The Semiconservative Granola Girl

Close to Home Living

Whole30 Fall Reboot

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 #SeptemberWhole30

It’s been a really good summer. Maybe too good. We took a 9 day Disney Cruise to Alaska. And, we spent 2 days in Vancouver before sailing. We still spent 5 weeks at our seasonal Adirondack cabin. And, we ate recklessly. But, we also enjoyed ourselves. Now school is back in session so we’re looking at it just like the New Year and we’re starting a Whole30 Fall Reboot.

Whole30 Reboot | Whole30 Lifestyle post for #SeptemberWhole30

Whole30 Fall Reboot

Back to school is usually a good time for families to reset routines. I wrote about this last fall in Back to School Resolutions. This year we’re going back to a Whole30 diet which we first did last January (see Going Whole30) after reading It Starts with Food.

Whole30 is an elimination diet which cuts all alcohol, grains, sugar (including “natural sugar” like honey and real maple syrup), soy and dairy. And it focuses on eating real food which is actually a foundation of The Semiconservative Granola Girl and Close to Home Living.


When we did our last Whole30, we felt great, ate well (see A Week of Whole30 Meals) and lost 25 pounds each. I even increased the number of laps I was swimming and gained the confidence to participate in Women Swimming for Hospicare a 1.2 mile swim across Cayuga Lake (Finger Lakes area of New York, near Ithaca.)

And, during the rest of the school year, I maintained a number of those healthier habits picked up during that month. And then summer hit. The cruise came with all that cruise food. I swore we were going to do a Whole30 reset after the cruise in preparation for the swim, but classic summer salads, wine and campfires.

So, now here we are. School started for the adults last Tuesday and for the kids on Thursday. We started our Whole30 Fall Reboot yesterday because we need to squeeze it in between two craft shows for my husband’s side business (The Boxery. If you are local to Western New York check us out at the Letchworth Arts and Craft Festival Columbus Day Weekend).

A Look at Our Whole30 Fall Reboot

Whole30 Reboot | Whole30 Lifestyle post for #SeptemberWhole30

September and October are super busy months for us. We have two craft fairs, homework (which includes a half hour of reading for each kid plus 20 minutes of instrument practice for each child), swim team practice twice a week and violin lessons for The Boy. (Sunshine starts clarinet at school this fall.) So this means I don’t really have time to go to the grocery store, but the truth is, I don’t really have to. I have a well stocked freezer full of venison that we need to use before this year’s harvest.

Additionally, we have salmon from our Alaska trip, local pork and chicken bought on sale. I also have a well stocked pantry. In other words, I have been gearing up for this. I read a blog post by Jordan F Page of Fun Free or Cheap where she talks about Shelf Cooking: planning your meals from what you have rather than planning your grocery list by what you want to make. She even has a current challenge going #Shelftember. She is planning to spend only $25 each week on groceries for the month of September, essentially only purchasing fresh stuff. I thought what if I put my own spin: no grocery store for at least two weeks. Farm stand shopping only.

You heard that right. Whole30, Shelf Cooking and eating locally sourced produce. Am I crazy? Maybe but I hope you will follow along and share your own experience with Whole30, #shelftember and/or eating local.  You can follow our progress on SeptemberWhole30 and #shelftember on by following me on Instagram @semiconservativegranolagirl.

Oh, and there are lots of great Whole30 recipes on the Whole30 Index Page.  So, let me know how you are progressing on your September Whole30 or with your Shelftember.  I would love to hear suggestions and advice.

PS. This post may contain affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub

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We are in love with our Masterbuilt Electric Smoker.  I have written a number of posts about our love affair including 10 Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker and 10 MORE Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker and a variety of recipes (here).  Additionally, we are always on a quest to find a dry rub that is not too spicy (ie. hot) and not too salty.  It seems that most commercially produced dry rubs come with heat.  A main ingredient in many rub recipes on the interwebs is red pepper or cayenne.  And well, my kids just aren’t having it.  Even the littlest bit of of bite has them brushing their tongues with their napkins.  So, I have been working on writing recipes that meet their tender tongue’s needs.  The first was The Semiconservative Granola Girl Dry Rub followed by Everything Bagel Dry Rub and now, Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub.

Orange Garlic Dry Rub | Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub

 


Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub

Sunshine loves salmon.  And, she also loved smoked meats.  So, of course she wanted to put those loves together for some smoked salmon.  Recipes often pair salmon with citrus, so it seemed to make sense to make a dry rub that combines citrus with garlic.  So, I put together Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub which you can use on both for smoking or baking seafood.  You can try it on salmon, flounder or shrimp. It also works with chicken.

Orange Garlic Dry Rub

It is just a mixture of dried orange peel, dried minced garlic, kosher salt and paprika.  Note that because this dry rub is intended to be mild in flavor, there is no pepper.  If you like heat, feel free to play with adding some.

This makes a small batch.  One batch equals enough to do 3-5 fillets of salmon depending on the size.  So, if you want to have it on hand in your pantry, make a quadruple batch.

Make a Batch Tonight

Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub

So, if you are looking to make some seafood in the oven or in your electric smoker, try it with Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub.  We love Baked Orange Garlic Salmon.

PS. This post may contain affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Print Recipe
 Orange Garlic Seafood Dry Rub
Cuisine Electric Smoker
Keyword dry rub
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cup
Ingredients
Cuisine Electric Smoker
Keyword dry rub
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cup
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Mix all of the ingredients well and rub on seafood or meat before cooking.
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Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken

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Recently, I was in the throes of painting my dining room.  For 10 years I have hated and the paint (sponge paint, border and purple-ish–way too dark) and finally we made the plunge.  Sunshine helped me take everything out of the china cabinet so we could move it away from the wall, remove the border and prime the room.  The boy “helped” paint the baseboard heaters.  It took three days, two coats of primer and two coats of a loverly light shade of grey.  So, what I really needed on Monday while Jim was going to be away all day was an easy crock pot dinner.  Immediately, my mind went to one of our family favorites:  Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken.  The only problem was that we only have one jar of pickles left from last year’s batch and it’s still pretty full of, well, pickles.  That got me to wondering.  How would it be if I just made a Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken minus the pickles?  And what do you know?  It worked.

Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken | brine chicken in a dilly vinegar based brine for the grill or the electric smoker | Whole30 | Paleo | No sugar | Gluten free

Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken

You will have to plan a little ahead for this one.  Your brine will need to sit for at least five hours, over night would be better.  Start with white vinegar, water and pickling salt.  Bring those three ingredients to a boil.  Then in a mason jar or glass measuring cup, prepare 6-8 cloves of garlic and one tablespoon of dill seeds.  I used in a tea ball for the dill seeds, but you could make a packet out of a coffee filter and twine or filter them out later by pouring it through a mesh strainer.  Pour the hot liquid over the garlic and dill seed and allow it to steep.  As it steeps, it gets a lovely amber color from the dill seeds.

Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken | brine chicken in a dilly vinegar based brine for the grill or the electric smoker | Whole30 | Paleo | No sugar | Gluten free

When you are ready to use it, discard the dill seeds and garlic, if desired.  We usually use the garlic in our recipes, so I save it out, that’s why it was handy to have the dill seeds in the tea ball.

Using Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken

Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken | brine chicken in a dilly vinegar based brine for the grill or the electric smoker | Whole30 | Paleo | No sugar | Gluten free

Dill Pickle Brine is perfect for Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken.  I just used the whole recipe with boneless chicken thighs.  Use it to brine bone-in chicken thighs for Smoked Dill Pickle Chicken.  Or use it as a brine for grilling and baking your favorite cut of chicken.  Double the recipe and your could even brine a whole chicken for roasting.  You could easily double, triple or quadruple the recipe and have it in the refrigerator ready to go when you need it.  It will last several weeks (longer, I’m sure) just like your favorite homemade pickles.

We hope that you enjoy having dill pickle brine whenever you need it, not just when the pickles are gone!  Let us know how you use it.

PS. This post may contain affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Print Recipe
 Dill Pickle Brine for Chicken
Keyword brine
Prep Time 5 minutes
Passive Time 5+ hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Keyword brine
Prep Time 5 minutes
Passive Time 5+ hours
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Boil the vinegar, water and salt.
  2. If desired, put dill seeds in a tea ball or create a pouch using using a coffee filter and twine.
  3. Add garlic cloves and dill seeds to a glass measuring cup or mason jar. Pour hot vinegar mixture over it.
  4. Allow to steep for 5 hours or more. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Carrot Apple Cherry Salad

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One of my current loves is Carrot Salad. I started with Carrot Apple Raisin Salad which is sort of an old stand-by. There are lots of versions of it out there. (Mine includes celery for extra crunch and flavor.) But last week, I went for the raisins and saw the dried cherries sitting right there and Carrot Apple Cherry Salad suddenly became my new favorite.

Carrot Apple Cherry Salad

Carrot Apple Cherry Salad | a quick naturally sweet side salad

This is an easy swap-out recipe.  I literally swapped the sweetened dried cherries for raisins.  But it created a flavor explosion.  The tartness of the cherries really made the sweet of the apple and carrot and the crunch of the celery pop.  I’m actually not sure if I will ever go back to the original.  (Of course, I will.  We have to be fair to all of our children!)

Carrot Apple Cherry Salad Ingredients | Quick | Naturally Sweet| Whole 30 | Paleo | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Just like the original, I make this salad in the food processor, so it comes together in about 10 minutes. It’s perfect for a week night side because it whips up so quickly. And, it perfect when you are smoking something in your electric smoker because it only gets better after it’s had a little time in the refrigerator. The naturally sweetness is a perfect complement to a smoky meat.

Start by shredding carrots, apples and celery in the food processor (I have a Ninja–affiliate link) or with a box grater (I love Oxo).


 

Make a dressing of mayo (use a Whole30 compliant mayo to make this a Whole30 side!), fresh lime juice and a touch of salt.  (I measure the mayonnaise in a glass measuring cup and then add the lime juice and salt and mix it with a flat whisk before adding to the fresh ingredients.)

Mix all of it together adding the cherries last.  I used organic sweetened dried cherries.  They are sweetened with apple juice instead of sugar.  The also have sunflower oil which technically makes them not Whole30 compliant.  There are several varieties on Amazon that are “just cherries,” but I haven’t tried them.



You can serve it immediately or cover it and put it in the refrigerator a few hours or even a day or two ahead of time.  I love to make it at the same time we are getting the meat ready to go in the electric smoker, that way we can just pull it out when the meat is ready.

Another Quick Week Night Salad

Carrot Apple Cherry Salad | Quick | Naturally Sweet | Whole30 | Paleo | gluten free | dairy free

So when you are looking for the perfect weeknight (or any night) side salad to complement something cooked on the grill or smoked in the electric smoker, Carrot Apple Cherry Salad is the way to go. It’s a perfect Close to Home side. We hope that you will whip up a batch tonight. It will last a couple of days in the refrigerator, too. And let us know what you think.  If you prefer a classic, check out the original:  Carrot Apple Raisin Salad.

Now that you have the perfect side salad, don’t forget the main course.  Perhaps 10 Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker or 10 MORE Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker.

PS. This post contains affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Print Recipe
 Carrot Apple Cherry Salad
Course Side Salads
Cuisine Whole30
Keyword carrot salad, side salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Side Salads
Cuisine Whole30
Keyword carrot salad, side salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Peel and shred the carrots. Shred apple (peeled or unpeeled) and celery.
  2. Mix the mayonnaise, lime juice and salt.
  3. Add the dressing to the shredded ingredients. Then add the raisins.
  4. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
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Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs

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Until recently, the most popular page on The Semiconservative Granola Girl Blog was Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken.  That has now been surpassed by Ten Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker because apparently the people of the interwebs love their electric smoker as much as we do.  (Ours is a Masterbuilt.  In fact, we have two.  One at home and one at our seasonal cabin.)  So our love for dill pickles and our love for the electric smoker has come together in Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs.

Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs | Smoked Chicken Thighs brined in dill pickle brine and smoked in an electric smoker.

Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs

Interestingly, we haven’t smoked a lot of chicken in our Masterbuilt electric smoker (<–affiliate link).  It seemed like it was time to return to chicken which was actually our very first smoke (for more on that you can read about it in Ten Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker).  It is easy for chicken to get dried out in the smoker, so we always brine it.

When I create a new recipe, I always begin in my mind with the phrase, “I wonder how it would be if we….”  So I thought about our popular Crock Pot Dill Pickle Chicken recipe and I said to myself, I wonder how it would be if we smoked chicken that had been brined in dill pickle juice.  And, the answer is, it’s pretty darn great.

Begin with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs.  We love chicken thighs because they are quicker and more flavorful than breasts.  Bone-in, skin-on also helps keep them from drying out in the smoker.

In a gallon sized zipper bag, add about a cup of dill pickle juice to 6-8 thighs.  Squeeze all the air out and put them in the refrigerator for at least six hours, but over night is better.  Periodically, flip them so that all the thighs are getting brined evenly.

If you don’t have any leftover “dill pickle juice,” you can make a batch of Dill Pickle Brine.  Just plan ahead.  You will need at least five hours for the brine to steep plus the time to actually brine the meat.

The Smoke

About an hour before you are ready to begin your smoke, remove the thighs from the brine.  Rinse them and pat them dry.  Then use a herb based dry rub like Weber Herb and Garlic. Let that sit about an hour so that the chicken starts to get almost a crust.  Add more rub as necessary.


 

A Note about our Rub Choice:  Because we have kid pallets that we are trying to please, we always stick to a mild flavor.  Even to my adult pallet, most commercial rubs are a little spicy for my liking.  We usually use something like Semiconservative Granola Girl Dry Rub or Everything Bagel Dry Rub.  With this recipe, we were also looking for something would complement and not overwhelm the dill pickle flavor.  That is why we chose the herb and garlic rub.

Preheat your smoker to 225°F.  Let your smoker fill with smoke.  Add chicken thigh directly to the racks.  Smoke for about 2 hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

Smoked Dill Pickle Chicken with Dill Pickle BBQ Sauce | electric smoker | Whole30 | Paleo | Gluten free

You can eat these just as they are when they come out of the smoker.  Or, you can add Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce.  (Shown in the picture above.) Oh yes, it just got even more dill pickle-y!  So dilly good!

This Weekend’s Best Smoked Chicken

If you are just itchin’ to smoke up some chicken this weekend, skip the tomato based barbecue sauce and go straight for some Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs.  It’s perfect with some smoked potatoes, maybe a green salad and some Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce for dipping.  All these flavors just scream summer.  We hope that you enjoy and let us know what you think.

If your looking for even more ideas of what you can cook in your electric smoker, check out my posts on Ten Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker and 10 MORE Foods to Smoke in Your Electric Smoker. Oh and this can easily be a Whole30 complaint meal, just make sure that your dill pickles are compliant.

PS. This post contains affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Print Recipe
 Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Electric Smoker
Keyword electric smoker
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Electric Smoker
Keyword electric smoker
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Passive Time 12 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a gallon sized zipper bag, add about a cup of dill pickle juice to 6-8 thighs. Squeeze all the air out and put them in the refrigerator for at least six hours, but over night is better
  2. About an hour before you are ready to begin your smoke, remove the thighs from the brine. Rinse them and pat them dry.
  3. Then use a herb based dry rub. Let that sit about an hour so that the chicken starts to get almost a crust. Add more rub as necessary
  4. Preheat your smoker to 225°F. Let your smoker fill with smoke. Add chicken thigh directly to the racks. Smoke for about 2 hours or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
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Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce

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Oh boy, do we love our dill pickles around here.  Each summer, I make 8 or 12 quarts of dill pickles to get us through until the next summer.  And then we use those pickles as snacks, as sides and as ingredients in other meals.  One of my most popular recipes on the Semiconservative Granola Girl is Dill Pickle Crock Pot Chicken.  Super easy and really yummy.  But we have all also used our “dill pickle juice” as a brine for chicken which got me wondering about how that would work in our electric smoker.  So, we brined some bone-in chicken thighs in dill pickle juice and Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs we born.  Then we topped it with Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce (which, by the way, may be misnamed because it is also awesome as a salad dressing).  And a new family favorite was born.

Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce

Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce

This sauce was born of our love for dill pickles.  I made it with the intent that it would be smeared on dill brined smoked chicken; however it also makes an excellent salad dressing.

It has a mayonnaise base, so if you are doing Whole30, you’ll want to make sure that your mayo is compliant.  It gets thinned with some dill pickle juice.  And then for extra dill flavor a chopped dill pickle.  Two cloves of minced garlic and some green onion. It’s oh, so dilly yum.  It’s really very easy and picks up more dill pickle flavor longer it sits.

I usually mix it up in a glass measuring cup, measuring the mayonnaise first and the pickle juice over it.  A flat whisk like this one is the perfect tool to get everything mixed well.

Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce as dill pickle salad dressing

Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce would be a nice switch out for Russian Dressing in (Venison) Cheeseburger Salad.  It is a great topping on Salmon Sliders and of course, it is perfect with Dill Pickle Smoked Chicken Thighs.

Dill Pickle Everything Sauce

Dill Pickle Everything Sauce | Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce

Really, Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce should be called Dill Pickle Everything Sauce.  Make up a batch today.  Smear it on Dill Pickle Smoke Chicken Thighs.  Dress a salad.  Use it as dip.  But most importantly, enjoy its dill pickle-y goodness.  And, let us know what you think.

PS. This post contains affiliate links. When you click the link and make a purchase through the link, we make a little money, this helps to keep The Semiconservative Granola Girl going. Thank you for your support.

Print Recipe
 Dill Pickle Barbecue Sauce
Course Salads
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cup
Ingredients
Course Salads
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cup
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients well. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
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