Paleo Chicken Parm

Posted on May 15, 2015

For a diet to be maintained, you can’t feel deprived. That is the beauty of the Whole 30 is that you don’t have to feel like you are starving yourself! I wanted my friends to feel like they were being decadent during their first week of this Whole 30, so that they would stay excited and stick with it. To do this, I wanted to make sure I had this week FILLED with comfort food. We had a batch of chili, “spaghetti and meatballs”, “french fries”, “chips and guac”, and… “Chicken Parm”! I mean, who DOESN’T love chicken parm. It is delicious. But how could it ever be made healthy?

I’ve already shared numerous times my love of [amazon_textlink asin=’B073ZFY1CF’ text=’pork panko’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’urbancavew-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d86f925d-ce22-11e7-b3e0-65484b23b5e8′]. They are the perfect paleo bread crumb substitute – so I knew I could get the breaded cutlet replicated. Marinara sauce is also pretty easily converted to paleo- tomato, garlic, onions and basil are all you really need. No, the difficult part to replicate would be the cheese. My favorite way to get a Parmesan flavor is using [amazon_textlink asin=’B002863BIW’ text=’nutritional yeast’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’urbancavew-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’88eea3b6-ce22-11e7-87f1-c57cea12e14a’] – so I decided to try making the breading out of a combination of the pork rinds and nutritional yeast. While the texture of the cheese wouldn’t be there, the flavor would be.

I have to admit – this was pretty unreal. The marinara with fresh basil was fantastic, and the chicken was amazing. You really don’t even notice the lack of the cheese texture because all of the flavor is there. We served this over some cauliflower rice, which was the perfect compliment. The cauliflower just absorbed all the good tastes, and really helped fill us up. This was a huge win – and was just as good as leftovers. I am very excited to start mixing this into our dinner rotations more often!

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Sweet Potato Sticky Pudding

Posted on May 15, 2015

Have you ever heard the saying “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”? Well, when experimenting with recipes, you normally don’t have that option. Most of my epic failures result in the need to open all of the windows in the apartment, and a  remind myself where we store the fire extinguisher. However, every once in a while, magic happens – and while you might not end up with what you originally intended, you create something pretty yummy.

I have been trying to create a really good sweet potato roll for a while (sort of like a good challah bread). I’ve been adapting, and adjusting, but nothing is quite right. In one of my iterations, what came out was a little too “pudding” like, and not solid enough to be a roll, and had a sweeter taste than I wanted. While I was ready to chuck the batch, my husband tasted them and saw only potential. He quickly mixed up some melted ghee, cinnamon and maple syrup, and presented me with some really good “cinnamon rolls”. Now, these are NOT the typical texture of a cinnamon roll (I’m working on a paleo version of those). They are more like a souffle or a pudding – but very delicious. They also re-heat very well, and can be enjoyed cold!

The measurements for the topping weren’t very precise (typical for when my husband is in the kitchen), so tweak it as needed. I will probably be updating this recipe as well soon – so keep your eyes peeled for version 2.0!

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Whole30 Mini Quiche

Posted on May 13, 2015

Breakfast is normally the hardest meal to adapt to when you start a Whole30. Most of us are used to a quick meal on the go, and don’t have time to cook. This is probably why bagels and muffins are so popular in the mornings – they are easy. When I have done a Whole30 in the past, I would typically just bring my leftovers from dinner the night before (I don’t need breakfast to consist of “breakfast foods”). However, I knew that most people would be turned off by this idea. To make this Whole30 work, I had to come up with an easy breakfast option that FELT (and tasted) like breakfast. Most of all, it had to be easy (i.e. involve no more prep than a quick minute in a microwave).

I’d seen some Paleo egg muffins floating around the internet and on Pinterest, and wanted to see if I could make them work. My main concern about trying this, was that I wanted them to re-heat well. I was worried if they were just egg, they would get dried out and rubbery. Ideally, I wanted to replicate the texture of a quiche – but without the dairy.

Quiche is one of my favorite breakfast treats. I love to throw in as many veggies as possible, load it up with bacon or ham and then douse it with cheese. There really is nothing better. However, to make this Paleo friendly, I knew I would need to get creative. To replace the heavy cream used in a traditional quiche, I was going to use Tigernut milk. The Tigernut milk I make at home is normally the consistency of skim milk – not as thick as I wanted for the quiche. Luckily, Organic Gemini makes a fantastic unsweetened Tigernut Milk that has a bit thicker consistency, and was exactly what I was looking for. To replace the cheese in the quiche, I added in nutritional yeast. While it won’t give the texture the cheese does, the flavor is perfect.

Once I had figured out the dairy replacements, the rest of the ingredients did not need to be altered. All that was left was to choose my veggies and meat options, and see how they turned out. The egg muffins that inspired me on Pinterest used prosciutto as a “cup” for the egg mixture. Since I was going to be packing these in my purse to go to the office in the morning, I also used a muffin liner. One thing I learned was that the eggs get very soggy in the oven when cooking. I made the mistake of cooking these in silicon muffin pans, and the paper liner fell apart on a few of the muffins. Next time I will see if a metal pan will reduce the moisture, or if I need to switch to the silicon reusable muffin liners. I haven’t tried freezing these yet, but they are delicious cold or reheated in the microwave. Give them a try and see what you think! 

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Whole30 Chili

Posted on May 13, 2015

This week marks the first 7 days of a Whole30 challenge I am doing with some friends at my office. Since the goal of this challenge was to help show my friends how easy cooking Paleo can be, I wanted to choose a dish that was going to be satisfying, easy, and could be frozen for a simple grab-n-go meal. Though the weather is getting warmer, I knew that both of my friends were fans of spicy food and loved Chili. This seemed like the perfect item to put on our week 1 menu. Chili is such a simple dish, but incredibly satisfying. The great thing about Chili, is that you are starting out with a recipe base that is almost Paleo, so you only need to make a few adjustments. While a typical Chili may call for beans, cheese and sour cream, the real satisfaction comes from the flavor. The Whole30 Chili I came up with substitutes extra veggies for the beans, and is served with Guacamole to supplement the sour cream.

I have made this Chili at least a dozen times for big gatherings, or just as a great meal to take with me throughout the week for lunch. It is a hit every time! It also freezes really well – so portion it out into Ziploc bags and keep it in your freezer for an easy grab-n-go meal option. Serve in mugs or as a topper for your baked sweet potato.

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