Honey Mustard Chicken

cell phone photo again. sorry.

Honey Mustard Chicken
primal / paleo / grain-free / gluten-free / egg-free

Yield: 2

2 chicken leg quarters

1/2 onion, sliced/diced/whatever you want

3T dijon mustard (grainy preferably)

1.5T honey

1T balsamic vinegar

1/2-1t salt

1/4-1/2t pepper

1t granulated garlic 

or

2-4 cloves garlic, minced

Mix the sauce together in a plastic bag. Add the chicken pieces and the onion. Place in a dish just in case, and let hang out in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and remove the chicken from the fridge. Place the chicken in a baking dish skin side up (if you have time you can start the chicken skin side down, cook for 20 minutes, then turn over for the remainder of the time), and pour any remaining sauce over it. You can add some oiled and seasoned vegetables/fingerlings/sweet potato chunks at this point as well.

Cook for 45 minutes-1 hour, or until the internal temperature reaches 178 degrees. Let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes to reach 180 degrees, and to redistribute the juices. Enjoy.

What's your favorite kind of potato? I love sweet potatoes, which would also go well here.

Pulled Pork with Apple Butter BBQ Sauce (Primal/Paleo)

Pulled Pork with Apple Butter BBQ Sauce in the Slow Cooker
primal / paleo / grain-free / egg-free

2-3 lb pork shoulder/pork butt

Rub:

1T garlic powder

1T paprika

1t salt

1/2t pepper

1/4t dry mustard

Apple butter sauce:

1/2c apple butter

1/4c apple cider vinegar (with the mother!)

1/4c bone broth (or stock)

1T grainy dijon

1T worcestershire

2T tomato paste

S + P

The night before (if you can) rub the pork down with the spice mixture and let it hang out in the fridge.

The next day, combine the sauce ingredients in your slow cooker. Stir together, and add the pork. 

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or so, until the pork is falling apart enough to shred. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and use two forks to shred it. Meanwhile, if the sauce is too thin, bring to a boil on the stovetop and simmer until thickened to your preference. 

Add the meat to the sauce and serve. We like to shred, reduce the sauce, and add the pulled pork back to sauce an hour before eating. Tastes delicious on a pile of broccoli slaw, with some sweet potato on the side! Enjoy :)

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Where's your favorite BBQ joint?

Morning Glory Muffins (Primal/Paleo)

For my sister's birthday she didn't want cake. She wanted me to primalize my Morning Glory muffin recipe. Little did she know I was already making her a (Log Lady) cake anyway for her surprise party...  So I didn't have a ton of time to work on tweaking an existing recipe, but, luckily someone did the work for me and I came across a morning glory muffin recipe that was primal and super close to my own recipe! Yay! Of course, I tweaked it just a touch. They turned out amazing. Just as good as the grainy original, just slightly denser, and less sweet. Perfect! As always, you can use various fruits and veggies such as sweet potato, zucchini, parsnip, etc. You can also use any combination of add-ins for the 1c of raisins and walnuts I used. A favorite is 1/2c walnuts, heaping 1/2c dark chocolate chips.

Morning Glory Muffins
primal / paleo / grain-free / gluten-free

Yield: 12 muffins

Adapted from Paleo Comfort Foods

2.5c almond flour

1.5T cinnamon, ground

1t nutmeg, ground

2t baking soda

3/4t salt

2c carrots, grated

1 large apple, grated

1c coconut, unsweetened shredded or flaked

Heaping 1/2c raisins

Heaping 1/2c walnuts, chopped

3 large eggs

2T honey

1/2c coconut oil, melted

1t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and line a muffin pan (I recommend silicone liners).

In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients. Stir together and add the carrots, apple, coconut, raisins, and walnuts.

In a small bowl combine the honey with the coconut oil. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. The batter will be very, very thick.

Using a 3T disher or scoop (I use this one) to portion the batter. Use your hands to shape each ball of batter slightly smaller at the bottom and place in the muffin tin, pushing and shaping to the hole.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool slightly in pan, then cool fully on a rack. 

Store in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze for up to 6 months for optimal flavor.

What's your favorite kind of muffin?