Creamy Dijon Chicken

As usual, it's been way too long since I posted anything. It's still a little crazy around here and not a whole lot has changed. We are patiently waiting for the doctor to schedule a T&A (tonsil and adenoid) removal for our son Lucca. Patient is a loose term but I will use it for now. We have tried several antibiotics but some PANDAS symptoms just keep lingering. Lucca is manageable and is much better than last year but, we are still dealing with the PANDAS monster. Needless to say I've been a little consumed with other things and writing hasn't been the front runner in the race of crap going through my mind lately.  Does that even make sense? See what I mean???

Truth is I've been a little uninspired and tired!  I have tons of recipes written down but I never took pictures when I made them and obviously it becomes difficult to share recipes without pictures!! Plus, I like to make some recipes a couple of times to make sure I have measurements right and it actually tastes delicious. I do this some times...not all the time but some to most of the time. Because I've been tired, I've gone to the easiest and least creative foods that I have under my belt.  Things so easy, they are only a handful of ingredients.  Things I would never expect people to be interested in. 

Well, while taking Kaine, our youngest, to gymnastics a friend reminded me how much they enjoyed the dinner I had made a little while back.  While watching our little ones climb, jump, balance, and swing, she told me how much her and her husband loved the chicken I made while over at our house.  In fact they loved it so much they had already made the chicken dish several times since I had given her the recipe (which she hounded me for)! 

When we have friends over, I don't push paleo. I just cook some food and swap out some of the obvious no-no dishes.  Instead of dessert, we have fresh fruit.  Instead of cheese and crackers, we have some sweet potato/potato chips or fresh veggies. Instead of sandwiches or pizza, I grill some meat and make a salad. If the bread, cheese, sugar, dairy, and other stuff isn't in front of you it's easy to eat paleo and not even realize it.  The hardest part is when the food is staring you in the face, but it's extremely easy when the option isn't there. So, when our friends came over with their two little ones I made this chicken and the Kale "Krack" Salad.  

I went with the easiest dishes I could think of.  The kale salad I could make ahead of time and let sit in the fridge and the chicken, I just throw on the grill and I'm done. I like to talk and I get excited to speak with other adults. I work from home a lot so I don't get the office camaraderie anymore or adult conversations in general because I pretty much always have my kids around.  So when friends are coming over I want to be able to sit down, have a drink, and talk.  I don't want to be running around cooking.

After our conversation, I started to realize that maybe people would be interested in the quick meals that I typically just whip together.  But this meant I would need to make it again and take some pictures. Well, I finally got around to taking the pictures but of course that meant I still needed to find the time to sit down and write.  Of course it took longer than I had hoped but hopefully this recipe is worth the wait. If you don't count salt and pepper this dish is literally 3 ingredients added to chicken.  It's super simple and I have grilled and broiled the chicken with similar results.  My kids love chicken on the bone so we always have to get a couple of drumsticks but this works on chicken breasts, thighs, a whole rotisserie chicken or beer can chicken per my friends (not exactly paleo but oh well).  Typically the sauce will cover about 8 pieces of chicken and you may have a little left over to coat the meat while cooking or to add after it is off the grill.

Next time you can't think of something for dinner try this out and add in the Farm Salad for a super effortless dinner.
Enjoy! 
Happy Cooking and Eating!

Creamy Dijon Chicken

Prep Time:3 minutes

Cook Time:10-18 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked

Total Time:13-21 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of chicken, typically we do 6 drumsticks and 2 chicken breasts cut into strips (quicker to cook and stays juicy)
• 1/2 cup of Amazing Mayo or favorite mayo (I like Primal Kitchen or Sir Kensington, if you don't want to make your own)
• 3 TBSP dijon mustard
• 2 tsp of Herbs de Provence (you can find this in the spice aisle)
• Salt and Pepper (about 1/8 tsp of each, but I just sprinkle some on)

Instructions:

1. Turn grill on and get hot!
2. Mix mayo, mustard, and herbs together in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. 
4. Coat chicken with the dijon sauce and rub into the chicken. 
5. Place chicken on the grill and cook for about 5-10 minutes (depending on your grill)and flip. Cook and continue to flip until chicken is fully cooked. If you have left over sauce you can baste the chicken while it is cooking or add a little after you take it off the grill. 

Dipping Sauces - Paleo BBQ Sauce and Paleo Honey Mustard Sauce

  Everybody has certain things in their fridge that are staples.  Well, these are two that I like to have on hand all the time. The BBQ sauce originally stems from my ribs recipe which will come soon, I promise. I just altered it a bit by adding veggie stock (beef would be good too) instead of the juices from my ribs and a little bit more seasonings. What's great is the base of this sauce is tangy/mustardy/vinegary (or whatever you want to call it) but you can mellow it out with some honey and make it more on the sweet side.  My kids tend to lean on the sweeter side while my husband, Damon, and I lean more towards the tang. So I can alter it to make it how everyone likes it. 

  The Honey Mustard is similar to the BBQ sauce in the sense I can alter it to the likings of my kids.  Again, it's a great base and you can go from there. You don't have to make it as sweet or you can add some amazing mayo to make it more creamy.  Lucca doesn't like it creamy but Kaine does. See it all works out for everyone, with minimal work from Mom. Whooo Hooo! Winner winner chicken dinner!  Speaking of chicken, both of these sauces go well with the Paleo Chicken Fingers. 

Paleo BBQ Sauce

Serves:Approx 2 Cups

Prep Time:10 minutes

Cook Time:25 minutes

Total Time:35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups veggie stock, or beef stock
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6-7 ounces of tomato paste
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of dijon mustard
• 3 TBSP of honey *optional, add less if you don't want it sweet
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground coffee
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp cayenne *optional
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté garlic in stock for about 5 minutes. 
2. Whisk in remaining ingredients.
3. Let simmer on low for about 25-30 minutes.

Paleo Honey Mustard 

Serves:Approx 1/2 cup

Prep Time:2 minutes
Cook Time:0 minutes
Total Time:2 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP mustard, I use dijon
• 3 tsp honey (real honey!)
• 1 tsp Amazing Mayo * optional if you want to make it creamy

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. 
2. That's it!

  

  

Amazing Mayo

  

  I sometimes question my sanity.  I often take on way too much and think I have more time in my day.  I get a little bit over ambitious.  Why I thought starting a blog at the beginning of the school year would be a good idea is beyond me.  I clearly didn't think this one through and I have no one to blame but myself!  Honestly I wish I had more time in the day and I definitely like working on the blog.  So, I need to muscle through this, suck it up and deal with it!  

  Its been a little challenging for everyone to get into the new school/morning routines but we are slowly getting there.  The morning really isn't the problem, it's everything else that is the issue.  If you throw in baseball, ice hockey, gymnastics and soccer I now have another full time job of being a chauffeur and scheduler. Not to mention my actual real full time job!  Needless to say, we are all getting used to the new schedules and trying to make it all work.  Somehow I need to work in some sleep because it might be helpful, right? 

  Being a grown up is tough and it isn't always fun. As children we rush to be an adult. Once we get there I think many of us question why.  Why did we think all this stuff would be fun?  Paying bills, being responsible, being the bad guy and saying no to your kids, making dinner while kids are whining....none of those were in my mind while I was dreaming of being a grown up. It was going to be easy and perfect and no problems would ever come into play, right? Well, nothing is perfect and everyone has problems.  Now I just need to figure out the best solutions and roll with the punches.  

  One way is to try and be prepared. I try to make some things ahead of time or have certain essentials on hand.  If you have the basics you can create any meal.  Mayo is one of those amazing things I love to have in the fridge at all times.  The store bought mayos typically have soybean oil or other bad oils, so I don't like to use them.  This mayo is thick and creamy and super easy to make!  All you need is an emulsion hand blender.  The emulsion blender will pretty much make this full proof.  If you don't already have one, go out and get one NOW!  It is probably one of my favorite kitchen tools and I use it quite often.  I would go with the stainless steel version because it is great for hot soups as well.  Just you wait until the fall and winter. I will be making soups galore. The only problem will be making sure I have enough time to actually write about it on the blog.  Hopefully we will all be used to the schedule by then.  Fingers crossed!

Amazing Mayo

Serves:Approx 1 cup

Cook Time:0 minutes

Prep Time:3 minutes

Total Time:3 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg, room temperature (very important!). I use a whole egg, but you could use just the yolk if you prefer.
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash cayenne
• dash paprika
• 1 cup avocado oil

Instructions:

1. Start with egg and add all ingredients to tall container.  I use the container that came with our emulsion blender.
2. Place emulsion blender all the way to the bottom of the container and keep it there while you blend. Blend until it starts to thicken then slowly move the blender up to combine it all.  Keep in air tight container in fridge.