Spicy Coconut Chicken Over Fried "Rice"

Call me tricky but this recipe has no rice in it.  Ever since starting this paleo adventure, I've been exposed to new cooking techniques and tricks from the paleo world.  Take this non-rice fried rice technique - it uses cauliflower instead of rice!  I was a little skeptical when I heard about this but when you cook the vegetable just right, it really does have the same consistency (and your belly will thank you for it).

Ingredients
for cauliflower rice

• 1/2 half head of cauliflower
• 1 red pepper
• 2 large carrots
• 1 Tbsp minced onion flakes
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, scrambled together in a separate bowl

for chicken

• 2 organic chicken breasts
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp Sriracha (yes, I know this is not a paleo-friendly ingredient... if you're that concerned, use 1 and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes instead)

Directions

1. Separate the cauliflower into florets and place into a food processor.  Process until the vegetable is in a grain-like consistency
2. Place the cauliflower into a microwave safe glass dish and zap for 4 minutes
3. While this is happening, start your chicken.  Heat coconut oil and red pepper in a large skillet. Place the chicken in the skillet and cook.  I sliced my chicken because I have a fear of undercooking birds but you can either dice the chicken or cook it whole in the skillet.
4. In a large saute pan, heat coconut oil and garlic over medium-high heat.  Slice your red pepper and send your carrots through a food processor (or cut them into small pieces manually, whatever floats your boat).  Once the garlic is tender, add the bell pepper, carrot and onion to the pan.  Let the mixture cook for a few minutes before adding the cauliflower and ginger.  Cook until the cauliflower is slightly browned.  Add egg mixture and stir until the egg is cooked.
5. By this time, your chicken should be fully cooked.  Serve!

Makes two meals

Mardi Gras Pork Roast

So instead of Fat Tuesday, we celebrated (not so) Fat Thursday.  This recipe takes about an hour and a half from start to finish but it is well work the time (Zack approved!).

Ingredients
1 pork sirloin (approximately 2 pounds)- have you been to Costco yet?  Because they sell these babies in a four pack and they are super cheap
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic - I really hope you bought that big jar of minced garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp onion - I have the freeze dried kind but feel free to use onion powder if you do not have any fresh minced
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 adobo spice
1/4 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp grape seed oil

Directions

1. Combine all spices in a small bowl.  Stir in the grape seed oil and let mixture sit while oven preheats
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Line a glass baking pan with aluminum foil (or just grease the pan, if you prefer)
4. Pound the pork so that you break up the surface layer enough to allow the spices to absorb.  Rub spices all over the meat so that it is completely covered
5. Place the meat into the glass dish and set in the oven for about an hour (until your meat thermometer reads 160).  Once cooked, allow meat to rest for 15 minutes
6. Serve over mashed sweet potatoes and a side of steamed vegetables

Spaghetti (squash) for Breakfast

I made spaghetti squash for one of our sides the other night and decided to incorporate it into my breakfast bake for the week.  It actually turned out quite yummy, so here's another exciting Whole30 blog update!

Ingredients

• 1/2 spaghetti squash (hint: make it the night before and use the other half as your side... to cook, heat oven to 375, halve the squash and scoop out the seeds.  Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the squash is tender, and scoop out the insides)
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 small shallot
• 1 sausage link, casing removed
• 3 whole eggs
• 10 egg whites
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp basil
• 1 Tbsp parsley
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp grape seed oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat and place the sausage in the pan.  Separate the meat so it is in bite sized pieces and cook thoroughly
3. While the sausage is cooking, send your sweet potato and peeled shallot through a food processor (or finely chop them if you do not have a processor)
4. Place the sweet potato mixture into the skillet and cook thoroughly
5. Once cooked, add the spaghetti squash so that it heats up
6. Whisk your eggs in a separate bowl.  Add the vegetable/sausage mixture to the bowl and stir so that the ingredients are mixed
7. Pour the mixture into a 8" glass baking dish and bake in the oven for about 30-45 minutes *until the eggs are fully cooked
8. Remove from the oven, let set for about 10 minutes and then serve!

Makes approximately 8 servings

Cuban Cigars...err I mean.. Pork

Week 1 into the Whole30 and I'm sad to say, I've fallen off track.  Call me crazy but my scale scared the heck out of me. I guess I should have paid attention to the "do not step on the scale" warning because this healthy way of life really is effective... seriously... if you want to lose unhealthy weight, do the Whole30.  I'm back on the wine... and I'm sorry, I'm not sorry about it.

So, tonight I must have been wishing I was by the ocean instead of in the middle of God's Country because I channeled the Cuban (that this little white chick does not have) in me.  I had a leftover pork tenderloin from my Trader Joe's pack (did you know they pack two tenderloins in there?) and went for it.  Just go with it... I'm back on the wine again.

Ingredients
For the pork:
1 pork tenderloin (approximately 1lb)
1 lime
4 garlic cloves (or if you have the giant tub of minced garlic like I do, two heaping spoonfuls of the stuff)
1 and 1/2  tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp grape seed oil (or healthy oil of choice)

For the sweet potatoes:
2 small sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp grape seed oil (or, again, healthy oil of choice)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• For the pork

1. Zest the lime, then peel the fruit and discard the peel.  Halve the fruit and place both the zest and the fruit in a food processor (or most preferred, your Ninja).  
2. Add garlic, oregano, salt and oil to the Ninja and blend well
3. Place the tenderloin in a glass dish and pour the mixture over the meat.  Marinate in the refrigerator while you prep the sweet potatoes

• For the sweet potatoes

1. Cube the sweet potatoes (ensure that the ends are cut off and discarded)
2. Grab a handy Ziploc bag and place the cubed potatoes in the bag. 
3. Add the grape seed oil and sprinkle the cumin into the bag
4. Shake the bag until the oil/spice mixture is well distributed
5. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread the sweet potatoes over the baking sheet
6. Place in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes
1. When the timer goes off, turn the sweet potatoes and return to the oven. Adjust the temperature to 400 degrees
2. Remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and cover the glass dish it is in with tin foil
3. Place the dish into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (or until the temperature of the meat is 140 degrees or higher)
4. Remove tenderloin from the oven and let sit for five minutes
5. I would recommend sauteing a vegetable blend to accompany the dish so if this is your desire, feel free to saute away... and make the chimichurri sauce
6. At the five minute mark, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven.
7. Slice and serve the tenderloin with the potatoes and dipping sauce (and vegetables, if desired)

• Optional Tenderloin Dipping Sauce (Chimichurri)

1. 1 Tbsp dried parsley
2. 2 garlic cloves (or 1 heaping tsp of the minced jarred type)
3. 1 Tbsp grape seed oil, or olive oil\
4. 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
5. 1/2 tsp sea salt
6. 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or less... if you're one of those anti-spice people)

Enjoy!

Eating Clean

I recently started the Whole30, which essentially means I have cut out alcohol, sugars, processed foods, legumes and grains from my diet in an effort to reset my digestive system.  Since this requires a lot of eating at home, I have been cooking non-stop since I started.  The other night I made this delicious easy stuffed squash (Zack even approved it... yet another sneaky way to get a "Meat and Potatoes" man to eat veggies).

Ingredients
1 acorn squash, halved and deseeded
2 Tbs coconut oil (or olive oil, if you have that on hand) - split
1 pound of organic chicken breast, diced
2 egg whites
1 small shallot
1 zucchini
4 crimini mushrooms
1 large carrot
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions
Squash

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place deseeded squash onto a baking sheet, face up
3. Spread 1 Tbsp coconut oil over both halves and sprinkle with cinnamon (cinnamon is optional but it gives it a great flavor) and sea salt
4. Bake for 35 minutes, or until soft

Stuffing

1. In a preheated saute pan, add 1 Tbsp coconut oil and chicken.  Cook thoroughly
2. While the chicken is cooking, place the shallot, garlic, zucchini, carrot and mushrooms in a food processor and combine until vegetables are fine.
3. Add vegetable mix to chicken and cook until tender (about 5 minutes)
4. Once cooked, toss with herbs and remove from heat.  Add egg whites and combine all ingredients.
5. Place stuffing inside the halved acorn squash and return to the heated oven to cook for 30 minutes
• If the acorn squash is too shallow, feel free to hollow out some of the squash and add it to the mixture.  I had some leftover stuffing so I placed it in a small glass dish and baked alongside the squash - made a great breakfast for the next day!

Serves 2

Beef... it's not for breakfast (coffee marinated steak)

So Zack just had a record of a day in sales, so I decided to make one of his favorite meals - meat, potatoes and green beans.  The meat was marinated overnight in a coffee marinade, and I added sides of garlic green beans and sweet sweet potatoes.

Start off the night before by marinating your beef

Ingredients - Coffee Marinade

• 2 lean sirloin steaks, fat trimmed (if applicable)
• 2 Tbs brewed strong coffee
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 tsp agave nectar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper to your liking - I recommend using a pepper mill

Directions

1. In a glass dish, whisk together all ingredients.
2. Add steak and spoon ingredients over the top
3. Marinate for at least 8 hours (recommend overnight, minimum)

Next up, your taters... obviously this comes either 8 hours later or the next day

Ingredients - Sweet Sweet Potatoes

• 2 small sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Place cubed sweet potatoes in a plastic bag, add all ingredient and shake until the potatoes are coated
3. Drop into a glass baking dish and place into the oven
4. Bake for 1 hour, turning potatoes every 15 minutes

When the potatoes are about 45 minutes in, start the steak

Directions - Steak

1. Preheat a drizzle of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high and turn on your hood fan... it's going to get smokey in here
2. Gently place your steaks on the skillet and sear each side for about 4 minutes each
3. Place the skillet (with the steaks) in the oven and cook to your desired doneness, about 5-15 minutes
4. While your steaks are cooking, saute green beans (see below)
5. Remove the steaks from the skillet immediately and place on your plates.

Now for the greens

Ingredients - Green Beans

• 2 cups green beans
• cooking spray
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Directions

1. Spray a saute pan with cooking spray and roast your garlic over medium heat
2. Add green beans and cook, approximately 5 minutes
3. At this point, your potatoes and steak should be fully cooked.  Plate, serve and add your favorite cab