BBQ Chicken & Grilled Zucchini

Day 9 of Whole30 today, and still sticking to the plan!  Pretty impressed with myself, made it through the weekend (and beer/wine and waffles) with no cheats!  I've also made 100% of my meals so far.  :)  Even if that just includes scrambled eggs or throwing together a salad.

I had a strawberry yesterday--and don't usually like strawberries unless they're covered in chocolate or chopped up in a salad/wrap.  But it was delicious.  I then went out and bought a whole carton of them.  This no sugar thing has apparently changed my tastebuds (and wallet- organic strawberries are not cheap!)! 

I'm feeling pretty good.  Had about zero energy for the first week, while my body was I guess going through sugar withdrawls and being forced to rely on fat for energy, but seem to be getting it back this week.  Thank God.

Since I can't use honey like I usually do in BBQ sauce, I substituted with mango for sweetener.  It actually came out pretty damn good in this recipe, I was impressed.  Also, LOVED grilled zucchini this way.  I could have eaten the whole ginormous foot long squash by myself.  [TWSS? No?]  But I didn't.  I shared.  I can't believe I've been making it wrong all this time!


Bacon Mango BBQ Sauce

2-3 slices bacon
1 tsp coconut oil
1 mango--chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon on stove until crispy, remove and rest on paper towels. Eat a piece, if you wish.  Add coconut oil to bacon fat and fry chopped mango in fat for 5-8 minutes, until soft.  Add tomato paste, water, apple cider vinegar and spices- bring to a simmer.  Break bacon up into pieces and mix back into sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes or so until everything is incorporated.  (you can simmer for longer on low heat if you'd like, but I didn't have time)  Dump sauce into food processor and puree until smooth.

I used my sauce on some grilled chicken breasts.  Just brushed the sauce on them while they were grilling.  Delicious!  You could probably marinate them too, if you'd like.

For the grilled zucchini:
1 large zucchini (or 2-3 small ones)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup EVOO
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp assorted spices (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, or a combination)--I used rosemary, basil and oregano

Slice zucchini into spears equal in thickness and put into a large bowl.  In smaller bowl, mix vinegar, oil, garlic powder and spices.  Pour mixture over zucchini and mix well.  Let marinate for 30 minutes.  When grill is hot, grill on each side for 5-7 minutes, until slightly charred.  Eat!

so.good.