Crockpot Sesame Chicken

This is one of my favorite staples. We have this in our house every week, because it is super easy and it leaves no excuse to not eat healthy. You can serve it with veggies or whatever you want, but I like it over quinoa. This is so delicious and simple, you'll want it every other day.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup ketchup
4 cloves garlic, minced

Throw chicken in the crockpot, and salt and pepper them. Stir up the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken. Set the pot to low for 4 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Separate with forks and serve it with your choice of sides!

Recipe adapted from sixsisterstuff.com

Chicken and Brussel Sprouts - serious goodness

I HATE brussel sprouts. I have experimented with them several times and always hated them. I've even made them with bacon because bacon makes everything better, and still was quite disgusted. I think I hate the texture and the bitterness doesn't do it much good either. However, I made this dish and I was so pleased we might just have it every single week in this house. It was that good!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
a bunch of brussel sprouts
2 T soy sauce or liquid amines
1 T honey
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T olive oil
1 T sesame oil
4 shallots
4 cloves garlic
pinch of ginger
salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. In a large baking dish, mix the marinade, then toss with chicken and sprouts. Bake for 30 minutes, then flip chicken and bake for another 20 minutes, or until chicken is done. Go have some mind-blowing chicken and brussel sprouts!!

Hot, Sweet, AND Sour Chicken

Jake loves chicken, but hates "Chinese" food. Well, I like both and we both loved this dish. It's super easy (well, unless you're used to "cooking" frozen pizzas). Just fry the chicken quickly, then toss them in the oven with the super quick sauce and wah-lah! Delicious!

Breading:
3-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 cup of corn starch
2-3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

Extras:
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat canola oil over medium heat. Cut the chicken into small bite-sized cubes and toss into the cornstarch and spice mixture. After coating the chicken, coat in eggs. Cook the chicken for a couple minutes on one side, then flip and drain on paper towels. Place in 9x9 baking dish with vegetables.

Sauce:
1 cup sugar or honey
6 T ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 T sesame oil
1 T sambal sauce (or some spicy sauce)

Whisk sauce and pour over chicken. Stir baking dish contents until combined. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, turn chicken, then cook again for another 15 minutes. Serve with rice or greens.

crock pot chicken tacos, gluten free of course!

I've taken a bit of time off while traveling and settling back in. Not to worry, I have several recipes and posts coming up, and today was the day I made something so marvelous as to motivate me to post!!

I LOVE Mexican food. However, I've never made a truly delicious Mexican-ish meal at home, besides my guacamole, until today. I swear, I would rather eat this than go to a Mexican restaurant any day! Normally I would bake my chicken in the oven then cut it up for the tacos. However, I got the great idea to cook chicken in a crock pot then pull it apart, which is so much easier! My idea came from mommyimhungry.blogspot.com.

3 chicken breasts, or whole chicken, or thighs
2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans of Rotel hot tomatoes with chilies
splash of water, optional
shredded Cabot cheese, I used extra sharp cheddar and hot habanero
shredded cabbage
brown rice tortillas

Lay the chicken flat in the crock pot, along the bottom. Sprinkle the cumin, salt, and black pepper on top. Throw in the yellow onion, the garlic, and the tomatoes. If there is chicken peeking out of the liquid, pour in enough water to cover the chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours, then pull apart with forks. Toss out the remaining liquid and roll the chicken and remaining ingredients together into the tortillas and settle down with the most amazing taco you've ever had!

spicy wings over paleo, just in time for football!

Everyone should know by now what a wing fanatic I am. Wings are my go-to meal... even for a romantic dinner with Jake the day before he leaves for deployment. True story. I'm not sure why people think they are so bad for you. I especially like when someone tells me how unhealthy chicken wings are, as they grab a bowl of ice cream and a diet soda. Yep. Anyway, there is something about the way the meat cooks with the skin (fat) and the bone that makes it so sweet and juicy. I love my wings marinated and grilled, but we don't have a grill here at the beach house. I am about a few meals away from breaking down and buying the portable grill Jake and I have been wanting for a while now. Until then, baking and broiling will work. These wings were so absolutely delicious, I just can not describe how amazed I was at the full flavor. I didn't even use any vinegar/sugar/chemical-laden sauces. SOOO YUM!

Ingredients:
1 package wings, wing tips removed
1 T sesame oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
3 T liquid aminos
1 T honey
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T crushed red pepper
1 jalapeno, chopped
5 cloves of garlic
2 T cayenne pepper

Blend everything (but the wings) together in either a blender or processor, until everything is pureed and combined. Throw everything in a ziploc bag or a tupperware container with the wings. Allow to marinate overnight, and shake it all up when you get the chance. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the wings side by side on a slitted pan over a baking pan after greasing the slitted pan. Bake for 50 minutes, turning the wings over halfway through. Turn on the broiler at the end, then broil the wings 5 minutes per side to get it crispy. Or if you have a grill, just throw them all on a grill for about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Warning: these wings are extremely deceptive when it comes to heat. They burned my mouth and I am a spice fanatic. I would only use 1/2 of the jalapeno and 1/2 of the cayenne as well as 1/2 the vinegar if you can not tolerate spice very well.

HEALTHY not-so-chicken wings!

As you know, my 2 favorite foods are chicken wings and watermelon. I could eat that combo everyday of my life. I actually did for the first 16 years of my life, until something clicked and I broadened my horizons with a variety of food. Chicken wings aren't the healthiest food in the world, but, you can totally get a whole chicken and cut it up and marinate it with it's skin mostly pulled off and grill it to get the same satisfaction with none of the guilt!

Marinade:
1 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/2 cup sambal sauce
1/4 cup GF low sodium Tamari
4 cloves minced garlic
1/4 inch chopped ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 T honey

Mix all marinade ingredients together and put in a zip top bag with a chopped up whole chicken (you can use boneless skinless breasts if you so desire, but you'd save a good bit of money by buying the entire chicken). Allow to marinate in the fridge for overnight up to 36 hours. If you don't have some of these ingredients, don't fret! Just omit them and you'll be fine, it will still be delicious. Grill the chicken for about 15 minutes or until done. Chop the chicken once slightly cooled and store for the rest of the week and add it to salads, or if you're weird like me and don't mind snacking on 4 oz of chicken alone, go for it.

kabobs in carbi marinade

My favorite korean food is definitely marinated carbi. Carbi are korean short ribs. However, short ribs are incredibly expensive, and it's just as easy to marinate anything in the same delicious marinade and get similar and wonderfully satisfying results. Pick whatever veggies you want and add them to the mix!

Marinade:
1.5 cups GF low sodium Tamari
1 cup soda such as ginger ale, sprite, or coke
5 cloves garlic
1/3 cup honey or agave
1 T black pepper
2 T sesame oil
1/2 onion finely chopped

Combine all ingredients and place into a zip-top bag with 2 lbs of steak or chicken, shrimp or scallops or whatever you desire, chopped into chunks to be skewered. Marinate in fridge 8 hrs to all night and day. Turn every few hours.

Turn grill to medium high and skewer all veggies and meat and cook through. I served these with my favorite jalapeno-buttered corn, yum!

chicken marsala the (light) RIGHT way!

Chicken Marsala is yummy. Jake told me his marsala has always been in some thick nasty yellow sauce- not really sure how the sauce turns out yellow considering it's made in a red wine as well as broth, but it is the Navy who has been preparing all of his marsalas, so go figure.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup italian dressing ( I use Annie's Naturals Tuscany Italian)
1 T GF all purpose flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T butter
1/2 cup reduced sodium organic chicken broth
1/2 cup Marsala wine
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Place chicken and salad dressing in resealable plastic bag and allow to refrigerate 8 hrs. to overnight. Drain and discard marinade. Combine flour, italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and pepper and salt; sprinkle over both sides of the chicken. In large nonstick skillet with 1 T oil and the butter, cook chicken for 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to 13x9 in baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Add brother and wine to skillet, stirring to loosen bits, boil and stir for 2 minutes. Strain sauce and set aside. In same skillet, cook mushrooms in remaining oil for 2 minutes and drain. Stir sauce into mushrooms and heat through. Pour over chicken and sprinkle with parsley. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

roast chicken... what everyone must know

Roasting chicken is probably one of the easiest most important things to know when it comes to cooking healthy food and making quick and easy meals. I like to roast a chicken, pick it apart and eat it for the rest of the week. It's great on salads, in soup, in stir-fry, as just a quick snack, or eaten with brown rice. I like buffalo chicken so much that when I'm up for eating some without all the fat, I'll just pour on a tiny bit of butter mixed with a good bit of red hot sauce onto my pieces of chicken and I'm satisfied!

For those of you who aren't familiar with roasting chicken, you simply buy a whole chicken from the store, rinse it off and pull out anything that may be left inside such as it's kidneys... intestines, whatever. Pat it try with a paper towel. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray the chicken with a little cooking spray to make it crisp. Salt and pepper the chicken slightly and add any other seasonings you might like... I like to you my blend of spices Matt gave me which include rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and oregano. Pop it into the oven once it is at 425, and set the timer for 18 minutes per pound of chicken. For instance, if your chicken is 2.5 pounds, set the timer for 50 minutes. Use a meat thermometer at the end and make sure the breast is at least 180 degrees and the thighs are at 190 degrees. Allow the chicken to rest once out of the oven for about 15 minutes, then pull apart with your fingers. Either toss the carcass or boil it in some water with spices and make a broth :)

rum, not just for pirates- rum marinated chicken :)

I bought Bajan hot sauce while in Barbados, and wanted something to use it on. I'm not sure why I don't use it more often on everything, but I honestly used it at every meal while there. The servers would get tired of me asking so they would simply give me a bowl of it at every meal... it's that amazing. I also have a ton of rum for some reason, so I decided this would be a perfect dish to make. It's so fresh and healthy and wonderful, you'll just have to get over your fear of God's gift to man and marinate the chicken with delicious rum :)

Recipe adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 lb of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup dark rum (I used bacardi select)
1/4 cup barbecue sauce, either homemade or Sweet Baby Ray's honey BBQ
3 T fresh lime juice
1 T Caribbean hot sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp canola oil
1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch thick rings
cooking spray
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 tsp grated lime rind
2 T fresh lime juice
1 tsp dark rum
1/4 tsp Caribbean hot sauce
1/8 tsp salt
4 lime wedges

Combine first 7 ingredients in large zipper bag and seal. Marinate in refrigerator for 2-6 hours, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade, and set aside. Prepare grill to medium heat.  Bring marinade to boil in small saucepan, then reduce heat to medium-low. To prepare, relish, place pineapple on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill for 3 minutes on each side or until soft and browned around the edge. Remove to cutting board and chop along with the bell pepper. Combine the two as well as the next 5 ingredients and set aside. Place chicken on grill for 30 minutes or until done, turning occasionally. Remove to serving dish and drizzle the cooked, reserved marinade over the chicken and serve with the relish and lime wedges. Hooray for summer and bright and delicious food!

fried chicken... once in a blue moon!

It's a fact. Fried chicken is terrible for you. But then again, everything is terrible for you if you eat too much of it. My mom makes the best friend chicken, period. I haven't had it in a while, and I know how much my husband loves it so I tried my hand at it, never having fried chicken before. Much to my surprise it turned good! If it weren't good, my taste-tester/hubby would eat his plate-ful and tell me it was good. However, he ate his share, then another, and asked me why I didn't make more. I know this still didn't turn out nearly as great as my mother's, but it will due for now!

Ingredients:
1.25 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts
1.5 cups peanut oil
1 cup coconut milk or buttermilk
1 cup GF flour
3 T GF breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1 T black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder

Marinate the chicken breasts in 1 cup of milk for at least 1 hour... 3 would be best. Combine the flour and next 9 ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour oil into deep skillet and turn pan onto medium high heat. Roll marinated chicken into the flour mix then gently set into pan. Flip the breasts every 5 minutes, and continue this for 25 minutes or until chicken is golden and crispy.

easy bacon and chicken... healthier than it sounds!

I branched out and made something that wasn't spicy. It was good! Well actually, it was great. This is sort of like the Alice Springs Chicken you would get at Outback, but about 90% healthier, simply because it's not baked in fat and covered in sugar and more fat. I served it with a side salad: spinach, fuji apples, walnuts, craisins, and honey mustard vinaigrette.

Ingredients:
3 fresh, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup worstershire sauce
1/4 cup Annie's lite honey mustard vinaigrette
salt
pepper
herbes de province pinch (or italian herbs)
1 small onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 T olive oil
about 9 sliced bacon, fried
1 cup cabot 50% reduced fat jalapeno cheese (or whatever you want)

Marinate the chicken in the worstershire, vinaigrette, salt, pepper, and herbs for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grill chicken on low for approximately 7 minutes per side. While chicken is on grill, saute the onions and mushrooms in the olive oil until mushrooms are fully cooked and almost soggy. Remove chicken from grill, top with 3 sliced of bacon per breast, then mushroom mixture, then cheese and bake in an oven-safe casserole dish for about 5 minutes. Enjoy your delicious protein packed meal!

spicy garlic baked chicken breasts with fried rice

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine's Asian-Glazed Chicken Thighs
If you love garlic, which you know how much I hate ( LOVE ) it, you will LOVE this dish! I even tried it on steak and thought it was delicious. I marinated these breasts overnight and the entire day, and it was so tender and great. I served it over the fried rice my mom always makes.. yum!

Chicken ingredients:
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lower-sodium GF soy sauce
3 T honey
2 T sesame oil
1 1/2 T sambal sauce
10 garlic cloves, minced
4 free range chicken breasts
cooking spray
1/2 tsp salt

Combine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic until honey dissolves. Pour mixture into a zip-top bag with chicken and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, turning every so often. Remove chicken from bag, and place marinade into small saucepan to simmer. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken on rack coated with cooking spray, and place rack onto pan. Place into oven and bake for 10 minutes, then baste. Bake and additional 10 minutes and baste. Toss the marinade and bake another 10 minutes until done. Serve with veggies or my fried rice!

Fried rice ingredients:
3 cups brown rice, cooked
2 eggs, fried and chopped
bacon, if desired
1 small onion, chopped
any other veggies chopped
3 T GF low sodium soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
black pepper
salt
sesame seeds

Saute the onion and other veggies in 1 T sesame oil in large pan. Add the rice and all other ingredients and stir until combined. Remove from heat and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Easy as rice!

bbq chicken sandwiches

I hate barbecue, and Jake isn't a fan either. However, I remember back when I was kid, we would always go to Sonny's BBQ in Florida, and I loved their barbeque chicken. Omigoodness it was soo delicious. However, I've never had good barbeque outside of that, besides the barbeque at our wedding, which was served by Shane's Rib Shack, which was also quite delicious. The other day, I got a hankering for some tasty barbeque sandwiches. I used my handy dandy "Now Eat This" recipe by Rocco Dispirito for bbq sauce, and poured it over some roasted chicken. Yum! Next time, I will puree some jalapeno into my onion puree before mixing it into the sauce for a little extra kick.

For those of you who aren't familiar with roasting chicken, you simply buy a whole chicken from the store, about 2.5 pounds, rinse it out and off, dry it off with a paper towel, salt and pepper it slightly, stick it in the oven preheated to 425 degrees, and set the timer for 50 minutes. Pull the chicken apart with your fingers and toss the carcass.

Sauce:
1.5 cup Heinz all natural ketchup
1/2 cup onion-garlic puree
   *1 onion roughly chopped, 9 garlic cloves chopped, 1/2 cup water, microwaved for 10 minutes covered in saran wrap, then pureed with food processor until smooth.
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 T dijon mustard
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 T molasses
2 tsp cane sugar
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp powdered garlic
pinch of pepper and salt
2 T liquid smoke

Combine all ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally until sauce is thick, which will be about 30 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the pulled chicken. Pull out some gluten free buns (I used The Flourless, Grainless Baker which are great) and put some shredded lettuce and whatever else you want on the sandwiches. Pile on the chicken and you've got a wonderful, healthy, low sugar, almost non-fat bbq chicken sandwich. Yum!

grilled hot wings

My dear parents.... until I was around 12 years old they couldn't get me to eat anything other than hot wings. I still absolutely think that hot wings are amazing. I'm pretty sure that's when Jake and I knew we were meant to be together, when we discovered our incredible love for hot wings. Chicken wings are loaded with protein, and the skin adds flavor. With no empty carbs, metabolism firing cayenne pepper, and heart healthy garlic, these wings are a sure thing. If you want to make these healthier, you can use a few breasts of chicken cut into strips and go about everything the same way, minus the chopping of the wings. These can also be baked but grilling makes them taste so delicious!

Ingredients:
Package of chicken wings
Marinade:
1/4 cup hot sauce (Frank's)
2 T gluten free, low sodium soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 T honey
1 T Sambal hot chili sauce
Finishing Sauce:
3 T butter
1/2 cup hot sauce (Frank's)
1 T gluten free, low sodium soy sauce
1 T Sambal hot chili sauce

Rinse the wings off with cool water. Find the joints and cut the wing tips off then cut the wing into the two pieces at the middle joint. Marinate the wings in the wing sauce for about 8 hours (the longer the better). Prepare finishing sauce in pan about 15 minutes before grilling. Grill the wings on medium for 7-9 minutes per side or until the juice in the wings run clear. Toss the finished wings into the finishing sauce in the pan until wings are covered. I like to serve the wings with a side of brown rice and side salad.