• 1lb chicken breast* (*I recommend bone-in thighs – see additional step below)
• 2 13.5oz cans coconut milk (I used Golden Star bought at Wal-Mart but whatever you choose just ensure that it is ONLY coconut and water)
• 3 large sweet potatoes – peeled, about 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 lg onion – chopped
• 1c bell pepper – chopped same as onion
• 2 cloves garlic – smashed and minced
• 1tsp cumin
• 1tbs fish sauce (fish and salt and water only please)
• pinch of cayenne (more or less)
• salt and pepper
• 12oz  bag shredded broccoli slaw
• 2 tbs bacon fat (or olive oil)

Pre-heat your oven to 375. Toss cubed sweet potatoes with bacon fat (or oil), salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender but not mushy. Reserve them for later.

If you are using bone-in chicken, skip this step. Cut chicken into one inch pieces.

*If using bone-in thighs, sear on med until all sides are brown. Finish in oven on 375 for roughly 30 minutes or until juices run clear. Let cool and remove meat from the bone.

Heat 1 tbs of bacon fat (or oil) in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven on medium heat. Sweat onions and peppers until onions are just translucent. Place chicken in and allow to sear on all sides.

Add cooked *potatoes and spices EXCEPT salt and fish sauce and stir in coconut milk and one can of water. Leaving heat on medium, bring to a low boil then turn to low.

EXTRA CREDIT – Add half of the potatoes to a food processor with a bit of the broth and puree and stir into the soup. This makes the soup OMG creamy!

Add in the veggies, stir, and cover. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

Dash in the fish sauce and taste. Add salt according to preference. Simmer an additional 5 minutes and serve.

I’d love to hear what you think – hit me up in the comments!

Mileage will vary – taste, season, taste again. Season til it tastes like magic.

After over a month hiatus, we’re back! This episode comes with very little organization and itinerary. Shootin’ from the hip on this one, we bring you a little extra show in this episode. We’ll break down topics such as traditional holiday meats, formulate the schematics of a bacon taco shell and travel to not only Thailand but also Greece! There is also some talk about the FDA and certain “allowances” they are making in our food that has Alicia swearing she’ll never have another bite.

The Doritos Locos Taco is exactly what your’re probably guessing (if you haven’t seen any of the ads). It’s Taco Bell’s standard taco in a large, round Nacho Cheese Dorito forming a crunchy taco shell. I’ve had Taco Bell tacos, they’re OK for a snack that you can pick up for less than $1. Nothing great though. Meat (they use real meat now), lettuce and cheese in a crunchy or soft taco shell. Done. Simple. Edible but not my go-to.

I generally don’t go for a hard shell taco anyway. I find that they usually break and all the goodness falls out the bottom. No bueno. The first thing I noticed about the Doritos Taco that the shell doesn’t shatter like the standard shell. It’s crispy and breaks where you bite it. It also feels more sturdy than the original hard shell. Of course the real point here is the taste. I was a little skeptical. I mean I to love Doritos but how big of a change could it make to a sub-par fast food taco. A world of difference! I would have to say that this in close to the perfect party food. I can picture watching the Superbowl throwing down a couple of these babies! It’s one of the few food that could make football enjoyable for me.

Tearin' it up!

The cashier warned me of the awesomeness that was about to be in my presence. That’s her job right? She told me “you’ll be back.” I politely nodded and smiled. I rock the Paleo diet 95% of my meals – I had no intention of going back for seconds. But, dammit, I did. I went back and ordered a second one. This time I ordered the Doritos Locos Taco Supreme. Same as the original with sour cream and tomatoes added. I tried it with tomatoes for the sake of giving it a fair shot. All I can say about that is why on Earth would they ruin something so beautiful with diced red globes of doom? I preferred the original without the sour cream as well. I love sour cream but it added very little to the experience and made it a little messy to eat. It was also recommended that I try it with the Salsa Verde hot sauce. I did. It rocked but I’d have to say the Fire Roasted sauce takes the win.

If you’re a fan of junk food – and no matter how healthy you think you are you like junk food – do yourself a favor and go try one of these. In fact, do your neighbor a favor and bring them one too. At $1.29 (in this area) you’re going to be hard pressed to find a fast food item that packs this much awesome. If you aren’t used to fast food like me then you’ll probably pay for it later but it just might be worth it.

Oh, did I mention that it even leaves your fingers orange? Epic.

Cook Ramen as directed. Throw away the seasoning packets. Mix together the peanut butter, ginger dressing and chili sauce until combined. Toss the noodles in the sauce. Stir in chicken/pork and scallions.

Eat.

• 2lbs Ground lamb or beef, or a mixture of the two
• 1 med Onion, minced
• Fresh parsley or mint, finely chopped
• 1 tbs Ground cumin
• 2tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Allspice
• Salt and pepper — to season
• ¼ cup Oil

Place the ground beef or lamb, onion, herbs, spices, salt and pepper in a large bowl and knead together well. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1-2 hours to allow the flavors to mingle and make the meat easier to handle. Form the meat mixture into balls, patties or ovals the size of a small egg.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium flame and, working in batches, sauté the meatballs until browned on all sides and cooked through. Browned meatballs can also be finished in a 350ºF oven.

Serve as is or in pita bread as a sandwich with tzatziki sauce

In a food processor or blender, combine yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, dill and garlic. Process until well-combined. Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour for best flavor.

Heat oil in a 6 quart stock pot, sautee veggies for 4 minutes on medium heat. Add stock and whole chicken. Cover pot and bring to a light rolling boil for 2 hours. Remove chicken, let cool and pick chicken off bone. Add back to pot add dumplings (break into thirds) add half of the seasonings. Melt butter, add flour to make roux. Cook roux for 10 minutes on medium heat. Add to chicken and dumplings, as well as remaining seasoning, and cook until thick. You’re done!

• 1lb bacon (your favorite kind – NOT MAPLE )
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp pepper or cayenne (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Lay out bacon on a sheet tray with parchment paper. Spread brown sugar evenly over each piece of bacon. Dont sprinkle or bacon will not have an even sugar layer. Sprinkle cayenne or pepper over brown sugar for a spicy sweet kick. Bake for 15 minutes or until bacon is done. This is not for crispy bacon lovers the sugar will burn. Take bacon off sheet tray and put on a clean piece of parchment. If you put on a paper towel to drain fat the caramelized sugar will stick to paper towel. Eat candied bacon warm. Can be made ahead and briefly warmed in the oven.