I don’t know about all of you, but I used to love Chinese food. However, Chinese food definitely didn’t love me. Here is a healthy twist on a favorite dish that your taste buds and stomach will equally love. Plus, it’s 100% Autoimmune Paleo compliant!
Citrus ginger chicken stir-fry with cauliflower rice!
I made this for the first time last spring after watching my friends eat Chinese food and immediately craving it. Following a fairly restricted diet can be difficult, especially as a college student with friends who can eat pizza, pasta, and bread without suffering any GI complications. Sometimes, I would cave and eat gluten and dairy with my friends, but it never ended well.
In college, my friends were really into ordering 12 packs of tacos from Taco Bell. They would eat one before going out and two after the festivities. They swore that Taco Bell prevented hangovers, and let’s be honest, any food after going out is so satisfying. Halloween weekend one year, I remember caving and eating a taco with my friends. I “picked out” all the cheese and YOLO’d the corn hard shell/processed junk they put in there.
There were a handful of other times that I would cheat. Pizza after service events, an occasional scoop of ice cream when Ben & Jerry’s was free on campus, and bites of my sister’s chocolate cake because how can anyone resist that. The times I would cheat were usually times of stress or when I would not sleep enough. These times of stress are when your body is craving nutrients but all your brain wants is sugary, unhealthy food. The worse you eat, the less you sleep, and the worse you feel, which is such a viscous cycle. That is why it is so important to listen to your body, fight the cravings, and take care of yourself with real food, a good night’s sleep, and exercise during these tougher times.
I am proud to say that I have not cheated on my mostly paleo diet since my grad party last summer when I had lasagna. It had been years since I had lasagna, and who can resist mom’s homemade lasagna? My body didn’t love me so much after, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Since gluten causes so much long lasting damage, I have vowed to never eat it again, but I do allow myself a little dairy a couple times a year. Like my aunt’s homemade whipped cream on top of paleo apple crisp at Thanksgiving. So good!
Thankfully, there are so many delicious and healthy paleo recipes when I want a sweet treat. But honestly, after not really eating refined sugar for so long and limiting my natural sugars, a piece of fruit is a perfectly satisfying sweet treat.
How do you deal with unhealthy cravings?
| Servings |
|
- 1 tbsp coconut oil *you can also use olive oil
- 1-2 lb chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 head broccoli
- 3 large carrots
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup coconut aminos *you can use any kind of soy sauce if you tolerate it
- 1/2 cup 100% orange juice *or the juice of one orange
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Ingredients
|
|
- Melt the coconut oil in a pan on medium heat
- Add the chopped onions to the pan
- Once the onion is translucent, add the graded ginger, minced garlic, sea salt, and chopped up chicken
- Let the chicken cook 8-10 minutes
- Add 2 tbsp water, the orange juice, coconut aminos, and chopped up broccoli and carrots to the pan
- Continue cooking on medium heat until the vegetables are cooked
- Serve on a bed of cauliflower rice or normal rice
Leave a Reply