Blood Orange Chicken Stir Fry

I love citrus flavored meat. I picked up some blood oranges at Trader Joe's this weekend. I just knew I wanted to attempt to make a delicious citrus flavored chicken dish. 

I thawed chicken tenders directly in the citrus mixture. Soaked the chicken all day and then drained the juices when it was time to cook. 

The Ingredients:

The Marinade:

1 blood orange juiced

1/4 cup of orange juice

2 TBSP Coconut Aminos

2 TBSP Olive Oil

6 chicken tenders

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

1 yellow squash, chopped

2 cups spinach

unsweetened coconut for topping

The Directions:

Take chicken out of the freezer and place in Tupperware or Ziploc. Mix the marinade ingredients and pour over the chicken. I let the chicken soak for 8 hours. 

In a large frying pan lay the chicken out. Do not over crowd the chicken. Pour a little of the marinade over the chicken and brown both sides. Take chicken out and cut into pieces. Add chicken back to the pan and continue to cook. Add zucchini, squash and bell peppers and cook for 5 - 10 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. 

Once you plate the stir-fry top with unsweetened shredded coconut. 

ENJOY!!!!

Salsa Chicken on saute Spinach

This meal can be prepared two ways, all day (crockpot) or on the stove top, chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Your choice! :) 

I prepared mine in the crockpot on low setting for 4 - 6 hours. Chicken was tender but not yet falling apart. 

Still delicious!!!!! 

 Salsa Chicken (with Cauliflower rice) over sauted Spinach.

For lunch, I enjoyed a broccoli slaw salad, no dressing. 

(Apples, Cranberries, pecans and broccoli slaw)

Alright back to the recipe!

The Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (chicken thighs would be good, too)

2 TBSP Coconut Oil

1 yellow onion, halved and sliced

2 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)

1 12 oz jar of Trader Joe's Salsa Verde

1 head of Cauliflower

1 TBSP Cumin

1/2 TBSP Paprika

Black Pepper (pinch of sea salt) to taste

Avocado

The Directions:

In the crockpot add chicken breasts (or thighs).  Add the onions, diced tomatoes, salsa, cumin, paprika and pepper and mix well.  Cook on High for 2-4 hours and on low for 4 - 6 hours. Add pureed cauliflower for the last 15 minutes. While waiting on the Cauliflower, saute  Spinach in a little coconut oil.

Add Spinach in bottom of bowl. Top with Chicken and Cauliflower mixture. Finally, top with avocado. 

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy

I have been LAZY...

This past February, I was on a MISSION --- MISSION LOOSE baby weight! I gained about 40+ pounds and instantly lost 15 or so when Micah was born. By February, I needed to loose 15 pounds to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. 

Once I began to workout --- The pounds melted off.  I became obsessed with working out. I worked out Monday - Friday and some Saturdays. My workout was an hour of cardio and weights. I worked on that for a couple of months. I was feeling good... I decided to up my workouts to an hour of weights and cardio and I would then go in and do a spinning class or another aerobic class. I would be at the gym for 2 hours. I worked hard. I lost the weight and some! 

BUT

July came and I stopped... I was burned out. I could not get myself back to the gym. I made excuse after excuse. 

We have all been there! 

(There was also an incident in the kids room)

Anyways - last week I made it back for my first spinning class. It took all of me to get myself there and to get over my hump! 

Yesterday - I started a new adventure and I want you to hold me accountable! I started INSANITY. 

WOW - Let me tell you... it is HARD. I pushed myself and I still was not able to do everything. 

I AM OUT OF SHAPE... but not for long!!!! :) 

I am going to take pictures and I may or may not post them... But I WILL go strong for 60 days... I WILL prove to (a certain someone) and myself that I CAN and WILL do this. 

To be honest -- I am not needing or looking to loose weight... I am looking to TONE up! I am looking to be and stay HEALTHY! 

Nap times are going to be all about me!!!! :) No more goofing around on the computer or watching (reality/junk) TV... It is ONE hour devoted to me and me alone.... 

Here is to a new and improve and healthy and in shape me!!!!

A QUICK AND EASY BREAKFAST SCRAMBLE!

Egg Scramble with 1 Chicken & Turkey Sausage (AppleFarms), 2 - 5 cups Fresh Spinach, 1 Orange Bell Pepper!!!! 

Ground Beef and Spinach

A few months ago, I made a ground beef with noodles, well noodles are not Paleo friendly so here is my new recipe!

Ground beef and Spincah

The Ingredients:

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 TBSP Garlic Powder

Pepper

1 TBSP Coconut Oil

6 cups fresh Spinach, chopped

splash or two of balsamic vinegar

The Directions:

Saute the onions in the coconut oil until translucent.  Add the ground beef and brown. Add the spices and the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or until the spinach is cooked down and tender.

Spinach and Almonds

Joshua loves spinach. He reminds me almost daily how much he loves Spinach. 

I am not sure where the obsession has come from. Maybe it is because he enjoys watching old Popeye Movies. Maybe it is because he sees Popeye eat a can of Spinach and magically he is covered in LARGE muscles and is strong.  Maybe it is because he has been eating Spinach since he was 9 months old. Maybe it is just because we switch up the recipe. Maybe he really just enjoys eating Spinach. 

I think it is all of the above. He really doe like Spinach and you will not see this mom complaining. 

We eat Spinach at least once a week. We enjoy fresh and frozen. Both our fridge and freezer are stocked with this delicious leafy green!

I am on an Almond kick... You will see a lot of Almonds in my recipes to come! 

I made spinach with Almonds last week with the Sweet Potato Tater Tots and Steak. I am sorry to just be getting to posting the Spinach Recipe. 

The Ingredients:

Spinach - chopped (fresh or frozen)

Coconut Oil

Chopped Almonds

The Directions:

If using fresh Spinach, wash and dry. Cut off Spinach ends and chop Spinach into desired pieces. I like to saute fresh Spinach in Coconut Oil. You do not need much Coconut Oil because the Spinach will wilt fast and you can have oily spinach. Add Almonds and let the Almonds toast up a little bit. 

If you are using frozen you can either steam or use the microwave. We try not to use our microwave a lot so we steam ours. I then toss the Spinach in a little Coconut Oil and add toasted Almonds.

If you need to add a little Parmesan cheese to spice it up, that is fine! It is good either way!

You could add this into some quinoa, too.