Buffalo Chicken Bowl (whole30)

By now you may have figured out that I am completely obsessed with buffalo chicken. I could eat it every day. Here's an original recipe that is inspired by this meatball recipe and this burrito bowl recipe.

What you'll need:

Ranch seasoning (see below)
1lb of ground chicken breast
Rainbow Slaw (2 packages)
Franks Red Hot Sauce (I used 5 TBSP total, you can use more or less to your taste)
cooking fat of choice
My famous Ranch Dressing for topping

For the Ranch Seasoning:
1 TBSP dried Parsley
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground mustard

I usually have some of this mixed up in a jar ahead of time, but today I just tossed it all in a bowl and stirred it a little before I started cooking.

Add some butter (or fat of choice) to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add the chicken and start breaking it up. When it's about halfway cooked through, add the ranch seasoning. At this time you can heat some fat (I used olive oil) in another pan for sauteing the slaw. I do this on medium-high heat. Stir the slaw often to keep it from burning. Once the chicken is cooked through you can lower the heat and add 3 TBSP of the hot sauce and stir it in. Let the chicken continue to simmer in the sauce while you finish cooking the slaw. Add 2 TBSP of hot sauce to the slaw and continue cooking & stirring until it is tender-crispy. 

To serve, place a scoop of the cooked slaw in a bowl and top with a scoop of the chicken mixture. Now put a dollup of ranch dressing on there and enjoy!

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Chicken Bacon Ranch Zoodle Salad

Are you looking for an alternative to the typical summer cold pasta salad?  Well, have I got the perfect recipe for you!  This one is simple and fairly easy to make.  I like it best the next day, so it's perfect to make it ahead of time and then carry it to your next picnic or family gathering.  

Ingredients:

1lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/2 TBSP Homemade Ranch Seasoning* 

1 TBSP Butter

4-6 slices of cooked & crumbled Bacon

5-6 cups Zoodles (I used 3 large zucchini) 

1/4 Cup diced Red Bell Pepper 

1/4 Cup diced Red Onion

1/4 Cup Homemade Mayo* 

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Cut chicken up into bite-sized chunks. Heat butter in pan and add chicken and ranch seasoning to pan.  Cook until chicken is no longer pink. I put my chicken in a bowl in the fridge while I finished the rest of the recipe. While the chicken is cooling, you can start boiling a large pot of water and create your zoodles by using a spiralzer or julienne peeler. I salt the water and the zoodles. Once the water is boiling, toss the zoodles in and put a lid on it. It will only take 3-5 minutes for your zoodles to soften up, so keep checking them. As soon as you can easily cut one with a fork, put them in a colander in the sink and run cold water over them. While they are draining, you can cook and crumble your bacon and cut your onions & peppers. Squeeze all of the excess  water from the zoodles and put them in large bowl. Mix in the chicken, bacon, peppers, onion and mayo. Add salt & pepper to taste. As I said, this dish tastes great after the flavors have blended in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight).  

*I always have mayo & ranch seasoning made and on-hand.

Ranch Buffalo Chicken Spinach Salad

I had a sudden burst of creativity last night and created a new dish.  It's really a combination of parts some of my other favorite dishes that I put together.  It turned out really well.  I call it Ranch Buffalo Chicken Spinach Salad.

Ingredients

3-4 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts (I had about half a bag left which is apprx. 24oz)

Ranch Seasoning (I didn't measure, but I'm guessing I used about 2 TBSP)

3 TBSP of Butter (or ghee)

1/2 Cup Frank's Red Hot Original Sauce

Directions

If you don't already have a jar of this amazing homemade ranch seasoning by Living Low Carb One Day at a Time, you should totally make a big batch of it first!  I use it quite often.  It's delicious.  My favorite recipe is these Buffalo Chicken Meatballs.

Next, you need to cut your chicken up into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle that ranch seasoning all over it.  Put about 3T of butter (or ghee) in a large skillet and heat on medium heat.  Add the chicken pieces to the pan and toss to coat in the butter.  Cook until the chicken is just cooked through.  There will be a lot of buttery liquid in the pan, like this: 

Now turn the heat down a little (med-low) and add a 1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot** to the pan.  Let it come to a simmer and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.  The chicken will become more tender and the flavors will blend well.  I then took some fresh raw spinach and filled a plate up with it.  I topped it with about half of the chicken mixture (being sure to include some of that juice) and a few dollops of my homemade paleo ranch dressing.

**Note: be sure to check the labels on whatever hot sauce you decide to use.  The Franks Red Hot Original is Whole30 compliant, but the Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce is not :(

Progress & Whole30 V4.0

Hey y'all!  Guess what?!  I'm doing another Whole30!  This is my fourth one.  After reading Primal Body-Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas, I've decided the Hubs and I should approach this Whole30 with her suggestions in mind.  That means that we are skipping the sweet potatoes and fruit this time around in an attempt to really find the elusive ketosis.  I am a little nervous about being so low carb and doing CrossFit, but I won't know how it works until I try it.  The key here is to eat PLENTY OF FAT (for fuel) and a moderate amount of protein.  

Here I've been pushing myself lately to eat a lot of protein...  

I think with my activity level (CF 3-4 times per week plus other things like running, rock wall climbing...etc) I am safe to still eat around 100g of protein a day.  As long as I am eating a TON of fat too.

My goal is to see my abs when this over.  I've gotten stronger and leaner, but just need to remove that little layer of fat.  It's ON!  

I thought this would be a good time to take progress pictures too.  I had taken some when I first started CrossFit in November 2012 and hadn't taken any since.  My husband took them for me and I looked at them immediately said "I look the same!  Nothing has changed!"  Later I used my PicStitch app to put the old pictures next to the new ones and I could really see a difference then!  The biggest differences I noticed were in my posture and my thighs!  I'm really sorry, as much as I want to show them off, I'm too nervous to post pictures of myself in tiny shorts and and a sports bra all over the interwebs... Y'all will have to trust me that my progress has been good.  I plan to take the same pictures again in 30 days.  I can't wait!  

Oh yeah, I'm also tracking my food on My Fitness Pal.  I know that tracking during a Whole30 is a no-no, but I've done 3 of them without tracking and feel pretty confident that it won't effect how I eat.  Also, I want to be sure to keep my carbs are low enough and that I am eating enough fat.  And I'm a curious person, so I want DATA.

So, here's my menu for week 1:

1) Cabbage Goulash

2) Waldorf Tuna Salad *obviously there's a litte fruit in here, but it's less than half an apple/svg.

3) Skillet Taco Pie w/homemade guacamole

4) Whole Roasted Chicken 

5) Hard Boiled Eggs/Egg Salad

6) Smoked Sausage w/Kraut (I just fry up a little uncured smoked pork sausage from the farm with some Bubbie's Kraut) 

7) Stir-fry/fajitas 

Catching up...

There's been a lot going on in the last week and half and I haven't even had time to share it all!  

On November 18th I participated in a 3-1/2 hour CrossFit Fundamentals class.  I'm hooked!  I went back the very next day and did a WOD that was spending 30 minutes determining your one rep max deadlift. I had never done a deadlift before, so I had no idea what to expect.  I started with 95lbs (you are only lifting the bar from the floor to a straight standing position, mostly using your lower back muscles and hips to move the weight, allowing for much heavier lifts).  I then tried 115, 135, 145 and finally 155 pounds!  I was proud as a peacock to have lifted that much on my first night!  

My friend Billie & I after we totally
ROCKED the Turkey Day 5k

That was only the beginning of what was to become an incredible week of accomplishments for me!  I had been planning on running the Turkey Day 5k on Thanksgiving morning for the 2nd year in a row and while I had been pretty excited about it, in the weeks leading up to it I felt very unprepared and not ready.  There were over 800 runners!  What a rush!  I was convinced this was going to be one of my worst 5k races.  Last year I finished it in over 35 minutes.  That's about what I expected this year.  You can imagine my shock and astonishment when I finished in 30:06!  That's over 2-1/2 minutes faster than my record.  Also, it was the first time that I have ever ran the entire time.  NO walking!  My next 5k will be under 30 minutes and I will bring home a trophy before the heat of summer in 2013 stops me from running.  Mark my words.

After the race we had Thanksgiving lunch with some of Husband's family.  I had deviled eggs, veggies with homemade ranch, turkey, potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, cranberries and even a paleo cake that his Aunt made for us!  

I have since done 2 more WODs at my local box (CrossFit Jackson) and I felt a sense of accomplishment after each one like never before!  Husband has been CrossFitting since April and since he works 3rd shift, he attends the 7pm class (would be the equivalent of me going at 6am).  Since April, I have been making dinner while he's gone to the gym and when he would get home (after 8pm most times), I would either have already eaten dinner or we would eat together.  He really wants me to workout with him at 7pm, so I had to figure out how to make and eat dinner in that time frame.  Since this is the first week we are trying that schedule, I spent time this weekend cooking up a ton of food so that all of our meals would be ready to heat & eat.  Here's what I made:

Paleo Blueberry Muffins

Chicken Salad (with homemade mayo, grapes, salt & pepper)

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Steak & Chicken Fajitas

Spicy Pulled Pork (I skip the sauce) Served with green beans

Smoked Beef Brisket with steamed broccoli

Beef/Venison Cabbage Soup  

I also made 10 hard boiled eggs and baked a cookie sheet full of bacon.

We are nearly out of boiled eggs and the bacon is gone, so tonight I will fry up a pound of pastured pork sausage together with a dozen eggs and portion it out in the fridge for the rest of the week.  We like to heat it up and top it with Frog Ranch Salsa.

These Blueberry Muffins by PaleOMG were pretty good!  However, an entire cup of almond butter is a lot of money and when I think of it that way, they weren't good enough to warrant that kind of spending for a dozen muffins.  Also, if I were to make them again, I would put an entire cup of blueberries in them because you can never have too many blueberries in your blueberry muffins.

The recipe says it makes 8-10 muffins, but I easily filled all 12 muffin cups.  Also, it didn't say how far to fill the cups.  As you can see, I filled mine about 3/4 full.

Fajitas!

Whenever I make this AH-mazing Beef Fajita recipe from Paleo Effect, I also use the Adobo Seasoning to make some Chicken Fajitas.  I just sprinkle the seasoning on a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them on the grill with the flank steak.  Then I stir-fry extra veggies and and I have a couple of lunches for coming days!  I take some guacamole along to top the dish.  YUM!

Delicious lunch!

Beautiful colored bell peppers and jalapeno prior to stir-frying

Leftovers: stir-fried more veggies and added the leftover grilled
chicken in at the end to re-heat.  Dinner!

Quick Lunch

Sometimes you just don't have time for a fancy lunch.  When I make a chicken in the crockpot, I remove the meat from the bone and put it into lunch containers in the fridge.  Then I grab a container of chicken and some homemade mayo and take it to work.  When I get hungry,  I eat the chicken cold, dipped in mayo.  It's like chicken salad without the work!  I also keep the small single serving cans of veggies on hand to go with a lunch like this.

food funk

I've been in a bit of "food funk" lately and haven't felt the inspiration or excitement for cooking that I've experienced during my Whole30 and after.  I feel like I need to do something to rev up my inspiration in the kitchen.  In the meantime, here's what I've been eating (maybe you'll find food inspiration here):

One night I grilled a skirt steak (for fajitas) and 2 chicken 

breasts (with adobo seasoning) and a pound of hamburger patties.  

I figured since I was turning the grill on, I might as well cook up

a bunch of meat!  

I stir fried extra fajita veggies (onions and peppers) and had

them with a chicken breast and some guacamole for lunch the

next day.  This was delicious!

I got the idea to sautee cabbage with bacon and eat it with
fried eggs.  GROSS!  Not doing that again. :(

Fried Eggplant with eggs.

Baked Cod (with butter, lemon, s&p), sweet potato fries,
sauteed asparagus (with garlic & lemon), mayo

Husband doesn't eat asparagus, so he got tomato slices!

Fried Eggplant & Buffalo Wings

Dinner last night consisted of Buffalo Wings from The Food Lovers Kitchen.  I was wracking my brains to come up with a side dish/veggie to have with it.  I happen to have 3 large eggplants because I planned to try another recipe from The Food Lovers Kitchen this week.  So, I sliced one up and made this Fried Eggplant recipe from Marina's Primal/Paleo Cooking.  I forgot to take pictures, but she has some pretty pictures on her site.  It was very easy to make and tasty!  Of course, my hot sauce loving friend, Brittany put some of my Rubin's Red hot sauce from Horsetooth Hot Sauce on them and it was REALLY good!

Fried Eggplant:

1 Large Eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced (the recipe SAYS to peel it, but the picture shows it unpeeled.  I  tend to think that the peeling of any veggie contains important nutrients, so I left it on!)

2 TBSP coconut oil or palm oil (I used coconut oil)

3 Eggs, beaten (I used 2 and still had leftover)

I sprinkled a little salt on them after I removed them from the pan.  I put them on a paper towel lined plate to drain some of the oil off.

Recipe Recap

I've tried a few new recipes in the last week.  Today, I will feature the ones that I liked!  I'll save the ones that I didn't care for for another day.  

First of all, I've been making my own almond meal!  I purchased this cute little coffee grinder for around $10 (and we use it to grind our coffee now too!)  I just put a handful of plain almonds in it and grind it up.  Then I sift it through the colander (because I don't have a flour sifter yet) and add the big chunks back to the grinder again.  It's simple!  And it saves a TON of money!  I buy large bags of almonds at Sam's Club.

Next, I used my homemade almond meal to make some "chicken strips".  This was an experiment to make a more flavorful chicken strip than a previous attempt.   

I used approximately 1-1/2 cups of almond meal and random measurements of the spices pictured above (paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, parsley, red pepper, dry mustard & white pepper).  I blended it all together and then in a seperate bowl, I whisked 2 eggs and little bit of water.  I dipped each chicken strip in the egg and then covered it in the "breading".  I then placed them on foil-lined baking sheet and baked them for about 25 minutes at 350.

I served them with homemade paleo mayo, canned french style green beans and sweet potato fries.  They were good, but I still think they need more flavor.

Last night I tried two new recipes.  One being these buttery dill carrots from the pampered chef.

Then I made baked spiced yams from The Paleo Mom.  I served it all up with grassfed beef burgers on the grill!

Homemade Chicken Soup

I've been making chicken vegetable soup every 2-3 weeks.  I am now confident that I have the right method nailed down.  First I have to have some stock and some bone broth on hand.

Stock

Whenever I make a whole chicken in the crockpot I always save the stock from it.  I typically pour it into jars and freeze it.  

Bone Broth

Anytime we eat chicken with bones in it, I save the bones (in a bag in the freezer).  This includes chicken wings.  I also save the necks when I make a whole chicken.  Here's how I make the bone broth:

Put bones & necks in the crockpot with one chopped carrot, one chopped celery stalk and one small onion (quartered).  Fill the crockpot with filtered water to cover the bones and veggies.  Add about a tablespoon of any kind of vinegar and leave it sit covered (but not turned on) for about an hour.  This helps draw the minerals out of the bones.  Then turn it on low and leave it for about 24 hours.  Turn it off and strain the bones & veggies out of it.  Then freeze it or use it or drink it!  

Bone broth is a healthy substance that can aide in digestion, increase immunity and has many other health benefits!

Making the Soup

You'll need:

bone broth

chicken stock

chicken thighs (bone in is best)

carrots

celery

onions

bell pepper

onion

any other veggies you have laying around (I like to use zucchini)

garlic

herbs & seasonings of your choice (I use oregano, basil, salt & pepper)

Take your stock out of the freezer and place it in the fridge (if you're using forethought, otherwise just set it out to let it start thawing while you get started).  The fat will have risen to the top.  Scrape it off and put it in your pot (on medium heat).  Have all of your vegetables chopped and ready.  Mince or chop the garlic (as much as you want) and saute it in the chicken fat for a minute to get it started.  Then add all of your chopped veggies and stir them to coat them in the fat.  Saute them while stirring frequently until they are aromatic and start to become tender.  Then pour the stock and the broth in the pot and add the chicken thighs and seasonings/herbs.  Cook for about 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Take the thighs out and pull the meat off the bones (or shred the meat up if you used boneless).  

Of course, you can reuse these bones for bone broth again later!  

Add the meat back to the soup.  Now is a good time to taste the soup and see if any salt or pepper needs to be added.  Turn it down and let it simmer with a lid on for 30-60 minutes.  I like to put it into jars with lids on to make it easy to carry to work for lunch.

A Good Dinner & a Not-so-Good Dinner

I made Smoky Country Style Ribs and Cajun Sweet Potato Fries Wednesday  night for dinner.  The ribs were too dry and tough and the fries were too spicy.  The dinner was edible and not awful, but it is not one I will make again.

On a happier note, I found spaghetti squash at the farmers market yesterday and got 2 small ones for only $3!  The lady that grew them told me that would keep a long time, so I figured I'll make them in a week or 2.  I also bought this from her:

I didn't know what to do with it, but her son said he cuts them in half and puts melted butter mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar on it and then bakes it.  I followed his advice, but left out the brown sugar.

I started by cutting the stem off the top and then cutting the squash in half the long way.
Then I scooped the seeds out.

Then I melted some butter and added some cinnamon & nutmeg.  Of course, I didn't measure.

I brushed it all over the insides of both halves.   I put them in a glass baking  dish and covered
them with tin foil.  I baked them on 400 for 55 minutes then took the foil off and baked them another
5 minutes.

Here they are after they are done baking!  We just scooped the meat out and ate them out of the shells!

Overall, the squash was good, but I can see why he put brown sugar on them!  I think they would be delicious hot out of the oven with some banana ice cream.

I also made buffalo wings for dinner last night (paired them with green beans).  They were tasty!  

Recipe Roundup

I've tried 2 new recipes this week and invented a 3rd one!  

I've been wanting to try greens for some time now, but I had a feeling that the traditional southern way of boiling vegetables to death would turn me off.  So, instead I used a great recipe by Whole Life Eating called Pork Loin Chops with Collard Greens.  I actually liked it!  It was best when I took a bite of greens with a bite of the pork.  Husband resisted even trying them and then when he finally did he said they were "disgusting".  I still plan to make them once-a-weekish for myself.  The health benefits are too good to ignore (calcium, folate...etc).

My next new recipe was this Crockpot Ropa Vieja & Cuban Style Rice by PaleOMG.  I left the capers out because I didn't know what they were!  This recipe was good.  Husband wasn't thrilled with the texture of the cauliflower "rice", but overall he liked it.  

Then came my masterpiece!  Strawberry (banana) Ice Cream!  This recipe was inspired by the Banana Ice Cream that we had already been enjoying from time to time.  I simply put frozen sliced bananas, frozen (fresh) strawberries and full-fat canned coconut milk (chilled) in  my new food processor and blended it all together! When I do this again, I will cut the strawberries in half prior to freezing.  Being whole, they required a bit of coaxing with a wooden spoon in between processing.  I left out the cinnamon & nutmeg from the original banana ice cream recipe and I think that was a good decision.  Now I'm dying to try this Cinnamon Sweet Potato Ice Cream from PaleOMG.  We MUST get an ice cream maker!

On my list to make this weekend/next week: 

Meatballs

Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti Squash

Sauteed Shrimp

T-bones

Buffalo Wings

Sweet Tater Fries/Mashed sweet taters

Smoky Country Style Ribs

Crock Pot Lemon Pepper Chicken

Watermelon & Cucumber Salad                                                     

Minor Meltdown

So... I planned on making Bacon Chicken tonight.  Turns out that my bacon that I get at the farmers market that is nitrate/nitrite free has SUGAR in it!  GAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!  Between my monthly hormones and it being Day 3 of the the Whole30, this makes me want to cry.  Or kill someone.  I did find this recipe that I will probably use, but I'm still angry and upset.  I can't believe I have to go a month without bacon.  I guess I'll have to smother my chicken in my homemade ranch dressing...

It Starts (with Food) Today!

It's finally here!  Day 1 of my first Whole30.  I am so very grateful to have others doing this with me, I think the support will be much needed :)

I spent a lot of time preparing over the weekend.  I started out by cleaning out my pantries.  There are some items that, while not Whole30 compliant, I will not throw out (tomato sauce that has sugar in it, flavored almonds...etc.), so those items went to the top cabinet and all W30 compliant items went in the lower cabinet.  I was shocked at how little was left in the cabinet.

You can almost hear it echo...

This one looks more full, but is really almost all inedible!

After that, I cleaned out the fridge and poured out any dressings/condiments that were in glass jars.  I washed the jars and lids and they are now taking space in the newly emptied pantry cabinet :)

I needed to go shopping (obviously).  So, I stopped at the Farmer's Market and got this:

I went back on Saturday for Tomatoes, Cucumbers & Bacon,
but forgot to take a pic.

Then I headed to two different Kroger locations.  First I got all of this:

Larabars are my new obsession!
The Ziploc containers were a must because I plan to have several
lunches/dinners available to be reheated at any given time.
The VitaCoco Coconut Water with Pineapple was ok, but the
plain coconut water was awful.
SCORE!  Ground turkey marked down
Finally found canned coconut milk

I seriously prowl around Kroger every chance I get looking for marked down items.  Did well at my next stop:

The bagged veggies last at least a week past their freshness date,
but Kroger always marks them down (about 50%) when they are getting
close to their date.  These are easy to carry to work and toss in the microwave
or even just eat raw.

Next it was time to prepare!  I made another batch of mayo and then turned it into ranch dressing!

Holy Exciting!  I fricken' LOVE ranch dressing!

I also clarified all of the butter in my house, but again, forgot to take pix.  Sorry!

Yesterday (Sunday), I got to work putting meat and veggies in BOTH of my crockpots!  Can you say efficient?!  First I put carrots, onions, celery and tomatoes in one of them.  I seasoned and browned my beef roast in coconut oil and then put it on top with just a splash of water in the bottom and turned it on.

Then I put carrots, onions and celery in the next crockpot and Husband cut up a whole chicken into quarters, seasoned it and dropped it in (no water needed).  Cutting it up first made it SO much easier to clean off the bone when it was done.  Also, it made a better stock.  Here's a picture of our 5 "chicken dinners" and my big pickle jar full of stock for future use:

I plan to use the "stock" from the beef roast to make a chili sometime in the next week.  I am keeping a journal each day of what I eat and how I feel.  I will probably share 5 days at a time on here.

Weekly Menu Planning ~ Week 2

I meant to post this last week, but ran out of time.  Here's our menu for this week (although, I forgot that we'll be camping on Friday so, I can save that meal for next week):

I made the woodchuck chicken from this recipe.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts in stead of the bone in thighs and I used raw honey in stead of coconut crystals.  It was really good!  Now I have yet ANOTHER reason to love woodchuck!

Bacon Chicken! (and sugar free for 21 days)

I made this amazing recipe from Paleo Parents.  I left the sprig of rosemary out and my little birdie (about 4-1/2 lbs) couldn't hold an entire onion, but I crammed as much in as I could!

It turned out amazing!  The leftovers were real good too! It did take my chicken almost 2 hours (rather than the 90 minutes in the recipe).  I used a meat thermometer to be sure it was done!


As a sidenote, my friend Brittany (who is a carb/sugar-aholic) and I have made a 21 day Sugar-Free pact.  No sugar (except from fruit) until Memorial Day.  I'll post throughout the 21 days to let everyone know how we're doing.  I realize that the benefits would be exponentially better if we didn't eat any carbs at all (other than from veggies), but she's not ready for that commitment and I know we'll see benefits either way!  This post regarding the dangers of sugar showed up in my FB news feed on Day 1.  Coincidence?  I think not...

Leftovers for lunch!

Day 24 ~ Friday, April 20, 2012



This is my lunch today.



It's leftovers from Wednesday night when I made chicken with this marinade recipe on the grill and then also made this:



2 zucchini, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 tomatoes, chopped (2 would have been better, but that's all I had)
1 clove of garlic, minced
A handful of chopped onion (however much you like)
Sea Salt & Pepper

I just put it on the grill with my chicken.  It took longer than expected to cook up though.  I had it on the grill for 35 minutes and the zucchini still needed to be softer, so it would be smart to put this on the grill while you are still preparing your meat... 

So, for lunch, I just mixed it all together in a bowl and nuked it. 

Turned out even better than the first night! 

by the way, i made the marinade over the weekend and had it in a jar in the fridge, so all i had to do was put it in a bag with the chicken on wednesday morning!