Apple Cider Chicken Thighs

I made this wonderful recipe tonight, and thought I would share it with my family/friends who keep up with my blog. I think next time, I will double the recipe so that we can have some for leftovers the next day. The recipe came from the book "Make Ahead Paleo: healthy gluten-, grain-, & dairy-free recipes ready when & where you are"  Tammy Credicott and Sarah Fragoso (http://www.amazon.com/Make-Ahead-Paleo-Healthy-Gluten-Dairy-Free/dp/1936608375/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1382743110&sr=1-1)

Ingredients

Chicken ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken thighs, boneless or bone-in (I used boneless)
- sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 shallot minced (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallot) (kind of like an onion; made me tear up)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Golden Delicious or Jonagold apple, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces (I used Jonagold)
- 1 bay leaf

Sauce ingredients
- 1 cup apple cider ( I found an organic one which ingredients are solely organic apples)
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1-2 tsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1/4- 1 tsp dried) (I used 1/4 tsp dried)

Serves 4

Directions

1. Place the chicken in a slow cooker, and season it with sea salt and pepper

2. Sprinkle the shallot, garlic, sliced apple, and bay leaf over the chicken

3. In a small bowl, mix together the sauce ingredients. Pour the sauce over the chicken

4. Cook the chicken on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-6 hours

5. Spoon the sauce over the chicken to serve. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, ladle some into a small pan and simmer it over medium heat until reduced by half, and then serve over the chicken. Doing so thickens the sauce nicely and concentrates the flavors.

Restarting

I really miss blogging. I don't know why...maybe I enjoy recounting my day to the web? Maybe it's a creative outlet for me?
So, here I go again, blogging (gotta start somewhere, right?)
I'm really excited to start voice lessons this Saturday (April 13th). It's only 4 classes, but I'm hoping to improve. I LOVE music, singing and songwriting.
I enjoy playing the piano for our church worship team, and am grateful for the opportunity God has given me to live out a passion. There's just something about being a part of something like that...it's very special.
Stay tuned...I will do a better job of keeping this one updated (I like the title better too, because life is a journey).

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I was a little sick to my stomach this morning...BOO! I figured it's just part of the detox process...but still no fun.

But, I survived today, even ended up making chicken soup from scratch...and it was YUMMY!

Onward and upward.


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Location:Whole 30 Day 8

Whole 30: Day 7

Sorry, I haven't had a chance to update this.

I survived that terrible, awful day last week, and things have gone REALLY well since then :)

I have had one meal turn out awful...but luckily we had planned back-up meals, just in case, that were easy to heat up.

I also learned that I need to eat more because I have such a high metabolism. I started the Whole 30 to eat healthier, not lose weight (because I'm too skinny). I kept finding myself hungry all the time, and I was losing weight. So, I looked it up on the Whole 30 forum boards, and found that I need to eat more of everything. More protein, more veggies, more fruit, more nuts. Add a 4th meal if necessary.

So, I tried that today, adding more protein and veggies to my breakfast, the most important meal, and already felt better after eating it.

Today, has been the best day so far. I've felt really good, and my husband has been REALLY sweet to me (Whole 30 related...maybe? LOL! j/k).

Anyway,3 more weeks left :)
Let's do this :)

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Day 2: Whole 30

Today was ROUGH! I've been grumpy today...alot of the food I ate today, I was pessimistic about, except Chipotle. I only drank 32 oz of the 64 we're suppose to drink. Going to bed hoping tomorrow will be better :)

Whole 30 Day 1

Today, we started our Whole 30 journey.

It went a lot better than I anticipated :)

Here is an overview of what Whole 30 consists of:

NO dairy
NO carbs (grains, corn)
NO sugar
NO processed food

lots of vegetables (5 cups/day)
fruit
protein (meat, egg, nuts)
coconut oil to cook with

Here is a link to their site for more info on the program:
http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

I will blog about my Whole 30 journey here, as well as other journeys I have :)

Stay tuned...