Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 May

I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite sites, skinnytaste.  They always have great recipes, and you will likely see many more of their recipes here in the future.

Ingredients:

– 6 Thin sliced Chicken Breasts (appx 3 oz each)

– salt and pepper

– 1 large egg

– 2 egg whites

– 1 tbsp water

– 1 1/4 cups italian seasoned breadcrumbs

– 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional, mix with bread crumbs)

– 6 slices of thin deli ham (i used Hillshire farms)

– 3 slices swiss cheese (peppridge farm thin slices) cut in 1/2

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a large non-stick baking pan with PAM.

2. wash and dry the chicken, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Lay the chicken flat on a plate, and place 1 slice of ham and 1/2 slice of cheese in the center of each breast.

4. Mix all eggs with 1 tbsp water.  Set aside in a dish.

5.  Tightly roll chicken breasts until ham and cheese are tightly rolled in the center.

6. Holding the chicken “roll” tightly together, dip chicken into egg, and then coat with breadcrumbs.

7. Place chicken seam side down on baking dish.

8.  Spray tops of chicken lightly with PAM, and bake 25 min.

6 servings= 280 calories each

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Crockpot “Cola” chicken aka: the best bbq chicken you’ll ever make

5 May

Ingredients:

– 4-6 chicken breasts

– 1 cup of diet dr pepper (or dr pepper 10)

– 1 cup ketchup

– 1/2 tsp garlic powder

– 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or more if you like)

– Diced onion (optional) 1 cup

Directions:

1. place chicken in crock pot, salt and pepper.

2. Mix all other ingredients together, and pour over chicken.

3. Mix just enough so the chicken isn’t touching the bottom of the crockpot. Let a little liquid get under it.

4. Cook on low 6 hours.

5. Remove chicken, and set aside.

6. pour sauce into a small skillet or saucepan and heat on stove until thick.

7. Serve sauce over chicken.

makes 4-6 servings (1 chicken breast per serving)–  190 Calories

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Served here with homemade slaw, and baked beans.

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Flatout Flatbread Pizzas

5 May

– 4 flat out flatbreads (seen below)
– 1 cup of premade pizza sauce, divided into 4 parts
– 1 cup mozzarella cheese- 2%, shredded
– Sliced Mushrooms
– Turkey pepperoni (9 per pizza)
– 1 cup Jimmy Dean premade, crumbled turkey sausage, divided into 4 parts
– Diced onion
– Garlic Powder
– other pizza toppings of your choice (olives, banana peppers, ham, pineapple)

1. preheat oven to 400

2. Arrange 4 flatbreads on 2 baking sheets.

3. Spread 1/4 cup of sauce on each flatbread.

4. Add all desired toppings, except cheese

5. Sprinkle with garlic powder.

6. Top each pizza with 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese.

7. Bake Pizzas for about 10 min. Give or take, depending on your preferred crispness.

4 servings- 351 calories per pizza (based on the toppings I’ve listed above)

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Here’s what I used

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Here they are, pre-oven.

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Apple Torte

4 May

First, and foremost, I got this recipe at “Emily Bites” and it looks and smells awesome. (see pic below)

Ingredients

3 medium apples
1 t lemon juice
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
4 T granulated sugar, divided
1 t all-purpose flour (plus a little bit to flour the surface of your workspace when you work with the pastry dough)
½ t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t allspice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside (I used a 10 x 15” baking sheet).

2. Slice the apples open and remove the core. Cut the apples into thin slices (about ¼” thick). Toss lightly with the lemon juice and set aside.

3. Lightly flour your workspace surface and unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet onto the floured space. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the pastry sheet out to be a 10” x 14” rectangle. Place the pastry rectangle onto the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4. In a small dish, combine one tablespoon of the sugar with the teaspoon of flour and stir. In a separate small bowl, combine the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cinnamon, the nutmeg and the allspice. Mix until combined.

5. Leaving about 1/2” around the edges, sprinkle the flour mixture across the surface of the pastry rectangle. Line the apple slices onto the pastry in three long rows, overlapping the slices. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the top of the apple slices.

6. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the edges are browned and the apple are cooked through and tender. Let the tart cool for a few minutes. Cut tart into 12 equal pieces (I used a pizza cutter to slice lengthwise between each row of apples to form three long sections and then I just cut each of those into four equal pieces) and serve.

12 servings= 122 calories per serving

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Restaurant Finds- Outback Steakhouse

3 May

I LOVE Outback steakhouse. It’s delicious, and they have SO MANY great healthy choices. I eat here a lot, because I travel a lot, and if you want to eat healthy, unfortunately chain restaurants who publish their nutritional information are the safest bet. Here’s what I love. Some of these are items I can “afford” any day, and others are items I have to “save” for, but here’s what I’m eating at outback!

Chicken On the Barbie with Steamed Veggies- —401 calories

Outback Special 6 oz Sirloin with 2 sides of Steamed Veggies (yes, I like them THAT much) —447 Calories

Outback Special 6 oz Sirloin with steamed veggies and house salad/ tomato dressing —566 Calories


Tilapia with lump Crab Meat with Steamed Veggies —615 calories


Outback Special + Coconut Shrimp with 2 orders of Steamed Veggies —690 Calories



Luxury Items


Bloomin Onion (1/4th) no sauce— 489 calories

Coconut Shrimp Appetizer-Full order,with sauce— 416 calories

Spaghetti Squash Marinara

2 May

Spaghetti Squash Marinara
2 servings

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash
2 cups of Prego “light smart” Marinara sauce*
2 cups of fresh, sliced mushrooms
1 Red Pepper, sliced
PAM nonstick cooking spray- olive oil flavored

1. Slice Spaghetti squash in 1/2 long-ways and scoop out all the seeds.

2. Place in a pan with 1/2 inch water, cut side down.

3. Microwave squash for 10 min.

4. Meanwhile, spray a baking sheet with PAM, and roast the red peppers at 450 until soft and beginning to blacken.

5. Sautee mushrooms in a pan on stovetop, using PAM to keep from sticking.

6. heat sauce in a pan on stove.

7. When squash has finished cooking, use a fork to scrape the insides out, long-ways, from one end to the other. Squash will come out in strands. Scrape them into a strainer or onto a paper towel to drain excess liquid absorbed during cooking.

8. Divide squash evenly between two plates. Top with one cup of sauce, and half of mushrooms and peppers.

* Instead of the Smart Light sauce, you could make my easy, homemade marinara!

Enjoy. YUM!

300 calories per serving.

spaghetti squ

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Mediterranean Style Beef Stir Fry

1 May

Mediterranean Style Beef Stir Fry
Servings=4

You’ll have no problem making this in 30 minutes or less if you start heating
the water for the pasta before cutting up the ingredients.

Ingredients
12 ounces boneless beef top round steaks, cut 3/4 ” thick
Nonstick Cooking Spray
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow summer squash, halved and sliced diagonally
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli flowerets
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 cup cherry tomato halves
1/3 cup reduced-calorie or nonfat Italian salad dressing
4 green onions, thinly sliced (1/4 cup)
6 ounces fettuccine or linguine, cooked and drained
1 tablespoon finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Trim fat from beef. Thinly slice beef across the grain into bite size strips.

Spray a wok or large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray coating. Heat over medium heat.
Stir-fry garlic for 15 seconds. Add squash and broccoli; stir-fry for 4-5 minutes or till crisp-tender.
Remove from wok. Add oil to wok. Add beef to wok; stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or till desired doneness.
Return vegetables to wok. Add cherry tomato halves, salad dressing, and green onions.

Toss to mix.
Cover and heat through.
Serve beef mixture over hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.


PER SERVING: 371 Calories, 30 g Protein, 9 g Fat, 43 g Carbohydrate,
251 mg Sodium, 57 mg Cholesterol, 4 g Dietary Fiber

Individual Meatloaf (aka: meatloaf muffins)

1 May

Meatloaf Muffins
(8 points plus for 2 muffins)
Double recipe and freeze leftovers if desired.

½ lb of lean beef
1 egg white
½ cup water
½ box stovetop stuffing
Ketchup to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients, form into 6 meat “balls”. Place each into the cup of a pre-greased muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until center has no pink. Top with ketchup as desired, and cook for another 3-5 minutes or so.
Makes 6 muffins, 2 muffins per serving.

96 calories per muffin (when using 96% lean beef)

192 calories per serving

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My First Work Out Routine

1 May

So, I’ve been going to the Y for about 8 weeks now. And every week, i do the same routine. I have a “wellness coach” named Jeff who put this together for me. So far, it seems to be working. It seems like a silly thing to document, but, i’m hoping that one day this little work out plan will be so far behind me that it will seem amusing to know that THIS is how it all started. So, here we go… my first workout routine:

HIIT training: Wednesday, 20 min, alternating 3/5 speed
Cardio of Choice: Friday
“Body Pump” class: Saturday
Weight Lifting: Monday and Thursday
10 reps, 3 sets:

Squats- 15 lbs
Lunges- 15 lbs
Dead Lifts- 15 lbs
Calf Raises- 10 lbs
Back Rows- 10 lbs
Reverse Flys- 5 lbs
Bench Press- 15 lbs (30 total)
Flys- 10 lbs
Bicep Curls- 10 lbs
Tricep Kickbacks- 10 lbs
Planks- 3 (3o sec)

So there it is folks. I’m about 8 weeks in, and i’ve upped the weight on Calf Raises to 15, Back Rows to 12, Reverse flys and flys to 8, bicep curls to 15. The first day I finished body pump, i thought Jeff was out to kill me. It’s still not easy. I fought and kicked, and managed to get yoga in on Tuesday nights. I’m not sure he sees the value in that, but as long as I do a quick 200 calorie cardio beforehand, i don’t feel too guilty 🙂

Let’s hope one day i’ll look back on this and laugh at where it all started. 🙂

My first 5K!!!!

1 May

So, On March 30, 2013 my husband and I completed our first 5k! The Humana Vitality 5k, in downtown Louisville. We had the baby in the stroller, so we mostly walked this one, but we both finished. My walking time was 1 hr 5 minutes. I’m already registered for another 5k on May 18, which I hope to improve by getting in at least a little running. Total weight loss as of March 30: 26.5 lbs!

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