Healthy cooking ideas

So what you may or may not know about me is that I love to cook, but typcially I like recipes with lots of fat, butter, sugar, etc.  Recently, I've come to terms with my new healthy lifestyle and the fact that I need to start finding healthier ways to cook my favorite foods.


On Thursday RR had a bunch of teeth pulled which means he's due for a long few days of apple sauce, jello, and soup.  So on wednesday night I decide to make him a last meal that's a little more memorable than our standard baked chicken and broccoli.   So I perused a website my Sister in law recommended and decided the Cajun Chicken recipe would be an appropriately yummy "last meal".  I gotta say I didn't love all the chopping, but would DEFINITELY make this again.

Cajun Chicken

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/02/cajun-chicken-pasta-on-lighter-side.html

Cajun Chicken Pasta on the Lighter Side
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 5 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 323.8 • Fat: 6.2 g • Protein: 25.9 g • Carb: 44.1 g • Fiber: 6.3 g • Sugar:3.2 g
Sodium: 126.5 mg (without salt)  


Ingredients:

• 8 ounces uncooked linguine (I used Barilla Whole Wheat Penne)
• 1 pound chicken breast strips
• 1-2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or to taste) (I used creole seasoning, and added some crushed red pepper, perhaps a bit too much because it is SPICY!!)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp light cream cheese
• fresh cracked pepper
• 2 scallions, chopped
• salt to taste
• Smart Balance cooking spray 

Directions:

• Prep all your vegetables. In a small blender make a slurry by combining milk, flour and cream cheese. Set aside. 
• Season chicken generously with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt.
• Prepare pasta in salted water according to package directions.
• Heat a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; spray with cooking spray and add half of the chicken. Sauté 5 to 6 minutes or until done, set aside on a plate and repeat with the remaining chicken. Set aside.  
• Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce to medium; add bell peppers, onions, and garlic to skillet, sauté 3-4 minutes.
• Add mushrooms and tomatoes and sauté 3-4 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Season with 1/4 tsp salt, garlic powder and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
• Reduce heat to medium-low; add chicken broth and pour in slurry stirring about 2 minutes.
• Return chicken to skillet; adjust salt and Cajun seasoning to taste, cook another minute or two until hot, then add linguine; toss well to coat. Top with chopped scallions and enjoy!

Makes 7 1/2 cups.

I'm also currently toying with an idea for a healthier eggs benedict after seeing a (full fat) Martha Stewart Recipe for  Steamed artichokes and smoked salmon.  I mean how pretty is that?!?!  I'm not big on smoked salmon, but I bet it'd be equally yummy with some lean ham and a lighter hollandaise sauce.  But I'll have to wait until RR can eat solid foods again. :-/

Happy Friday,

Candydiva04

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Lazy weekend? Not round these parts!

Weekly Fitness Update:

Weight: 143.0lbs

Height: 5'1

Variance: +0.4 lbs (doh!)

On instagram straight flexin'!

This is me after my bootcamp class and breakfast this morning. I still haven't made the necessary improvements to my diet.  I'm still eating junk, and swearing I'm gonna do better.  Hopefully the fact that my 4.5 pack has run off and left me, will be the motivation I need to start eating right again. I'm flexing hard in the photo and my abs are still non-existent.  I also need to step up my cardio game, I haven't run more than a few min at a time since summer.  Anywho, this is where I'm at, I like it but I'd love to be a little leaner, especially in my thighs (there's a reason those are rarely photographed, lol) I carry most of my weight in my hips and thighs.  One day!  Meanwhile here are the rest of my workouts for the week.

Wednesday's workout 

I think, with the exception of the leg press (which I recorded) some of these weights are just the amount on one side of the machine.  They look a little light to me, and I know RR records that way in his log.

Leg day
Exercise		weight	sets	reps
Leg press	Warm up	90lbs	1	20
		180lbs	1	15
		270lbs	1	15
		360lbs	1	15
		410lbs	2	15
V-Squats		25lbs	1	15
		60lbs	1	15
		75lbs	2	12
leg extensions		25lbs	3	15
hamstring curls		25lbs	3	15
Circuit (no weights)
Standing Lunges with straight bar
			3	15
Squats			4	20
Step ups on bench			4	15/leg

Friday's workout 

Some weights have a plus next to it, because some of the dumbbells at the new gym don't factor in the weight of the bar so they're a little heavier than what they say on the side.

Biceps and triceps
Exercise		weight	sets	reps
DB curls		15+	3	10
Straight bar curls		20	3	15
		15	1	10
		10	2	10
Inclined DB curls		10+	3	15
Preacher curls		7lbs	3	15
Tricep pushdowns		50	1	15
		60	2	15
Rope Overheads		45lbs	3	15
Kickbacks		12lbs	3	20

I strongly recommend anyone who lifts get a workout log, I use and highly reccomend this workout log.  Its great the front page is a list of goals and measurements.  The last page is the same so you can see your progress.  All the pages in between look like this. Its awesome.

So now that you know what I've been doing, I hope you all aren't sitting around slacking just because its the weekend!!! Get out there and do something! As for me,  I already got my workout in today.  Tomorrow I'll be putting these guns to work, helping one of my favorite couples paint their new home and then on Monday I'll be doing some more aerials and some flying trapeze!

Be Happy, Be healthy,

Candydiva04

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We found a gym!!

After hitting what seemed like every gym in the area (which it probably was!) we FINALLY settled on Gym number 2. The body builder gym!!  Its not 24 hours and I hate the locker room, but its really the best gym for us. Are you surprised? 'Cause you shouldn't be!

In other news, RR has decide this will be a cardio week for both of us. (WOOHOO!!) I was actually really sick of lifting.  I'm pretty sure that means my workout needs some changes, or else I need to get back into aerials ASAP, but it JUST.KEEPS.SNOWING!!!! UGH!!  So no aerials just yet for me.   :(  But I intend to make the most of this cardio week, so that hopefully when its over, I'll be sick of cardio! (yea right!)

So in other news, I've finally decided, after pigging out yesterday because it was Superbowl Sunday, that I'm going to buckle down and get back on track with my diet.  I've started logging my food on Myfitnesspal.com, if you're on there feel free to add me, I'm (obviously) Candydiva04!  My meals are open so you can see what I'm eating, good or bad.  But hopefully all good from now on.  I'm also going to start wearing my fitbit again.

What the Fitbit Ultra should look like

What my Fitbit looks like

I've thoroughly beaten mine up, as you can see... (and clearly need to cut my nails, YIKES!)  I had previously said I was going to get another tracker for the winter, but since I didn't and Fitbit released a new device that I can sync to my phone,  I might upgrade to the new Fitbit One or Flex.  We'll see.

Fitbit Flex

   

Fitbit One

In other news, I made a pizza for Superbowl Sunday. We typically, use whole wheat tortillas or those flat sandwich bread thingees (who's name has clearly escaped me, as evidenced by the fact that I called it a thingee), to make pizza.  However, I've been CRAVING real doughy pizza.  So I dusted off my bread machine, used the following dough recipe, and made a whole wheat crust. We topped it with tomato paste, some leftover baked chicken, turkey pepperoni and fat free cheese. It was delicious!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough With Whole Wheat Flour
http://www.food.com/recipe/bread-machine-pizza-dough-with-whole-wheat-flour-137143

1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast
Directions:

1.  Add ingredients in the order given into the bread machine pan. (my bread machine recommends that, I add the dry ingredients first, so I did that, however I did reserve the yeast for last)
2.  Start dough cycle. (On my machine this took 1.5 hours).
3.  Once the dough is done remove it from the pan onto a floured work surface.
4. Roll dough to fit the shape of your pan. This recipe makes two 14 inch round pizzas.
5. Brush lightly with olive oil and add toppings. You can hold this dough, with just the olive oil, for a couple of hours in the fridge covered in plastic wrap.
6. Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.


Until next time, 

Candydiva04

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