Creamy Chicken Verde Bake and Sweet Potato Banana Mashed

Whats on the menu? Creamy Chicken Verde Bake (find it HERE) and because they are kick ass and delish  Sweet Potato Banana Mashed (find it HERE) again!

How easy was it to make? This was the easiest thing I have made over the last few weeks. The hardest part honestly was going to Market Basket for the stuff to make it. I hate that store. I usually stop at Hannaford and on a Friday night its usually not too bad. Well, I heard that Market Basket had coconut flour on sale and since I was going to be making dessert for the gym I needed to get there to get some. Thats shiz is expensive and I was almost all out. Anyway. What a zoo. Plus, even though I have "Grocery Store Anxiety" (yes that is self diagnosed) I have an easier time with Hannaford because I know the store and I know where to get the stuff we typically buy. One would have thought they were giving shit away at Market Basket. It was horrific.

Anyway. Once I got home the prep of the chicken was quick and the coconut milk and salsa verde couldnt have been any easier. I didnt really get the point of the arrow root powder. I know that it isused to thicken sauces, but I honestly dont think it did much of anything. I think next time I would use a little less of either the salsa or the coconut milk, it was a little thin. I also used boneless skinless and not thighs.

So... how was it? I thought it was excellent. Hubs said that he really liked it a lot and went as far as saying "you can make this one again." So I think it goes in the keep pile for sure. Along with the Cottage Pie. I will post that one again someday.

Will I make it again? Yepper! For Sure! Next time I will remember to add the cilantro after its done!

Baked Chicken with Artichoke Sundried Tomato Tapenade and Sweet Potato Banana Mashed

Whats on the menu? Baked Chicken with Artichoke Sundried Tomato Tapenade (find it HERE) and Sweet Potato Banana Mashed (find it HERE)

How easy was it to make? Well, I have to say, I am afraid of chicken. I dont like to make it because I am scared that I am going to under cook it.  This was quite an adventure for me. So I started to mix up the tapenade ingredients as they are listed in the recipe and I wasnt really happy. The quantities of the ingredients were hard to understand (because I didnt know if it was before or after chopping them up or whatever) so I just started to eyeball it. I mixed everything in the food processor first except for the artichoke, than added that slowly. I tasted it than added things I thought it needed more of. Than I followed the rest of the recipe for the salt, pepper and garlic on the chicken... than the tapenade... than in the oven with olive oil.

The sweet potato was easy peasy... mostly because we had some already mashed in the fridge. I just popped the bananas in the convection oven for 15 minute at 400 with holes poked in (as it instructed) than mashed them into the sweet potatos as I heated them up.

Hubs came home and everything was timed out right. It was done.

Going in the Oven

So... how was it? I am sure hubs will give his honest opinion as well, but I thought overall it was pretty good! The chicken had sort of a weird consistency I think because it was baked in the oil. I am so used to crock pot chicken that has been in the fridge a few days so that could be it too. It was really "moist" (damn I hate that word). The tapenade had great flavor... the only thing that could have made it better was cheese, but I didnt use any. The sweet potato... all I have to say is YUM! I thought they were great and it was really nice to have something a little different from the normal sweet potato that I have all week.

Will I make it again? I think this one can go it the "yes" pile on both accounts. The chicken and the sweet potato!

Get in my Belly!

Chicken Topped with Prosciutto

Hands down one of our all time FAVORITE finds on the CFSCC website. This dish is delicious... I dont even think I have anything else to say about it except try it! You will love it! http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/09/delicious-baked-chicken-topped-with.html

What you need:
-4 Chicken breasts
-2 Shallots

-1 Cup Sliced Mushrooms
-1/2 Cup Artichoke hearts
-1/2 Cup White Wine
-1 Tbsp Olive Oil
-2 oz. Prosciutto
-Sea Salt

-Black Pepper

-Garlic Powder

-Paprika

What you do:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees

- Bake prosciutto on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes (keep an eye on it) until crispy

- Pound chicken breasts and sprinkle both sides with seasonings

- Brown chicken breasts in a skillet (med-high) in olive oil for 4-5 minutes on each side

- Transfer chicken to baking dish

- Add thinly sliced shallots and wine to deglaze skillet

- Stir in mushrooms and artichoke hearts

- Cook until mushrooms are tender

- Pour sauce over chicken in pan

- Break up prosciutto into small pieces and top chicken and sauce

- Bake 10 minutes

- Serve over cooked spinach (however you prefer to make it)

Paleo Chicken Fingers

This was found at http://fedandfit.com/2012/01/13/paleo-chicken-fingers/ ... they were PERFECT for the first quarter of the Pats game!! We want to figure out how to get them a little crispier, but the breading had great flavor!! Good Stuff!! 

We served them with Tomato Mayonnaise.

What you need:

3 chicken breasts cut into strips

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups almond meal

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp onion powder

1 Tsp paprika

1 Tsp salt

1 Tsp pepper

What you do:

- Preheat oven to 375
- Line a baking sheet with and place wire baking racks on top

- Wisk eggs in small bowl

- Mix almond meal, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, sea and pepper in a small bowl

- Coat chicken in mixture

- Dip in eggwash

- Second coat in almond meal

- Put on baking rack

- Bake 20 minutes

- Turn up to 400 deg and bake an additional 5 minutes

- Let stand 10 minutes, than serve!

 

Spicy Chicken and Bacon Poppers

These were GREAT for the Patriots game! Hubs whipped them up while I was getting some other things ready to take with us.

We got the recipe HERE... quick, easy and FANTASTIC!! Who dosent like bacon and pepperoncini!!


*Disclaimer: Unless you use nitrate free bacon this recipe is  not considered totally Paleo, so if you are doing a Paleo Challenge or staying completely 100% Paleo this recipe will cost you points.*

What you need:
(note, this makes 6-8 poppers, so increase as needed)
- 1 Large Chicken Breast
- 6-8 Pepperoncini
- 3-4 Strips of Bacon

What you do:
- Cut the chicken breasts into cubes
- Marinate the chicken if desired
- Slice each pepperonccini in half and stuff with cube of chicken
- Wrap with half a piece of bacon
- Secure with a tooth pick
- Cook on grill until chicken and bacon is cooked thoroughly.

http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2010/08/spicy-chicken-bacon-poppers.html

Almond Flour Breaded Chicken

We make this quite a bit, it originated in the scallopini recipe, but we like it so much we have made it with speghetti squash and organic pasta sauce with mushrooms. You can substitute this chicken anywhere you would have breaded chicken. Its great alone or with a topping.

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

What you do:
- Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch).
- Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
- Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture.
- Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side.

At this point you can continue with the scallopini recipe or you ca do what we did here, serve with spaghetti squash and organic sauce.

Paleo Chicken Scallopini

This is one of my absolute favorites. I am a HUGE fan of lemon and capers and white wine... so its perfect! We typically make this for dinner a night during the week and take the leftovers for lunch the next day. So delish! In the picture you will see that we didnt have any mushrooms that night, so we used tomatos... I like it better with the mushrooms, but it just goes to show you that you can improvise or make substitutions if you dont like everything or have anything from a recipe.

The original recipe is here... http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/02/paleo-chicken-scallopini-over-spaghetti.html

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 C sliced mushrooms

2 T capers

2 T lemon juice

1/4 C white wine (or chicken broth)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

What you do:

Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch). Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture. Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken breasts. In same pan, add garlic and mushrooms and saute until tender (you may need to add a tad more olive oil). Add wine and deglaze pan. Stir in capers and lemon juice. Add chicken breasts back to pan. Place thinly sliced lemons over the chicken pieces, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

We usually serve it with spaghetti squash... THIS is how I make it.