Spaghetti Squash Chicken Marinara

This chicken dish got more than one compliment tonight! I can't get enough fresh basil lately so this was delicious. Here's how I did it:

First, I  cut a spaghetti squash in half and scooped out the seeds and stringy stuff. I placed the two halves cut-side down in a 9 x 12 glass baking dish. I added water until it was 1/2 inch deep in the dish and put the dish in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, until tender. (the size of the spaghetti squash can alter the cooking time, so I stick a knife in it to check to see if its soft.)

After the squash cooled for a few minutes, I poured the water off the spaghetti squash and scraped out the squash into the same baking dish!

Next, I pulled the leaves off of a container of fresh basil.

I also cooked several chicken tenders in a skillet with coconut oil, smoked sea salt, and pepper.

I added the fresh basil to the baking dish, along with 1 jar of marinara sauce (read the labels and buy sauce with no added sugar....) and 1 can of diced tomatoes that I'd drained completely.

I stirred all of this up and added the chicken.
I popped it into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.
Now, Ger said I was being lazy since I didn't cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces...... but he told me how delicious it was twice!  With ingredients this beautiful, how could I go wrong? And, there's only one dish. Easy!

Paleo Skillet Bananas

This easy recipe was a big hit after dinner. You just might have the ingredients right now!

I put 1 heaping TBSP coconut oil, 1 TBSP honey, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon into a skillet over medium-low heat and stirred until combined.

I sliced 4 large organic bananas into bite-size chunks and put them into the skillet.

I also added 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut. (We love the big chunky coconut chips)

I cooked the bananas, stirring and flipping, for 5-6 minutes.

Then, we ate it. Quickly. Next time, they said, make 5 or 6 bananas!

Congratulations, Ger, for taking first place at the Battle of Bluegrass!

Colorful Vegetable Skillet

I put 2 TBSP chicken stock and 1 TBSP coconut oil in a skillet.  I added:

1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1  8 oz package of shitake mushrooms, chopped
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp garlic nuggets
smoked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I cooked this over medium heat until crisp-tender.  It was great with http://feedinggersasser.blogspot.com/2012/12/garlic-baked-chicken-thighs.html.

This meal was quick, easy, and so healthy. Do-able!

Andouille Sausage Gumbo

I bought 2 lbs of andouille sausage - nice and cajun-spicy - and this is what I did with it. You can use other sausage if you'd rather.

I poured a 32 oz organic chicken stock into my slow cooker.
 I diced the following veggies and put them into the slow cooker:

1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
1 organic white onion
2 lb andouille sausage, uncooked and cut into 6-8 pieces each

Next, I poured in a 15 oz can of organic diced tomatoes.
I added the following spices:

2 TBSP smoked paprika
1 TBSP Garlic Gold nuggets (garlicgold.com)
1 TBSP smoked sea salt (salttraders.com)
2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I put the lid on and cooked it on high for 4 1/2 hours. (It can also go for 8 on low)


During the last hour I prepped two more ingredients.

I thawed one package of large shrimp, pulled off the tails and threw them into the gumbo.

I pulsed 1/2 of a large cauliflower in my food processor, until it looked like white rice, and scraped it into the gumbo.

These last two ingredients were in the slow cooker on high for over a half-hour. If you do yours on low, they should probably be in there a little longer than that.

This gumbo is real-food, immune-system boosting, cajun-heat delicious! 

Broiled Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto

I made a Saturday morning trip to The Wild Ramp and bought the most fresh and delicious asparagus. I honored it in this way:

I covered a large baking pan with foil. (easy clean-up!)
I broke off about an inch of each asparagus spear to discard and then laid them on the baking pan.

I poured 2 tsp garlicgold.com Gralic Gold oil on the asparagus and tossed them with my hands until they were covered.  (If you don't have Garlic Gold Oil yet, you can use warm coconut oil, or olive oil)

I made the bundles by wrapping a piece of prosciutto around two asparagus spears, rolling from just below the top, down to the bottom.  I laid them out in the pan.

I seasoned them with smoked seat salt salttraders.com, freshly ground black pepper, and Garlic Gold Nuggets. (minced garlic, or a little garlic powder would substitute)

I put them under the broiler for 5 minutes, took them out and turned them over, and broiled for another 5 minutes.

Incredible!

If your asparagus is tiny, you will want to broil a little less time, so adjust and watch them. 

Sausage and Artichoke Heart Skillet

I put these ingredients into a skillet over medium heat:

1 small yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1 TBSP coconut oil

I cooked this until soft.
I added 2  lbs of pork sausage to the skillet and browned that. (If you don't feed as many hungry Crossfit bodies as I do, this recipe works fine with 1 lb of sausage)

When the sausage was all browned, I simply added:

1 jar pasta sauce (one with no sugar - read labels!)
2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup organic raisins (yes, raisins)
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


There. Dinner is ready. It's delicious. It's healthy. It will fuel you up for all your WODs and adventures. It didn't take long. If you eat on paper plates, you've just got one skillet to wash!
You can do it!

Dense Paleo Bread

I've tweaked my Paleo Bread Machine recipe countless times and never blogged it. I think it's time to get a few versions blogged here for you. This one makes a dense and heavy bread, perfect for ease of slicing and delicious on its own, slathered with KerryGold butter, or under 2 slices of bacon and a fried egg.

I made sure my paddle was in the bottom of the bread machine bucket. Then, I put the following items into the bread machine bucket:

1 cup + 2 TBSP water
2 TBSP chia seeds
2 eggs
1 tsp smoked sea salt (salttraders.com - I love the Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt)
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, warm

I waited 5 minutes, so that the chia seeds could soften and start to soak up some liquid.

Next, I added:

3 1/2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1 package yeast  (make sure your yeast is not old if you don't make bread often!)
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano

I put the picket into the bread machine and used the setting WHEAT.  (That's a 4 hour wait on my bread machine...)  I checked on it once, early,  and  saw that I needed to take a spatula and push the ingredients out of the corners and into the "dough."

Remember, this is not going to be a light fluffy bread.