As we embark into the new year many of us are gearing up to execute on our new resolutions. One of your resolutions may be to wrangle your health which means taking hold of the foods we eat. Wellness begins in the kitchen. We do not lose weight by fitness alone, our bodies are living machines that process foods for optimal performance. However, we often go on fad diets for quick results and then experience a boomerang affect where the weight returns. Continue reading “The Wellness Kitchen”
Networking Perks is seeking bloggers to join the Eat At Home Challenge. Sitting down and eating together as a family is important; we take this time to disconnect from all the daily noise, technology, and social media, while reconnecting as a family. Meal time is also important that we provide delicious and nutritious meals to eat. Finding the balance between work, day-to-day activities, and meal planning isn’t easy, which is why we at Networking Perks want to start 2015 with the Eat At Home Challenge.
We are looking for bloggers to sign up for a January Eat At Home Challenge – Blog Hop; if successful, this event will be repeated monthly. Here’s how it will work:
Each blogger will provide their own recipe for a meal (any meal) or dessert along with their own, original photo. From there we will supply you with the post, linky for the hop and HTML for the giveaway. You got it! A giveaway! We will be providing a $25 Amazon Gift Card for Giveaway.
This is a FREE Event with a single Twitter link. If you would like additional links included in the giveaway and event, they are available for a fee (purchase).
Must provide a recipe to Mr. Linky with original photo for participation and post on time. Must promote a minimum of 3x weekly using #EatInChallenge hashtag.
Holidays are my favorite time of year for baking and cooking. My kids are always wanting some sweet treat for themselves or to share. Mix up a bag of fun for the holidays – no cooking required! With just a few vegan candies and snacks, plastic baggies and a festive tag that you can download and print, you can make these cute snack bags that are perfect stocking stuffers, secret Santa bonuses or class treats!
Toss a handful of each ingredient into a plastic baggie. Seal the top. Download, print, and cut out the gift label. Fold, and staple the label to the top of each sealed baggie.
Taking care of my family is a number one priority. One of the ways I care for them is by creating amazing meals. I love to cook those amazing meals and I take great pride in the time I put into them, but the time can take a toll. Three kids all involved in some activity, weekends with friends, serving with church, and a husband who travels creates a very hectic schedule. With all of that I am not one to skimp on meals and or breakdown and get fast food or takeout. Slow cookers are great if I planned ahead, but sometimes I just forgot to pre-plan resulting in last minute scrambling for meal prep. My life saver has been the Fagor Cayenne Pressure cooker, this awesome kitchen tool cuts cooking time for hours into mere minutes.
The Cayenne pressure cooker spices up my kitchen in the gorgeous red. Made of durable stainless steel, equipped with a veggie steamer basket and convenient cook book to get you started on your culinary adventures. Pot roast will never be the same again as you slave and wait hours for the roast to cook; in less than an hour your entire meal is complete and table ready.
Pressure cookers are great, old fashioned green technology. Good old stainless steel, no coatings or plastics. Energy is saved as pressure cookers are able cook an entire meal, dessert, whatever you wish, in a fraction of the time.
Fagor’s mission is to use resources efficiently and preserve the environment by developing quality products that consume less energy and water. Fagor is a notable partner in the Energy Star program. Fagor has manufacturing systems established to minimize environmental impact on soil, water, and air during the production process. There is also proper waste management and recycling procedures in place after manufacturing process is completed.
The 6-quart pressure cooker has a 10-inch diameter base for better browning and searing, a max fill line to notify you when you have reached capacity, two pressure settings: 2 for 15 psi and 1 for 8 psi of cooking pressure, a self-locking mechanism safely secures the pressure cooker, and an easy, automatic pressure release setting.
One of my favorite recipes and one you might not believe or think to make in a pressure cooker is cheesecake. Yes, you read that correctly, cheesecake!
Simply wrap foil in the basket and sprinkle with bread or cookie crumbs.(1 TBSP butter and 4 TBSP cookie or bread crumbs)
Blend together the following ingredients:
2 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese
3/4 c. of sugar
1/4 c heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated lemon zest (or 1/4 tsp lemon juice)
2 TBSP flour
6 TBSP sour cream
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
2 c. water
Pour water into the cooker. Pour the mixed ingredients into the basket and lower into the cooker. Close the lid, bring to pressure and cook; then let the pressure lower naturally. (Cook for 30 minutes on High pressure or 56 minutes on Low pressure.) Once the pressure is lowered, remove the lid and take out the cheese cake, loosen the foil, cool and then chill overnight. Serve with fresh fruit or preserves.
Now you can gift this amazing appliance and piece of cookware to chef in your life. Here are the details: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: Participating Blogs were not compensated for this post. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. Earth Easy will be responsible for processing product to the winner of this sweepstakes. This event is in not administered, sponsored, endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest. Contact karie@thefivefish.com if you have additional questions or concerns.
My friend Joie at The Networking Witches is hosting her annual Holiday Gift Guide. Check out this fabulous giveaway!Mighty Leaf Tea was born for the sole purpose of infusing life into an ancient indulgence by creating tea products that reach new heights of quality and innovation. The genesis of Mighty Leaf Tea came in 1996 as a result of a shared passion and dream envisioned by husband-and-wife team Gary Shinner and Jill Portman when they founded their teahouse on Fillmore St. in San Francisco. Their passion is for creating the most incredible handcrafted tea blends found anywhere, globally sourcing the finest ingredients available. Paralleling the highest standards of quality at Mighty Leaf Tea is ongoing creative innovation.
Their specially created handcrafted Tea Pouches are designed to unleash the essence of the quality that is Mighty Leaf Tea. Supporting our quality and innovation is our promise to deliver the highest level of customer service excellence in serving you the finest tea products available.
Mighty Leaf Tea carries Tea Pouches, Loose Tea, Iced Tea, Teaware, and even gifts. Generally I prefer tea pouches but I don’t mind loose tea either. What’s important is the flavor we brew and what it does for us.
Mighty Leaf Tea is going to give one winner the products below!
Experience whole leaf organic tea with Organic Hojicha green tea, Organic Earl Grey, and the herbal Organic Mint Melange. Enjoy the citrusy bergamot of Organic Earl Grey, a black tea, and the mixture of pan-fired and slow roasted greentea of Organic Hojicha. 15 pouches of each. Wrapped with a ribbon. $30
Our insulated “traveling tea pot†is perfect for enjoying Mighty Leaf whole leaf tea on the go. Say goodbye to over-steeping! Pull the string through the patented lid and your tea pouch is in a special
holding area, away from your tea. $16.95
Disclaimer: Participating Blogs were not compensated for this post.
No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per
address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by
email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. Mighty
Leaf will be responsible for product shipment to winner of this
sweepstakes. This event is in no way administered, sponsored, or
endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook and/or Twitter, Google,
Pinterest. Contact winterwitch@networkingwitches.com if you have any
additional questions or comments.
Baking is a beautiful art and magnificently delicious. Until you add the gluten free aspect. Gluten free in years past has received a bad rap for tasting lifeless, like dirt or worse, like cardboard. But food manufacturers are making great strides in creating beautiful blends of flours and artisan flours that enhance the gluten free baking and cooking experience. Continue reading “Gluten Free Baking”
Ever have leftovers in your pantry of dry goods that you are not quite sure what to do with? If you are like me and this past Christmas you made gingerbread cookies you possibly have some leftover molasses. I let the bottle sit in my pantry for the last several months. The partially empty bottle was calling my name, taking up mental real estate as well as precious real estate in my pantry, unsure of what to use these last few tablespoons. How about an easy Sloppy Joe Recipe.
So in an effort to reduce clutter in my mind and in my house I have been looking to use everything in my house to enrich or better my life in some way or move it on. Dinner tonight was a perfect example of using what we already have on hand in order to save money and I was able to clean off extra space on my shelves. If you have been following me long enough, you know that my family and I thrive on fully organic meals and strive for clean eats with nothing processed. Fed up with stuffed peppers, lasagna, spaghetti, tacos, meatloaf and burgers, I wanted to find something tasty for the kids yet still fall into our organic, clean eating regimen.
Pulling out the bottle of molasses calling my name and the defrosted beef, my gears began to grind and I recalled a childhood favorite: Sloppy Joe’s. This recipe is super simple, helps to clear out those mostly used Christmas cookie ingredients, and the ingredients are all clean and unprocessed. Yet, how to get these messy hamburger style noshers to taste as good as those over-processed, canned, sugar laden Sloppy Joe’s…easy with these items straight from your pantry.
3 TBSP Molasses (I like Black Strap, just a bit of extra zing and zip without adding anything extra)
1/3 c tomato sauce (plain) or 1 can tomato paste with 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP Dijon mustard (you can substitute for Honey or yellow mustard)
dash of liquid aminos (this is for salt flavoring without all the sodium)
1 TBSP Kirkland Organic No Salt Seasoning (you can use any kind, however I love what is inside Costco’s brand)
dash of garlic and onion powder, dash of cumin for a hint of smoky flavor
1/4 red onion, chopped
Mix all the wet ingredients into a bowl first to really meld the molasses and the tomato sauce mixture. Slowly begin to fold in your dry seasonings, add more or less based on your level of taste. The same can also be said for the molasses based on taste. Add apple cider vinegar as well for more zing but be careful not to make your mixture too wet. Finally fold in your onions.
Once your meat is completely browned in a pan, add your mixture and simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavors soak into your meat. Serve over warmed hamburger buns sided with sweet potato fries (I like mine baked with some rosemary) or with hot peppers for that sweet and spicy taste. Bon appetit!
Many of you may have read my post about Sweet Potato Hash and Scrambled Eggs. Inside that post I boasted about some amazing chicken chorizo I have picked up from my local butcher at Sprouts market. I love chicken chorizo. Heck I tend to favor all chorizo. As a native to Arizona and the southwest if I did not have an affection for spicy culinary dishes I might begin to question my authenticity. For those of you who love the taste of the southwest like I do, but may not have the resources at your local butcher to obtain these goods I am going to assist you in your culinary quest to obtain the needed ingredients to make your very own chicken chorizo recipe, a deliciously authentic version of a famed spicy, southwest sausage.
What you will need to start with is chicken. As little as one pound of chicken should do it and you can have it as a mixture of ground chicken breast and chicken thighs. Call me sexist but I love some really good thighs; tender, juicy, and full of amazing flavor. Your local butcher can also assist you in this as he might be doing the majority of the work for you. However, if you happen to have a meat grinder at home, voila, you can accomplish this at home on your own. The butcher will be more than happy to grind this for you upon your request, they are one of the least utilized experts in stores. If you can wrangle a butcher they will share with you a great deal of secrets, if you befriend one, well then you have additional added benefits.
One you have your ground chicken this is where the fun begins, we will begin to season said chicken with the chorizo mixture. You see chorizo is just the smorgasbord of spices used to season the meat, think adobo. Here are the warm spices that will really kick up your chorizo and provide an amazing flavor. I prefer organic, but the list is all the same:
Chorizo Seasoning Recipe Ingredients List
1 tsp Ancho chili 3/4 tsp sweet paprika 1/2 tsp coriander or cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 clove
1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt (you can use Sea Salt, I love pink salt for all the naturally occurring vitamins and minerals and the taste is very mild and adds a sumthin-sumthin to your cooking)
1 tsp garlic (you can opt for fresh diced 3 cloves if you like, this really deepens the flavor)
Now that you have all these fabulous ingredients you will need to mix them altogether. Again, I am a bit old fashioned and I buy some of my seasons whole, a mortar and pestle will be your greatest ally to grind these amazing flavors together. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, reach for your food processor to grind away. Be sure not to heat these up or you will lose integrity with the flavor. Once all of your seasonings are fully blended together we will add to the meat. Again if you are grinding at home with a meat grinder lets go ahead and grind, while the rest of us who have opted for the butcher to do our dirty work, we will be elbow deep in meat. If you have an aversion to touching raw meat please grab some marigolds.
Lightly sprinkle the seasonings across the top of the meat, leave some aside as you will begin to turn the meat and sprinkle alternately so that all of your chicken is evenly coated. Continue to do this until all of your meat is thoroughly covered and mixed together. Feel free to continue to mix if need be to ensure all of your chicken is clad in these warm spices. Once you have encased all of the meat in the chorizo seasoning mix, place in a separate container to be refrigerated overnight. Your seasonings will begin to soak in and enhance the chicken for that authentic chorizo taste. You can roll into a ball and wrap with saran wrap, butcher paper, freezer paper, or place in Tupperware. After sitting at least overnight, we prefer a solid 24 hours, your chicken chorizo is ready to serve up.
Cook the chicken as you would any other normal ground meat product. Be sure to apply traditional food safety so that the chicken is cooked thoroughly or at least 165 degrees.
Breakfast is by far my most favorite meal of the day. I wake up starving. Sounds completely foreign to most, but honestly I have trained my body to eat within the first hour of waking. For you fitness guru’s – fist and chest bump. Carbs are also a devilish delight, but when you are eating clean certain carbohydrates are totally off limits and not friendly to your food regimen. I personally love me some beak filling carbohydrates. Toast…bane of my breakfast existence. Roasted potatoes and eggs…a close second for some fabulous food to nosh on with my coffee. Best of both worlds is sweet potato hash and scrambled egg whites, coupled with chicken chorizo.
So last night while contemplating what to whip up for dinner I opted for brinner (breakfast+dinner). I knew I had a tough crowd to serve, The Chad and my four footers. Each of the four foot people provided little feedback as to my culinary adventure for menu options of the evening. Being the head of household, or I’m delusional enough to believe so, I opted for brinner. Luckily I had all my ingredients ready. A trip to my local Sprouts just a few days prior proved fruitful as I picked up a fresh batch of chicken chorizo. If you have yet to try some, please do so. Rivaling the traditional pork and beef chorizo the chicken has amazing flavor and leaner. Great for those calorie counters and clean eaters like myself, no added sugars or fats.
Frying up my chorizo and scrambling some egg whites I wanted a carb. Knowing full well I was headed tot he gym for some weights and cardio I wanted to prep my body for the nutrients needed to sustain 90 minutes of intense exercise. I opted for some sweet potatoes. None like the sweet potatoes we have all been accustomed to at Thanksgiving dinners. You see those are called a yam, we however, interchangeably use the term sweet potatoes because they taste sweet. Sweet potatoes can have a hannah white, pale flesh and are loaded in vitamin A, biotin, vitamin C, they help regulate your blood sugar and are a healthy carbohydrate because of the amount of fiber and your body will thank you for all the anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal properties. I digress on the health aspect. The sweet potatoes and chorizo might be a meal to scoff, but please leave the guffaws until after you whet your palette with this sweet and spicy fall dish. Better yet, have it any time of the year if you happen to have a local butcher who would be kind enough to whip up a batch of chicken chorizo for you.
Taking these blond beauties I merely shredded them on a cheese grater. Some of you may opt for a food processor, I like the extra workout you get in shredding these bad boys by hand as I am reminded of cooking in the kitchen with my mother. Feeding a crowd like mine for brinner, breakfast or to make some tasty latkes I would suggest at least 5-6 medium sized potatoes. My kids love sweet potatoes so I had to use more, you be the judge based on your families appetite. After shredding I tossed them into a large frying pan that had been coated with coconut oil. Another super food I absolutely adore that you can use for anything and everything. Smoothies, baking, frying, or if you are like me a shot all by itself, but I am a fan of coconut so I don’t mind the taste or the smell I have found it to really accentuate my cooking on all levels when used properly.
Moving past the wonders of coconut oil as I can digress again, we have shredded the potatoes, they are in the pan that is coated with coconut oil, just make sure that your potatoes are evenly spread out across the pan for even cooking. This will ensure every inch of your potatoes become a hash as they brown and crisp. I cooked mine over medium-low heat for about 20-30 minutes to guarantee they were nice and crispy all the way around but still had enough sweet, soft, fleshy bites in the middle. Toss those into a serving dish or right onto your plates, sided with scrambled egg whites and chicken chorizo and you have yourself a sweet and spicy meal that is out of this world. Enjoy!
Utensils Needed:
2, 10-12 inch skillets (one for potatoes, other for chorizo and eggs)
We have all been lied to. A world where everything we eat, drink, sleep and breathe is completely fine. Fukushima, well that was ionizing radiation as a cancer preventative. Genetically modified (GMO) foods are completely fine and have no negative lasting impact on our bodies. For years, farmers have been cross breeding plants for hardiness and for food variety so the splicing of genomes in a laboratory to create a new tomato that is immune to Roundup is no different. Organic, its a scam. The new bottled water fad and sure to die a slow and painful death much like global warming.
Dinner’s New Tomato
Angry yet? You should be. For the second time in a month I have had a troll Scandinavian dwarf strongly suggest to me on Facebook how ridiculously wrong I was for supporting the organic movement and opposing GMO’s.
Let me be clear though on my stance with GMO food products; I AM in favor of a farmers agricultural tactic to cross breed plants in a field (nature does this on her own too), I AM NOT in favor of Dr. Kevorkian playing test tube roulette with a new breed of tomato for my dinner. I support the organic movement because I was educated about organic. I did not hop on some fad toting, band wagon of the newfangled fashion called organic. I did not wake up one day and make the Laissez-Faire decision to just up and rid my pantry and fridge of conventionally farmed, GMO laced foods. Did I clean out my pantry of the majority of those products? Absolutely, maybe not all at once, but I eventually did.
Why you ask?
In 2008 I delivered my twins and found a support group later that year for mothers of multiples. Among our group was a very well educated woman who yielded a fancy science degree, I will spare you her details, however she explained the facts and science of genetic modification (present state), organic foods, farming, how you become USDA organic certified, blah, blah blah. I soaked up every minute. Why? Because why not? I had nothing to gain or lose from her sharing her knowledge, or did I? What I had not mentioned to this point is this amazing woman’s journey defeating breast cancer. She defeated her progressive breast cancer and has been cancer free during the time I have been honored to call her friend. Her battle also included a diet rich in organic fruits, vegetables and meat and dairy products free of hormones or additives. While I am not a doctor and make no claim of the science, I did apply common sense and hear a truly moving situation.I also applied this new found knowledge to another friend who also had breast cancer. A survivor or Stage IV, double mastectomy, reconstruction and lymph removal. She DOES NOT eat an organic rich diet, staying her course she still frequents all fast food joints, drinks large quantities of diet soft drinks, and just 18 months ago underwent another round of cancer treatment for a form of oral cancer found in her mouth and lymph nodes. She has continued failing health including joint inflammation, thyroid, diabetes, and a gamut of other ailments.
Which path would common sense direct you to choose?
Imagine my surprise when in 2011 I receive a phone call from my physician alerting me to an abnormal pap. Her phone call included “biopsy”, “cancerous cells of the cervix”, “advancing cancerous tissue.” I was in a panic. While my family had integrated organic into our diet, we still fancied some fast food and I still partook in an occasional Starbucks; I had not completely overhauled my lifestyle. November of that year, while undergoing a very painful surgical procedure to remove the cancerous cells and tissue I vowed to change my life for the complete good. My family went full organic. While we already had integrated the fruits and vegetables and milk, meat purchases were still from traditional farming, until that day.While nothing is wrong with traditional farming I could not support this mode of food production. The chemicals, the hormones, the pesticides, none of it seemed right or natural to me as someone who had been touched by cancer and as a mother. From that day forward I have been cancer free and my paps have all been normal every six months.
A little over a year ago my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer. Her treatment was and is aggressive. When we spoke shortly after her diagnosis she mentioned how doctors said if she was going to eat certain foods they had to be organic due to the pesticide interaction with her chemotherapy. I found great irony in that statement. So I went further and researched chemotherapy and an organic diet. At best I found the naturopathic and alternative healing methods like the Gerson Institute and the Breville Method, all supported an organic rich diet of fruits, vegetables and pesticide free proteins. Nowhere did any of the well known cancer sites indicate that cancer patients should be eating a diet rich in organic fruits and vegetables, in spite of the fact that each of these people I know, all strangers to one another shared the same simple fact of eating an organic diet during their cancer treatment. For the conservatives out there I beg the question, what does a doctor gain from making this medical suggestion? If organic is purely a ploy for higher taxation and a fascist movement towards primitivism then why not exploit this venture, especially when physicians and the medical field are supported so heavily by big Pharm and the liberals?
Quite alright, we can save the Ayn Rand style debate for another day.
Do I dream of one day a world where we are free of harmful chemicals in our foods? Positively yes. My Rogerian beliefs is that we are all inherently good, so I favor for optimism in any outcome. Do I claim any health benefits that organic foods are more nutritious? Absolutely not. I am merely making an educated decision for myself and my family based on the research and real life experience of the effects of a diet with conventional farming versus organic farming; cancer or no cancer. I am a protagonist for a diet free of laboratory created, genetically modified foods and substances. When science tinkers around in the genomes and the DNA structure of plants for “improved” purposes I wonder what happens when that DNA is introduced into our environment outside of a lab. My personal research found that children with food allergies, autism, digestive disorders, chronic illnesses and cancer increased dramatically with the introduction of GMO foods. Here is the timeline:
1980 the first GMO was patented for the use to “gobble up oil spills,” because you know that has been a HUGE success
1982 an insulin produced by genetically modifying E.coli bacteria is on the market
1994 the Flavr Savr tomato is approved by the FDA for sale on grocery shelves and promoted for its delayed ripening and longer shelf life than conventional tomatoes
1996 the GMO resistant super weeds appear, weeds are found to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate
1999 over 100 million acres worldwide are dominated by GMO
2011 Bt toxins (a soil bacteria GMO, engineered to be kill insects such as moths, butterflies, caterpillars) found in humans, specifically the blood of pregnant women being transferred to the fetuses.
From 1997 to 2011 the CDC reported that children with food allergies, digestive problems, chronic illness and skin disorders increased by 50%. Based on the above timeline, I can correlate that negative effects of GMO to our health. The FDA approves drugs on a daily basis that have a side-effect list as long as an ingredient list on a processed food box laden with GMO. Proven fact, Prozac which was and is the most highly prescribed anti-depressant starting in the late 80s has had the longest clinical study, spanning 20 years and is still being studied, continues to releases new and harmful side-effect which include the following: suicidal thoughts and behavior, birth defects, premature labor, severe skin reaction, insomnia, stuffy nose, sneezing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, tremors, dry mouth, low libido, dizziness. Oh and my personal favorites: heart defects in newborns, lung problems in newborns resulting in improper adaptation to breathing outside the womb, and last but not least, an increased risk of the baby developing AN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER.
Argue that GMO is perfectly safe, despite the fact we do not have enough research, hence the Prozac reference. Argue that organic may be more expensive and it’s a scam. But when adults result to insults, personal attack, and the “if you don’t listen to what I am saying” since I think “I am right” attitude, I just stop responding. Now this is about you and your feelings, not respecting my choice of which I respect yours. I have no problem with anyone’s choice regarding organic, and I am not opposed to hearing their side, especially if new information of some compelling nature is shared. Maybe I am wrong. I am okay with that, but for now, until I have concrete scientific proof that the long term effects of GMO, herbicides, pesticides and hormones are safe and the whole ban GMO is bullshit, organic is always my choice.
What you will need to start with is chicken. As little as one pound of chicken should do it and you can have it as a mixture of ground chicken breast and chicken thighs. Call me sexist but I love some really good thighs; tender, juicy, and full of amazing flavor. Your local butcher can also assist you in this as he might be doing the majority of the work for you. However, if you happen to have a meat grinder at home, voila, you can accomplish this at home on your own. The butcher will be more than happy to grind this for you upon your request, they are one of the least utilized experts in stores. If you can wrangle a butcher they will share with you a great deal of secrets, if you befriend one, well then you have additional added benefits.
Lightly sprinkle the seasonings across the top of the meat, leave some aside as you will begin to turn the meat and sprinkle alternately so that all of your chicken is evenly coated. Continue to do this until all of your meat is thoroughly covered and mixed together. Feel free to continue to mix if need be to ensure all of your chicken is clad in these warm spices. Once you have encased all of the meat in the chorizo seasoning mix, place in a separate container to be refrigerated overnight. Your seasonings will begin to soak in and enhance the chicken for that authentic chorizo taste. You can roll into a ball and wrap with saran wrap, butcher paper, freezer paper, or place in Tupperware. After sitting at least overnight, we prefer a solid 24 hours, your chicken chorizo is ready to serve up.
Frying up my chorizo and scrambling some egg whites I wanted a carb. Knowing full well I was headed tot he gym for some weights and cardio I wanted to prep my body for the nutrients needed to sustain 90 minutes of intense exercise. I opted for some sweet potatoes. None like the sweet potatoes we have all been accustomed to at Thanksgiving dinners. You see those are called a yam, we however, interchangeably use the term sweet potatoes because they taste sweet. Sweet potatoes can have a hannah white, pale flesh and are loaded in vitamin A, biotin, vitamin C, they help regulate your blood sugar and are a healthy carbohydrate because of the amount of fiber and your body will thank you for all the anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal properties. I digress on the health aspect. The sweet potatoes and chorizo might be a meal to scoff, but please leave the guffaws until after you whet your palette with this sweet and spicy fall dish. Better yet, have it any time of the year if you happen to have a local butcher who would be kind enough to whip up a batch of chicken chorizo for you.
After shredding I tossed them into a large frying pan that had been coated with coconut oil. Another super food I absolutely adore that you can use for anything and everything. Smoothies, baking, frying, or if you are like me a shot all by itself, but I am a fan of coconut so I don’t mind the taste or the smell I have found it to really accentuate my cooking on all levels when used properly.
Quite alright, we can save the Ayn Rand style debate for another day.