A few people have been asking about some of the stuff I cook as part of my current diet. I commented on my transformation post with a bit but I thought I would go ahead and do a better job documenting a simple meal that takes about 15 minutes to prepare, is inexpensive, and most importantly… tastes good.
This is what you will need:
Chicken…. white meat, dark meat… whatever really. For simplicity I often go with tenders because they cook faster.
Olive oil
Pepper
FRESH garlic and a garlic press
One average size sweet potato
Two portabello mushrooms
Salt if you are riding often, no salt if it’s a light week, or maybe no salt at all.*
Take a large saucepan and crank the heat up to 8 on the burner.
While that’s heating take the sweet potato, skin it, and put it in the microwave for 4 minutes.
Put a liberal amount of olive oil in there and get that chicken cooking.
The chicken will cook fast giving you just enough time to slice up that potato in 1/4″ thick sections.
By now the chicken will be mostly cooked so turn the heat down to 5.
Toss the potato in with the chicken and sprinkle with some black pepper.
Then take a bunch peeled garlic and use the press to shoot a bunch into the pan.
Personally I’m of the opinion that there is no such thing as too much garlic so I put 6 cloves in there.
Stir it around and then while the garlic is starting to cook slice those mushrooms up into 1/4″ thick slices.
Toss them in the pan and sprinkle as much or as little pepper as you like on top.
Pour about 1/8 cup of water on top to get some steam going to speed up softening the mushrooms.
Turn the heat down and cook for 4-6 minutes flipping things around in the pan until the mushrooms are soft.
Eat up.
It won’t look fancy but it will taste good.
This will make enough for two people, or in my case, dinner then leftovers for lunch. I have found that committing usually making an extra portion for lunch the next day has been key for keeping me on track without making preparing for the day too hectic.
*On the topic of salt. Strict paleo diets say salt is no bueno most of the time. I found that when I cut it out completely I am a bit more prone to cramping so I cook with a bit of salt when things call for it. Not much and not all the time. This is one of those things you need to figure out for yourself.
Next up… Oatmeal. That stuff is not paleo in the strict sense but Oats are one of those things that are kind of a grey area. They don’t do all the same no-so-good stuff that corn/wheat/rice/etc do and I have found they work for me so I go with it.
Don’t get to stressed about all the little details and eating healthy will come more naturally. Focus on cutting out the really bad stuff first and select meals that are easy to make.
