Curried Chicken Salad Wraps

Lately I’ve been loving avocados….I go through phases where I can eat them everyday and then can’t stand them.  I’ve recently been capitalizing on their versatility and using them as a substitute for mayo to make chicken/tuna salads.  I love cold curried chicken salad, so I decided to try making it using avocado as the cream base.  This recipe is super easy and tastes awesome in lettuce wraps or on a bed of greens with some extra lemon juice.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings):

– 1 whole cooked chicken – meat removed from the bone and shredded/chopped
– 3 celery stalks – chopped
– ¼ onion – chopped
– ½ red pepper – chopped (you could use a fruit here instead…pineapple or apple would work well)
– 1 + ½ or 2 avocados – very ripe
– 2 Tbsp curry powder
– 1 tsp ground ginger
– 1 tsp turmeric
– Juice of ½ a lemon
– Salt and pepper to taste
– Romaine leaves for the wraps (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine chicken and veggies.
2. In a small bowl, mash the avocado with the spices and lemon juice – mash/mix well to create a creamy texture
3. Mix together the mashed avocado curry mixture with the chicken and veggies.  Mix thoroughly.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Serve in lettuce wraps or on a bed of greens.  When I served mine on  a salad I used extra lemon juice to liquefy it a bit more.
6. Enjoy!

No Fully Primal Husband testimonial this time…I hogged these all to myself:)

 

Quick and Easy Non-Gourmet Primal Breakfast

When I first started eating Paleo I had to begin with baby steps – making small adjustments over a long period of time.  I think it’s really difficult to go cold turkey and completely drop all grains and starches if you’re not accustomed to it.  I believe you’re more likely to succeed by making 1-2 changes at a time and maintaining that for a few weeks, then adding in a new change until you’re 100% where you want to be.  

For me, breakfast was the hardest and last thing to change.  I was addicted to my instant oatmeal, egg white on whole wheat english muffin or the Pom Bran Muffin from Starbucks (7g of protein – i thought that was awesome and ignored the 4,00og of bad carbs).  Dr Oz would still commend me on these choices, however we know that this is not the best option as these are filled with Gluten.  We are infiltrated with messages that whole grains and fiber in the morning is the best way to start our day, so I kept thinking, what else am i supposed to eat??  I had fears that if i dropped the grains i would be starving 1 hour later.  It took me a long time to finally make the breakfast change.   Now I don’t start feeling hungry until 3-4 hours after my breakfast….just in time for lunch.

Breaking habits is not easy – I read recently that ‘situational cues bring out habits that are deeply embedded’.  This makes so much sense.  If you always get up and grab for that instant oatmeal it’s going to take a bit of discipline to make that switch to a Paleo meal and change the habit.   

I’ve got better breakfast options that I’ll start to post.  But for today, I wanted to give a really simple solution for people who don’t have alot of time and perhaps haven’t hit the grocery store in a few days.  Scrambled Eggs with Frozen Spinach and Mushrooms.  Not fancy, but it’s got the right components and nutrients to keep you feeling full, give you the energy to tackle the daunting task of doing your Christmas Cards (ugh!) and feeling damn good about your choices. 

I always prefer fresh local/organic vegetables  – but  we know this is not always possible.  I do my grocery shopping on Sunday, so by the time Saturday rolls around i’m usually running low on fresh veggies.  Having frozen vegetables on hand is great for these occasions.  I buy the Organic frozen veggies, but you could use any variety.  Pop a big chunk in the microwave for 3 minutes and voila, you have a super healthy side dish to your eggs.  For the eggs, you can scramble them in a pan or if you’re short on clean dishes and time, you can do these in the microwave too – Scramble them in a dish, pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, then re-scramble and microwave for another 1-2 minutes.  Add a small handful of almonds as a side and you’re good to go.  If the spinach is not appetizing, trying mixing it with 1-2 tsps of goat cheese – I guarantee that you will like it now.