Honey Mustard Bacon Chicken

This is my healthified version of Outback Steakhouse's Alice Springs Chicken.

Basically it's grilled chicken smothered in bacon, cheddar cheese, and a honey mustard sauce.

I took out the cheese, and clean-up the sauce to make this dish whole30 and paleo approved.

I love this chicken.  My family loves this chicken. Enough Said!

Honey Mustard Bacon Chicken

8 chicken tenderloins (boneless thighs would be yummy too)

4 pieces of bacon (sugar-free, nitrate-free)

2 tablespoon mayonnaise (I use homemade)

1/4 cup prepared mustard

1/3 cup honey or date paste

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

*

Bake chicken or grill the chicken pieces until thoroughly cooked.  While the chicken is baking, cut each piece of bacon in half. Fry the bacon until crispy. Prepare the sauce by mixing the mayo, mustard, honey (or date paste), and onion powder together.  Once the chicken is done, top with half a piece of bacon, and a generous drizzle of sauce.

*If you eat dairy, you can top each piece of chicken with a thin layer of cheddar cheese, while it's still hot, then continue topping it with bacon and sauce.

Homemade Mayo

Did you know store-bought mayonnaise is primarily made up of a little ingredient called soybean oil?

Let's talk about Soy for a minute.

Did you know that soy in all its forms is really bad for you?

I've been doing tons of research and have concluded that soy (aka - MSG, mono-diglyceride, soya, lecithin, TSF, soya, TVP, tofu, edamame, etc), and what the government has been telling us is so darn good about it, is pretty much a lie. Almost all soy has been genetically modified and is used as a filler in most processed foods. It messes with your thyroid, and your reproductive hormones (male and female).  

I know, I know!  I sound like a freak.  Just trust me on this one. . . Soy is bad news! If you want to be healthy and balanced, stay away from it.

 Making your own mayo is not only healthier (because you can control what goes into it), it's also cheaper.  Much cheaper.  Now don't get scared,  It's really easy to make! 

Homemade Mayonnaise

1 cup light tasting olive oil 

(make sure it's light tasting regular and extra virgin will taste gross!)

1 whole egg, room temp

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Place all the ingredients in to a large jar.  With an immersion blender, blend until everything is incorporated- 20-30 seconds.  Store in the refrigerator in a non-metal jar until the expiration date of the egg you used.

(Eggs are usually good 3-5 weeks)

*If you do not have an immersion blender you can make this in a regular blender.  To do this, add only 1/4 cup of oil along with the remaining ingredients into the blender.  Blend everything together on low 1-2 minutes. Turn blender off and scrape the side.  Turn blender back on and while its running, slowly add the remaining oil. Blend until consistency of mayonnaise.

Fajitas

I love Mexican food.  ONE, It's easy to make, and TWO, it tastes delicious!  

However, and we all know it, Mexican food is not really very healthy.

(Insert Sad face) 

When I began my lifestyle change, I stayed far far away from Mexican food. I didn't think there were any dishes I could eat,  Everything was on flour or corn tortillas, layered with refried beans, deep fried, then smothered in three layers of cheese.

Delicious, yes, but nutritious, no.

 After a few months of establishing healthy eating habits, and suffering from a lack of Taco Bell, it dawned on me that there was one Mexican dish I could eat- Fajitas!  

I've been making this dish for almost 20 years. My family loves them.

They are simple to make with very basic ingredients. 

 Fajitas are usually served with tortillas, shredded lettuce, cheese, pico, guac, shredded cheese, and sour cream.

 I eat them sans the tortilla, cheese, and sour cream, on a large bed of lettuce topped with fresh pico, guacamole, and a squeeze of lime juice.

 They are delicious, nutritious, and really hit the spot when you have a craving for Mexican food, but are trying to watch what you eat.

Fajitas

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon seasalt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 medium onion (yellow or white)

2 bell peppers

1 tablespoon oil, divided

4 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1/2 lime (optional)

Combine oregano, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together.  Set aside.  Cut onion and bell pepper (seeds removed) into strips.  In a large skillet add 1/2 tablespoon (1-1/2 teaspoons) of oil. (I used avocado oil.).  Over medium-high heat, saute onions and peppers until soft and tender.  Remove veggies onto a plate.  Add remaining oil and chicken strips to the skillet.  Cook chicken thoroughly until done and it's beginning to brown a little.  Add the veggies in with the chicken.  Add the seasoning mix, stirring to coat.  Cook 3-4 minutes more until veggies are warmed.  Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime over everything (optional, but super delicious). Serve immediately.

Broccoli Soup (Healthified)

The temperatures in my neck of the woods have dropped this past week.  Things are starting to look and feel like Fall around here.  SO, this past Sunday I decided it was time to reinstate "Souper Sundays", a little tradition I started last winter of serving soup for Sunday dinner.  One of my family's favorite soup is Broccoli Cheese .  It's is chock full of broccoli which is super healthy and good for you.  However, it is also full of butter, white flour, and cheese.  Last week, I decided to try to makeover my original recipe into a healthier version. I substituted clarified butter for regular, arrowroot powder (sometimes called arrowroot starch or arrowroot flour) for the white flour, and coconut milk for the whole milk. I'm happy to report that I succeeded.  In fact this version tastes identical to the original - really.  Go ahead try it and see for yourself. 

This recipe yields 6 large servings.

Broccoli Soup 

(made-over)

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped broccoli

3 tablespoons clarified butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

2 cups chicken broth

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set aside. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.  Stir in arrowroot powder.  Let cook for 1 minute before slowly add broth and coconut milk.  Stir until slightly thickened.  Add salt, ground nutmeg, and cooked broccoli and nutritional yeast, and stir to combine.  Let simmer an additional 3-5 minutes. 

STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS

1. Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set this aside.

 2. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.

 3.  Stir in arrowroot powder and let it cook for 1 minute.

(This greatly improves the flavor.)

4.  After the 1 minute is up, slowly stir in the chicken broth and 

 can of full-fat coconut milk.

4.  Now it's time to add in the rest of the ingredients - the salt, nutmeg 

 nutritional yeast,

 and broccoli.

5.  Let the soup simmer 3-5 minutes to help incorporate all the flavors.

6.  Ladle it up and enjoy!

Clarified Butter - Basics

If you're doing a Whole30 or you just want to eliminate dairy from your diet, or maybe you are lactose intolerant, you'll want to know how to make clarified butter.  

Clarified butter is butter from which all the milk solids have been removed.

Yes, you can buy it, most health stores sell it as ghee, but it's cheaper just to make it at home.  It can be substituted one to one for any butter called for in a recipe.  It also tastes really good by itself as a spread. It has higher smoke point than regular butter, which makes it really good for cooking, and it doesn't spoil as quickly.

This recipes yields 1-1/2 cups

Clarified Butter

1 lb. good quality butter

(the best you can afford)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.   

 The butter will begin to bubble and get frothy on top.

Continue to let the butter bubble until the  froth dissolves, and the mixture becomes a clear golden yellow color

You will notice that most all of the milk solids have sunk to the bottom.

Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool slightly (about 5 minutes).

Place a piece of cheesecloth over a pint mason jar.  I like to push it into the jar a little bit, like a bowl, and secure it with a rubber-band. Pour the butter through the cloth.  The cheesecloth will act as a strainer. The milk solids will stay on top and all the butterfat will go through into the jar.

(You can also use a coffee filter as a strainer.)

Allow it to cool.  Once the butter cools it will solidify into a creamy dairy-free butter that can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 6 months.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

 This recipe comes from my mom.  It is an old family favorite.  I like to make up a batch to have on hand to use in my favorite recipes like in meatloaf, on BBQ chicken pizza, or the obvious, BBQ chicken. 

Homemade BBQ Sauce

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

8 oz. apple cider vinegar

(I use the empty tomato sauce can to measure this)

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

2 tablespoon liquid smoke

3/4 cup honey
(Mom's original recipe calls for brown sugar. You can also substitute date paste if you're doing whole30)

1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tsp chipotle seasoning (optional)
pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Add all ingredients into a medium-sized saucepan.  Whisk until combined.  Simmer over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes (turn the heat to low if it starts to splatter).  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Changes

Hi!  Remember me?  I use to post recipes here.  Well, I'm back, and things might look a little different around here.

The past year, I've undergone a serious diet/lifestyle change. (If you're interested, you can READ more about that HERE.)  It's now how I eat and for the most part how my family eats. We still have the occasional treat (after-all what would life be like without cake or cookies?), and I'll still be sharing the recipes for these, but mostly we also eat a lot of fruits and veggies.  I have some really awesome, delicious, and healthy recipes to share with you. I can't wait!  You're gonna love them!