If you don’t know yet, wings are kind of my thing.
I play around with flavors, cooking methods trying to find that perfect balance of crispy outside and tender juicy center to compliment.
The texture of wings are what i enjoy the most. I get a sensation from pulling tender meat from its bone. Call it the cave woman in me but I’ve always had an innate urge to chaw at a bone like it was my last meal!
But don’t be too quick to judge, because chowing down on the bone is exactly what you’ll be doing when you try these CRAZY delicious wings.
Even better, you don’t need fancy ingredients to prepare this yumminess. A few easy steps, simple ingredients, and you have a great little appetizer.
Squeeze the juice from one lemon. Cover the wings in the lemon juice along with salt and pepper.
Marinate wings for at least an hour.
Melt butter in a larger pot. Add some olive oil.
Add pressed garlic cloves to the butter and olive oil in the pot.
Simmer butter and garlic on low for about 5 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
Add marinated chicken to the pot mix the butter and garlic together with the chicken and make sure all chicken is evenly coated in sauce.
Cook and mix for 5 more minutes.
Turn off the stove.
Turn oven on broil 500 degrees F.
In a shallow dish place 1 cup of the grated Parmesan cheese.
Spread Parmesan out evenly.
One by one put the chicken into the Parmesan and turn around so that all sides are covered in cheese.
Place chicken on a baking sheet when finished coating.
Place baking rack on the second to the top rack.
Broil for 15 minutes.
Flip chicken over to cook other side.
Broil for a remaining 10 minutes or until tops are perfectly bubbly brown.
I like all food, and sometimes that includes food that other people won’t eat.
From Pigfeet to neck bones I have grown up on it all!
I enjoy it all. I eat it all.
I realize that this will not be a snack that most will indulge.
But my hope is that this recipe reaches all my friends, and one day I will visit their homes and they will have fried up some gizzards using these instructions.
Then we can dip them in a spicy sauce and enjoy as if there is nothing strange happening.
As of now I’ll take those side eyes’ and rude remarks as I offer up some of the weirdly shaped nuggets to my guests.
I’m an old school girl, and I will try to carry these strange, overlooked, and discarded cuts of meat on to the next generation. I will try.
Most of us have used them to prepare gravy.
But did you know that when fried they can make a pretty satisfying snack.
I first use the gizzards to make a well seasoned broth. They make a really great broth.
I then batter it up and fry them.
These’ll be apart of our super bowl spread this year!
Maybe you’ll try them.
Maybe?
Put gizzards, herbs, and spices into pot, cover gizzards with water.
Bring to boil, cover pot and turn to low. Simmer covered for 2 hours.
Turn off heat and let gizzard sit in broth for at least 30 more minutes.
Drain broth from the rest of the pot. Save broth for use later.
Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer up to 2 months.
In a bag with flour mix, salt, and pepper drop cooked gizzards.
Shake bag up
Heat lard in pot. When temperature reaches 375 carefully place battered gizzards into oil.
Fry for 2-3 minutes or until brown. When they start floating to the top of oil I remove them from pot.
They can easily get over cooked, remember they’re already done you just want to get the outside crispy.
Place finished gizzard on paper towel lined plate.
Sprinkle with a little salt while still hot.
I like chicken wings.
I mean I really like chicken wings.
I can eat a couple of plates stacked of wings all to myself.
My favorite are the two bone flat ones. Big Noah prefers the little drumettes which works out perfect.
I can have my flats he can have his drumettes.
I like juicy, wet, and sticky wings sometimes. This time it’s my dry rub juicy on the inside salty on the outs. This recipe is salty and sweet, with a lot of chili powder.
4 simple ingredients and you have a quick plate of appetizing wangz! Yes, I mean wangz…that’s how I say it in real life anyways.
The trick to cooking tender and crispy wings are the temperature of the oven. It needs to be high. They need to cook quick.
Set your oven to 400°
Mix together the salt, chili powder, and brown sugar.
Pat dry wings.
Rub the seasoning evenly over the wings.
Spread the wings out onto baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Close up of the easiest and tastiest wangz ever.
I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone, and it was nice enjoying my family without doing all the work. I made just a few Paleo/Grain Free Side items and three different grain free desserts.
The Non-Paleo family members enjoyed! So of course I felt good about myself. They have even asked me to prepare an entire Christmas menu complete with the desserts!
Now I’m just a little suspicious that all the praise and enthusiasm over my healthy desserts were really just to get me on the hook for Christmas dinner. Either way I obliged and I’m ready to get the ball rolling on making our families first grain free Christmas so good we continue the tradition….forever! I’m hopeful.
Bacon, Leeks & Sweet Potato Jalapeno Poppers
The recipe I’m sharing today is one of the appetizers I made at Thanksgiving. Only difference was I used white potatoes at Thanksgiving. They were a hit. I mean they were gone before you could say amen.
When I got home I decided test them again for accuracy and switched it up a bit to add more nutrition. I switched out the white potatoes for sweet potatoes. It not only added more nutrition, it added more flavor as well.
Switching the potatoes were just the addition needed to kick this recipe up a notch.
These will be served at Christmas and I’m sure everyone will enjoy them even more now that I added the sweet potato.
Red peppers are packed with nutrition such as vitamin c, Folic acid, Thiamine and the list goes on.
With all the health benefits of red peppers the flavor is just as impressive, and when you roast them the sweet flavor becomes even more splendid.
We use this sauce on ribs, with french fries, zucchini fries, and anything else I can dip. It’s grain free, artificial sugar-free, dairy-free, and Paleo/primal at the same time.
I prefer making all of our dipping sauce at home. It gives me total control of what we are taking into our bodies, and removes artificial preservatives and chemicals from our meals.
Plus its super simple so why not?
INGREDIENTS
3 Red Peppers
1 roasted garlic (Instructions for roasting garlic)
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/2 Tablespoons Smoked Spanish Paprika
1/3-1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 Tablespoon sea salt or to taste
1 Tablespoon coconut vinegar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven broiler. Line roasting pan with aluminum foil. Place Red Peppers on roasting pan.
Roast red peppers for 30-40 minutes or until the outside is shriveled and charred.
Cover peppers with aluminum foil and let them cool down for 10 minutes or until cooled enough to handle.
After peppers have cooled down remove seed and stem from the peppers.
Place peppers in small sauce pan with all the other ingredients including the roasted garlic.
Simmer with top on pot for 5 minutes.
Remove pot and blend ingredients. You can use a food processor or a hand blender. I like to use a hand blender/immersion blender, so I’m not transferring the hot ingredients back and forth. (call me clumsy-mumsy)
After everything has reached a smooth consistency, place the top back on pot and simmer on medium low heat for about 15 more minutes, or until reduced, to a ketchup like consistency.
Store up to 3 days refrigerated.
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I’ve been on major Hiatus. I’m so excited to share all the new recipes that I’ve been Paleofying.
My excitement has to do with all the positive effects I’ve experienced from going primal. The fact that I’m enjoying delicious meals that are helping me feel better is awesome.
These Paleo/Primal recipes have my body looking like, and I quote from the oh so flattering teller at my bank “four kids came out of you!?”
Besides the body getting right and tight, the mind is sharp as a tack and my energy levels are skyrocketing. I can get through some of the toughest workouts, and the next day I’m spared from the usual muscle soreness. Although my sore muscles were how I knew I was really going in on my workouts, the lack there of allows me to be much more functional.
All that and I still get to keep my bacon?!
Yep I’m good right here on my Paleo-ish.
So let me get to this recipe, which is super simple and primal in all it’s ingredients. I have a special place in my tummy for all things zucchini. Since I’ve been making a concerted effort to up my veggie intake ginormously, zucchini has been my go to for all my veggie gone bad recipes. It’s flexible yet firm/stable and takes a lot of cooking before it starts to lose shape. Even after frying they still have a little crunch.
These little fries are so comforting you almost feel like you’re indulging…but you’re not. You’re eating perfectly delicious and enjoyable grub without an ounce of guilt.
I dip these zucchini fries in my Roasted Red Pepper sauce and I’m in Primal heaven!
In the video I make 3 zucchini, this recipe is for two which still is a considerable amount of fries…enough to share even…or even not, either way I’m sure you’ll enjoy eating or just salivate over my pictures of these green veggies gone bad..sort of.
Ingredients
2 Zucchini
1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/3 cup Tapioca Flour
Garlic and Onion powder
1 Tablespoon Smoked Spanish Paprika
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt plus more to taste
1 cup Coconut Milk
Lard/Ghee (or any other Paleo friendly/vegan frying oil)
Directions
Heat oil in frying pan. Cut and wash zucchini. Dump zucchini in coconut milk. Dredge in flour mix. Set aside and let sit for at least five minutes. Fry in hot oil for a minute or two. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with more salt to taste.
Watch step by step instructions here!
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Pot Stickers oh how I love thee! I call them Chinese dumplings, but I see many call them pot stickers, and I kind of like that name too.
When I first made Pot stickers they took all day…literally. I made everything including the Wonton wrappers from scratch.
We were instantly hooked.
As much as I love my favorite Chinese Spots Pot Stickers, the fact that my recipe and technique came so close to the original thing had me hooked.
I was making these things left, right, side, and up.
I mean we were having Chinese dumplings at least twice a week for months.
I would make the wrappers all at one time so that when I was ready for a new batch they would be ready for me.
Well to say that got old is not saying enough. I quickly learned the best and most time efficient way to turn out these delicious morsels were to buy the wonton wrappers already made, and that’s just how I do it.
The fun thing about pot stickers are you can mix-match ingredients, and use exactly what you like and none of what you don’t like! I love using Napa Cabbage, ground pork, fennel, and carrots. The recipe below uses Bok Choy which is also a favorite of mines. I like a bunch of veggies in my pot stickers, but it gives them a green color which can initially turn off a picky eater. My little one in particular. Seriously though the color doesn’t affect her, she loves Pot Stickers and eats them as if her plate is running away from her. They are totally worth the effort!
Hey y’all, I’m going to keep this post real short and sweet, we have a winter storm coming and I’m bracing for school closures.
These cheese sticks are seasoned with chili flavors and instead of the classic mozzarella cheese I used jalapeno and red pepper string cheese to kick up the spice.
My family loved them and they weren’t at all too spicy for the kiddies to enjoy. This is a super easy treat that I’ll most likely be making this week if they do decide to close schools.
They make a perfect afternoon snack, and my kids love snacks.
Stay safe in this cold weather and if you need a little warm me up try this spicy treat.
When it comes to getting anyone to eat veggies, you’ll always be successful with either adding cheese or roasting!
I’ve seen a person go from hating Brussel sprouts to eating an entire plate of those bad boys just by roasting them, roasting brings out the party side of veggies, and I think we all know how exquisite a good cheese added to any veggie can be!
So for this recipe I do both, I add cheese and I roast the veggies, then finally I wrap with a warm tortilla and melt everything together producing some beautiful bites!
This recipe is super easy and fuss free for those hectic weekday evenings!
The creamy Spanish Rice compliments this dish perfectly and should be enjoyed with fresh Pico de Gallo then dipped in sour cream!
We normally have BIG meals on Sunday! I usually do all my brine’s marinades etc, before church so as soon as we get home I can get down in the kitchen! This Sunday however I’m making a spread of some handy foods and easy to make snacks, for the Superbowl.
One item that play a major part in this year Superbowl spread are Jerk Pulled Pork Sliders topped with freshly homemade Cole slaw, and using the Jerk Pulled Pork Recipe!
Click here or the Jerk Pulled Pork Recipe.
All you need…..
12 Slider Buns
Cole Slaw (Recipe at the bottom)
Jerk Sauce (optional)
On warm bun, layer, pulled pork, a little jerk sauce and Cole slaw.
Enjoy!