My appetite and I are not the best of friends right now! I am in the "see-food stage"; I see food and I want to eat it! I've been controlling myself fairly well by keeping healthy snacks like vegetables, trail mix, and fruit in my lunch box at all times; but I'm not going to lie, I have indulged in foods lately that I never would have before. It's OK to indulge every now and then, just remember moderation is key and exercise is important!!!!!
I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen lately whipping up some healthy recipes to satisfy my cravings so I thought I would share some of my favorites.
This first recipe is one of my new favorites! Josh and I were drooling over it; it tastes JUST like restaurant orange chicken without the fattening fried coating. The chicken is from calicooking.com but the rice was whipped up free hand. I actually have to thank my friend Shelby for the rice; she cooked some shrimp fried for me a few months ago and I loved it so much I had to try my own version!
Orange Chicken and "Not So Fried Rice" :
Ingredients:
-3 medium chicken breasts
-1/3 cup of flour
- 1.5 Tbsp olive oil
Sauce:
-9 oz of pulp free orange juice
-3 tsp corn starch
-3 Tbsp of brown sugar
-2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-1-2 Tbsp of lemon juice
-3-4 minced garlic cloves (I used the minced garlic in a jar and it was great)
-1/2 tsp salt
Method:
Cut chicken breasts in 1/4 inch pieces and put in freezer bag with 1/3 cup flour. Shake the bag until all chicken is lightly coated in flour. Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan. Cook chicken in pan over medium-high heat until mostly cooked.
In a separate bowl whisk all the sauce ingredients together . Add the sauce to the chicken pan, and cook chicken in sauce on medium low heat until chicken is cooked all the way through and sauce has thickened.
Rice:
Ingredients:
-1 cup of rice ( I used jasmine- it cooks quickly and fluffs nicely)
- 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots, thawed
- 1/2 cup of onion-chopped
-1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 egg
- 2-3 Tbsp Low sodium soy sauce
Method:
Cook rice as directed and cool in refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Saute onion, on medium heat, until soft and translucent, add peas and carrots and cook 1-2 minutes. Push onion, peas, and carrots to one side of the pan and scramble 1 egg on the empty side of the pan. Add the rice to the pan and mix all ingredients together. Add 2-3 Tbsp of low sodium soy sauce to rice mixture and stir well.
Turkey Patties:
I always try to keep 3 types of meat in the house: Chicken breasts, low-fat ground beef, and canned tuna. My grocery store had ground turkey on sale a few weeks ago so I stocked up on it as well. It came in handy a few weeks ago when I got home from work late and was in need for a speedy dinner.
I whipped up a few Asian turkey patties with a side of ginger salad. I didn't use a recipe, I just used a bunch of asian sauces I had in the cabinet. I ended up with something along the lines of this:
1 lb of ground turkey
1 Tbsp ponzu Sauce
1 Tbsp hoison Sauce
1/2 Tbsp low Sodium Soy sauce
1 Tbsp teriyaki Sauce
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 cup of chives, chopped
Mix all ingredients together and form into 4 patties. Place on a wire rack over a drip pan so that any extra fat can drip off while cooking. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 F or until meat is white all the way through.
For my salad I used romaine lettuce and a whatever vegetables I had in stock. In this case that was onion, green pepper, and cucumber. Top with 1 Tbsp Chinese noodles and 1 Tbsp of ginger dressing ( I LOVE Naturally Fresh ginger dressing. It's low in calories and a little goes a long way) and BAM dinner.
I got this next recipe from cookinglight.com and tried it last Friday night for the first time; it was a SUCCESS! The sweetness of the apply jelly blends perfectly with the kick of the horseradish. Pair with your favorite green vegetable and mashed potatoes and you've got yourself a healthy, omega- rich meal! Oh and for the record I wanted to make sweet potatoes instead of regular mashed potatoes but Josh isn't a big fan of sweet potatoes unless they are coated in marshmallows and brown sugar. So I took one for the team and made regular potatoes using a small amount of fat-free half and half, garlic, and pepper.
Apple and Horseradish Glazed Salmon:
Ingredients:
-1/3 cup apple jelly
-1 Tbsp of chopped chives
- 2 Tbsp of prepared horseradish
-1 Tbsp champagne vinegar ( I couldn't find this at the store so I used white wine vinegar)
-4 (4oz) salmon fillets, skinned
-1/4 tsp ground pepper
-2 tsp olive oil
Method:
Preheat oven to 350°
Combine apple jelly, chives, horseradish, vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk.
Sprinkle salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add salmon, and cook 3 minutes. Turn salmon over; brush with half of apple mixture. Wrap handle of skillet with foil; bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Brush with remaining apple mixture
My friend Beth introduced me to Oikos yogurt dip on our glamping trip. O-M-G their dips taste like a touch of heaven in my mouth! She had the roasted red pepper, but I couldn't find it when I went to the store so I bought the cucumber dill and the french onion flavors. I keep the dill dip in my lunch box with carrots at all times. It's a great healthy snack! Only 25 calories per 2 Tbsp!
Wheat Thins dipped in the french onion dip is a great alternative to the average high fat french onion dip and potato chips.
My favorite yoga instructor is teaching night time classes again!! Wahooo!!! I ended my hump-day the right way with a great yoga session! Did you get your workout in yesterday????
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