Nourishing Zen

Nourishing YOU. Adventures to Healthy, Happy, and a Fulfilling Life! Food is our medicine.

Tag Archives: chicken


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If you don’t have one of these… get one immediately!



The Instant Pot is a ridiculously amazing little contraption that is a TOTAL game changer for everyone!

Don’t have time to cook?

Trying to eat in more?

Want to become a better cook?

Want to cut down on your appliances?

I could go on… but this thing is magical. It does pretty much everything except BBQ and smoke. Granted, you have to still do the prep work. However, your cooking time is cut down a TON and the fact that you can throw everything in this thing and set it and forget it? Every busy/lazy/foodie person’s dream!
So check it out if you haven’t. It makes perfect rice, rice porridge, stews, yogurt, ribs, cheesecake, dulce de leche, banana bread, one pot Meals, pastas etc. you get the idea! 
Here are a couple dishes I’ve made…

Rice porridge with ham hocks. Because I have a cold and this is a total comfort food!

Beef stew. Made in under an hour! 

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All You Can Eat Korean BBQ – YakiniQ BBQ


Japantown in San Francisco. All you can eat. Protein-heavy. Delicious. Good for big groups. If you’re a carnivore, you should go here. Make a reservation too – it’s packed!!! Street parking or parking garage on Post. Go!!

  


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A darn good spot for good food, good beers, and a good view!


Taps located in Petaluma. This is a good brewery with delicious food! Definitely not your average brewery with pub food. A wide variety of beers on tap with delicious, quality food. We had the salt & pepper wings which are awesome. I am a sucker for chicken wings, and salt and pepper. Winning!

We split the chuckwagon burger – bison, pork belly, hush puppy strings and mustard BBQ sauce (which I am now determined to learn how to make). Let me just say, Wow! Not too greasy, and you can taste every ingredient with every bite!

For drinks I had the spiced chai cider made by Schilling. That in itself is dessert! I’m always one to order a beer but wow this cider was too good. The kind that is not too sweet, bubbly, a little bit of a bite, and the hint of spice. Yum. I will be back for this!!

So if you’re in the north bay, coming back from wine country, or looking for a good spot to stop for lunch or dinner, check it out! You won’t go wrong.

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Simple & Refreshing Lunch!


Sometimes, life just doesn’t warrant preparing meals. Many times, I will go into a grocery store thinking with my stomach and then paying for it afterwards! I’ve personally come to the conclusion that it is just not worth it.

I have noticed recently that my stomach is SO much more sensitive to various foods – specifically anything fried, with dairy or too much sodium. Unfortunately I am not one of those people anymore with a stomach of steel. I guess this is what getting older partially means! In any event, I’m usually starving by the time it is 11:30am and that feeling of “I will eat anything” kicks in. There is a grocery store right down the street from my work and I have found that my “go-to” lunch is really quite simple yet fulfilling, delicious, inexpensive, protein-packed and healthy (for the most part). I can easily make this at home also and here is what it is…

Ingredients:
One cucumber – sliced thinly (this is in place of a slice of bread)
Chicken salad (store bought)

Or if you choose to make it yourself:
Shredded chicken breast
1T vegan mayo, or olive oil mayo
1/2t yellow curry spice
1T raisins
5-6 pieces of diced pineapple
1/4 stalk of celery diced
Dash of turmeric
Dash of cumin
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste

Directions:

Add all ingredients together (except for cucumber) in a bowl and mix until the right consistency. If you want more moisture, add a teaspoon of chicken broth. If you’re a mayo person, add more to your liking.

Apply a spoonful of the chicken curry mixture into a slice of cucumber!

Yum!

Keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days and it is one of those recipes that is even better the day after!

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Sunday Funday Grill Day


We usually spend our Saturdays cleaning, running errands, and of course cooking , grilling and attempting to lounge. Yesterday we bought a ‘Flat Point Beef Brisket’ from #thistlemeats in Petaluma. The Flat Point Brisket cut is generally more lean than your average brisket. It has a hardly any marbling and a fat layer that goes through the cut. Today we are smoking the brisket with a whole chicken.

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We went to Costco today and bought a no-salt rub. Sometimes you just want to take the easy route and buy an already prepared rub. This rub seemed legitimate as all the ingredients listed were herbs that we commonly use and there weren’t tons of preservatives as well. We added (3/4) teaspoon and (1/2) Tablespoon of brown sugar to (1/4) cup of the rub. We applied it to both the brisket and whole chicken.

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We also added fresh oregano thyme and rosemary to the mix as well. We not only inserted the herbs inside the chicken, but also underneath the skin by cutting tiny slits.

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We turned our #traeger to 185 degrees with hickory wood pellets at 1pm. We imagine it will be done by 6-7pm. I cheated and took a sneak peak to take a photo for ya. The chicken is a nice golden brown right now – just wait until the final product! Dark, crispy skin with a great smoke ring/color in the meat. Stay tuned 🙂

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Traeger Roasted Chicken – NO salt added!

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#Traeger Roasted Chicken

For dry rub (no salt!)

2T Onion powder
2T Garlic powder
1T Chili powder
1/4T Coriander
1T Paprika
1/2T Oregano
1/2T Basil

1. Preheat grill to 400F (high)
2. Apply dry rub to chicken – make sure to spread over all surface area.
3. Slice 1/2 of a sweet yellow onion (for one chicken)
4. Place sliced onion inside cavity of chicken.
5. Add any fresh herbs of choice – chop and place in cavity. (We used rosemary, cilantro, thyme & oregano)
6. Place chicken inside grill – one hour!
7. Check chicken after one hour. NO peaking until then!
8. Internal temperature should be 165F. Check with meat thermometer. Weather conditions may alter cooking time.
9. Cut and feast!

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