Baked Lemon Turmeric Chicken

Ah Turmeric, how you turn everything yellow, even my fingers. Turmeric is awesome because it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, it will stain the shit out of everything. So be careful not to spill it everywhere while cooking with it. Turmeric has a delicious earthy flavor but I love mixing lemon, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic with it to make it more exciting for the taste buds!

Baked Lemon Turmeric Chicken | Makes 6 Servings

• 4 Large Chicken Breasts
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Turmeric
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder

Instructions:

First, brine the chicken in salt water for 15 minutes.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels before placing in a baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.

Baste the both sides of the chicken with olive oil. Then squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the chicken.

Sprinkle turmeric, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste on both sides of chicken. This is where I acquired yellow fingers.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cook time depends on how big your chicken breasts are and how fast your oven cooks.

2 of my chicken breasts were really large so I cut them in half giving me 6 servings.

Portion out into airtight containers and store in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

Serve with your favorite roasted veggies or a side salad.

Balsamic Chicken Salad

Since it’s finally warmed up a little bit here in the northeast, I was in the mood for salad! This recipe is quick easy and loaded with yummy ingredients!

Balsamic Chicken Salad | Makes 1 Serving

• Chicken Breast (cooked and chopped)
• Large Handful of Spring Mix
• 4 Halved Cherry Tomatoes
• 1/4 Avocado
• 2 Tbsp Primal Kitchen Balsamic Dressing
• 2 Sliced Cooked Bacon (Crumbled)
• Slices of Red Onion
• Slices of Cucumber
• 1 Tbsp Feta Cheese

For the Chicken Seasoning:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Italian Seasoning
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder

Instructions:

Cook the chicken how you like. Example: bake or grill. I brined mine first, brushed with olive oil, seasoned it and then baked it. Chop into small bite size pieces.

Slice cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, and avocado.

Add all ingredients to a bowl with large handfuls of spring mix. Drizzle with dressing and top with bacon crumbles and feta cheese.

I precut my veggies and store them in airtight containers with the portioned out chicken. I then add that to my spring mix when I’m ready to eat and top with bacon crumbles and dressing last. This way I can still food prep but the leafy greens don’t get soggy. I keep the bacon crumbles wrapped in a paper towel in a zip lock bag in the fridge as well to keep fresh.

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

Ok guys, this week’s recipe is Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken! I know, I know you’re probably thinking ok there’s like 5,000 of the same recipes out there for this. But! This one is made with Asiago cheese! I love love love Asiago cheese! I know what your thinking, cheese is not Paleo. But I’m the Paleo Squirrel remember? And Squirrels eat cheese. Wait what? Lol I don’t know if Squirrels eat cheese but this one does.

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken | Makes 6 Servings

• 6 Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Paprika
• Salt & Pepper
• 3 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• 10oz Bag of Fresh Spinach
• 14oz Can of Artichoke Hearts
• 8oz Brick of Cream Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 Cup Shredded Asiago Cheese

Instructions:

Leave cream cheese out of fridge to soften for about 30 minutes.

Spray a large skillet with avocado oil. Sauté spinach and garlic until spinach is lightly wilted.

Mix artichokes, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, asiago cheese, and sautéed spinach and garlic together in a large mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut large pockets in chicken breasts and place in 2 9×13 baking dishes. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Stuff the chicken breasts with about 3 heaping tablespoons of spinach/artichoke mixture. This may vary depending on how large your chicken breasts are.

Bake chicken for 2) minutes at 375 degrees.

Store in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days.

You’ll have about 2 cups of leftover spinach/artichoke mix so you can store that in an airtight container in the fridge until you’re ready to heat it for yummy dip later. To heat, put it in an oven safe container like a ramekin and heat at 350 degrees until bubbly and melty.

Paleo Sausage Ratatouille

This recipe was me trying to figure out the cheapest meal possible. I made it kind of like how I make chili but with different seasonings and I’m calling it Ratatouille because I love that word and that movie. Lol! And because I just damn well do as I please.

I purchased my sweet Italian sausage from my local butcher who only uses locally sourced meats free from hormones, antibiotics, blah blah blah. You know the story.

It came out pretty delicious. I was nervous about this one sucking but it’s full of Italian flavors! Yum!

Paleo Sausage Ratatouille | Makes 13 1 Cup Servings

• 3lbs Sweet Italian Sausage
• 1 Zucchini
• 1 Yellow Squash
• 2 Cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 Jar Rao’s Traditional Marinara
• 1/2 of 1 Large Yellow Onion
• 3 Bell Peppers (mixed colors)
• 2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
• Fresh Italian Parsley
• Fresh Basil
• Fresh Thyme
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Instructions:

Chop the zucchini, squash, onion, and bell peppers into bite sized pieces.

Remove sausage from casing. Add to a large pot and sauté over medium high heat until cooked through. Drain excess liquid.

While cooking the sausage, heat olive oil in a separate skillet and add onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent. Add zucchini, yellow squash, and peppers. Sauté until tender.

Add veggies to the pot with the sausage. With heat on medium, add fire roasted tomatoes and marinara sauce. Heat through. Add basil and thyme and stir.

Portion out into airtight containers. Top with parsley when ready to eat.

Chicken Stir Fry with Jasmine Rice

If you’re looking for a SUPER easy recipe, this is it. Only 4 ingredients: chicken, jasmine rice, a bag of mixed vegetables, and Primal Kitchen’s Sesame Ginger Marinade. Marinade, sauté, boom, done!

Sometimes I just need a break from all the food prepping so my go to for flavor, instead of a long list of seasonings, is Paleo friendly, Primal Kitchen marinade. Also, pre-cut frozen vegetables are great time saver. Guys! Frozen vegetables are not bad! They are frozen at the peak of freshness trapping in all those good nutrients! Seriously, get those veggies in any way you can.

Chicken Stir Fry with Jasmine Rice | Makes 8 Servings

• 2.5lbs Chicken Breast
• Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger Marinade
• Stir Fry Vegetables
• Jasmine Rice
• Coconut Aminos (optional)

Instructions:

Chop chicken into small chunks. Place in a large zip lock bag with entire bottle of Primal Kitchen Sesame Ginger Marinade. Marinade for at least 30 mins.

Cook the rice according to the package directions.

While the rice is cooking, sauté the chicken over medium high heat for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. I had to cook mine in 2 batches because my skillet wasn’t large enough.

Then sauté the vegetables until tender. I used frozen vegetables and sautéed them from frozen.

Portion out rice, vegetables, and chicken evenly into airtight containers.

Top with coconut aminos if desired.

Paleo BBQ Beef Brisket

I have such a craving for red meat this week! And it’s actually important to pay attention to your cravings because they mean something! Craving red meat for example, is a common sign of an iron deficiency.

I love brisket but have never made it before so this was a first for me. My second love (besides Mexican food) is BBQ sauce. But how can I eat BBQ sauce and remain Paleo you ask? Primal Kitchen’s Unsweetened BBQ Sauce!

Or you could simply make your own using Primal Kitchen’s Unsweetened Ketchup which I actually had to do because I didn’t have the 2 jars of BBQ sauce I needed. I only had 1. So I ended up mixing the 2 and it didn’t come out too bad! You can find my homemade Paleo BBQ Sauce recipe below as well.

First, I seasoned the brisket with a BBQ seasoning from Penzys before I put it in the crockpot. It’s so good and adds a punch of flavor!

Then, I realized this bad boy wasn’t going to fit in my crockpot so I cut it in half. I added 1 jar of Primal Kitchen Unsweetened BBQ Sauce…this is when I realized that wasn’t enough and ended up making my own to add to it.

Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours and bam! It falls apart.

Paleo BBQ Beef Brisket | Makes 10 Servings

• 3lbs Beef Brisket
• 2 Jars Primal Kitchen Unsweetened BBQ Sauce
• BBQ Rub Seasoning

Instructions:

Rub brisket with BBQ seasoning. Use as much or as little as you like. Add the brisket to the crockpot. Add 2 jar of Primal Kitchen Unsweetened BBQ Sauce. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Paleo BBQ Sauce

• 3/4 Cup Primal Kitchen Unsweetened Ketchup
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tsp Garlic
• 1 Tsp Onion Powder
• 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Mustard Powder
• 1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Sprouted Corn Tortilla Tacos

Tacos are one of the easiest things to make but not always the healthiest. This recipe uses sprouted corn tortillas with limited ingredients, homemade taco seasoning instead of store bought, and organic grass fed ground beef, making these tacos more healthy diet worthy than the store bought boxed taco kits.

While sprouted corn tortillas are not Paleo because corn is considered a grain, they only have 4 ingredients: organic sprouted corn, filtered water, sea salt, and lime. No artificial anything, vegetable oils, or preservatives!

You can also try tortillas from Siete Foods. They make grain free tortillas! Then you can take this recipe from healthy noms to Paleo!

Sprouted Corn Tortilla Tacos | Makes 8 Servings

• 2lbs 93% Lean Organic Ground Beef
• Sprouted Corn Tortillas
• Romaine Lettuce
• Pico De Gallo
• Salsa
• Avocado

For the Taco Seasoning:

• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 2 Tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 Tsp Onion Powder
• 3 Tsp Paprika
• 4 Tsp Cumin
• 6 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1/8 Tsp Cayenne Powder

Instructions:

Mix the spices to make the taco seasoning. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet or pot until no pink is showing. Add 6 tablespoons of the taco seasoning to the cooked ground beef. (Save remainder of seasoning for another time.) Mix until combined.

Portion out into airtight containers and store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Portion out other taco toppings: romaine lettuce, avocado, salsa, and pico into airtight containers and store in the fridge. This way none of your ingredients get soggy and you can easily reheat the meat separately. When ready to eat add all ingredients to your sprouted corn tortillas and enjoy!

Paleo Jamaican Jerk Chicken Chili

We all know I love Mexican and Southwestern flavors. And I’m pretty good at making those dishes since I’ve had so much practice. But yesterday I decided to try my hand at making Jamaican Jerk Chicken. I absolutely love the flavors of Jamaican Jerk seasoning so I thought, wouldn’t be awesome to make a Paleo Chili version of this? Well, it was an awesome idea, but one with way too much flavor. Like my mouths on fire flavor.

If you don’t know, Jamaican Jerk Chicken is a very spicy dish to begin with. I originally made this recipe with all the ingredients below PLUS more Jamaican Jerk seasonings. Bad Caitlin, bad. It was so spicy that I couldn’t even eat it. So I dialed back all the seasonings and just used the Mild Jamaican Jerk Seasoning from Walkerswood. It’s plenty of flavor!

For those of you that are super strict Paleo, the Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning has some cane sugar in it, about 1 gram per serving. But it’s not enough to make me cringe at it. Plus, the other ingredients are all ones I can pronounce and I know what they all are.

If you want to make your own Paleo Jamaican Jerk Seasoning for this recipe you can use the following ingredients. Just replace the Walkerswood Seasoning with these:

• 2 Tbsp Allspice
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Thyme
• 1 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Cayenne

You can increase the measurements if you want more flavor. I’d start with less is more though for this recipe.

Paleo Jamaican Jerk Chicken Chili | Makes 8 Servings

• 2lbs Chicken Breasts
• 1 10oz Jar Walkerswood Mild Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
• 1 28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
• 3 Tsp Garlic
• 4 Bell Peppers (variety of colors, chopped)
• 1/2 Large White Onion (chopped)

Toppings:

• Avocado
• Green Onions

Instructions: Mix tomatoes, Jamaican Jerk seasoning, and garlic in crockpot. Add chicken, make sure to push the chicken down so the mixture covers it. Top with chopped onion and bell peppers. Cook on high for 4 hours. When done, shred chicken. Portion out evenly into airtight containers. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. When ready to eat, reheat and top with green onions and avocado. You can also serve this chili with Coconut Rice!

Pesto Chicken & Pasta

While this is not a Paleo recipe, it’s damn good! I was in the mood for carbs and cheese. Can anyone tell I’m stressed? Often times when we are craving a lot of salt, carbs, and cheese we are also stressing out. The reason for these cravings is that our body is looking for a quick source of energy to help us function while we are in this fight or flight state. However, these quick sources of energy are what they are, quick. Then you’re left with a crash later and more cravings for quick sources of energy which usually leads to sweets and simple carbs like pasta, cake, sugar, you get the idea.

For sustainable energy look to healthy fats and grass fed sources of protein. Which is exactly why I love Paleo, it’s based on a diet of high fat, moderate protein and low carb. However, some of us need more carbs than others and one diet does not fit all! Which is why sometimes I eat cheese and pasta and I’m more squirrelly when it comes to eating a Paleo diet.

And sometimes it’s just because I want to and I will damn well do as I please. Plain and simple. If we aren’t giving ourselves a break sometimes and letting ourselves enjoy the things we love, we put too much stress on ourselves and really limit ourselves. So this week it’s Pesto Chicken and Pasta!

Pesto Chicken & Pasta | Makes 8 Servings

• 2lbs Chicken Breasts
• 1 Cup Pesto
• 1 Box Rotini (I used Tri-Color, but you can sub with gluten free or grain free)
• 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Instructions:

1. Place chicken in crockpot with pesto.
2. Cook on low for 4 hours.
3. Near the end of cooking the chicken, cook the rotini according to package directions and drain.
4. When the chicken is done shred and mix in cooked rotini.
5. If eating immediately, mix in mozzarella until melted.
6. If storing to eat for lunch, portion out into 8 air right containers adding a 1/4 cup mozzarella to the top of each. It will melt when you reheat.
7. Store in fridge for up to 4 days.

Paleo Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry

Stir fry my way means cooking the chicken in the crock pot. Which means it ends up so moist you have to shred it because it just falls apart. Yummm. This recipe uses coconut aminos instead of soy sauce making it Paleo friendly!

Paleo Chicken & Veggie Stir Fry | Makes 8 Servings

• 2 Pounds Chicken Breasts
• 4 Cups Cooked White Rice
• 4 Cups Mixed Veggies (I used a frozen stir fry mix)
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil

For the Sauce | Makes About 3 Cups

• 1 & 1/2 Cup Coconut Aminos
• 6 Tsp Minced Garlic
• 1/2 Cup Honey
• 3 Tbsp Minced Fresh Ginger
• 3/4 Cup Fresh Orange Juice

Cooking Instructions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions.
2. Portion rice out into airtight containers.
3. Whisk coconut aminos, garlic, honey, ginger, and orange juice together in a medium bowl.
4. Marinade chicken breasts in 2/3 (about 2 cups) of sauce mixture for 30 minutes.
5. Add chicken to crock pot with the marinade, cook on low for 8 hours. (It only took about 6 hours for mine, so be sure to check for doneness after about 6 hours.)
6. While the chicken is cooking, add olive oil to large skillet or pot, add  veggies and sauté until softened.
7. Add the last third (about 1 cup) of the sauce mixture to veggies, sauté for a few minutes more.
8. Portion veggies out over rice in airtight containers.
9. Once chicken is done, shred and portion out over veggies and rice in airtight containers.
10. Store in fridge for no more than 4 days.