Guys, I sautéed plantains. Me. Seriously. I have never purchased fresh plantains before because, quite frankly, I have been intimidated by them. But part of the reason I chose to cook this recipe was the plantains. 

Thankfully, the Whole 30 Cookbook takes all the fear out of it. The book is full of tips... like when it told me that the plantains will be ready to use when the peels are almost black. I would have never known that. And let's be real, I would have tossed them thinking that they had expired. I will tell you though, they can take a while to ripen. I bought them thinking they'd be like avocados or bananas (quick to turn bad after you leave the Publix parking lot), but these guys took almost a week!

I could not find Jamaican jerk seasoning that was Whole 30 approved, so I made my own (also a tip in the book). It was easy and delicious. 

I added extra orange zest about halfway through the baking process. I liked it, but Stu and Reagan both wiped the orange off. Oh well. 

My plantains were not perfect. I think I used too much coconut oil, plus I forgot to add the vinegar. Oops. I still thought they were super tasty. Reagan thought they tasted like slimy sweet bananas. Stu (apparently) will only eat fried plantains from his favorite Cuban restaurant. He would not even try it. 

Who doesn't love a good crockpot recipe? 

I found this one day not long ago on Pinterest. The recipe called it "OMG! The Best Crockpot Chicken. Ever." I thought with a name like that, how could I go wrong? I clicked and was happy to see that I most of the ingredients. The only thing I was lacking was the dry Italian dressing. So, here's my adaptation:

I pulled out my smaller crockpot. And put the chicken breasts in it. My chicken was not all the way thawed (about 30% frozen). 

I am sorry I don't have a better picture of the finished product... My family literally devoured it! Rea ate 4 helpings! We had to lie and tell her there wasn't anymore. That should be a good indication of this recipe's success.