Paleo Soul Food

Ever feel like you reached your breaking point? That you just can't take any more of life's beatings? I reached mine on Thursday after 6 long, cold weeks of running around the city from dawn til dusk on public transit to meet with research participants (including weekends), barely sleeping, and the straw that broke the camel's back was an injury during my last CrossFit workout. Not sure what happened- we were doing overhead squats and box jumps, which was fine. Then I got to the locker room and my lower right back had a shooting pain. I could walk just fine, but standing from sitting and bending over was painful. Then I was walking to the lab and my left knee started aching badly. WTF. I was exhausted (physically/mentally) and realized that in my haste to catch the morning bus, I left my paleo/whole30/sugar detox lunch in the fridge. Plus my jeans & socks were soaked (in a wet, cold kind of way) from all the snow/rain and slushy sidewalks. Just felt like giving up and giving in... but sucked it up, popped some pain killers, stopped by the cafeteria for an unsatisfying lunch, and got back to work as best I could. When you feel like you reached the end of your rope, you find the strength to dig just a little bit deeper...

Today I got 8 hours of sleep and felt better. Still stressed, still anxious, back still hurts, but it's feeling better. So, things are starting to look up... but some comfort food like paleo chicken tenders and paleo mac n cheese were definitely in order!! Plus, Week 2 of the Whole60/sugar detox is about up and this is when continuing gets hard. The chicken tenders came out amazing, I may or may not have eaten the whole batch in one sitting... and while the mac n cheese didn't taste nearly as good as the Kraft artificial everything, anti-paleo, blue box mac n cheese, it got the comfort food job done.

Paleo Chicken Tenders

 
INGREDIENTS
1 lb chicken tenders
1/4 c coconut flour
1/4 c almond flour
3 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp onion powder
1 tsp basil
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1 egg white
Coconut oil

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat frying pan to medium-high heat. On a sheet of wax paper, mix all the dry ingredients together. Crack the egg white in a small bowl.
2. Melt coconut oil in pan, enough to cover the bottom. Oil is hot when a flick of water is dropped into the pan and it sizzles.
3. Dredge chicken in egg white then through dry ingredients. Place in oiled pan and fry until the bottom side is cooked (the edge will turn white), about 4 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. Add more coconut oil as necessary throughout the cooking process.
4. Dig in!! Tasted great by itself, but can also be paired with paleo ketchup or sugar detox BBQ sauce.

Paleo Mac n Cheese

INGREDIENTS
1 small spaghetti squash
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp arrowroot
1/2-3/4 can coconut milk
1 tbsp sunbutter
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp white wine


DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Using a sharp knife, cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the roots/seeds. Place face-down on a cookie sheet and bake until soft, about 30-35 minutes.
2. While spaghetti squash is baking, melt coconut oil in a small pot. Add arrowroot and stir to combine into a paste.
3. Add coconut milk and bring to a low boil, then to a simmer.
4. Add the remaining ingredients, stir to combine everything, and let it cool slightly.
5. When spaghetti squash is done, use a fork to "shred" the squash into "noodles". Pour the 'cheese' mixture over the squash and use a fork to combine all that goodness.