If there's one thing in life that can make me throw my Paleo lifestyle right out the window without even thinking, it's Chinese food. I think part of it is because a lot of the time, this cuisine presents itself either in buffet or delivery form, and honestly, who can say no to that? But, if there's one thing in life that can make me gain four pounds overnight and wake up with a wicked headache, it's also Chinese food. Too much hidden sugar, too much soy sauce, too many noodles.

What's a girl to do?

Sometimes, you just have to work with what you've got. And if you're lucky, you've got ginger.

This recipe is so good that when you're done, you'll probably cut up another orange to soak up anything left in the pan. 

Don't believe me?

Let's just get to it, then.

Ginger-Orange Chicken

served with Garlic-Sesame Asparagus

Ingredients:

for the chicken

1 package chicken breasts

2 juicy oranges

1 clove garlic

salt, pepper

ginger root

--

for the asparagus

1 bunch asparagus

2-3 teaspoons sesame oil

2-3 cloves garlic

sesame seeds

Make the chicken

1. In a bowl, pour the juice of one orange over chicken breasts. Season with salt, pepper, and grated ginger. Let it marinade for as little or as long as you'd like. (I did this on a whim the first time, so they only marinated long enough for me to heat up the pan.)

2. Place the marinated chicken breasts in a hot pan. Pour contents of the bowl over them. Grate a little more fresh ginger and let it simmer in the sauce.

This is the moment when I knew I was doing something right.

3. Once the chicken has cooked, squeeze half of another orange over them and stir around.

4. Take the chicken out and cut into strips. Throw them back in the pan to ensure that all sides of the chicken are coated with sauce. Plate them, garnish with a slice of orange, and serve with garlic-sesame asparagus.

Make the asparagus

1. Clean asparagus and cut them into three sections (so you can use chopsticks!)

2. Saute in another pan with sesame oil and garlic. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Now put that delivery menu down, man.

There are things that I never knew I loved until I went Paleo. Like muffins. I mean, I've always liked muffins, but I've never been someone who sees a muffin and thinks, I need to eat that thing. More often than not, when I used to see a muffin, I wouldn't really even look at it twice. But now that I can't actually have a muffin, sometimes a muffin is actually all I want.

You know?

This recipe came from here.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups almond flour

3 large eggs

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix together dry ingredients. 

3. Add in beaten eggs, honey, vanillla, applesauce, and carrots. Mix well.

4. Grease a muffin pan with coconut oil. Do it well--these babies stick!

5. Pour in muffin batter.

6. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.

Enjoy them for breakfast. With tea.

I went to Twitter yesterday for some help deciding which of the Paleo recipes I have up my sleeve should be the first on this here blog. I was sort of looking forward to sharing an awesome muffin recipe with you or talking about my latest adventures with bacon, but Jackie insisted that she needed some chocolate. (Consider this an engagement gift, Jack).

This is how you make the most wonderful dessert/snack in the world. 

In the world? 

That's what I said.

Here's what you need:

9 ounces of good quality dark chocolate. 

(It needs to have 85% or more cacao content if you're concerned about making it Paleo).

About half a cup of macadamia nuts.

(You could use any nuts you want, but peanuts aren't Paleo! Next time, I'm trying hazelnuts).

Half a teaspoon of salt.

Here's what you do:

In a double-boiler (that's a bowl on top of a pot of hot water), melt the chocolate.

Chop the nuts and stir them into the melted chocolate.

Add salt.

Pour the mixture onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Make sure the paper covers the sides, too.

(If the baking sheet is small, you'll get thick bark. 

If it's larger, the chocolate will end up thinner. That's up to you).

Stick the thing in the refrigerator and let it harden. This could take more than an hour. No biggie.

When it's hard, take it out and break it up! Try not to eat it all in one sitting.

We're such good friends, that chocolate bark and I.