When all else fails, make up something

Oddly enough, the title of this post sums up my college experience.

Nice, right?

Anyways, after enduring (thankfully only) two days of jury summons, which could also be renamed "Sitting in a Giant Waiting Room with Hundreds of People for Hours a Day Wasting My Life Away," and after riding the bus home (always a horrifying adventure for me in the big city), I was yearning to do something creative.  You know, something where I'm not sitting on my butt for hours doing nothing.  We had recently bought some organic chicken legs and breasts, and I was craving coconut.  I tried looking online for recipes that were basically some kind of coconut product and chicken, but I kept finding coconut curry recipes.  Not a huge fan of curry.

What's a Paleo girl to do?  Answer:  Make up something.

So I made up the following.  Please note that some of the measurements...aren't measurements.  I'm a Southern woman at heart - I make stuff up as I go when I cook, so just go with the flow, and get inspired.  If you think you want more of an ingredient, just add it.

Jury Duty Baked Coconut Chicken with Coconut Mushroom Gravy

- 5 organic chicken legs (or 4 chicken breasts)
- 1 can of light coconut milk (Trader Joe's)
- 1/3 cup of coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp of salt (really, just as much salt as you like on your chicken)
- black pepper to taste
- 3 cups (or more if you like) of crimini mushrooms
-  maybe a pinch of arrowroot powder to thicken the gravy

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grab a baking dish (one large enough to hold the meat).  Place the meat in the baking dish.  Pour the coconut milk over the chicken and into the dish.  In a separate bowl, place the dry ingredients (coconut flour, arrowroot, salt and pepper), and mix together.  Sprinkle dry mix over chicken and into the dish.  Next, finely chop up the mushrooms and spread them onto the chicken and into the dish.  If you like things salty, toss a pinch of salt on top of everything, then pop it into the oven.  Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.

Not bad for just making up something on the fly - my only regrets are

1)  I didn't use enough mushrooms.  I probably could have used the entire Costco-sized package in the dish, and it would have been amazing!  Oh well - next time.

2)  I didn't use enough coconut milk.  And, I was using frozen coconut ice cubes from the last can I opened, so it was difficult to tell how much I was using, especially since I wasn't measuring anything along the way.

3)  I used a little too much pepper.  I did want it to be a bit spicy, but Josh was even a bit startled by the heat.  Since he wants to stay away from night shades, he seemed suspicious that I had used cayenne or curry.  Nope!  Just got a bit excited with the fresh ground black pepper.

4) I didn't use arrowroot.  It would have been nice to have a slightly thicker gravy.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the recipe!


On a less food/jury duty note, Josh and I have started exercising again.  Goodbye another 20lbs!  I can imagine it melting off of me now...ah.  How satisfying.  Not to mention, I feel like I can actually run a mile straight - I haven't tried it yet, but I feel that good.  Seriously.

Have I mentioned that the Paleo diet is amazing?

It is.  If you don't believe me, try it.

Oh, quit whining about pasta and pizza, you big baby.  If I can kick the addiction, then you can.  And yes, you are truly addicted.  You're about as bad off as an alcoholic or a meth head.  Oh, and you're in denial.  Trust me - I've been there.

We'll talk more about that later.

Let me know if you try the recipe, have some suggestions to make it better, or just hate it.



Craving pizza always,

Sasha


p.s.  I respect and appreciate our civic duty as American citizens to serve on a jury in court.  Doesn't mean I have to like it.