Paleo Chicken Salad

 

 

I love chicken salad… when it’s made by someone else. Well, until now. Why I never thought to add nuts and fruit into my chicken salad, I’ll never know, but I’m glad I finally did. You could honestly mix in any type of chopped nuts and grapes. I think next time I will try pistachios and black grapes. Or walnuts. Oooooh, or maybe even some craisins!! OK, I’m going to go make another batch, ya’ll enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup black grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup paleo mayonnaise
• 1 tsp celery salt
• Coconut oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
2. Rub coconut oil evenly on chicken breasts, then generously salt and pepper.
3. Cook chicken for 25-35 minutes or until internal temp is 165F.
4. Let chicken sit for about 10 minutes, then dice into 1/2-inch cubes.
5. Combine all ingredients in 1 bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
6. Enjoy wrapped in bib lettuce leaves or over your favorite salad.

Paleo Steak Fajitas

It’s funny, fajitas have never been a particular favorite of mine, but I felt like having them last week and they turned out quite delicious! Perhaps I don’t like them because I’ve only ever had them at restaurants and the meat is always overcooked and chewy. Well, not mine as you can clearly see below 😉

Ingredients

• 1 pound skirt steak
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin

Directions

1. Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lime juice, salt, pepper, chili powder, and cumin.
2. Place your steak in a bowl or ziploc bag and pour marinade over.
3. Let the steak marinate for 24 hours max (preferable).
4. I don’t have a grill (or grill pan), so I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. I love mine rare, but you can of course cook yours to whatever temperature you like.
5. Once your steak is done, let it rest for about 10-15 minutes.
6. In the meantime, put a little more oil into the skillet if needed and toss in the bell peppers, continuously stirring until they begin to soften.
7. Toss in the onions and cook until translucent.
8. Cut the steak into strips, going against the grain.
9. Enjoy with your favorite guacamole or salsa (or both!)

Paleo Chicken “Pot Pie”

Does anyone remember the polar vortex from last week? Yeah, it wasn’t that bad in my opinion, but it was still cold enough to make me crave a hearty meal. I have always loved a fresh, hot chicken pot pie, but obviously I can’t go grab a Marie Calendars from the store anymore, so I had to figure out something on my own. This Paleo Chicken Pot Pie is what I’d assume to be the result of a one night stand between a Shepherd’s Pie and a Chicken Pot Pie.

It’s full of flavor and super satisfying which means it has become an almost bi-weekly addition to my prepared meals. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do!

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 whole chicken (You can use a pre-cooked one from the store if you want for convenience. If you want to roast your own, you’ll find the directions below.)
• 4 regular carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1 Tbsp celery salt
• 1 tsp crushed basil
• 1 tsp thyme

Topping

• 1 large sweet potato, cubed into 1-inch pieces
• 1 14-oz can pumpkin puree (NOT the pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400* F.
2. If you’re using a pre-cooked chicken from the store, remove the skin and throw away (or eat it like me). Pull all the meat from the bones. This doesn’t need to be done neatly as you’ll be shredding it anyways.
3. Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and set aside.
4. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
5. Add onions and cook for about 3 minutes until they start to turn translucent.
6. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute until garlic becomes aromatic. Make sure to stir occasionally so the garlic doesn’t burn.
7. Add the celery and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.
8. Add the carrots, parsnips, chicken stock, celery salt, basil, and thyme. Let the liquid come to a simmer/light boil.
9. Try to move some vegetables aside to expose the broth. Add the arrowroot powder to the broth and stir until dissolved. The arrowroot powder is a thickener, so it will stick to your veggies and not dissolve if you don’t add it to just a portion of broth first and stir in that area until dissolved. Once it’s dissolved, mix the entire pot.
10. Add the shredded chicken and mix everything together.
11. Empty the pots contents into your biggest casserole dish (no need to grease the pan).
12. Put the sweet potato cubes into a steamer basket and steam until soft. A fork should easily go through an entire chunk.
13. Move the sweet potato cubes to a large mixing bowl and smash with a fork or potato smasher.
14. Add the can of pumpkin, egg, and spices and mix together.
15. Spread the sweet potato mash evenly on top of the chicken and vegetable filling.
16. Cook for 20 minutes in your pre-heated oven.

How to roast a chicken…

1. Preheat your oven to 425* F
2. Remove the giblets and rinse the bird, inside and out. Pat the outside dry with a paper towel.
3. Liberally salt the inside with salt and pepper, then stuff the cavity with a halved lemon and some sprigs of fresh rosemary.
4. Place some additional sprigs of rosemary under the skin.
5. Rub some clarified ghee on the outside of the chicken, then salt and pepper.
6. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast for 1.5 hours or until the juices run clear when you cut into a thigh.

Whole30: Day 11

Last nights WOD wiped.me.out! I slept until 7am and could’ve slept even longer if I didn’t have to go to work.

It was a pretty typical day at work… loads of crazy projects getting dropped in my lap, stressing like crazy, no big deal. Someone brought in a massive box of bagels and muffins and plopped them right near my desk. I may have peeked inside the box, but it just didn’t pique my interest… very odd. Not saying I couldn’t or wouldn’t eat one, just saying I didn’t feel like “OH MY GOD, I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!” like I normally would’ve felt.

Breakfast: Sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and sausage hash with 1 clementine

Snack: About 1/3 cup of pistachios

Lunch: Beef fajitas with homemade guac

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: Chicken salad with steamed broccoli

 

Whole30: Day 10

Today was another day that I slept in until 7am. What is going on?! I wonder if it’s because it’s still dark and cold out or because I just have so much going on (2 jobs, CrossFit, Wendler, food prep, etc). Who the hell knows, but I need to start getting my ass to bed earlier so I can start getting up at 5am again.

Today I constantly felt hungry and like I wanted something heavy to eat like a muffin or sandwich. I kept drinking water hoping it would help, but the hungry feeling didn’t pass.

Breakfast: Sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and sausage hash

Snack: 1/3 cup pistachios and small banana

Lunch: Paleo chicken salad with steamed broccoli and Italian olives

Pre-workout Snack: Krave chili lime jerky and a Larabar

Post-workout Snack: 2 hardboiled eggs and 2 clementines

Whole30: Day 9

Today was a complete 180 from yesterday. I woke up at 5am thinking I’d head to the gym for a little bit of weight training and was so groggy that I went back to sleep until 7:30am. Unfortunately I was tired throughout the entire day, there was just no waking up.

I also felt fat before I even ate anything this morning. I felt bloated and just plain ole pudgy. Not a good feeling.

Being exhausted and feeling pudgy made me just want to give up. I wasn’t really craving anything, but I just didn’t feel like trying anymore, but thankfully I stuck it through and didn’t cheat.

Breakfast: Larabar

Snack: Small banana and 2 hardboiled eggs

Lunch: Beef fajitas with homemade guac

Snack: 1 apple

Dinner: A bun-less hamburger and salad from Redwood

Whole30: Day 8

Today was… just odd. In a good way! I rarely have much energy during the day. I mean, I’m awake and functioning, but I’m just going with the flow. Today, I was almost hyper. I constantly felt excited and happy and didn’t hit my 2pm slump.

Breakfast: Sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and sausage hash

Lunch: Paleo chicken salad

Snack: Larabar

Dinner: Steak fajitas

Make your own Paleo sauces

There’s  nothing worse than realizing you have a refrigerator door full of sauces that you can’t use because they’re packed full of gluten, sugar, or just a ton of other shit you can’t pronounce. So here are some recipes for commonly used sauced that you can make at home. I’ll continue to post more as I make them. Enjoy!

Worcestershire sauce

Ingredients (makes 2/3 C)

• 1/2 C apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp coconut aminos
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground pepper

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring consistently.
3. Let simmer for a couple minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.

Mayonnaise

Ingredients

• 1 egg (room temp)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice (room temp)
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 C plus 1 C light-tasting olive oil (not extra virgin!)

Directions

1. Place the egg and lemon juice in a blender or food processor.
2. Add the dry mustard, salt, and 1/4 C of oil.
3. Blend until well mixed, about 20-30 seconds.
4. Sloooooooooowly slowly slowly drizzle the remaining cup of oil into the blender/processor. This will take about 3 minutes, so be patient! Do NOT just dump the rest of the oil in or it will not emulsify, trust me!

Whole30: Day 7

I seriously cannot believe that I’ve made it a whole 7 days without a cheat. That’s like a lifetime to me. And what’s even weirder, I’m not really craving anything sweet! I mean, I may be dreaming about sweets, but I don’t really think about them when I’m awake… And I’m sorry if this is TMI, but I’m insanely surprised that I have not had any out-of-control cravings since it’s that time of the month for me. I also haven’t had any cramps which is unheard of for me (I get them so bad that I get nauseous, cold sweats, the shakes, and I’ve even passed out before). I’m not sure if it’s the diet change or what, but I am so relieved.

Sorry, enough about my woman problems.

I worked again today at my part-time job and was a little more prepared. It was a busy morning, so I ended up not having any breakfast again, damn it! And when I say busy, I mean busy…

7:30am – woke up

8am – went to the gym (I started the Wendler program

8:45am – went to the grocery store

9:15am – prepped as much as possible to cook my meals for the week

10:15am – went to a friends house for coffee (was planned earlier in the week)

11:30am – hustled home for a quick shower

12pm – got to work

8:15pm – cook meals for the week

My weekend days are starting to be just as busy as my week days! I need to plan in some downtime so that I don’t burn out. When I burn out, it’s my diet that suffers.

Although I didn’t have breakfast, I still had a Larabar for a snack and the last of my pot roast for lunch. I’ll probably just snack on random tidbits while prepping my food for the week tonight.

Whole30: Day 6

Today was my first day at a new part-time job. I wasn’t sure if there would be anywhere for me to store or heat up my lunch, so I didn’t bring anything which I already knew was a dumb idea. I was a bit rushed getting out the door and actually didn’t eat breakfast either, so I had a major recipe for disaster going on.

Pretty much right after I got to work, I was already starving and my stomach wouldn’t stop growling. I kept chugging water hoping that would help some until I could grab a bite from the grocery store next door. Unfortunately when I don’t eat for long periods of time, I get a headache and feel light dizzy and weak. It’s been quite a while since I let that happen and forgot how much it sucks.

Finally it was break time and although I had brought a couple clementines, I still needed a source of protein. I ran next door to the grocery store and was so excited to see that they had Krave jerky in stock. I snagged a pack and proceeded to chow down before I even hit the checkout line. Sadly, I didn’t realize there’s a little added cane syrup and molasses, so there goes the whole “no sugar” part of this challenge. Son of a @#$%$ #$%&%!!! I was so pissed. I honestly contemplated giving up because I had like, less than 10g of sugar. Thankfully my dumbass didn’t give up and I’m going to continue on. I know I’m not supposed to have any added sugars and that I’m technically supposed to start over if I have anything I’m not supposed to, BUT, I figure 1) I didn’t knowingly eat sugar, 2) I didn’t eat it because I was having a sweet craving (it wasn’t sweet anyway), and 3) it’s mainly gluten that I’m trying to detox from (although sugar is an extremely close second). Anyway, I’m just going to be more mindful and read labels a little closer, even on products that I think are OK.

When I finally got home, I cooked up a couple eggs and ate them with some veggies. Pretty simple day where I know I should’ve eaten more, but sadly didn’t.