Tag Archives: Paleo

Crockpot Sweet and Spicy Shredded Chicken

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Cooler temperatures (although short lived it would appear) always give me the urge to cook and roast more food, and lately I’ve been doing more with the crockpot (hi, easy!). This past weekend I had two packages of good quality chicken that needed to be used (boneless skinless tenders and breasts), so I decided to make something I could eat throughout this week.

In addition, I don’t typically use condiments anymore. Chemical shitstorms that I personally prefer not to eat, and when I left them behind I realized I didn’t really miss them all that much. I’ll consume some quality condiments free of refined sugar, corn, soy, canola, etc. occasionally, but really not that often. My deployed sailor left me with three opened 1/2 full bottles of (good quality) bbq sauce – one sweet, one spicy and one in the middle. I wanted them out of my fridge, so there we have it, crockpot sweet and spicy shredded chicken!

Crockpot Sweet and Spicy Shredded Chicken

  • 2 2-2/12 lb packages of chicken – really you could choose whichever you prefer
  • 3 large sliced jalapenos
  • 1 red onion diced
  • 8 garlic cloves diced
  • Random bbq sauces…probably totaling 1 cup worth
  • 1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
  • Fresh ground salt and pepper
  • TBSP garlic powder
  • Generous sprinkling of ground cinnamon

Throw everything in the crockpot and cook for 6-8 hours on medium heat, then shred with a fork. A couple notes: if you don’t like spice, use 2 jalapenos, this is spicy with 3. In my defense, I just made a recipe with 2, and there was next to no spice. LOL. I covered the top of the crockpot with a nice layer of ground cinnamon. I did not stir anything up, just left it as is and let it simmer.

I had it with over-medium eggs yesterday for breakfast, with avocado for lunch on Sunday and on a salad for lunch today.

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Simple Avocado Cream Sauce

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This was my very first attempt at making a “paleo” cream sauce, without dairy! I totally winged it…and it was fabulous not to mention easy. Put it on eggs, steamed veggies, zoodles (or any other vegetable noodle), paleo biscuits, meat, seafood, etc.! I suppose you could eat it as a soup too, it’s rich. It’s very versatile and keeps well.

Avocado Cream Sauce

  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 avocados
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 pkg baby crimini mushrooms, chopped
  • 2 TBSP garlic powder
  • Ground black pepper
  • Himalayan pink salt

Add the 2 cans of coconut milk to a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Add the 1 1/2 avocados (I would’ve added 2, but the 1/2 of the 2nd avo was no good), and let the avo soften in the heat for a few minutes. With an immersion blender, blend the avocados into the coconut milk – took about 3 minutes. Add the garlic cloves, and all spices. Saute over medium heat for 15-20 minutes continuing to stir then add the chopped mushrooms. Continue sauteing over medium heat until the mushrooms are soft to your liking (I don’t like mushy mushrooms, but it’s taste/texture preference here).

Tip: If you use a quality coconut milk, you won’t taste any coconut 😉

First, I put it on my zoodles – which, don’t really look like “zoodles” because the gargantuan zucchini didn’t exactly want to work with my spiralizer. Haha. There was zucchini flying everywhere and puppy Lucy was happy about that.IMG_7139[1]IMG_7140[1]IMG_7143[1]

Smoked Pork and Pickle Salad

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I love pickles, could eat them all day. Seth hates them and won’t let me near him for pickle kisses.

It’s still been kind of warm/muggy (for San Diego) lately, which is when I crave salads the most. Last night I just wasn’t feeling my usual all veggie filled salad, so I used random things in my fridge, and I loved my salad!

Smoked Pork and Pickle Salad

  • Butter lettuce
  • Diced red onion
  • Cut up smoked pork (we have a ton from our inaugural smoking)
  • Grilled garlic (also leftover from a big batch I put on the grill)
  • Fresh pickles
  • Tessemae’s Zesty Ranch dressing
  • Sprinkle salt/pepp

Ta-da!

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Avocado Salad with Microgreens

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I really wanted to call this “faux chicken salad,” but I feel like anything “faux” these days equates to tofu, and that is not what this is. It’s filled with flavor, and had the richness and texture of chicken salad!

Avocado Salad with Microgreens

  • 2 ripe avocados, diced
  • Roughly a 1/4 cup diced white onion
  • 2 TBSP Sir Kensington’s original mayo
  • Small handful of microgreens
  • Himalayan sea salt
  • Cracked black pepper

Mix together, and enjoy a filling, rich, healthy alternative to the traditional soy/chemical filled chicken/tuna/egg salads out there.

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Sun Sugar Tomato Salad

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One of the tomato plants I planted this year is a “Sun Sugar Cherry” plant (each year, I kind of just pick 5/6 different kinds and see what I end up with-however, this one will be planted every year). Little orange cherry tomatoes, that are, surprisingly sweet and flavorful. In fact, after I picked them last night I tried one, and then I had quite a few more (fun fact: several years ago, Sun Sugar was named by Sunset Magazine as the best tasting tomato in their trials for its sweetness and rich tomato flavor that includes just the right amount of tartness!). Probably the best cherry tomato I’ve ever had. I decided to throw together a salad with ingredients I had at home, and it turned out to be fabulous!

Sun Sugar Tomato Salad

  • Butter lettuce
  • Diced red onion
  • Chopped crimini mushrooms
  • Grilled garlic
  • Sun Sugar tomatoes
  • Chopped beets
  • Microgreens
  • Salt/Pepper
  • Tessemae’s Cracked Pepper dressing

Toss everything in the bowl, and top with a handful of microgreens, salt/pepper and some Tessemae’s (paleo friendly!) Cracked Pepper dressing.

Eat your colors!

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