Paleo Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Last night I went to pick the girls up from a play date, and came home to these buffalo chicken tenders!!  The picture does not do them justice!  These were great on their own, but would also be great in a wrap or on a salad.  And they are perfect if you are looking for a treat for the upcoming Super Bowl!  

Ingredients:

2 lbs Chicken Tenders

1 cup coconut flour

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp black pepper

3 eggs

1/4 cup Franks

1/4 cup grass fed butter

Preheat oven to 425.  

Mix coconut flour and seasonings in a bowl.

Whisk eggs in a separate bowl.  Dip chicken tenders in eggs.  Then dredge chicken tenders in flour mixture and place on baking sheet greased with coconut oil.  Bake tenders at 425 for 12 minutes.    .

While chicken is cooking, heat Franks and butter on stove top.  After chicken has baked 12 minutes, dip in the heated sauce/butter mixture, and place back on baking sheet.  Bake an additional 12 minutes. 

Zucchini Boats

We do quite a few variations of zucchini boats, and these have ended up being a favorite!

3 zucchini
1.5 lbs lean ground beef
3 T tomato paste
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow onion
garlic powder
Italian seasoning
salt
pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese

Scoop meat out of 3 zucchini, sprinkle with salt and pepper, bake zucchini 10 minutes on 350. Meanwhile prepare filling...Filling is 1.5 lbs ground beef, 3 T tomato paste, one green bell pepper, one yellow onion, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and about 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Browned gr beef, drained, set meat aside, sauté veggies in the same pan you cooked beef in, then add meat and other ingredients (used about 3/4 cup cheese in filling). Stuff the baked zucchini and then top w remaining cheese, bake an additional 10-15 minutes. 

    21 day fixers - We counted one zucchini boat as 1/2 red, one green, 1/2 blue.  

Chicken with Asparagus

We found a similar recipes online, and knew we would love this variation of chicken and veggies.  Lucky for us, two of the girls are huge fans too!  Definitely adding this to our regular rotation, and subbing veggies depending on what we have on hand.  

          5 Boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts

          Asparagus Spears, 4 -5 in each chicken breast

          Mozzarella Cheese

          Tomato, 1 large

      Red Onion, thinly sliced

          1 tsp Paprika

          1 tsp Onion Powder

          1 tsp Garlic Powder

          ½ cup Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs

Cut ends off the asparagus and toss in olive oil, paprika, coating well.

Butterfly the chicken by slicing a deep cut from the top to bottom. Stuff each breast with tomato slices, red onion, cheese, and asparagus. Close chicken and season the top with onion, garlic powder, and bread crumbs

Over medium-high heat, grill the chicken on the top rack until cooked

Crock Pot Chicken Philly

It's been really cold lately, and DJ wanted a weather appropriate meal tonight.  We tried this recipe for the first time tonight, and it was perfect!!

Crock Pot Chiken Philly

2 T coconut oil or butter

3 bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

½ T sea salt

2 T below seasoning mix (or Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Provolone cheese

Banana peppers, optional topping

Place coconut oil at bottom of crock pot.  Place bell pepper and yellow onion over coconut oil. 

Place chicken, garlic, sea salt, and seasoning in bowl and toss chicken.  Place seasoned chicken in crock pot on top of onion and peppers.  Cook on low 3 hours, mix chicken and veggies.  Cook another 2 – 3 hours.  Drain juice and place cheese on top to melt.  

Seasoning Mix

1. 2 T paprika
   2 T black pepper
   2 T sea salt
   1 T garlic powder
   1 T onion powder
   1 T cumin
   1 T corriander
   1 T dill
   1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

This weekend Riley and I played with one of our favorite recipes to make our first batch of pumpkin muffins this fall.  We love how they turned out!!

 - 1 cup pumpkin puree
 - 2 large eggs
 - 1 cup plain greek yogurt
 - 2 cups oats
 - 3 T honey
 - 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
 - 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
 - 1 tsp nutmeg
 - 1/8 tsp ground cloves
 - 1/8 tsp salt
 - 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease muffin tin, or line with lightly greased muffin liners.

Place all ingredients except for chocolate chips in blender.  Blend on high for several minutes, until oats have broken down.  Once batter is blended well, stir in chocolate chips by hand.  Fill muffin cups with batter.  Bake about 15 minutes, until tops are set and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool muffins on wire rack.

Burrito Bowl

New recipe this week for lunch - Chicken Burrito Bowls!!  I have a new accountability group starting today, so we wanted at least one new recipe for the week.  This one was great, so happy to have another to add to our rotation!  One of the great benefits to running the accountability groups is that they push me to not only focus on my workouts, but I end up looking for new recipes for challengers and find great ideas for our meals too!

Here's our recipe:

shredded chicken (see recipe below)
black beans (canned, rinsed and drained, or crock pot recipe here)
brown rice - cooked according to package instructions
shredded romaine lettuce
salsa - store bought or recipe below
cilantro, chopped
green onion, diced
grape tomato, halved
greek yogurt (optional)
avocado (optional)


Shredded Chicken in Crock Pot
4 chicken breasts
2 limes
cumin
garlic powder
salt
pepper
 -  Place 4 chicken breasts in crock pot.  Squeeze juice of two limes over chicken.  Sprinkle with cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Cook on low for 4 - 5 hours.  Shred chicken in crock pot.

Salsa
2 cans rotel with lime and green chiles
2 cans fire roasted tomato, salsa style
1/2 jalapeno
1/3 bunch of cilantro
1 tsp garlic salt
 - Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Makes a large batch of salsa, so either half the recipe or plan to use in another recipe for the week.  We love using the salsa as salad dressing!

Place almost a full green container of shredded romaine in a bowl, top with 1 red container of chicken, 1 yellow of rice/beans, add other toppings as desired (salsa, cilantro, green onion, grape tomato, greek yogurt, avocado).  Be sure to count your avocado as your blue!  Enjoy!!

Asparagus Salad

We tried out an asparagus salad tonight, and it's going into our regular rotation!  This is a great side dish for all of your summer get together's and perfect for the Fourth!

Asparagus Salad

2 bunches of asparagus
bacon (I cooked about 12 slices, and used 1/2 a slice on my serving)
boiled eggs (I made 5 boiled eggs, and topped my serving with 1/2 of one)
one pint of grape tomatoes, halved
one yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)
sea salt, to taste

First step, cooking the bacon.  It's a personal preference, but I like my bacon crispy, especially in a salad like this one.  We buy the thick sliced bacon, and cook in the oven.  I put on a baking sheet lined with foil, and cook at 400 degrees.  I cook about 15 minutes, then flip, cooking about another 15 minutes.  Remove from sheet, place on plate lined with paper towel.

While the bacon is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add asparagus to boiling water, and boil 4 - 5 minutes.  Drain, and add asparagus to a bowl of ice water, letting it rest for about 20 seconds, then drain again.  While my water was boiling for the asparagus, I also put my eggs on to boil.

Chop asparagus and place in large mixing bowl.  Add all veggies, 1/3 cup of vinaigrette, sprinkle with sea salt, and mix.  Chill 30 minutes.  When serving, top with diced boiled egg and bacon pieces.

For the balsamic vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsmic vinegar
1 T diced red onion
1 T dijon mustard
1 T honey
1/4 tsp garlic
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Mix above ingredients in food processor or blender.