slow cooker shredded chicken

My slow-cooker is right up there on my list of favourite things in the world. Next to Ryan, baby ducks and thrift stores.

I love coming home from a long day, walking in the house and food is cooked?! It is magic. I spend a bit of time on Sunday afternoons, meal planning, grocery shopping and batch-cooking for the week. Learn more about it here + here.

This is just a fancy term for cooking a bunch of stuff to use over a couple days, saving us time + money. This is my batch recipe for slow cooker shredded chicken and can last a couple of meals if you want it to. If you do not want to make it in bulk, you can half the recipe.

Here we go… are you ready for the easiest recipe ever?

Ingredients

• 2 medium yellow onions, diced/ place at the bottom of the slow cooker
• 500g boneless (frozen or fresh) chicken thighs (approx.6)
• 300g frozen or fresh chicken breasts (approx.2-3)
• I like a mix of chicken thigh and breast. The natural fat from the thighs is what makes it so tender and shred so easily. You can experiment with your ratio here.

Seasoning

• ½ tbs salt
• 1 tbs ready chopped garlic
• ½ tbs cumin *omit if following AIP, add turmeric
• ½ tbs ground ginger
• ¾ cup unsweetened apple cider vinegar [ACV] recommend: Braggs or Biona

Instructions

1. Place the onions in the base of your slow cooker.
2. Sprinkle all sides of chicken with seasoning mix (minus the ACV)
3. Place the chicken on top of the onions. Pour apple cider on top. Cover and cook on high [5hrs] low for [7hrs], or until the chicken is super tender.
4. Remove the chicken into a large bowl. Take two forks and shred it up! You can place back in the slow cooker and add additional salt or apple cider to taste.

Notes

• Stir in some Chalula or Frank’s Red Hot if you want a bit of kick
• AM: top it with an egg + veg scramble, veg hash or in an omelet for breakfast
• Lunch: makes a great salad topper with chopped apple, paleo-mayo and celery + easy to fill in lettuce wraps
• PM: we love it on a loaded sweet potato with guacamole or mixed in a stir-fry.

 

Makes a big ‘ol batch and can last a couple meals. The point is… the options are endless. Give the recipe a try and let me know how you use it throughout the week!

Have a delicious week!

x

garlic+ herb turkey sausage

I love breakfast and I am such a crank if I skip it or do not get enough to eat in the morning.

One of my biggest challenges since going Auto-Immune Protocol [AIP] in February of this year are breakfasts. Egg-free breakfasts can be difficult in the paleo world and many store bought sausages are heavily processed, full of sugar and usually not gluten free.

Thankfully, there are loads of amazing AIP cookbooks and resources out there, so finding all kinds of breakfast inspiration is easy as toast (well, not toast, but you know what I mean).

This recipe for turkey sausage is easy to make in bulk, can be frozen and are quick to reheat in the morning. I usually eat them along with a big bowl of sautéed breakfast greens,- kale, cabbage, broccoli, sweet potato hash, whatever is on hand- and a side of some delicious, heaping scoop of fermented food like sauerkraut or kimchi. At lunch, they are perfect on top of salad or between two thin slices of roasted sweet potato with avocado mash, whoa!

Makes 16, 1 oz. patties or 8, 2 oz. patties 

Ingredients

• 1 lb (approx 500g) ground lean turkey breast
• 1 tbs chopped garlic
• 3 chopped green onions
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tbs lime juice
• 1-2 tbs mixed dry herbs (or something similar)
• coconut oil (optional, for cooking)

 

Directions

It is this easy.

1. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until it reaches an even consistency
2. Knead with hands or wooden spoon
3. Heat skillet to medium heat
4. Mold 1-2 oz (smaller than a golf ball) patties with hands and place in skillet
5. Turn every 5 minutes, until both sides are brownish/goldish and fully cooked, the middle should no longer be pink
6.  Repeat until the mix is done

Notes

– I did not add any oil to my pan to cook these. I found that adding a little water to the pan (because they are lean, not a lot of fat to cook in) when they were sticking did the trick. But if you prefer oil, just add bit of coconut oil to the pan before adding patties.

-The mixed herbs + fresh garlic add a burst of flavour but feel free to experiment.

-You can also play with the patty size to pre-ration how much you want to be eating.  When I batch-cook, I make them on the small side so that I can be flexible about portions and use them with other meals for a couple of days.

 

 

I would love to hear what your delicious and quick go-to breakfast items are. As always, have a delicious day!

x