This week, Kurtis and I decided we wanted to attempt to go Paleo! Okay, well, I decided. Funny story, I really wanted to go Paleo or do a Whole 30 but couldn’t get Kurtis on board. And I need him on board if I want to be successful. We eat pretty healthy already (I grew up on healthy foods, so it’s my personal preference) and he felt like that was good enough! But I really wanted to do something stricter now that I’m finally back into my regular workout routine. And if Kurtis isn’t on board, I know I will fail! If I’m buying one set of groceries for me, and another for him, I’ll just end up eating the not-so healthy stuff I buy for him. If there’s bad stuff in the house, I will eat it. If I want to be good, it can’t be in the house! Kurtis is all for eating healthy, and he loves to workout, but I think the idea of Paleo or Whole 30 scared him because it’s so restrictive.
So, I was sneaky. I make our menu and do all the cooking in our house so I just decided I would make all paleo dinners for the week and not tell him. Then, at the end of the week, tell him everything he ate was paleo, and when he realized it could still be delicious, he would be on board! We both LOVED what I cooked on Monday. I think that recipe alone would have sold him. Creamy Citrus Chicken w/ Asparagus and Mushrooms. It was amazing. I lasted until Wednesday and then caved and told him (it came up in conversation!) and he laughed and said he was fine with it! And that he actually really liked every dinner we had so far, especially the one from Monday night. We’ve both been wanting to get in better shape due to some possible life changes coming up, and cooking all our meals at home and taking lunches to work more will save us money. If he’s out and wants to stop through a drive-thru and have a cheeseburger, that’s up to him, but at home, I’ll be cooking clean!
We also believe in an 80/20 lifestyle. Eating paleo is going to be a lifestyle change, not a diet. But no one can eat 100% clean 100% of the time. And since this is a lifestyle, you shouldn’t call them cheats or cheat meals! It’s a treat. So what this means to us is 80% paleo, clean eating and workouts and 20% treats and days off. There are still going to be days when I don’t feel like cooking and we order pizza. There are still going to be days where I forget to pack him a lunch and he has to pick up something at a drive thru. There are going to be certain days during the month that I’m just going to need a chocolate bar. We’re going to go on vacation and let ourselves eat badly! People will invite us over for dinner and we can’t expect them to create a paleo meal. And you have to allow for these days to happen. Because it is a lifestyle and life happens.
So, anyways! My recipes will now be broken up into 2 categories, Paleo recipes and treat recipes! This is the very first paleo recipe I ever cooked and it was delicious! I found the original recipe on Pinterest, HERE. Her Website, Wholesomelicious is an amazing resource for those wanting to eat better, her recipes are incredible! Be sure to check her out!
*Disclaimer: I always make changes to recipes to make them my own before posting and will always credit the original author, if it is not myself.
As always, I tweaked it a little because I just can’t help myself. I love to play off of recipes to give them new flavor, techniques, or change out some ingredients to save money. For this recipe in particular, I used chicken tenders instead of breasts to save money, I used more coconut milk and seasonings to create a thicker, more abundant sauce, and I added more fruit flavors to create citrus chicken rather than lemon chicken.
The original author mentioned in her post that the dish didn’t photograph very well, and she’s right. Mine especially didn’t because I used a thinner cut of chicken, added more sauce, and, of course, one of the lightbulbs in my kitchen is out so I didn’t even have the best lighting to work with on top of a dish that wasn’t super aesthetically pleasing, ha! So please, excuse the pictures but trust me when I say the dish is delicious!
- 5-6 Chicken Tenders
- 3 tbs Coconut Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves Pressed
- 1 Can Coconut Milk
- 1/2 Lemon Juice
- 1 Lemon Zested
- Mushrooms Sliced
- Asparagus Cut in half
- Salt To taste
- Pepper To taste
- Garlic Powder To taste
- 1/4 Orange Juiced
- 1 Orange Zested
- 1 Lime
- Cut asparagus in half and heat coconut oil in a large skillet
- Season chicken tenders with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
- Add chicken to the skillet and cook about 2-3 minutes each side. Do not cook through. Remove chicken.
- Add asparagus and mushrooms to the pan, press garlic into pan, and cook about 10 minutes
- Return the chicken to the pan and add your lemon juice, orange juice, coconut milk, orange zest, and lemon zest.
- Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and cook another 5-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened
- Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Cut lime into small wedges. Squeeze one small wedge over each plate. Serve.
Too much lime can make a dish bitter so be sure to be very conservative when squeezing your lime juice over the plate. You just want a touch of lime flavor!
The recipe is great served over rice or pasta! But be careful though, because adding rice or pasta would make the recipe no longer paleo. If you want to stick to paleo, try it over zoodles, or even by itself with a good salad on the side!