Sara: Recipe - Baked Chicken Tenders

One of our previous staples that is now a "no no" food is chicken nuggets.  Of course, we still do Ian's now and then, but they're a far cry from paleo.

I decided to try my hand at baked chicken tenders, "breaded" with almond meal.

Ingredients:

• ~2lbs chicken breast (or tenders)
• 4 egg whites
• 2tbsp water
• 1.5 c almond meal (or almond flour, if you prefer)
• 2tsp Mrs. Dash (I used the Italian)
• 1tsp pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Lay your chicken out on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap.  Beat with a mallet (or, as you see here, an 8lb dumbbell!) until chicken is approx 1/2" thick.  Cut chicken into strips (or nuggets!).

In one bowl, combine the egg whites and water to make an egg wash.

In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (add more seasoning, if you prefer!).

Dip each piece of chicken in the egg wash, then coat with the dry ingredients. As you go, place chicken strips/pieces on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake chicken strips for approximately 25-35 minutes, turning halfway through.

You'll know they're done when they're a gorgeous golden brown!



Gorgeous golden brown!! Light crunch on the outside, juicy chicken inside!



Served ours with collard greens, sweet potato fries and homemade "honey mustard" (literally honey and mustard whipped together!!)

Recipe: Primal Beef Stew in the Crockpot

I really, really need to learn to take more profesional pictures.Because this stew really deserves someone better than me snapping a phone pic of the stew in the crockpot.

No. Really.

This has to be the best stew I've ever made, and I've made plenty of beef strew before going paleo/primal.

 I ain't just whistling dixie here, y'all.

My hubby asked how I was going to make stew without potatoes. I said I just wasn't going to put any in, and he gave me the hairy eyeball.

Our blogging compatriot, Lola, asked me how I was going to thicken the sauce for the stew without using corn starch (normally I'd use potato starch anyway), and I said arrowroot powder. And got a thumbs up.

See?  These little things are easy to overcome.

So let's get on with the recipe, shall we?

Paleo/Primal Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 1 lb beef, cut into chunks. Use your favorite cut, or what you have on hand.
• 1-2 onions chopped
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper (colors of the rainbow, peeps! Get those vitamins!)
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 stalk chopped celery
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2-4 cups beef stock or low sodium beef broth
• 1 cup red wine (I used Chiraz, because it was what I had on-hand) or 1/4 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar (don't go nuts with the vinegar unless you like things *really* tangy)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup arrowroot powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder and/or onion powder
• other seasonings to your taste: dried parsley, cayenne pepper, sea salt

Directions

1. put the chunks of beef into a baggies and dump the arrowroot powder and the granulated garlic or onion powder  in there as well.  Shake to coat. (great job for the kids, make them shake the bag and then get them to say, "And I helped!" in their best southern accent) (sorry, I couldn't help myself) If 1/4 cup of the arrowroot powder doesn't coat the beef thoroughly, then go whole hog and put in another 1/4 cup.
2. put a little bit of oil oil in a hot skillet and immediately throw in the onions and peppers. Cook until they start to soften and become fragrant. Take out of the skillet and put into the crockpot.
3. add a little bit more oil into the pan and place the coated chunks of beef into it. Don't crowd them, do it in batches if you have to.  Brown each side of the beef, and place them into the crockpot with the onions and peppers.
4. add the carrots and celery to the crockpot and cover with beef stock.
5. add the spices of your choosing, put on the lid, and cook for 2 hours on low.
6. after 2 hours, add the wine. Stir it well. Cover and cook for another 2 hours.

Viola!  Beef stew that's fit for a king. Or a caveman.

P.S. The only thing I could possibly add to this stew would be mushrooms. When I make this again, and oh yes, I will, I will add them when I add the wine, so they aren't cooked down to nothing.

Enjoy.

Recipe: Paleo/Primal Crockpot Chicken Chili

It's getting to be that time of year again. When the weather cools, I get to thinking about soups, stews, and chili.

Here's a super easy chili recipe that takes almost no time to prepare, and is yummy, and makes for great leftovers to take for lunches for a few days afterwards.







Paleo/Primal Crockpot Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1lb of ground chicken, turkey, beef, or lamb
• One large onion
• 2-3 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
• Green, Red, Orange, or Yellow bell peppers chopped, to equal 1 cup
• Large can of petite diced tomatoes
• Large can of crushed tomatoes or 1 quart of homemade tomato puree
• 1-2T of honey (to cut the acid in the tomatoes) 
• Chicken stock (I usually freeze my stock in ice cube trays, and I used 3 cubes = 6 tablespoons)
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• Spices: Cumin, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

Here's the wicked hard instructions:

• Through everything into the crockpot
• Turn on low
• Wait 8 hours.

See?  I know!!!

And it really is yummy.

I topped with a pinch of mozzarella cheese and some pickled banana peppers. That makes the dish more Primal than Paleo, but it was definitely YUM!