I've been excited to watch local grocery chains increase their organic meat offerings over the years but there's always something lacking; there are nitrates in the meat, it's frozen with extra water in it, and there are all kinds of nasty chemical sounding names in the ingredients. You make the best of what you can get in your area, right? Not true! I recently learned about D'Artagnan Foods, a service that offers true nitrate free, organic, and free range meats with ingredient lists that you can actually read.

I received a selection of D'Artagnan Foods meats via FedEx last week and am incredibly impressed by the quality! Since I received 12 chicken thighs in the shipment, Xaver and I were excited to try several different recipes with these delectable chicken thighs.

Why choose organic free-range chicken from D'Artagnan Foods?

Many people who ask us about paleo think that getting quality meat doesn't matter that much. It does matter – alot. Once you start eating quality meats, you'll notice a whole host of benefits that surely offset the perceived cost. As if feeling better wasn't enough, here are some more reasons why we choose organic meats from suppliers like D'Artagnan Foods.

We eat less when we choose quality meats. Some commercially produced meats have sugar added or extra salt added which can cause hunger cravings that make us want to eat more, even when we're already full. When we eat quality foods, we don't feel the need to overeat and we feel more satisfied from the food we eat.
Less salt. One of the main things we have noticed from all the meats from D'Artagnan Foods is that they are not salty. Many processed meats have salt water, sodium, or brine injected in them prior to shipping or freezing. Since the Organic Chicken Thighs from D'Artagnan Foods do not have any added water, they don't taste salty. When Xaver first made this recipe, he added the amount of salt he'd normally add to meats from the store. We noticed that we needed to add a little more salt to the D'Artagnan Foods because we weren't used to the unsalted meat. It's a good thing – this can help people who want to watch their sodium intake because then you have more control over how much salt is in your food when you add ALL of it yourself.
Organic meats just taste richer. I just think the meat tastes better, it has a fuller flavor, and it does not need as much seasoning.
We feel better when we eat organic meats without all the additives because there are fewer chemicals going into our bodies. When we eat natural, our bodies can process everything as nature intended. Nature did not intend for our systems to process additives, preservatives, and other chemicals that commercial processors add to the meat to make it look better, last longer on the shelf, and taste better.
Getting meat delivered to our home is convenient. The D'Artagnan Foods orders are delivered via FedEx to our door, sealed in a cooler box with ice packs. One of the things I worry about at the store is meat being spoiled by people leaving it out on a shelf because you can't tell if spoiled meat was put back in the cold case. With D'Artagnan Foods, you know where the meat has been and can see the sealed cold box inside your shipment for yourself to know it has traveled safely (and kept cool) from D'Artagnan Foods straight to you. Check out this video as I unpack our latest order to see how the meat is packed and what's inside:

Paleo Fried Chicken Recipe that tastes like Southern Fried Chicken

Being from the South, Xaver is a bit of an expert when it comes to fried chicken. I challenged him to make a southern style fried chicken with no-dairy, that's paleo-friendly, and tastes good. It's a tall order but starting with quality meat, like Organic Chicken Breasts from D'Artagnan Foods, is the key to success.

A photo posted by Just JP✂Creativity Evangelist (@jenniferppriest) on Nov 22, 2015 at 12:49pm PST

You'll need about an hour to make this fried chicken, a skillet or cast iron pan, and an oven to finish it off. We recommend a paleo slaw or our Paleo Pineapple Salsa to accompany this dish. Here's the recipe: