meat and then get ready for the magic. The spaghetti squash may be ready at this point so check it and if it’s done, remove from oven and place in refrigerator to help cool down a bit for easy handling.

carbonara 2

(fuck yes! BACON!!!)

With the rendered fat still in the saute pan, add garlic and cook on medium heat for about a minute (but no more or it will start to burn). Add onions and saute for additional minute or two then add asparagus and peppers. Cook for another minute or so then add chicken. Continue to saute on medium heat until chicken is cooked thoroughly then turn down to low heat so it will continue to simmer while you get that delicious spaghetti squash ready.

carbonara 1

(Fuck yes!!! VEGETABLES!!!)

If your spaghetti squash is in the refrigerator; get it out! With a fork work your way from the inside around the sides to remove the spaghetti like strands from the skin and add to the saute pan.

If it’s still in the oven; HANDLE WITH CAUTION!!! It’s gonna be hot and you’re gonna need to remove the spaghetti like strands from the skin. Fear not our little kitchen friends, with practice you’ll become an expert in the handling of spaghetti squash. Once separated from skin add to saute pan and mix chicken/veggies and squash thoroughly.

Chop up that amazing bacon!

carbonara 3

Now put it all together! Plate your carbonara and top with bacon!

carbonara 4

~Now that’s good eatin’ Folks!

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Paleo Chicken Cashew

15 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Chicken, Don't be afraid of your kitchen, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes, Vegetables

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We are week three into our “we should really plan our meals” meal plan and we are happy to report it’s been going quite well. A mixture of making the foods that we know we love and finding recipes that we’re pretty sure we’re gonna love so let’s give it a try.

The last few Sundays we’ve sat down (usually over dinner) and decided what the following week is going to look like meal wise (and by meal wise we also mean dinner since breakfast is usually the standard egg-y goodness omelette that Mimi likes and the “I prefer left-overs with a fried egg on top” that Tee likes so much).

Mimi did some food investigating and found a simple cashew cabbage recipe that we thought we would liked We tweaked it a bit to add a little protein (cause if it’s one thing we love in this household we love our meat).

Make sure you make extra cause you’re definitely going to want to throw an egg on top of this delicious goodness!

Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken Cashew

Ingredients:

  • 1 Small Head of Cabbage (we used Napa), quartered and sliced thin
  • 1 lb Chicken Thighs, cut into small pieces
  • 1 Small Onion, halved and sliced thin
  • 3 – 4 Celery Stalks sliced thin
  • 1 Cup Raw Cashews, roughly chopped
  • 4 – 6 Garlic Cloves, Peeled and minced
  • Ginger, Thumb sized, Peeled and minced.
  • 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
  • 2 Tsp Fish Oil
  • 1/4 C Rice Vinegar
  • 1/4 C Liquid Soy
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Pepper
  • 1 Tsp Ground Salt

When you get started, always remember to prep according to food safety. If you use cutting boards, have designate a meat only cutting board so that you lessen the chance of cross contamination. Always prep veggies first, set aside and then prep raw meats.

If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time you know we love the actual prep part almost as much as we love the eating part. Spending time with your food, in your kitchen gives you a better connection with what you’re trying to accomplish. A hurried rush of opening boxes, waiting for the microwave to ding or standing by the front door with cash in hand as the delivery driver pulls up takes away from the ultimate goal of taking control of your food. Practice your knife skills, think about how a different ingredient or spice might change things up…be present.

cabbage

We decided to use a napa cabbage because it has a lighter taste but if it’s not available a regular green cabbage will do. Cut it in half (remove the stem), cut each half in half then slice thin (slaw size). Set aside. Cut Celery and set aside.

garlic ginger

You can adjust the ginger and garlic amount according to your tastes. Remember you can’t take away if you add too much so better to err on the side of less and add rather than all and regret it. Peel and mince and set aside.

In a small mixing bowl combine fish oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, pepper and salt. If you’re feeling a little adventurous you can add a teaspoon or two of sriracha sauce. Mix well and set aside.

Prepare chicken thighs (cut into small pieces) and set aside.

In a medium saute pan or wok, add sesame oil and heat to medium/high temperature. Add garlic and ginger and saute until garlic starts to brown. Add Onion saute for 1-2 minutes then add chicken and continue to saute 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

Add cabbage, roughly chopped cashews and sauce to pan. Mix well and continue to saute for a short time (just enough for the cabbage to start to wilt).

Chicken cashew

Sprinkle with a little more pepper if you so desire and chomp down on this goodness!!!

~Now that’s good eatin’ Folks!

Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken…

02 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes, Stew, Vegetables

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Summer is coming to a close. Leaves are quickly turning those lovely deep oranges and reds that we love so much as we meander in our neighborhood trying to get the walks in that we miss so much during the winter months.

The seasons change pretty quickly around here. One day you’re planning a big barbecue, throwing the frisbee around outdoors and lathering on that suntan lotion and the next day you’re putting on your hoodie, pulling out your rainboots and thinking about when you’re going to need to make the winter tire appointment.

It also means that local foods around here change. Root veggies become the predominate staple and instead of those big old summer salads you begin to think about hearty stews that warm your insides.

This is one of those hearty stews. We found this little recipe over at Nom Nom Paleo and as usual changed things up according to what we had and what we like. The recipe below is a little larger than most recipes because when we cook we’re also thinking about lunches for the coming work week. Change amounts according to what you need but seriously it’s better to have more and cook less if you ask us!

Enjoy!

Coconut Curry Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (or thighs),
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or fat of choice
  • 2 large onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Thai curry paste
  • 1 can coconut milk (full fat is preferable)
  • Lots of veggies ( we used asparagus/sugar peas/peppers)
  • Garlic, minced (we used 8 cloves)
  • Spices according to your likes (we used chili powder/paprika/salt/pepper)
  • Zucchini (optional – used for “noodles”

The players

As usual, you want to think about food handling safety while prepping so it’s better to prep veggies THEN prep chicken.

Veggies

cute bowl

*** Side Note: A friend of ours gave us some stuff to sell at an upcoming yard sale and we found this cool bowl in with the goodies. Yhea, not gonna lie, we’re totally keeping it for ourselves***

Once you’ve cut your chicken into desired size, you want to add your spices. Again, in the Martin/Dowe household we do love a little spice in our life:

  • 2 Tbsp Chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp paprika
  • A little Salt
  • A lot of pepper

Chicken...

Heat up your coconut oil (or FoC) in saucepan or wok and cook chicken thoroughly. Remove from pan and set aside…

mmmmmm chicken...

Once removed, add garlic to pan or wok and saute for a minute or two…

garlic...

Add veggies of choice and saute. Don’t over cook. Keep them crunchy!

veggies!

While veggies are in the saucepan/wok, mix coconut milk and curry paste together in separate bowl. Add sauce to veggies and return chicken to pan. Turn down the heat and let simmer…

Now if you’re adding the zucchini as a base this is where you want to make your “noodles”. We have this really handy grater:

"noodles"

You can also use mandolin and slice thin or use practice your knife skills and do it by hand. In separate saucepan heat up a little coconut oil/FoC and saute the “noodles”…BE CAREFUL and don’t over cook. These little strings of deliciousness only take a minute to heat up. After that they turn to mush…

noodles

Serve and Enjoy!

Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken

We only cooked enough “noodles” for the one meal. If you want to stretch this out a little you can add quinoa as a base (which by the way if freaking amazing with the coconut curry sauce!).

We were able to get one meal and 4 lunches out of the whole shebang!

~Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

Don’t Be Afraid of Your Own Kitchen (Homemade Almond Flour and Paleo Almond Crusted Chicken Strips)

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Chicken, informing the community, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes, What you should know

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We love a good workout.

The kind that leaves you bent over at the waist wondering if it’s ever going to end (and yet wishing it would keep going). The kind that as soon as it’s done, the first thing we think is “hmmmm, that’s gonna be sore later”. Whether it’s running, swimming, lifting heavy stuff or perfecting the pull-up we know the importance of moving your body…

But…

Ask either of us and we’ll be the first to tell you we strongly believe that it’s the food foundation that was the main factor in our weight loss journeys and understanding how processed foods affects us both physically and emotionally. You can run a million miles but you can never out run your “diet”.

These days, it’s about convenience. Pick up the phone, go through a drive-thru, pop a frozen dinner in the microwave and Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am; You can conquer any hunger pangs. But let’s not fool ourselves; That’s not food. Yes it’s easier, yes it takes less time, yes you might get away without doing the dishes for the night, yes maybe the only thing you have to worry about is whether you’ll stop in at Ben and Jerry’s on the way back from the All-You-Can-Eat pasta bar and yes you’re inserting a substance into your mouth and swallowing to begin the process of digestion but trust us,  you could do so much better.

One of the reasons people resort to the convenience of eating out (at a restaurant or out of a bag) is the fear of being in the kitchen. Our main goal here at theHDD is to prove to you that with just a few ingredients and no fancy equipment, delicious meals can be created and be created by you.

We also want to encourage readers to think about ways of making even the most basic of kitchen staples. Take for instance Almond Flour. You want to make better choices and what better choice than to switch out that bleached wheat based flour for almond flour? You head to the store and WHOA THERE…

“you want me to pay what for this?”

It’s expensive people! But what if you could make it at home for a fraction of what it cost and in about 10 minutes? Not to mention you feel pretty bad ass for making something that seems so…well fancy smancy!

Homemade Almond Flour

Ingredients: ALMONDS

(a Magic Bullet and Old Fashion Flour Sifter)

It doesn't take much to make Almond Flour1. Throw handful of almonds into magic bullet and pulse.

Oh the power of the magic bullet 2. Pour into sifter and wheeeeeeee spin until only larger pieces are left behind.

Old Fashion Sifter is a fun thing to have in the kitchen.4. Put larger chunks back into magic bullet and repeat steps 1 – 4.

Almond Flour

Now just to show you that the almond flour we make at home (in less than 15 minutes and about 1/4th the cost of store bought almond flour), is as good as the  store bought – below is the almond flour we make on the left and Bob’s Red Mill almond flour on the right. The only difference is they removed the skins and blanched the almonds. Ours are right out of the bag making it a deeper flavor.

Comparison (R) is ours (L) is store bought

Okay Tara and Meegan so now I made almond flour (and you’re right I feel pretty bad ass) what do I do with it? Well shoot, why not try your hand at Chicken Strips!

Paleo Almond Flour Chicken Strips

Ingredients;

  • Chicken breasts (we use one breast per person)
  • Egg white
  • Almond Flour
  • FoC (we use coconut oil)

There won’t be any pictures taking you step by step since we already inundated you with the almond flour pictures but it’s pretty easy (especially if you know how to make any kind of fried chicken).

  1. Set up dredging area (one bowl with egg white, one bowl with almond flour and plate for finished product).
  2. Cut chicken breasts into strips.
  3. Brush or dip strip in egg white then lightly cover with almond flour and put on plate. Repeat until all strips are done.
  4. Heat up FoC (Fat of Choice) in skillet over medium/high heat.
  5. When FoC is hot, place strips in skillet and cook approx 3-4 minutes each side until chicken is cooked thoroughly. We tend to flip our chicken strips often to make sure they brown evenly.

chicken strips

Less than an hour from making homemade almond flour to eating dinner at the table. We might have had dishes to wash but we know exactly what went into the preparation of our food. No hidden sugars or added processed ingredients. Just good food that drives our desire to make better choices both physically and emotionally.

~ Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

When it looks fancy, it must take forever (or not) – Paleo Spinach Stuffed Chicken.

21 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes

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You’ve invited that someone special over.

You want to impress them with your culinary skills but can hardly boil water without boiling it away and scalding the pot (like we would know anything about that).

This is one of those meals that not only tastes really (really) delicious, but it looks amazing and will surely score you some points as you’re maybe trying to “score” on a new level.

(see what we did there)?

The hardest part about this recipe? Butterfly(ing) the chicken breast and if you’re certain you’re going to screw this up, don’t be afraid to ask your grocer’s butcher to do it for you.

The original recipe comes from Budget Paleo and as always changes were made according to our tastes and preferences.

Enjoy!

Paleo Spinach Stuffed Chicken with Bacon

Ingredients:

  • Boneless Chicken (we used three; butterflied)
  • Bacon Slices (we used 7: 3 to wrap chicken, 4 to stuff)
  • 2 peppers (seeded and diced)
  • 1 Onion (peeled and diced)
  • 2 – 3 Cups Spinach
  • Garlic (we used 6 cloves)

Preheat oven 375F

A few readers have mentioned that it’s a little difficult to print out the recipe because of all the pictures (We do love taking pictures). One idea we want to try is putting all the pictures at either the beginning or end of the blog post and have the instructions clumped together so you can highlight and copy to a word document.

Let us know if this works better / worse / didn’t really matter.

Instructions:

Separate the bacon used to wrap chicken from the bacon used for stuffing. In a frying pan or skillet add chopped stuffing bacon and cook thoroughly. Remove and in same bacon grease saute garlic / onion / peppers until tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Return chopped bacon to frying pan and mix together. Remove from stove top while you prepare chicken.

Butterfly each chicken breast and lay it on top of one slice of bacon (this will make it easier to wrap instead of waiting to wrap after stuffed which we didn’t do and it got a little messy). Spread bacon/veggie evenly on one side of chicken and then close up chicken breast. Wrap bacon around entire chicken breast and place in glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (optional).

Bake (uncovered) for about 30 – 35 minutes. Increase temperature to 450 – 500F and brown bacon for about 10 minutes or until browned to your preference.

This particular time we paired it with a simple vegetable so that the “fanciness” of the stuffed chicken really stood out. We’re not sure who we were trying to impress since it was just the two of us but whatever!

     ~Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

Whole30 and Paleo Chicken Pad Thai

21 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes

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We’ve been having a bit of a discussion in the Martin/Dowe household…

With the upcoming Holiday season descending upon us (Canadian Thanksgiving, Halloween, American Thanksgiving and Christmas) we’ve been preparing ourselves for the onslaught of food that just seems to never stop.

One of the things we’ve been talking about doing is going back to a strict 30 day paleo foundation. Some of you will remember we were using the hashtag #30daypaleo a while back as we proceeded to eliminate all dairy, all grains, all types of sweetener (including honey and maple syrup) and of course anything processed for 30 days. After the 30 days we introduced small amounts of dairy (greek yogurt and cheese) and some sweetners (paleo approved).

We completed the 30 days with smashing success but as time went on we found ourselves introducing more types foods and many of them not paleo friendly (think desserts). We ate out more. We were more flexible about what went into our bodies and we can feel it taking it’s toll on us.

A small group of people on Facebook are about to begin “Whole30”, which is basically the same idea as #30daypaleo, and we’re jumping aboard the ship! Most people who follow a paleo foundation suggest eliminating many of the “paleo friendly” foods during the first 30 days, the only difference is that the people over at Whole9 have an official title for the first month: Whole30

We begin tomorrow…

But in reality it won’t be that much of a shift. We know what we’re doing. We know how to make our kitchen Whole30 friendly. We’re just hoping it helps curb our “outings” where the kitchens are not Whole30 friendly!

Below is the recipe for Paleo Pad Thai that we found over at Health-Bent. They listed this as a side dish but we took it a little further and made it into an entree by adding chicken (meaning we double up on most of the original ingredients). We also found that the “peanut” sauce was a little bland so we added one of our most favorite ingredients: Coconut Milk.

And this is definitely Whole30 approved!

Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Chicken Breast or Thigh (cubed)
  • 4 – 6 Zucchinis
  • 1 Onion (diced)
  • 1 C Coconut Milk (we used Thai Kitchen)
  • 1 Tbsp Ginger (minced)
  • Garlic (we used 8 – minced)
  • 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp Chili Powder
  • 1/3 Cup Almond Butter
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 Lime
  • FoC (Fat of Choice) for sauteing chicken/veggies

Before you begin throwing everything in your saute pan, prepare those zucchinis. If you have a mandolin of sorts this will work best. If not then you can practice your knife skills by slicing into thin strips.

Once those are done and off to the side, heat your FoC in a sautee pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, ginger and onion for a few minutes then add chicken.

 

Once Chicken is cooked thoroughly, add lime, vinegar, fish sauce, chili powder, almond butter and coconut milk. Heat on low so as not to scald the almond butter. Once a sauce like consistency  add zucchini. Stir together and let cook for about 10 – 15 minutes (until zucchini is cooked to your taste – some like it more firm than others).

You can serve this over quinoa or rice cauliflower but it was so filling we ate it with just a few orange slices (and it makes the plate look nice)..

This dish will impress even the most anti-paleo of eaters! And if it doesn’t well that just means more for you!

Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

A new cookbook in theHDD house (and Paleo Chicken Lo Mein!)

05 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes, Product Review, recipes, Vegetables

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Sometimes Christmas come a little early…

For us it came just last week in the form of a cookbook that we are so very fortunate to have received. We don’t have many cookbooks (and very few of those are paleo focused) so we are like kids in the “candy” store when it comes to opening the pages of this book, clapping our hands and literally squeeing “What’s next, what’s next!?”

Over the next couple of months we’ll be featuring recipes that we’ve tasted and tested both from the book and from the website: Primal Palate.

The first recipe we choose is the Chicken “Lo-Mein” If you are familiar with Chinese Food then you will know that Lo-Mein is a typically made with a thin wheat noodle. As with most dishes it’s a pretty easy tweak of a few ingredients to from standard food to Paleo. In this case the noodles are replaced by cabbage and the soy sauce is replaced by coconut aminos or wheat free soy sauce (though hard core Paleoians – is that even a word? – would argue that the gluten free soy sauce is still made from rice but let’s not get too bent out of shape…)

As usual we added and subtracted ingredients per our tastesbuds (and made extra for lunches) but be assured the end result was just as amazing…

Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken “Lo Mein”

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs Chicken Breast (skinless, cubed)
  • 1 Medium Sized Head of Broccoli (chopped)
  • 1/2 Purple Cabbage (shredded)
  • 1 Small Bok Choy (chopped)
  • 1 C Water Chestnuts (small can, drained)
  • 2 Small Sweet Peppers (cut into medium strips)
  • 2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds
  • 1/4 C Almonds (chopped)
  • 2 Tbsp Ginger (minced)
  • 2 Tbsp Garlic (minced)
  • 1/4 C Gluten Free Soy Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil

Before you do anything, prepare your veggies! Remember always work from least contaminate foods to most contaminate foods. Clean, cut, chop, shred and/or mince the broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, peppers, garlic, almonds, and ginger.

 

Cube your chicken and now we’re ready to put it all together!

If you have a wok, this will work best but if not use a large (preferably non-stick) frying pan. It’s a lot of veggies and you want to have room for things to mix well. Heat the Tbsp of sesame oil, add garlic and ginger and saute for about a minute.

Add chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add broccoli, bok choy, water chestnuts, and peppers and saute for another 2 – 3 minutes…

Add almonds and purple cabbage. Saute for additional minute then add gluten free soy sauce.

Continue to saute for an addition 2-3 minutes or until the cabbage begins to soften. Remove from heat and top with toasted sesame seeds!

Whether you are strictly paleo or not this recipe has a lot of room for your own additions (or subtractions). When we made this we served it over quinoa (again one of those “is that strict paleo” debates). You can serve it over rice, with the actual lo-mein noodles or eat it without anything at all…

~Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

Hello Fall (and hello slow cooker!)

30 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes, recipes, Slow Cooker, Sweet potatoes, Vegetables

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If you asked either of us what our favorite season is, almost immediately “Fall” would come from our lips and we’d begin to daydream about having to wear our favorite comfy socks, drinking tea out of our big clay mugs and most importantly breaking out the slow cooker on a regular occurrence.

We’ve been so hectic with all the running (Tara is about to complete her 3rd and final marathon since May), traveling (We took a 2200 mile road trip down to Baltimore) and the Fitbloggin conference there hasn’t been much time for recipe research and even less time for recipe testing. Meegan just completed the six week “LightenUp” program and with it came quite the extensive meal plan so having to plan and execute (meaning take out the camera and document every.single.step) was not happening.

But the running is coming to an end (at least those 26.2 mile runs). The traveling is now limited to drives to work and the parents house for long hours of card playing and it’s time to get back to doing what we love..

Being in the kitchen!

As always we believe strongly in a Paleo Foundation for our meal making at home and will continue to make that a main focus here on TheHDD. That being said we’ve both agreed to add small amounts of dairy into our menu (Tara loves her Greek yogurt and Meegan loves her Parmesan cheese) so you might see a few recipes “sneak” in that some would argue are not Paleo but no matter what your views are you can bet the recipes here are good for you and good for your tastebuds.

Now break out that slow cooker and let’s get to making some delicious food!

Slow Cooker Paleo Chicken Stew

The ingredients:

  • 1lb Chicken (thighs will work best for this dish)
  • 2 Large Sweet Potato
  • 1 Large Onion
  • 3 Parsnips
  • 3 Large Carrots
  • 3 – 4 Celery Stalks
  • Lots of Garlic (we used 8 large cloves)
  • 1 C Chicken Stock
  • Dry spices of choice (Oregano, Italian Seasoning, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme)

This is one of those recipes that is so easy you’ll probably find yourself wanting to make it over and over again. Nothing says Fall goodness like a delicious hearty stew.

First thing first is prepare your vegetables. Peel and chunk onion/garlic (keep these separate from other veggies), sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots (for heartier flavor leave skin on carrot intact, making sure to wash before cutting) and celery.

When choosing your meat it’s best to use the darker meat of the chicken. It has a deeper taste than breast meat and there is no need to prep the thighs. Just layer on the bottom. If darker meat is not part of your palate, chicken breast will work fine just make sure to dice into large chucks before placing on the bottom of slow cooker.

Add onion and garlic.

Add sweet potato, carrots, parsnips, celery and your dry spices. We used an Italian seasoning blend (just enough to dust the top).

Pour chicken stock into slow cooker and cover on low for 6-8 hours.

~ Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

 

 

Making do and making desserts…

01 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Desserts, Meat

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This past December, Tara received one of the best gifts she could hope for…

It wasn’t a puppy (though that would be awesome).

It wasn’t a unicorn (again awesome).

No, it was a 2 year subscription to her favorite magazine: Clean Eating

(super duper mega awesome!)

If you are not currently reading this magazine cover to cover every month, do yourself a favor; go buy one issue and take it for a test run. From cover to cover you’ll find clean recipes that are easy to make and taste pretty damn good (not to mention pretty easy on the wallet for the most part).

It was in the pages of this magazine that Tara got the courage to step outside of her food comfort zone and begin to (pun intended) really get to the meat of cooking. Trying recipes she felt were out of her league only to discover that she could actually make food that was good for the palate as well as good for the waistline.

The breaded chicken cutlet recipe below is a variation on a recipe found recently in the March 2012 issue of C.E. The original recipe called for the use of panko and pork cutlets but we used chicken breasts and had some nice seasoned bread crumbs laying around and you know where there’s bread crumbs that need to be made into a coating there’s one of our favorite things to use while cooking…

Awwwww yhea, the Magic that is the Bullet!

We also threw in a dessert with this recipe because we have recently discovered the wonders of frozen bananas (we know, we know – guess who’s late to the party). Seriously how come no one told us sooner how awesome frozen bananas are? Not just to eat plain but to again pull out the magic bullet and make some of the most delicious frozen dessert ever to come across our lips (is there a dirty joke in there somewhere?)

Enjoy!

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients:

  • 2 – 4 chicken breasts cut in half (depending on how many mouths you’re feeding)
  • 2 eggs or egg white equivalent
  • 1 c bread crumbs (have a little extra around just in case you need more)
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Oil for frying

The Breading:

Now if you’re using already made bread crumbs you can skip this part or scroll slowly so you can see our pretty magic bullet do wonders…

Before

After!

 In a shallow bowl (or plate if you can keep the counters clean unlike *cough*Tara*cough*) mix the bread crumbs with chili pepper, cumin and pepper (add salt if you’d like but we skipped it).

Crack eggs (or pour egg whites) into a separate bowl. If using shelled eggs make sure to whisk (trust me I know some of you will forget that part!).

The Chicken:

Okay funny story (and why the title of this post is “making do”). The reason we chose this recipe was because it called for the meat to be pounded (oh yes there is the dirty joke we were looking for) and there’s nothing more fun than pounding meat right? The only problem? What we thought was a meat tenderizer was actually a garlic press and even though Tara had been looking at (and using) the garlic press for months she was certain it was masquerading as the meat tenderizer she had *seen* over and over again in the kitchen drawer…

Lay a nice size piece of seran wrap down on the counter. Lay one piece of chicken on top. Add a few drops of water (to help prevent sticking) and then either fold seran wrap in half or lay a new piece over the chicken.

Pound away!

(feel free to play Barry White at this time)

You want the chicken to be about 1/4  inch in thickness so it won’t take much. Repeat this step (remember to add a few drops of water to each portion of chicken) until all pieces have been pounded down made thin.

Putting it all together:

The culinary term for coating cutlets is “dredging”. Next time you want to impress someone with your cooking, just throw that term around a bit…There really is no need to verbally explain how to dunk your chicken in egg and then coat it with the bread crumbs. However the pictures came out pretty good:

  

Once every thing is coated, heat up frying oil in pan and get to cooking. Remember because these are thinner portions of meat the cooking time is dramatically decreased. Each cutlet will only take about 2 – 3 minutes per side.

Banana Goodness

The ingredients:

  • Frozen bananas
  • Anything else you can think of that will please your palate

Frozen bananas have become quite the staple in our household. No longer are we buying one bunch for quick “go to” breakfasts and snacks. Now we’re buying multiple bunches during the week knowing full well we’re going to be freezing at least half of what we bring home for the sole purpose of having something handy to curb the sweet tooth.

The easiest way to freeze your bananas is to have a handy Silpat that can cover a cookie sheet. This way once the banana slices are thoroughly frozen you can just roll the silpat to loosen the slices and then easily slide into a covered container.

They are delicious sliced and frozen.

Nothing added.

But when you put them in a blender something magical happens. It’s like eating ice cream. We are not kidding! And oh the possibilities. If you think it’s gonna be good, chances are it will be.

One of our favorite concoctions is 1 cup frozen bananas + 1 tbsp peanut butter + a drizzle of maple syrup and a few chopped almonds…

Have a little bit of chocolate around the house? Maybe some semi sweet baking squares or chocolate chips? How about some peanut butter? How about you make these frozen bad boys:

  • 4oz semi sweet chocolate
  • 4 tbsp peanut butter
  • 3 bananas (thick slices)

In a microwave melt the chocolate and peanut butter together (Zap for 1 minute, stir and zap again for 30 seconds or until smooth). Dip bananas slices and then freeze for about an hour. This is where the silpat mat comes in real handy. Seriously go out and buy yourself one just to make life easier!

If you’ve never tried frozen bananas, you’re missing out. Once you try them (of course that’s assuming you like bananas) you’ll definitely be on the look out for your own tasty concoctions. No matter how you eat them you’ll definitely say:

~ Now that’s good eatin’ folks!

Paleo Orange Chicken (but then we added rice)

17 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Chicken, Meat, Paleo Recipes

≈ 2 Comments

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It’s been a few days since our last recipe post.

(okay 10 days)

Sometimes life gets in the way and you don’t want to take the time to photograph the meals that you cook.

(or you refer to your old recipes posted and make them over and over and over again)

Or you do take your pictures but never get around to blogging a new recipe.

(because secretly you LOVE to photograph your food)

Whatever the reason, it’s been a few…

Until today.

The Paleo Orange Chicken is indeed paleo and the original recipe can be found over at Health Bent (which is quickly becoming one of our favorite go to paleo blogs). We added the rice because Tara is slow to give up the grainy goodness. We didn’t change up the recipe too much except we substituted garlic cloves for chili garlic sauce and added diced onions.

If you have any good paleo recipes you’d like us to try out send us an email (like right now!) to thehealthydynamicduo (at) gmail (dot) com. One of us doesn’t eat any kind of seafood so nix the swimming little beasts please…

Enjoy!

Paleo Orange Chicken

The ingredients:

  • 1lb boneless chicken (cut into bite size pieces)
  • 1 Onion diced
  • 3 tbsp FoC (Fat of Choice) – We used spicy fat left over from previous recipe
  • Orange Zest
  • 3 cloves of Garlic
  • Juice from 2 oranges (the orange-y the better)
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce (we used wheat free to keep it paleo)
  • Green onions for garnish
  

In pan cook onions and chicken (with your FoC) until onion is tender and chicken is cooked thoroughly. While cooking you can prepare the orange sauce goodness!

  

We have old fashioned glass juicer (oh la la)

In medium sauce pan, add orange juice, orange zest, ginger, soy sauce and garlic. Simmer to reduce while chicken is cooking.

Here comes the hard part! When the chicken is cooked and browned to perfection add to sauce reduction.

Yep, that’s it!

Garnish with green onions and get to eating!

– Side note: If you want to have more of an orange “coating” then reduce your sauce even more. This will also create more of a crispy coating on your chicken. We thought the reduction was perfect and loved the lightness of the orange.

It really was that quick and that easy to make and in our household nothing beats quick and easy (and delicious!)

~Now that’s good eatin’ folks!