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chicken tostado 2

Yesterday was the day I finally felt as if I owned my life again. I own a business on Etsy and do several craft shows each Fall so when the holiday season begins in September that takes over my life. Until January I typically succumb to a cold or two, function on minimal sleep buoyed by multiple doses of caffeine, and the energy I create around me is chaotic and out of balance. Even though I astonish myself with what I can accomplish, I am under considerable stress and never have time for the things which bring balance and joy to my life.

Call it an epiphany if you like, but I’ve finally had enough. With some great insight and coaching from family and friends, I’ve given considerable thought to how to break that stressful pattern. When September rolls around next year I will have an inventory ready for my holiday buyers. In October, I will have time to rake my leaves.  In November I will enjoy the third birthday of my beautiful grandtwins, mail out my holiday orders, and have all my items tagged and inventoried for the craft shows. By December, my house will look, smell and feel like Christmas homes I envy in the magazines. I will build joyful things like going to the gym CONSISTENTLY, taking time for hiking thru the woods to enjoy the fall transitions, hanging out with friends, visiting family and decorating the house for the holidays into my routine. During  holiDAZE past my mom used to tell us..Ok I’m at that part of the song where they say..fall on your knees.  I now understand what she meant, but I no longer want to participate.

I’ve already started working on my inventory for next season and will be adding more specific ideas at our goal setting session at CrossFit Continuum this weekend..can’t wait. Planning always helps to sharpen my focus when I give into it, and with that added dash of the energy that belongs to a person with ADHD, I’ve got this.

So on January 6th, when I started my day off with a spectacular Colorado sunrise and early morning walk with my husky Denton, I felt alive again. Maybe it was the 20F temps, but I was awake to the possibilities of that day.

Since I entered the Whole30 challenge with my son/trainer/mentor Eric Allen and his wonderful girlfriend Krystle on 2 Jan, we’ve been sharing our recipes and menu plans. Krystle and Eric do weekly food prep. I enjoy cooking too, but usually have less time on weekends due to working on Etsy orders, so haven’t tried that yet. I will need to hit the Rubbermaid container aisle before I go full force force on that though. Speaking of Rubbermaid,  can someone PLEASE tell me this “where do the lids go?”

I’ve been following a Paleo lifestyle since Feb of 2012, but had to revise and seek out new recipes for Whole30. In doing so I found a yummy looking Nacho recipe on Paleo Grubs. In my mind, recipes are guidelines, so when I didn’t have several of the ingredients on hand last night, I improvised. When you live in the Canadian wilderness, improvising is a honed skill. Every summer, the kids and I would go home and visit my parents who lived year round in the remote wilderness near Atikokan Ontario. Mom always had a stockpile of cans to get them through the winter in case they got snowed in and couldn’t get to town for supplies. In the summers, we would use fresh produce from the garden, fish from the lake and leftover canned supplies, so they could start anew the next season. During the year many of the labels would have fallen off and you would be left with “mystery cans”. Each meal involved using at least ONE mystery can which you somehow had to incorporate into your meal. It was then that I accepted that menus and recipes are mere guidelines ripe for alteration. You were always more thankful to get a can of crushed pineapple to add rather than sardines or even tuna.

The paleo grubs recipe called for ground beef, and I subbed in chicken. I also omitted the canned tomatoes since I was using chicken rather than beef, and used lemon rather than lime juice in my homemade guac. I didn’t have a canned mystery food to add, so this was my dinner plated out. I thought my end creation resembled a tostado more than nachos hence the name change.

I can honestly say this recipe was one of the BEST things I have ever made while cooking Paleo for almost 3 years..insanely good.  Short prep time, super healthy, and lots of veggies! Thanks Paleo Grubs!!

chicken tostado whole30

SERVES 2, Prep time: 20 min

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breast-cubed

1 t cayenne powder or hot pepper spice mix

4 T coconut or ghee

2 fresh roma tomatoes-diced

3 green onions-diced

1 small red bell pepper-diced

1 small yellow bell pepper-diced

1/4 jalapeno diced

1-2 sweet potato, peeled and sliced to be super thin

1 c chopped Romaine lettuce or spinach(with stems removed)

1 fresh tomatillo-diced

2 scoops fresh homemade guacamole-see recipe below

GUACAMOLE RECIPE:

1 fresh avocado, mashed

1 lime or lemon, juiced

2 grinds sea salt

1 grind garlic/pepper mix or 1/4 t garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:

Cook cubed chicken in 2 T ghee, or coconut oil until done

Fry sweet potato slices in 2 T ghee or coconut oil until crispy but not black, turning once or twice..remove from oil and drain excess oils

Layer your plate starting with a base of sweet potato slices, followed by chicken, and fresh veggies. Top with 1-2 scoops of guacamole. Serve immediately!!