Friday, July 25, 2014

Paprika Crispy Skin Chicken Legs

I don't know about you, but I seriously love crispy skin chicken. I cannot get enough of it! My future mother-in-law didn't really know this about me yet, but she made a delicious roasted chicken leg when we visited and I was in love! So this recipe is my take on her dish and I think I did her justice!

You could make this recipe with chicken thighs or chicken drumsticks if you don't have the whole leg, but it should be bone in and skin on for best results.

Ingredients
1) 4-6 bone-in, skin on chicken legs (thigh + drumstick)
2) 1 teaspoon of ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil
3) 1/2 tablespoon paprika
4) 1 teaspoon salt
5) 1/2 teaspoon pepper

**Servings: 2-4**

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Place your chicken legs in a 9x13 pan, or a 9x9 pan if they fit.
3) Rub each chicken leg with a little of your cooking oil.
4) In a small bowl, mix together the spices.
5) Rub the spices generously over each of the legs.
6) Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
7) After 30 minutes, you will cook for an additional 25-30 minutes, basting with the liquid at the bottom of the pan every 5 minutes. This is the KEY to crispy skin! Don't skip this part!
8) Once the skin is nice and crispy, you are done! You can check this with a thermometer to ensure a greater than 165 degree internal temperature, but after 60 minutes it will absolutely be above that. Eat up! It's delicious!


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Shredded Pork Hash Egg Bake (Paleo-Zone)

Our super amazing friends have been trading up grain-free cookies in exchange for them smoking us a bunch of pork. We are so lucky! I've been using the pork a lot just for salads, but wanted to try and make a breakfast-y dish with it. I used regular russet potatoes for this recipe, but you could substitute for sweet potatoes if you prefer. The result was delicious, and the apple added a nice sweetness in the background.

This meal is Paleo-Zone! Hooray! I haven't posted one of those forever. If you're not concerned with balancing your macro nutrients as much, you don't have to be quite as specific with your measurements.

Ingredients
1) 10oz pound of cooked, shredded pork (10P)
2) 10 eggs (10P, 20F)
3) 1 onion, diced (3C)
4) 1 apple, diced (2C)
5) 1.5 pound of potatoes, diced (15C)
Total: 20P, 20C, 20F -- 20 blocks

Instructions
1) Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Then, chop up your potatoes.
2) Add your potatoes to the heated skillet. If you had a pan that is not non-stick, you may need to add a little oil to ensure the potatoes do not stick.
3) Let the potatoes cook for 10 minutes, and during this time chop up your apple, onion, and your shredded pork.
4) After the 10 minutes, add in your apple and onion. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are 90% soft. They'll cook the rest of the way in the oven.

**Now preheat your oven to 350 degrees**

5) Fold in your chopped shredded pork.
6) Transfer all of your food into a 9x13 cooking dish.
7) In a separate bowl, whisk together your 10 eggs. Then pour on top of your food, and stir to mix it all together.
8) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until the eggs are firm. Enjoy!


Friday, July 11, 2014

Cabbage, Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry

I will tell you what--the pre-shredded bags of cabbage that you would use to make coleslaw are seriously my favorite thing right now. So easy to just throw a bag in with what I'm cooking and add some delicious texture and a healthy dose of veggies! So this stir-fry essentially stemmed from me having some shredded cabbage and celery that were about to go bad. Decided to saute it all up and WOW it was delicious! I used coconut aminos to give it more flavor, but you could use a gluten-free soy sauce if you have one. The longer this cooks, the better, so try and do the whole hour if you can!

Ingredients
1) 2 pounds of ground beef
2) 1 head of cabbage, shredded (or 1 bag of pre-shredded lettuce)
3) 2 onions, diced
4) 1.5 pounds of carrots, sliced or diced
5) 3 cups of diced celery (about 10 sticks)
Extra: 1/4 cup of coconut aminos or soy sauce alternative
Also: Salt and Pepper

Instructions
1) Heat up a large pan over medium-high heat. Add your ground beef and diced onions and saute about 10 minutes, until cooked.
2) Add your chopped carrots and celery, and then add your coconut aminos. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on as well.
3) Stir in your cabbage. If your pan isn't big enough to accommodate all of the cabbage, add as much as you can and after 10-15 minutes it will cook down enough where you can add the rest. (This is what I did).
4) Reduce heat to medium and cover with a lid. Cook for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes to ensure nothing burns.
5) Season with salt and pepper to taste. I ended up about a teaspoon or so of salt until it was where I wanted it flavor wise.
6) Enjoy! Leftovers are fantastic!

Thursday, July 3, 2014

6-Ingredient Chicken Fajita Enchilada Casserole

That name is a mouthful...

I am so busy with school lately, it's just crazy. So on the weekends I need to cook up a storm to try and make it so I don't have to worry about anything during the week. So I am becoming obsessed with my crockpot and with casseroles. I just keep throwing together meat, veggies and usually a few eggs to tie it together and then baking it for an hour. Luckily for me, they keep tasting great! I picked up a can of enchilada sauce a very long time ago and it just sat it our cupboard for months, until I thought I'd just throw it in with a chicken casserole I was attempting. The result was delicious! Enjoy! I added the bell peppers too, which made it technically 6-ingredients, but you could sub out or in any veggies you had on hand or wanted to throw in.

Ingredients
1) 20oz of cooked, shredded chicken (I had cooked up some in my crockpot, but you could use a rotisserie chicken or whatever you have on hand. This was 1.5 pounds raw and came out to 20oz cooked)
2) 3 eggs
3) 1 cup of enchilada sauce (read the label and make sure it's not full of junk!)
4) 2 cans (15oz each) of diced tomatoes
5) 1 onions, diced
6) 2 bell peppers, diced
Extra: 1 teaspoon of chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1) Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Chop up your onion and green peppers, and add to the hot skillet with a little cooking oil of your choice.
3) Saute for about 10 minutes until tender. Add optional 1 teaspoon of chili powder to the the veggies now, plus some salt and pepper.
4) In a 9x13 pan, add your shredded chicken and diced tomatoes. Then add your cooked onion and green peppers. Stir to incorporate.
5) Mix your eggs and enchilada sauce in a separate bowl. Add in some salt and pepper here as well to flavor the liquid.
6) Add your egg mixture to the pan and stir to fully incorporate.
7) Cook at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Top with some guacamole if you'd like!