Jamaican Jerk Baked Wings

Jamaican Jerk Baked Wings – no breading, just tons of flavor and crispiness!  gluten free and paleo friendly

You know what?  Learning to skills is SUPER hard, but not as hard as getting started.  Yesterday trying to figure out how to film and edit on my iPhone was a pain, I didn’t get it totally right, but I got started.  I felt so much better once I got started.  Right now I have help getting some of my most popular recipes turned into videos, but eventually, I want to produce them myself.  The spaghetti squash video was the first step in that direction, and it was a BIG step.

I remember that is TOTALLY how I felt when I started cooking.  Everything seemed overwhelming; everything was hard.  I ate frozen pre-portioned steamed Brussel sprouts and smart ones frozen dinners because I couldn’t even make tuna.  No actually, when Mr. Hungry and I first started dating he made me tuna and chicken sandwiches on the regular.  Up until that point, I had zero need to learn how to cook.  I had a meal plan card which covered any food on campus, and I ate at the sorority house the rest of the time.

I know it sounds pathetic, but it’s the truth.  It’s kind of funny because some of my childhood was a bit rough around the edges so I knew how to make top ramen as well as mac and cheese by age 6.  Apparently, my cooking skills stop developing at age six, though.

Eventually, on my journey to healthier living I started reading health & fitness magazines and want to try some fo the recipes in them, but I was SO intimidated.  I started with making smoothies, something only Jamba Juice had done for me in the past.  When I got comfortable with that, I tried other super easy recipes, like quesadillas.  Hey, you’ve got to start somewhere!  I discovered something as simple as making my quesadilla instead of eating the frozen smart ones could be more filling and delicious.  Fast forward six years and I now have an excellent healthy living food blog.  I now, regularly, make recipes on the fly, like I did these wings.  I followed the directions on the back of the bag, but I just brushed them with oil as well as seasonings and then baked them until they were crispy and delicious.

What’s my point?  Taking the first step at learning a new skill is always the hardest.  Moreover, the first time around may not produce the best results.  (A big thank you to the troll that wrote I needed to get my fingernails done, I have since deleted the comment and blocked you.  I love trolls, to me, they are a sign of success.  This particular one had a point, and I should thank her because I got to show my husband as a case to get my gel manicures on the regular.  Still, though, you obviously won’t be adding any value to my community, so said troll is now blocked. ) So, as I was saying, do not be afraid to try something because you are afraid to fail.  I learned through messing up sooooooo many recipes, (not getting my nails done), reading the directions wrong, or creating my own recipe failures that the failure was not nearly as hard as getting past the intimidation of getting started.  In fact, once you know what you did wrong you will be eager to try it again. At least that’s how it works for me anyway, especially when it comes to blogging and owning a business.

If you are new here, you either skipped past all that to the recipe or you are thinking, what does this have to do with wings?  Well, per usual, nothing.  Except this is the first time I’ve baked wings at home and I have to say I was very happy with the result.  Not only was it super easy to do but they taste amazing, and I know they aren’t deep fried in gross oils, or breaded with refined flour and then deep fried.   I used a delicious Jamaican Jerk (affiliate link) seasoning that I got on the sale rack at Sprouts for a dollar.  I know some of you don’t like to buy specialty seasonings, I get that and respect that.  I’m sure there are a million recipes out there to make your Jamaican jerk seasoning or even for wings from scratch.  I just know that when I’m entertaining the last thing I want to do is pull 15 seasoning bottles out to make my seasoning and then make the wings.  I’d much rather stick with the one bottle of oil, one bottle of seasoning, and one bag of wings to work with. You feel me?

What is one thing you’ve been avoiding you need to take the first step on?