We Try it Wednesday

Some may know, and some may not, that about 5 months ago I decided to change the way I lived my life. I decided the pain of staying the same was worse than the pain it took to change. I am a big girl, an overweight girl, and myself and my family are taking the steps to change our lives for the better. I decided it was time to live the life I deserved not the one I settled for.

A girlfriend of mine who is an absolute health nut, and a best friend from highschool decided that she would help me with this life changing. She has been a pillar of strength for me, checking up on me and giving me workouts each week, my own personal cheerleader...and crazy overbearing coach. It was her guidance that made me change our food habits to paleo.

so with that we changed the way we eat, to the Paleo/Primal lifestyle, and it wasnt and still isn't easy! but we take it day by day. Its working, I've lost over 15kg in the time we changed which for my american readers is around 34 pounds. So as a way to embrace our food, and to share a different part of my life, I decided that John and I would team up for an entry each week bringing to you a recipe that we have wanted to try online, and if we tweaked it or not.

Now this recipe I have cooked many times, I wanted the first post on food to be one I was comfortable cooking! so I chose a recipe from one of my favourite blogs to read www.paleomg.com
now the recipe is for a creamy chicken casserole  I have tweaked this recipe quite a bit to suit my family so this is my version of it.

so off to the fruit and veg market we went!

the man being adorable as usual, you will want to gather the following ingredients for my version of the recipe!

• 2 large chicken breasts diced
• 1-2 bunches of broccolini
• 1/2 a head of cauliflower, stem removed, chopped into florets
• 1 Red Capsicum (pepper for americans)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 large sweet Potato - peeled and chopped into cubes.
• 1 Large handful of green beans 
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 (14oz) cans of coconut cream
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (less of this is you want a less of a kick, I use less cause of the kids)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or other fat)
• 3-4 rashes of bacon roughly chopped

right lets get started!

1. Get your oven on, we preheated to 180 degrees, with the fan on high.
2, Place your cauliflower flortests,  broccolini ,capsicum, green beans and sweet potato chopped and in a baking dish, I used a crockery dish.

get them all cut up, (tip, if you are worried about your sweet potatoe not softening in time, I zapped mine in the microwave for 1.5 mins to soften it up just a tad - thanks for the tip mum!)
if you are following my version, your dish will look something like...

Pour your olive oil on top of the florets and salt and pepper, as well. Mix around to coat the florets.
3. Get your dish into the oven to give the veggies a nice colour, and for them to soften a little before the next step
4. While the veggies are cooking, its time to get a pan on the stove to cook your chopped bacon rashes.

let some of the bacon fat stay in the pan to coat your chicken breasts, if your veggies are outta the oven by now just put the cooked bacon into the dish and mix it up with a wooden spoon. ( or put to the side till your veggies are out of the oven, then add to the dish)
5. Add your diced chicken breast to the pan and get a nice coating of the bacon fat, add salt and pepper to taste.
6 Once chicken is ALMOST cooked through, remove from pan and place either on a plate or directly into your baking dish with your veggies if that has come out of the oven.
7. Now add your Chopped/mince garlic cloves to the pan, along with the chopped onions.

8 Then add your coconut cream and vegetable broth, as well as your garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and a bit of salt and pepper and mix well.
9. once that is all nicely  mixed up, pour directly over your veggies, chicken breast and bacon. Make sure to mix it all together well, so that everything gets coated in that lovely sauce.
10. Bake for another 20-25 mins.
Let it cool (tip from original recipe) as this helps to thicken the sauce up nicely
then devour!

 my half paleo kids, usually have this with a little white rice, just to bulk up their dinner and leave more casserole for the boy and I!

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post, there will be a new recipe each week. Alternatively if you have a recipe (paleo or primal) that you would like John and I to try, just get in touch with me and we will add it to our list which is growing fast! next week I think we are going to tackle a desert!

have a wonderful Wednesday, and if you cook this meal, do enjoy it, it really is a beautiful thing to eat, and even better the next day!

take care
Courtney and John.