Slow Cooker Chicken

Do you all ever have those days where you ask..."What's for dinner?" realizing then that you forgot to pull out anything from the freezer or pick up something fresh from the store/market? That was totally me the other day.  I've been traveling a ton and had surgery on my foot so my body is yelling at me to get back on track with my food.  As my functional doctor put it, "surgery is an immune disruptor."  Oh yes, yes, it is.   How do I deal with autoimmune issues and disruptions to my health?  My regular supplements and eating the right food.  So the other morning, we hadn't pulled out any meat and I was trying to figure out what was for dinner.  I had also only been home for 24 hours within the past 10 days so surveying the food situation was a challenge as well.  Well, I decided to grab chicken from the freezer and use some items we had in the fridge.  My mom had sent me home with apples from her tree and I always have my essential oils and spices on hand.  This led me to make slow cooker chicken which I paired with homemade applesauce and roasted brussel sprouts.  

Slow Cooker Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1 cup water (2 cups if chicken is thawed)
• 2 apples cut in slices
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 drops cinnamon bark essential oil (learn more about which oils I use here)
• 2 drops lemon essential oil

Directions

Pull out your chicken and it can still be frozen!  Measure out the water and mix in salt, ginger, and essential oils.  Place chicken in the crockpot.  Add apples.  Pour liquid mixture over chicken and apples.  Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours.  If the chicken is thawed, it should be done in abotu 4 hours.  Pair with your favorite sides and don't forget your green vegetable and ejoy!

Pistachio crusted pork chops - Paleo & 21 Sugar Detox

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As I was thinking about dinner tonight because I have a meeting, I struggled to think what would be quick and easy.  I scanned through a cookbook and nothing really called out to me, though a crusted fish recipe did sound delicious.  However, since I don't cook with fish much, I wanted something I was more familiar with.  I searched the freezer and pulled out some pork chops, put them in water to thaw and went back to the tasks of the day.  I decided to use these pork chops and the rainbow carrots I had in the fridge to make something low maintenance.  I already had the ranch in the fridge, but if I didn't, I could've whipped it up in an extra 30 minutes.  Otherwise, you could use an egg wash to coat the pork chops. 

Ingredients:

1 - 2 TB Olive Oil

21 Day Sugar Detox Ranch 

4 - 1 inch thick pork chops

1/4 cup Pistachios

1 TB Coconut Flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 lb of rainbow carrots

Directions:

Spread olive oil generously across bottom of pan

Ground up pistachios, coconut flour, and salt

Peel & Chop Carrots

Place chopped carrots around edges

Pour Ranch onto a plate

Pour nut/flour mix on plate

Dip pork chops in ranch and then in nut/flour mix, place in pan

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Roast at 405 for 40-45 minutes, turning pork chops at 20 minutes.  For thicker sliced porkchops (I took thick ones and cut them in half to reduce the thickness) you may need to cook longer.  If using rainbow carrots, cut the purple ones thinner as they take longer to cook.

Enjoy!