Spicy Yogurt Marinated Chicken Strips

Spicy Yogurt Marinated Chicken Strip
Serve with Tzatziki Sauce

3-4 Chicken Breasts cut into thin strips
1 cup homemade Yogurt
2 garlic cloves minced
2 TBSP fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 TSP Organic Cinnamon
1/2 TSP Organic Oregano
1/2 TSP Himalayan Salt
1/4 TSP Organic Ground Nutmeg
1/4 TSP Organic Ground Cloves
1 TSP Organic Paprika
1 TSP Organic Tumeric
1 TSP Organic Cumin
1 TSP Organic Coriander
1 large Onion cut into thin strips

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Mix together all the dry spices. 
• Whisk Yogurt, Lemon Juice, Olive Oil, Garlic and all the dry spices to make marinade.
• Place Chicken and marinade mixture in a large baggy, getting all the air out of the bag.
• Marinade 4 hours or longer.
• Add onions to mixture.
• Place chicken mixture and onions on a greased jelly roll pan.
• Bake 30-40 minutes or until chicken is done.

Garlic Lemon Yogurt Marinated Baked Chicken for SCD

Garlic Lemon Yogurt Marinated Baked Chicken for SCD

4 Pasture Raised Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless cut into strips (cut each breast into 3 strips)
1 cup SCD homemade Yogurt
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 TSP Organic Basil
1/2 TSP Organic Oregano
1/2 TSP Organic Parsley
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2-3 TBSP lemon juice
lemon zest from 1/2 lemon

• Place all the ingredients except the chicken strips in a large bowl and whisk together.
• Add chicken strips and mix to coat all the pieces
• Pour into a gallon size baggy and squish the air from the baggy and seal.
• Refrigerate 4 hours or more. 
• Place marinated chicken strips in a glass baking dish. 
• Bake uncovered in a preheated 375 degree oven 45-60 minutes until chicken is done.

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Garlic, Carrots, Onions SCD

Crock Pot Cheesy Chicken, Garlic, Carrots, Onions

3-4 Pastured Chicken Breasts, cut each into 3 strips
1/2 TSP dried Organic Basil
1/2 TSP dried Organic Oregano
1/4 TSP dried Organic Rosemary
5 Organic Carrots, cut into 3 inch pieces
1 large onion sliced into thick pieces, I generally use Vidalia
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 TSP dried Organic Thyme
3 TBSP Olive Oil
1 cup freshly grated mild Organic Cheddar Cheese
2 TBSP fresh chopped Parsley
3/4 cup homemade chicken broth

• Pour chicken broth in bottom of slow cooker.
• Season Chicken strips with Basil, Oregano and Rosemary, place in bottom of 6 quart crock pot
• Toss carrots, onion, garlic with olive oil and Thyme, place in crock pot
• Cover and cook low 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours
• Sprinkle with grated cheese before eating

Once a Week Batch Cooking / Freezer Meal Meat Starters / Specific Carbohydrate Diet SCD Legal

Batch cooking saves time and keeps this girl on her Specific Carbohydrate Diet, SCD legal!  When I started making my Freezer Meal Meat Starter Batch Cooking recipes, the hubs wasn't sold on the idea but now he realizes it is the best way to keep me on my diet.  This weekend he cooked chicken breasts and shredded them and also made chicken meatballs.  It is so nice to look in the freezer and see the freezer safe mason jars with shredded cooked chicken, and chicken meatballs ready to eat! No running to the store last minute, or worse, eating out.

The idea I had when I came up with the Freezer Meal Meat Starters / Batch Cooking is to cook and freeze enough of one type of meat recipe to last for a month.  It works for us, but does get pretty boring sometimes.  We do occasionally cook other meat, but not often as my tummy doesn't tolerate most other meats.  I would love to hear from others who might be trying this type of batch cooking. 

10 Foods That Help Fight Depression

I came across this story on Facebook today, 10 Foods That Help Fight Depression.  Most of the time I skip over this type of feed on Facebook, but today I decided to read this one.  I am really glad I did because it is a gentle reminder of why I am feeling so much better than I did just 2 short years ago! 

I have told quite a few friends and family members what I am doing to fight the pain I had in my feet, hips, knees, shoulders and back that kept me from walking more than a few minutes without having to sit down or kept me home entirely.  But I don't think they are listening to me.  Change is hard for all of us but sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns...or in my case, start with little changes and build upon them until you can "feel" the difference.  Take a look at my grocery list, even if you can't afford organic groceries, at least eat non processed foods. 

I have also stopped having inflammatory bowel issues that I have had since I was 16 years old.  I love being able to know I can get up in the morning and not have to allow for 3 hours of diarrhea and stomach pain before I can leave my house or be afraid to leave my house on bad days!

My food journey to better health started 2 years ago. It all began with my new doctor asking me to read the book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Eat to Live.  I have since modified that diet to include foods that help my particular health needs (in my opinion, Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and exclude foods that I feel are inflammatory to my gut and body (ie. processed foods, gluten, nightshade vegetables, most raw vegetables and processed sugar).  I know I am doing something right because I am off all medications except a B/P pill, my labs are normal and two months ago I started walking and can now walk 2 miles without pain (my new walking/running shoes might be helping also)!

After reading the article, 10 Foods That Help Fight Depression, I decided to make a one day menu based on those foods and a few more of my favorites to show how easy it is to eat healthy.  Try this menu several days a week.  It is just this simple to eat foods that are good for you! (time saver tip: wash 3-4 cups of spinach using white vinegar with water rinses, just the amount you will need for the day, spin or pat dry then store in a mason jar (it only keeps one day like this).

BREAKFAST: 
EGGS, ONION, GARLIC, SPINACH SAUTE

• 1 onion sliced and sautéed with 1 clove of minced garlic in olive oil
• 1 cup organic spinach or kale washed, chopped really fine like herbs,  added to onion and garlic mixture cooking it just until it wilts
• 1-2 organic eggs scrambled and mixed into onions, garlic and spinach/kale (or if you can't eat eggs, add cooked beans to the mixture, it is delicious for breakfast or lunch)
• if you tolerate tomatoes and mushrooms, chop some up and add to the cooked ingredients

MID MORNING SNACK:

• 1 ounce walnuts (or sunflower seed butter spread on apple)
• 1 apple

LUNCH:
CHICKEN SPINACH SALAD

• 1 cup organic washed spinach
• 1 cup chopped strawberries (blackberries or blueberries or a combination of them fresh or frozen)
• 3 TBSP sunflower seeds (or walnuts)
• a few sliced mushrooms
• dressing of your choice or use my strawberry dressing recipe
• 2-3 ounces chicken breast from my freezer meal starter recipes (or cooked shrimp or any kind of leftover meat)

MID AFTERNOON SNACK:

• an entire avocado sliced, sprinkle with lime juice and salt of your choice)
• chopped tomato (if you can tolerate them)

DINNER:
HOMEMADE BLACK BEAN SOUP/VEGETABLES AND CHICKEN

• 1 to 2 cups black beans cooked with sauted onions, shredded carrots and celery, chopped spinach and garlic
• a side of mushrooms sautéed or cooked however you like them or leave them raw if you like
• a vegetable side of your choice
• 2-3 ounces chicken breast from my freezer meal starter recipes (or any other meat from my freezer meal starter recipes)

AFTER DINNER SNACK:

•  Chia seed and blueberry smoothie made with your recipe of choice (I use homemade yogurt and frozen blueberries (or a combination of berries) with a little local honey if needed to sweeten)

Shredded Chicken Salad Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Having chicken in the freezer that is already cooked and shredded is such a time and money saver.  I love freezer meat meal starters.  The hardest part is remembering to put them in the refrigerator the night before to thaw. Tonight's chicken salad dinner was done in 30 minutes. All I had to do was wash the apples, celery, grapes and lettuce, do a little chopping,  mix in some dripped yogurt cream cheese and it was ready to eat!

FREEZER MEAT MEAL STARTER CHICKEN SALAD SPECIFIC CARBOHYDRATE DIET
makes 2 servings

6-8 ounces cooked, shredded chicken, or use one container shredded chicken meat meal starter, thawed in refrigerator
1 organic Granny Smith Apple, washed, peeled and chopped
1 cup organic seedless grapes, washed, cut in half
1 large organic celery rib (piece), washed, chopped very tiny
4 ounces dripped yogurt cream cheese
4 organic Romaine leaves
sea salt to taste
(optional) 1 cup organic spinach, chop very fine like one would chop herbs for a recipe

Wash, peel and chop Apple.  Wash grapes, cut in half.  Wash celery, chop tiny. Wash lettuce. Add container of shredded chicken meat meal starter.  Mix in cream cheese.  Add salt to taste.  Chill for 30 minutes before serving. Serve on lettuce.

Recipe for Shredded Chicken Meat Starter Specific Carbohydrate Diet Clean Eating

Frozen meat starters...I like this idea and think it will work well for following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  Actually, this could work well for any diet where chicken is eaten!  This is a huge time saver and money saver! My version of non processed, clean eating freezer meals.

SHREDDED CHICKEN MEAT STARTER RECIPE FOR FREEZER MEAL COOKING

8 Chicken Breast, about 4-5 pounds, pastured antibiotic free
2 organic carrots cut into 2 inch long pieces
2 organic celery ribs (pieces) cut into 2 inch long pieces
1 large onion chopped into chunks
2 TSP Himalayan Pink Salt
enough water to cover all of the ingredients

I used a 6 quart crockpot.  Place ingredients in crockpot or slow cooker.  Cook on HIGH 4-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours.  Let cool.

Remove chicken from crock pot and place in a large bowl to shred, or use KitchenAid mixer with the paddle blade to shred.  Place in labeled *freezer safe Mason jars in amounts that are suitable for your family and place in the freezer.

I weighed the cooked chicken and estimated 3 ounces per person. Since it is just me and the hubs we only need 6 ounces per meal.  That fit in the one cup freezer safe Mason jars by packing it really tight.  I cooked 4 pounds of chicken breasts (8 breasts). By dividing the cooked chicken into equal 6 ounce amounts, I was able to get 6 meal starters.  Generally, I cook 2 breasts per meal for me and the hubs.  This gave me 2 additional meals from 8 breasts and the hubs and I didn't overeat!!

Plus you have a bonus!!  The broth left in the crock pot can be frozen for use later on.  Remove the vegetables and strain the broth.  Place in *freezer safe Mason jars and label.  Use this broth for recipes that call for chicken or vegetable broth.  I don't know about you but I think boxed vegetable broth is very expensive and the ingredient list is a little bit scary.

*NOTE:  Use whatever freezing method you like. I prefer freezer safe Mason jars but I do use BPA free Ziploc freezer bags sometimes for items that won't fit in jars such as ground beef patties.

Herb Rub for Chicken SCD Legal

While my daughter was visiting, she made the best Herb Crusted Chicken that I had ever had!  She rubbed the herb mixture under the skin and on the outside of the whole chicken then roasted it at 325 degrees.  It was beyond delicious!  I enjoyed the flavor so much that I started thinking that the rub would also be good for boneless, skinless, baked chicken breasts or to saute chicken strips with.  So I adapted the recipe just a tad to be Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal.  The small packages of fresh herbs were just the right amount for this recipe.

Herb Rub  makes enough for 2 whole chickens or about 10 TBSP

Use fresh herbs:
1/4 cup packed each:  Thyme, Basil, Tarragon, Oregano
3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TSP Kosher salt
(optional) black pepper to taste

Place fresh herbs, garlic and shallots in food process.  Grind into a rough paste, scrapping down frequently.  Slowly drizzle olive oil into food processor.  Continue to process until mixture is smooth.

I froze the mixture in one tablespoon blobs on parchment paper squares about 2 inch x 2 inch on a plate in the freezer.  Once frozen, I placed them in a freezer safe mason jar with the parchment paper between them.  I tried freezing them in ice cube trays but had no luck popping them out when it came time to use them.  Each tablespoon is just enough for one chicken breast.

NOTE:  if roasting a whole chicken, use one half of the recipe and freeze the remainder.  Rub mixture under the skin of the breast and on the outside of the chicken coating well.  Place the chicken on a wire rack in a roasting pan.  Roast in 325 degree preheated oven 20-30 minutes per pound. Roast chicken until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Remove from oven and allow to rest 15 minutes before carving.  The skin should be crispy and the meat tender and juicy.

Chicken Vegetable Meatballs

I have enjoyed my beef meatballs so much that I decided to try making ground chicken breast meatballs.  You can use any kind of ground chicken that you like, but I am very picky and ground two boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about a pound, using a food grinder on my Kitchenaid mixer.  I also like sneaking vegetables into my meatballs.  These would be great for picky eaters who don't like greens, you can't taste the spinach if you mince it small enough.

CHICKEN VEGETABLE MEATBALLS                 makes about 14 small meatballs

2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 1 lb) ground
1 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 large organic carrot , finely shredded
1 stalk organic celery, finely minced
1-2 TSP olive oil, or coconut oil for sautéing vegetables
1/2 TSP sea salt
1 TBSP olive oil (to add to mixture)
**(optional) 2 cloves garlic, minced (cook last 2 minutes with veges)
**(optional) 1 cup organic spinach, finely minced (don't add if you plan to freeze)
**(optional) 3 TBSP homemade basil and spinach pesto mixed into meatballs (don't add if you plan to freeze)
*(optional) 1/2 - 3/4 cup No Tomato Red Sauce for dipping or to serve over meatballs.  When I make the beef meatballs, I mix the sauce right into the meat mixture before baking.  So far I haven't tried that with the chicken but will let you know how that works out.

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Saute onion, carrots and celery in olive oil about 7 minutes. Let cool.
Mix into the ground chicken along with olive oil and salt and **optional ingredients if using.
Roll into small meatballs, about 1 rounded TBSP.  Place them in a glass baking dish.  Cook for 20-30 minutes.  Mine didn't brown.

Breakfast Patties

I decided to make breakfast sausage with a mixture of ground chicken and beef.  I mixed the two meats because I accidentally thawed chicken instead of beef.  I was actually impressed with the flavor, but totally grossed out trying to mix the meat...next time I am doing it in the mixer not by hand.  YUCK!  The hubs was making meatballs and I was too impatient to wait.  If you don't love the flavor of cloves, like I do, you might want to reduce the cloves to 1/4 teaspoon.

Breakfast Patties  makes 6

1/2 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 pound ground chicken (buy free range when possible)
1 TSP Sea salt
1 TSP ground organic Sage
1 TSP ground organic Thyme
1/2 TSP ground organic Cloves
1-2 TSP olive oil for pan
Optional...1 TSP organic maple syrup to smear on sausage after they are cooked, yes I like syrup on my sausage

Mix well.  Use mixer.
Divide into 6 parts and press into patties.
Cook in olive oil over medium low heat.

Lemon Chicken Spinach and Carrot Soup



Lemon Chicken soup from our local Greek restaurant has always been a favorite of mine.  But the last two times I had it (before starting the anti inflammatory elimination diet) I became very sick within minutes of finishing it.  Possibly the eggs or thickening agents but my tummy really didn't like it.  So when I thought about making lemon chicken soup that is safe on my anti inflammatory elimination diet, I decided to only use ingredients that I knew my tummy was ok with.  I am keeping it simple these days and trying hard to have flavorful meals.

 

I started with my usual trilogy of Vidalia onions, carrots and celery, along with some homemade chicken bone broth, chicken breasts, spinach and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I like hiding vegetables and thickening my broth with vegetables that I put in the food processor with just a little broth.  I need all the help I can get eating more vegetables.  I wanted to keep this broth on the thin side, so I only used one onion.  You can also add some cooked chicken with the onion in the food processor for a little more texture to the broth. 

 

I made this in the crockpot.

 

EDITED:  When using already cooked chicken breast, I don't cook this in the crockpot.  I saute the onions and celery in a little olive oil about 7 minutes.  Using immersion blender, blend until creamy.  Add all of the ingredients to a medium size stock pot, bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer about an hour to 1 1/2 hours, or until the carrots are tender.  Add chopped spinach and cook an additional 10 minutes.

 

LEMON CHICKEN SPINACH CARROT SOUP             3 SERVINGS

 

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut in half ( Greenwise from Publix)

4 cups homemade chicken bone broth (make and keep in the freezer in Mason jars)

1 Vidalia onion, rough chop

1 rib (piece) organic celery, rough chop

6 organic carrots, sliced

2 cups organic baby spinach, finely chopped

1/4 lemon juice, fresh squeezed

• Put the onion(s) and celery in food processor with 1/4 cup broth, pulse several times until you can only see tiny pieces of veges or until smooth.  Place in crockpot.
• Add chicken breasts, the remaining broth and lemon juice.
• Cook on HIGH 3 hours
• Add spinach and carrots and cook on HIGH 1 hour.
• Before serving, cut chicken into large chunks

Chicken Bone Broth Anti Inflammatory Elimination Diet

Chicken Bone Broth  good for healing my gut / makes about 12 cups broth

1 Green Wise Chicken from Publix without giblets (or antibiotic free / pastured chicken)

2 organic carrots cut into chunks

2 organic Celery ribs (pieces) cut into chunks

1 Vidalia Onion cut into chunks, you can use any onion you want, I have just found these don't make me sick

2 TBSP Braggs Organic Vinegar

1 TBSP Pink Himalayan Salt (health food store) or you can use Sea Salt

enough water to to fill your crock pot (mine is a 6 or 7 quart pot)

• Cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
• Remove chicken and pull the meat off the bones ( we eat this for a meal ) leave veges and broth in the pot.
• Put the bones, skin, cartlidge and any meat that you won't eat like the back bone back into Crock pot.
• Add water to fill the crockpot all the way up, cook on high about and hour then cook on LOW 18-20 hours.
• Remove lid and let it cool about an hour.   Remove all of the bones and veges and discard.
• Strain the broth into a fine mesh strainer to remove any small chards of bone or you can use cheese cloth over a regular strainer.  I do this 3 times.

I have Mason Jars that I bought at Walmart that you can also freeze in.  I have several sizes but I like the half pint jars (8 ounces) for freezing the broth, that way I can just thaw one at a time for each day.  I drink one or two of these a day or use it to make soup.