Stuffed Chicken Cutlets

There may be something to the idea of happy animals tasting better. Bos Creek chicken must have a happy chicken source because this chicken is REALLY GOOD. Really good meat inspires me to make  really good meals for my family.

I hope you try this recipe and I hope you check out the Bos Creek website.  We have an offer code for you:      GerBos    will get you $15 off  your first box of Bos Creek meat. theboscreek.com is where to check them out!  They have "delicious grass fed beef delivered monthly" and lots of other choices, too. Isn't their website beautiful? No wonder their cows are happy.

I took chicken breasts and sliced them thin into cutlets. This recipe is for 7-8 cutlets.

I added the following ingredients into a mixing bowl:
1 package fresh basil (I pull the leaves off the stems and stack them so they are easy to chop and compost the stems)
1/2 cup Ballyshannon Dubliner cheese (from happy grass fed cows lol)
1/3 cup fresh organic broccoli, cut up small
5 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
4-5 slices dried organic mango (I cut this up with scissors - easier, faster)
Salt Traders Cherry Wood Smoked Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and black sesame seeds to taste

I laid out pieces of foil - one for each chicken cutlet.
I placed 1 tsp coconut oil on the center of each piece of foil.

I laid each chicken cutlet out on foil (on top of the coconut oil) and put the mixture from the bowl on the top of each chicken cutlet, using it all and dividing it evenly. I tried to carefully fold over each chicken cutlet... but if they won't fold, they still taste incredible! They looked like this:

I folded two opposite edges of foil over the chicken and folded them together like a seam, then folded in the ends to make the foil able to hold in the steam while the chicken cooked.

I cooked these packets on a large baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
You can see in the top photo that I served these Bos Creek chicken awesome stuffed cutlets with spaghetti squash with a nice marinara sauce. It was an awesome meal!

Blueberry Lemon Lime Kill Cliff Popsicles

I took 6 of these popsicles to the box and 6 of them were eaten.  This was the best photo in the bunch. Thanks so much, Monica, Dustin, and Saadi - you all look great!

Here's our I made this batch:

I opened a can on Lemon Lime Kill Cliff and poured it into a bowl. I stirred it some to let the light carbonation fizzle away.
I added 1 TBSP fresh lime juice and some lime pulp.
I added 1 tsp honey.  (totally optional)

I stirred this up and poured it into 6 popsicle molds. (I love my new Zoku popsicle molds...)

Then I added several blueberries to each popsicle mold. The blueberries float up to the top, which is really going to be the bottom of the popsicle. I left a little room at the top so they wouldn't be too full as they froze and expanded.   (If yours don't come out just right, you can add a little coconut water to even things out if you need to, or add more fruit.)

A few hours later they were ready.
I wonder what watermelon would taste like with Kill Cliff......

Simple Paleo Chicken Tenders

I put a TBSP of bacon grease in a skillet - yes, bacon grease. (If you don't have any, the same amount of coconut oil will also be awesome)

I added a package of organic chicken tenders.
I sprinkled them with:
smoked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
minced garlic
smoked paprika

I cooked them on medium heat, turning them now and then. They took less than 15 minutes.

Here's the important thing: We know what's in them. We know they are fast food, but not fake food. We know it is extremely important to fuel our lives with healthy foods full of nutrients.

See? Simple.

Roasted Purple Potatoes

Ger's brother, Isaac wanted "potatoes, not sweet potatoes, POTATOES..."

This was as close as I could go with that request. These are organic purple potatoes and they are less "bad-carb" than white potatoes because they have all those purple antioxidants in there to do you some good! They also taste exactly like plain old white potatoes, so Isaac was HAPPY.  Give them a go when you crave potatoes.

I put the following ingredients into a glass 9 x 12 baking dish:

1  1/2 lbs of organic purple potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 TBSP grass-fed butter, melted
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp minced garlic (I used garlicgold.com nuggets)
freshly ground black pepper

I stirred this up to coat the potatoes pieces and then spread them out.
I put them into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes and stirred them once halfway through the roasting time.
Oh, just yum. Purple yum.

Paleo Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Black Sesame Seeds

I'd bought 4 HUGE sweet potatoes. I rinsed them off and put them in a pan, covered them (almost) with water, put a lid on the pan, and put them on the stove over medium heat to cook until very tender when pierced with a fork.While the sweet potatoes were getting tender, I cooked 4 pieces of bacon in a skillet and then patted them with paper towels and crumbled them.
When the sweet potatoes were extremely done, I poured the hot water off of them and let them cool for a few minutes until I could peel them. I just peeled them with my fingers - the peel just came right off. I cut the two ends off with a knife. I placed the peeled sweet potatoes back into the pan.

I added:
1 TBSP KerryGold Pasture butter
3 TBSP coconut cream concentrate (tropicaltraditions.com)
1 tsp smoked sea salt (salttraders.com)
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup basic chicken stock
1 tsp black sesame seeds
I mashed this all up with a fork and put it back on the stove on low until Ger and Cassies got home from CrossFit Countdown.         You may need to adjust the amount of chicken stock, depending on your sweet potatoes. 

Paleo Coconut Raspberry Treats

This recipe uses mini muffin cup papers. So, they are little......Ger ate nine of them..... that means they are good!

I put the following ingredients into a small sauce pan:

1/2 cup coconut cream concentrate (coconut butter)
1/2 coconut oil
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 container fresh raspberries

I stirred the mixture over low heat, just until everything was melted and mixed. I smashed the raspberries with the spoon. Then I took it off the heat and STIRRING  OFTEN, (because it wants to separate) I put a little into each mini muffin paper with the spoon I stirred with. They didn't look like the photo yet since the coconut oil was warmed and clear and trying to separate from the other ingredients. I popped them into the freezer for 30 minutes. It made 22 treats.

They are fast, easy, and delicious AND good for you. So, eat nine of them and tell me what you think!

Kicked Up Carrots

I

When I bought a 5 lb bag of organic carrots at the grocery today, a man came up to me and said, "Hey, there's a BIGGER bag of carrots over there...." He didn't seem to be much of a vegetable eater....lol, he said he probably hadn't eaten that many carrots in the last 5 YEARS.

These carrots are so good. They have heat, yet they also have a touch of sweet from roasting in coconut oil. It's a very nice combination.

I peeled half the 5 lb bag of carrots.

 I rubbed them with coconut oil and spread them out on a baking pan. 

I sprinkled them with:

sea salt

black pepper

chipotle chili powder ( a lot)

I roasted them in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. 

Kill Cliff Lemon Lime Popsicles

As soon as I drank my first Lemon Lime Kill Cliff (can't wait to see what they name this one!) I started planning popsicles. I make popsicles with the other two flavors and this new one is no exception.  You can see in the photograph that Mikko is enjoying the new flavor as Cassie helps out. Ger's got one in his hand while he's posting tomorrow's WOD - it's just out of the picture.

I love my new Zoku popsicle set. It's BPA and phthalate free. You can find lots of different ones on amazon.com.
First, I poured a Lemon Lime Kill Cliff (killcliff.com) into a small mixing bowl. This lets some of the carbonation fizz off. Carbonated liquids may need a little more room to expand as they freeze, so keep this in mind. I drank another one while I worked.....

In the food processor I put:
1/2 of a ripe organic banana
1 TBSP coconut cream concentrate (I love tropicaltraditions.com but you can use any coconut butter)
2 tsp fresh lime juice
a little lime zest
(1 tsp honey - optional - we don't use it but some people might want it...)

I poured just a little of the Kill Cliff into the food processor and blended for a few seconds.
Then, I poured this mixture into the bowl with the rest of the Kill Cliff and stirred.

I filled the popsicle molds and set them into the freezer for 6 hours.

Paleo Skillet Grilled Onions

I could just chop onions and cook them in coconut oil until tender and translucent and call it a day, but I like to kick it up a little more than that. These are so good on grass fed burgers or banger sausages or thrown into any number of amazing meals. Let me know what you like to do with them.

I chopped a white onion and a small red onion. I put it in a skillet along with:
 2 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp thyme
freshly ground pepper, to taste

I stirred them often on medium heat and when they were done, about 10 minutes later, I splashed them with a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar.

You should probably eat more onions - they are extremely good for you.

Green Beans with Ham

You know the food is good when your loved ones eat right out of the stockpot.  These green beans are delicious - just ask Coach Cassie, or Coach Ger.
Green beans aren't bad for your gut like dried legumes are - there are blog posts all over the place that explain both sides, but we all tolerate green beans just fine and we love them, so we eat them. Do you?

I placed a ham steak (about the size of a plate and maybe 3/4 inch thick) into the stock pot. I didn't cut it up or cut out the bone. I knew the meat would break up when stirred up later, and Mikko would appreciate that bone.

I added:
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1 TBSP garlicgold.com nuggets if I don't have fresh garlic in the house)
1/2 onion, diced
1  1/2 to 2 lbs green beans
1/2 red pepper, diced (optional and just for color)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste

I put a lid on them and cooked them on low, all day, stirring now and then. I think I added a little water once.......  
They are best if cooked long and low, but can be hurried if you watch them.

Paleo Soup with Sausage and Ground Chicken

I also call this "Welcome Home Ger Sasser Soup."  Ger and Cass are home from Sarasota and I knew they'd need to start eating cleaner than you can on vacation. You should see the size of the bowl he is eating this soup out of right now.....

I got out a skillet and a stock pot and put them both on the stove.
I cooked 1 lb of sausage and 1 lb of ground chicken in the skillet.

Meanwhile I put the following ingredients into the stock pot and got them cooking:
1 container of organic chicken broth
10 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small head of red cabbage, chopped (I cut 4 sections off and left the center for the compost heap - sometimes it's bitter)
1 small zucchini, diced
2 cans organic diced tomatoes (or if you are as fortunate as I was, you can use canned tomatoes from your mom's hard work last summer - I love when she sends me home with some!)
1 cup water
1 tsp smoked paprika
1-2 tsp sea salt (if your tomatoes have salt, you won't need much more)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 heaping TBSP coconut cream concentrate (coconut butter - optional, but this gives it a thickness and deepens all the flavors!)

I put a lid on the stock pot and let that cook until the carrots were tender. Then, I added the cooked sausage and ground chicken and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

We sprinkle pine nuts on the top of each bowlful. It really adds something special to this meal.

YUM!

Smoked Sausage Skillet

Smoked sausage is easy and fast, and sometimes I crave it, but you really need to read the ingredients and try to buy the ones with the least amount of fillers, preservatives, grain, or sugar.

I threw the following ingredients into a big skillet on medium heat and let it cook as I chopped the next ingredients:

1/4 cup organic chicken stock (or water)
2 TBSP bacon grease ( or coconut oil)
1 bunch broccoli
1/4 head of cabbage, cut into long strips
1 red pepper
15 stalks of asparagus, with the tough ends broken off and discarded
1 tsp honey
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Valencia Orange Peel (optional spice)
sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Basil POM Salad Dressing

Salads can be so nutrient-packed, especially if you watch out for what's in your salad dressing.  It's easy to make up a delicious one while you make the salad - here's another one that really hits the spot.

I mixed the following ingredients in a small bowl:

1/3 cup POM Wonderful Juice
1/3 cup olive oil (If you want it nice and garlic-y, use Garlic Gold Oil fromgarlicgold.com)
3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP real maple syrup
2 tsp spicy brown mustard
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme

You can pour it right on your salad from the bowl, or you can put it in a nice salad dressing bottle like the one in the photo. Delicious!

Ger and Cass are enjoying a much-needed "traincation" in Sarasota, Fla this week. This is my favorite photo of them today - they just got to see Ger, on the left, in the TEN Institute ad in The Box magazine.