Sourdough English Muffins

A year ago, I tried making a starter. With that starter, I tried making English muffins. They didn't turn out very well. I think I may have eaten one and thrown the rest away. Now that I have another starter (which seems much happier than the last one), I decided to try my hand at making English muffins again. Although I'm still refining my process, I made whole wheat English muffins that lasted only two days before I ate them all. I got the recipe from here.

Sourdough English Muffins
8-12 hours before you want to eat this deliciousness, mix together:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
After 8-12 hours, add:
1 T. Honey
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Turn out to a floured surface and kneed until everything is incorporated. Flatten to about 3/4". Using a biscuit cutter or a wine glass, cut rounds. Allow to rise on some corn meal or flour (I used flour and they stuck a little bit so next time I'm going to used corn meal) for 45 minutes (don't forget to cover them so they don't dry out). Heat a pan or electric skillet to medium. Grease the pan a little (unless it's non-stick). Cook 5-7 minutes on each side. Cut open and enjoy!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Here is one of my new favorites discovered during the Whole 30. The secret is in this dressing. This is also great lunch to pack the night before since the cabbage doesn't get nasty when sitting in a lunch box all day.

Chinese Chicken Salad
Easy lemon chicken
Napa cabbage
Carrots
chopped sugar snap peas (optional)
Chopped cashews
A small bit of finely chopped cilantro

Ginger salad dressing:
3/4 c.-olive oil
1/4 c.-soy sauce (I just omitted this during the whole 30 and it was good but soy sauce makes it way better)
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 T-sugar (I omitted this during the whole 30 but added some coconut milk instead)
1/4c.-cashews
2 garlic cloves
2 T worth of fresh ginger
1/2 t-salt (if you omitted the soy sauce, it may need a little more)
Put everything in a blender and blend until the ginger, garlic, and cashews are completely incorporated. Enjoy!

Easy Lemon Chicken

This is one of the easiest chicken marinades to throw together on a busy day.  You can start with either thawed or frozen chicken.  I also prefer to use the chicken tender pieces since they cook up nice and evenly and only take a couple minutes to BBQ.

Easy Lemon Chicken

Using a zip lock bag, throw in:

-approx. 10 raw chicken tenders

-some olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

-some garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper (about 1/2 tsp. each)

-the juice of one lemon (i've also used lime but used the juice of two of them)

-salt (my salt rule is a pinch per serving)

Close the zip lock bag.  Mix and shake all the ingredients around until everything is incorporated and evenly coating the chicken. Allow to marinade in fridge for 4-12 hours.  If using frozen chicken, follow recipe but allow to marinade and thaw for 24 hours in fridge.  BBQ until the chicken is cook. 

Enjoy over salads, in wraps, on a sandwich, or any other way you enjoy chicken.

Carnitas

This is my version of carnitas. I like this because it is full of flavor, natural, and can cook in the crockpot all day. It tasted amazing in my coconut oil tortillas topped with my Greek yogurt, cheese, salsa and guacamole. Plus, since my mornings are a bit hectic, I put everything in the crockpot the night before and stick the pot part of my crockpot in the fridge. The next morning it takes approximately 10 seconds to take it out of the fridge and turn it on. No mess. No time. No hassle.

Crockpot Carnitas
1.5-2 lb pork shoulder or pork roast
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 cloves garlic (either chopped or whole)
1 orange cut in quarters
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke (optional)
3 T. olive oil

Place pork in crockpot. Sprinkle spices, add garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze orange and then throw rind in with meat (warning: the orange will smell overpowering while cooking but when you taste the meat at the end, it is in perfect balance). Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5). The longer you cook it, the easier it will be to shred. Once cooked, take out orange rinds and throw them away. Using two forks, shred the meat. Allow the meat to sit a few minutes to soak up any liquid. You can either serve it as is or fry in some coconut oil to add that more authentic carnitas texture.