Easy Roasted Chicken- 2 Ways

Sorry I've been MIA guys... it has been a little bit crazy in my personal life this past week with a new doctor, an MRI, grad school starting up again and some other personal issues so I wasn't able to get a lot of blogging work completed unfortunately. Never fear, I am not gone from the net-verse! I have a list of posts that I am working on currently including a review of one of my favorite running apps (I can't run but I love it for my walks!) plus I ordered the backpack that I was talking about in my previous post. It should get here this week so that review will be upcoming as well- I'm so excited! Then it's a couple of recipes and a post about how I organize my household chores for quick completion throughout the week. I completely re-did my chart to show you guys how I came up with my personal plan from start to finish so that you can design your own that works for your family! For today though I am talking about two recipes for roasted chicken that are very simple to make. Read more below.

 

This week I decided to stick with chicken as my main protein as it was on sale and I've had some big expenses lately. I picked up some chicken thighs and drumsticks for a good price and headed home to see what I would come up with once I got in the kitchen. Unfortunately by the time I got home I wasn't feeling very well at all as I had had an MRI earlier in the day and the contrast dye really doesn't get out of system as fast as the doctors say it should- possibly due to the MTHFR but its an unknown and doesn't really matter in the end. The dye makes me sick to my stomach and causes my POTS to act up... I had to wait a while after the MRI before I could leave as I was pretty dizzy actually. So I went with as little time as possible on my feet in the kitchen and had some cuddles with my pups.  Here they are... I love my love-bugs! The one on the left is Roxanne or Roxy and on the right is my Isabel or Izzy. They are both 4 years old turning 5 in January and February of 2016. Roxy just had quite the health scare if you recall- she almost died! She is doing so much better now though, happy as a clam and hyper as all get out. Isabel is a bit more mellow but is crazy about her ball and will bug you for hours on end to throw it again and again... do not forget to pack it if we go visit somewhere or there will be craziness. It's basically her binky... and the only toy she cannot destroy in less than a minute (tennis ball to gravel in 60 seconds people, for serious). I will likely review the toy maker at some point since I have quite a few of their toys if anyone is interested.

For the chicken thighs I drizzled a little ghee and 2 cloves of rough chopped garlic (you could use melted butter if you prefer), did a quick massage to get everything coated well then sprinkled on some sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper and popped it in the oven. If you want it with a little kick add some paprika... yumm!

For the drumsticks I went with a citrus taste. I simply squeezed two lemons and a lime on top of the drumsticks and added the same salt and pepper as on the thighs. There are so many options for this with marinades including zest, spices and etc that I will be going back and experimenting with this combination again in the future but tonight I just wanted fast but still tasty.

For both of these dishes I set the oven to 300 degrees in order to get a slow roast on the chicken over a couple of hours. Depending on the amount of chicken you have in the oven the cook time could vary but it took about 3 hours for mine to be fully cooked. Make sure to check the internal temperature if you aren't sure if the chicken is fully cooked or not. So far I have enjoyed these dishes as lunches and dinners throughout the week. What other ways do you cook up chicken in your house? :)

Asian Inspired Shrimp and Zucchini Soup

I was flipping though the pages of 21 Day Sugar Detox and saw a soup that looked really tasty but unfortunately I didn't have all the ingredients to make it in the house. It was a Miso soup remake and I'll definitely make sure to try it soon but I didn't want to go shopping so I took the inspiration and made my own soup with things I already had in the house. It made an awesome lunch and there were enough left overs to add to my ready meal stock for the rest of the week (more on that in a future post). This recipe could easily be made in a crock pot- just put everything in at once and set it on low for 4-6 hours. The recipe below made 5 portions. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
36 oz Bone Broth (I used beef today because that is what I had on hand)
1 Tbsp coconut aminos
3 drops fish sauce
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 Tbsp parsley, dried (feel free to use fresh, I didn't have any on hand)
1/2 lb white mushrooms
1 lb cooked shrimp

PROCEDURE:
1. Bring the broth to a simmer with the coconut aminos and fish sauce in a large pot on the stove top.
2. Add all other ingredients to the pot.
3. Put the lid on the pot and turn the temperature to low. Allow the soup to simmer on low for about 30-45 minutes.

That's it... simple with very little hands-on time. 

Bone Broths

Bone broth is one of the easiest, most versatile and healthy recipes in the Paleo arsenal. It has a plethora of minerals and proteins that your body needs to run optimally and it tastes great too! As I have joint issues it is very important for me to get a lot of gelatin (and other joint supporting nutrition) into my diet so I LOVE using bone broth in my dishes. Personally, I use it as the base of many of my soups but it can also be used to de-glaze pans when making sauces, roast or saute vegetables, add flavor to a variety of main and side dishes or even drink it alone if you are so inclined. My recipes for bone broth is both super simple and works in the crock pot... which means that I do next to no work to get this fabulous broth! I don't often go through enough meat in any one month to have enough bones using only my leftover ones unfortunately but lucky for me there is an Asian market about 10 minutes away that stocks bones by the pound so I can make bone broth whenever I run out. 

A tip for freezing: freeze it in ice trays or other shallow dishes for easy thawing later. I have found that ice trays are perfect as they are pre-measured and small enough to thaw single serving portions fast but I can always grab my bag of broth cubes and make stew quickly as well. 

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs of bones (for this example I am using chicken bones acquired from the Asian market)
1-2 celery stalks, rough chopped
2-3 carrots, peeled and rough chopped
1 onions, rough chopped
1-2 Tbsp vinegar (I'm using apple cider vinegar in this example)
garlic cloves to taste
herbs to taste
filtered water

PROCEDURE:
1. Chop the veg and garlic and place in the bottom of the crock pot.

I have an adverse reaction when I chop celery (instant migraine) so I purchase my celery pre-chopped but this isn't necessary nor necessarily optimal. I didn't have access to organic whole carrots today at the store so I used organic peeled baby carrots in about the same amount as 2-3 large carrots.

2. Add the chicken bones to the crock pot.

3. Fill the crock pot the rest of the way with water.

4. Add vinegar.

5. Place top on crock and turn the crock pot on low temperature.

6. Walk away for 24-36 hours.

7. Strain the broth through a fine mesh to remove veg and bones.

8. Cool the broth.

9. Remove layer of fat that solidifies on top of the, now gelled, broth if using non-grass fed/pastured animal bones.

10. Measure out the broth as desired. You can typically keep it in the fridge for about 5 days or freeze part of it if you won't be using it all right away.

Your broth may vary in color from batch to batch depending on the bones you are using, the amount of remaining flesh, whether you roast your bones before using them for broth (good for beef bones especially), and the additional ingredients you add such as veg and herbs. Beef broth, pictured in cubes above, tends to be darker than chicken or fish for instance.

Curious where I get my ingredients? I get my ingredients all over the metroplex, on Amazon and through Young Living as a distributor. Don't want to search out stores to pick them up? I'll make it easy! You can place an order through me for any oils you may need and here are some quick links for the non-perishable ingredients and tools on Amazon should you wish to order online: