Coconut Curry Chicken

What you need:
1 lb chicken thighs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp curry powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 fresh green chili, finely chopped
2 heirloom tomatoes
1 can coconut milk
2/3 large carton chicken broth
1 pinch cayenne powder
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

What to do:
Add olive oil to a large pot over med low heat.
Mix in the onion, garlic, and ginger.
Cook for 20 min.
Add in the tomato paste, cinnamon, chicken broth, cayenne, curry, salt and pepper, and coconut milk.
Stir well and cook another 20 min on med low.
Add in the chicken, tomatoes, lemon juice, and cilantro.
Let simmer for 1 hour.
Taste periodically and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and parsnips.

Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken

What you need:
10 skinless chicken drumsticks
1 onion diced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
6 cloves fresh garlic minced
zest of one lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
pinch of anise seeds
pinch of ground fennel seeds
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
3 tablespoon coconut aminos
1 cup coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Place the diced onion on the bottom of a crock pot and spread evenly.  Lay chicken over the onion.  Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl and pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.  When chicken is done the meat should pull right off the bone.

Healthy Chicken Salad

What you need:
1 rotisserie chicken, pulled
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 cup baby carrots, diced
1/2 cup purple seedless grapes, diced
1 handful sliced almonds
Sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

What to do:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Simple Healthy Spaghetti

Sometimes you just need some spaghetti.  To me this is every bit as good as the real thing, and you don't feel glued to the couch afterward.

What you need:
Two large spaghetti squash
1 lb lean ground turkey
One jar Amys premium organic pasta sauce (found at whole foods)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 bell pepper coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped baby portabello mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Poke six holes in each squash with a knife, and put them in a large microwave safe casserole dish.
Nuke for twelve minutes.  Let squash rest for five minutes, then cut in half lengthwise.  Remove the seeds with a spoon, then take a fork and scrape the meat of the squash out.  The squash should come out in strands, much like spaghetti.  One squash will make enough for two people.  I use two so that I can have leftovers the next day.
While squash is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over med high and add the onion and bell pepper.  Cook for three or four minutes, then add the turkey and cook until turkey is browned.  Add the pasta sauce and the mushrooms, and cook over med for five minutes.

Serve sauce over the spaghetti squash.

Pulled Chicken Omelets and Stuffed Peppers

Pulled chicken is so versatile, you can eat it by itself, put it in rolls or tacos, use it in soups, etc.  I really like the way that pulled chicken retains a lot of moisture and flavor from whatever liquid you cook it in.  This was a crockpot recipe my wife found at Life as a Plate (really well put together website btw), we modified slightly. We decided to put the chicken in an omelet for dinner, and stuff some peppers for the next day.  Though it works great the other way around, peppers for dinner and omeletes the next morning.

What you need: 
1 lb organic chicken breast
6 eggs
2 large bell peppers
2 fresh jalepenos finely chopped
2 fresh tomatoes roughly chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth (I used leftover from soup earlier in the week)
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
1 small bell pepper finely chopped
1 cup organic salsa
1 avocado
1 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

What to do:
Put everything except eggs, salsa, and the 2 whole bell peppers into a crockpot on low for 4 hrs.
Pull the chicken when it is ready
Hollow out the bell peppers, place in a small oven safe dish, fill with chicken, top with  the salsa, and bake for 30 min at 350.
While the peppers are baking crack the eggs and mix in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. 
Pour the eggs in a skillet (with a little butter or olive oil) on med high.  When the eggs are firm enough to turn, put the chicken on half and flip the opposite side over the chicken. Cook until brown on both sides, and top with avocado. 

Better Beef Jerky

 It's always good to have some easy protein around to get you through the day.  Making your own beef jerky is more cost effective, and you can control what you want in it.  This batch is way lower in salt than anything you will get off the shelf, but has a great flavor.

What you need:
3 lb of lean beef (I used 2 london broils), cut into 1/4 inch thick strips, across the grain
     Or have your butcher cut it (normally they are happy to do it and it saves a ton of time)

1 bottle coconut aminos
1 heaping tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp crushed red chili pepper
1/3 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 tsp garlic powder
fresh ground black pepper to taste

What to do:
Mix the coconut aminos and all of the spices in a mixing bowl.  Taste it and adjust spices if needed.
Place the sliced meat in a 1 gallon ziplock bag and fill with the mixture. Squeeze any excess air out of the bag and close it, then squeeze the bag a few times to make sure all the meat is covered.  Put it in the fridge overnight.  When marinating is done, place the meat on a drip rack and put that on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.  This amount of meat will require two racks.  You want to allow just a sliver of room between each piece of meat for air flow.  Put the meat into a 200 degree oven for 6 hours or so.  You will know it is done when the meat cracks but does not break when bent.  
When it's done I put it in a ziplock and put it in the fridge.  It should last for a couple months, but you'll never know because it'll be gone by then. 

O-Run Atlanta

We had a great time at this race.  Awesome obstacles.  Hard as hell terrain. We came in 5th ot of 97 teams.  My wife spent some time talking with the creator of the race, who was very down to earth and did a lot of hard work getting this thing ready. I'm glad there are people out there dedicated to organizing events like this.  Click here for an example of one of the obstacles, or Check out their website

Easy Turkey Burgers

What you need:
1lb lean ground turkey (99% fat free)
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped (or 1 tsp minced garlic)
10 diced black olives
1/4 of a bell pepper, chopped
6 diced dried tomatoes (the really dry ones, "Melissa's brand")
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 pinch ground oregano
Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

What to do:
Heat coconut oil in an oven safe skillet over med high heat
Heat oven to 400
Cook veggies and garlic in skillet until soft
Mix turkey with veggies and spices in a large mixing bowl
Form meat and veggie combination into small patties (we made 6)
Return patties to skillet and brown on each side over med high heat
Place skillet in oven to finish cooking over 5 to 10 minutes
Serve with mustard and a side salad

The idea for these burgers came from Stupideasypaleo.com

Starting the Whole 30 Diet Today

My wife and I felt like we needed to change things up a little after being on vacation last week.  All that heavy food made us want to eat clean for a while.  So we decided to do the "Whole 30", starting today. Looks tough, but it will also feel really good to eat right for a little while.  Hopefully it will inspire us to learn some new recipes and try some new foods.  Here is a link to the Whole 30 website.

Salmon with Steamed Brocolli

What you need:
2 salmon filets (skin on)
2 cups brocolli, washed and cut into florets
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 lemon

What to do:
Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat
Place salmon filets face down (skin up) for five or six minutes until they get some color,
Flip filets and turn down heat to med, let cook for another six minutes or until meat is flaky but moist.  Garnish with lemon slices.
Steam brocolli in microwave for three minutes while fish cooks.
(Sometimes I will turn on the oven if the meat looks like it is going to burn before it cooks all the way. I'll throw the skillet in the oven for about ten minutes, usually turns out perfect.)