Chicken Fra Diavolo

Ever make a dish for the first time and you're like "da*n, I'm good!" ??  Oh, you do that every time you cook, eh? Way to show me up.

It's been a grueling week here with the dissertation plus week 3 of the Whole60/sugar detox... when things gets hard to stay on track. I just keep reminding myself of why I'm doing it and what my goals are, but I'm not gonna lie- grilled cheese & ice cream sound really amazing right about now!!! Resuming CrossFit after a few days off due to back pain (which is back to normal now - no pun intended) helped to motivate me to eat better. There's nothing like 50 box jumps, 50 wall balls to the high/men's target, and 50 burpees with sandbag cleans for time to get your nutrition in check. Hot yoga also helped to negate cravings... pizza, wings & cupcakes just don't sound appealing after sweating like a dog for 90 minutes straight. But, 2 hours and a shower later, that's a different story.  

Anyway, I had a spaghetti squash to use and some random ingredients lying around so I decided to throw em all in a pot and see what came of it. I was smacking my lips after tasting this baby! Paleo chicken fra diavolo, I will be making you often!

Chicken Fra Diavolo 

INGREDIENTS
1 medium-small spaghetti squash
1 lb chicken breast or tenders, diced
1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes with green chilies (I used Trader Joe's brand), drained
Poultry seasoning (or salt, pepper, & paprika)
Basil
Italian seasoning
Parsley
Oregano
4 strips of bacon, diced (optional... adds a nice extra flavor that compliments the rest of the dish)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425. Cut spaghetti squash in half length-wise, remove roots & seeds. Place cut-side down on cookie sheet and bake until soft, about 30-35 minutes.
2. While spaghetti squash is baking, dice up your chicken and sprinkle with poultry seasoning. Heat a pan with oil and add chicken until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Cook and dice bacon at this point if you are going to use it.
3. When spaghetti squash is done, use a fork to "shred" the squash into noodles. Heat a pan on medium-low heat and add noodles. Add drained tomatoes/chilies and stir to combine. Add chicken, bacon, basil, oregano, italian seasoning & parsley. Toss everything together to combine into one delicious meal.
4. Eat up!!! Mmmm!

NOTE: you could add a diced onion or garlic to the mix, but I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet and didn't have any on hand. I was very satisfied with how this meal turned out :)