Salsa Chicken & Coconut Tortillas

I'm so glad I have friends who told me about the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook, every single recipe in it makes my mouth water. I've been eating tortilla-less Mexican food since the beginning of the year nd I'm so excited to be able to have tortillas again!!!

Batter after whisking ingredients

These tortillas made from coconut flower were the very first thing that caught my eye. It's a super easy recipe that would allow me to have tacos again!! What's not to love?? You can find this recipe on page 118 of the cookbook.

Here's what you'll need to make them:

1/4 cup of coconut flour

8 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup of water

Tortilla cooking

Here's what you do:

~Whish all ingredients together in a bowl, making sure there are no lumps (this took a little bit). If you want thinner tortillas, you can add 1-2 more teaspoons of water (I opted for extra water).

~Preheat a small skillet over medium heat. Place about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in the pan. Allow it to melt and coat the pan.

~Pour about 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan, tipping the pan from side to side while you pour the batter (this is super important - didn't do it on the first one and it was a major fail!). Don't attempt to flip the tortilla until you are sure the first side is golden brown so the tortilla doesn't rip.

~Once golden brown, flip the tortilla over and brown on opposite side. Remove to plate and repeat the process (adding coconut oil as needed).

This recipe should produce about 8-10 tortillas (it made 8 tortillas for me).

Plate of finished yumminess!

To go with the tortillas I made shredded salsa chicken in the crockpot.

Here's how I made that:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

One large container of organic salsa (I got mine from Trader Joe's)

Toss the chicken and the salsa in the crockpot with just a little bit of water. Cook on low for about 8 hours. When finished the chicken should shred easily, I just pulled it apart with a fork.

Finished product

I had planned on making chicken tacos, but the tortillas didn't cooperate, so I just put some chicken on top of the tortillas and ate it that way. It worked just fine and tasted awesome, but I think next time I may add even bit more water to make the tortillas a little thinner.

A few other notes - I think these tortillas would be awesome with some cumin, chili powder or ancho chili powder in them. Also, if you're not a fan of coconut, you may want to use a bit of olive oil in the pan instead of coconut oil, because these definitely have a coconut-y taste. On that note, if you're looking for something sweet, I think these tortillas would be amazing with some cinnamon, nutmeg and/or coconut sugar (of course using the coconut oil to cook them). I think they'd be nice with a little bit of coconut milk ice cream on top!

Paleo Chili and Crackers

I have found so many awesome recipes on Christina's blog! Here's one of my favorites:

Bison beanless chili

1 lb bison, ground1 14oz can of tomatoes, diced 1 package of sliced mushrooms 1 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper diced 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 container of mushrooms, chopped small 2 tbsp regular chili powder 1 tsp chipotle chili powder 1 tsp ancho chili powder 1 tsp garlic powder 1.5 tsp salt (or to your liking) 1 tbsp cumin

Cook bison until no longer pink – add in mushroom, onion, and bell pepper and saute until tender. add in 1 full can of diced tomatoes and enough water to cover all the meat/veg. Add tomato paste and all spices and simmer for 2 hours on low heat.

I've made this a few times now and I love it. Here are the few things that I change. I always use ground turkey breast instead of bison, I generally skip the green pepper, double the amount of garlic powder, and I also add a bit of fresh garlic.

When I make the chili, I always make these awesome basil crackers!

• 1 ¾ cups almond flour
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon basil olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and basil
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and egg
  3. Stir wet ingredients into almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined
  4. Roll the dough into a ball and press between 2 sheets of parchment paper to ⅛ inch thickness
  5. Remove top piece of parchment paper
  6. Transfer the bottom piece with rolled out dough onto baking sheet
  7. Cut dough into 2-inch squares with a knife or pizza cutter (I've found a pizza cutter works best)
  8. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden
  9. Let crackers cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes, then serve

The cracker recipe is from elana's pantry - another great resource for recipes. I follow her recipe exactly, except that I don't care for rosemary so I sub in basil and basil flavored olive oil for the rosemary and regular EVOO.

Coconut Chicken Tenders and Sweet Potato Bites

For me the key to sticking to a strict paleo lifestyle is to plan, plan, plan my meals. This generally means I cook for most of the week on Sunday. This maybe the easiest "recipe" ever...but it's certainly one of my favorites!

Coconut Chicken Tenders:

Package of chicken tenders (or chicken breasts)

2 eggs

1 cup of coconut flour

Preheat the oven to 350 and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then all you need to do is beat the eggs in a small bowl and put the coconut flour in another small bowl. Dip the chicken in the egg bath and then coat it in the flour. Place the chicken on the baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Sweet Potato Bites

2 small sweet potatoes, chopped, skin on

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder (could also use cinnamon or nutmeg)

Sea salt

Melt coconut oil over low heat, toss in ancho chili powder, and a bit of sea salt. Coat the sweet potatoes in the oil mixture and put them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes

This would be an awesome meal for a family with kiddos. Whip up some paleo ketchup or ranch as a dip and the kids likely won't even realize they're not eating traditional breaded chicken tenders or nuggets!