"Clean" Melt-in-your-mouth Chicken

This is another super simple (are you noticing a theme here with my recipes and being simple? haha) super DELICIOUS chicken recipe... It tastes like you are eating something that is just awful for you and high in fat and calories, but it's really not! 

"Clean" Melt-in-your-mouth Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 - 4 oz skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• pink himilayan salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit
2. Lay foil in a baking dish and spray with non-stick spray and place chicken in dish
3. Combine greek yogurt, cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl
4. Coat each chicken breast in greek yogurt mixture
5. Bake in oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through

Noodle-less Lasagna

Who doesn't love lasagna??  I know I do!!  It is definitely one of my favourite comfort foods, however it is so high in calories that it's definitely been forever removed off my menu (except for maybe the occasional treat night).

Well, I introduce to you - NOODLE-LESS LASAGNA!  That's right... it's all the deliciousness of lasagna with NO pasta!

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 medium Zucchini's, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 lb of lean ground turkey
• 1/2 a medium yellow onion
• 2 tsp diced garlic
• pink himalayan salt, black pepper and garlic powder to taste
• pasta sauce of choice
• 24 oz of cottage cheese
• shredded mozza cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degress Farenheit
2. In a skillet on medium-high heat add ground turkey, onion, garlic and seasonings and cook until turkey is browned and cooked through
   
3. add about 1/2 cup of pasta sauce and mix into the turkey mixture
   
4. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and lay the first layer of zucchini "noodles" just like you would lasagna noodles
   
5. add half of the turkey mixture on top of the "zoodles"
6. add half of the cottage cheese on top of the meat mixture
   
7. repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 ending with a third layer of zucchini noodles on top
8. spread about 1/4 cup of pasta sauce (just a thin layer) on top of the zucchini
   
9. sprinkle your cheese on and cover with tin foil
10. Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese is a bit browned
11. Serve and enjoy! 

Couple things I will change for next time... 

It was quite watery from the zucchini... I googled how to help that and I read that if you "salt" the zucchini"noodles" for about an hour before hand it will pull the moisture out of the zucchini!  Basically just put the zoodles into a colander, sprinkle salt on top and toss it around until they are evenly covered... leave the colander over a bowl to collect the water that gets pulled out... after about an hour place the zoodles on paper tower to wipe away any moisture left... I will update this post once I try this :) 

Otherwise though, the taste was PHENOMENAL!  It was so very delicious!!!  The water wasn't that bad of a thing, just made it a bit more difficult to cut and scoop out regular pieces :)  I actually showed me making it in this vlog too :)

How to Meal Plan!

So I know that one of things that can MAKE or BREAK your success in your weight loss and fitness journey is meal planning.  

We've all heard this familiar quote:

Honestly, this quote annoys me... Not because it's not true (it is 100% true) but because I am not the planning type.  One of my biggest hurdles in my own journey is meal planning, but when I do it the reward is amazing because I feel better, my clothes fit better, I have more energy, etc,etc,etc.  It is also nice to not have to just "wing it" during the week with what I'm gonna eat! 

So since this is an area a lot of people struggle in I decided to share with you my SUPER SIMPLE steps to creating your meal plan!  I have meal plans that I like to provide my clients, but I find that it's better to make it yourself because then you will put on it foods that you enjoy and are more likely to stick with it :)  (note: I am not a nutritionist or a certified dietician, this is simply what I do and have done to meal plan in the past :) ) 

1. Grab a notebook and a pen (or just a blank piece of paper would work too) 
2. Get a source for your foods - ie. if you are calorie counting open up My Fitness Pal or whatever you use to calorie count that has a good food database - this will prevent you from having to get up a million times and dig through the pantry and fridge to find calories in foods.
3. Figure out how many calories or servings of food you will want to "save" for dinner each day first off (hint: if you are calorie counting and following a 1200-1500 calorie base, I recommend trying to keep Breakfast, Lunch and dinner around 300-400 calories and snacks around 100-200 calories)
4. Start creating your meal plan - I usually give myself two options for each Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch and PM snack so I can switch it up throughout the week - you do not want to try and come up with 7 different breakfasts, snacks and lunches - that would take you way too long, be way too overwhelming and cost you way too many groceries!! Remember we want you to follow through on this so keep it simple! 
5. As you are coming up with the items you are going to have for each meal/snack go into My Fitness Pal (if you're calorie counting) to add up the calories as you go.  Or if you are using another meal plan, just count for each item as you go! 
6. Then comes the fun part!  Make up 7 different dinners!  I usually try to have one fish, one red meat and one pork each week and then keep the rest chicken or ground turkey... Need recipe ideas?  Check out the recipes page here or some of my favourite sites for recipes are skinnytaste.com and thegraciouspantry.com
7. Create your grocery list!  I usually do it as I go, especially if I am trying new recipes and there are ingredients in the recipe I need to get as well!  
8. THAT'S IT!  head out the grocery store with your list in hand and grab all you need for the week!  This will prevent you from needing to run to the store mid-week... Want to see more in depth how I meal plan?  Watch my video! 

Mocha-Banana "Ice Cream"

Original Recipe posted at http://www.oxygenmag.com/mocha-banana-ice-cream/

Here's a SUPER SIMPLE recipe for these hot summer days that you may be craving some ice cream... Except this ice cream is totally CLEAN!! 

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1 tsp instant coffee or espresso
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 oz dark chocolate (approx. 3 squares), finely chopped

Instructions:

1. Remove bananas from freezer and let sit on the counter for 5 minutes.
2. Peel bananas and break or cut into chunks, then place into a food processor. Pulse about 20 times until bananas are in small pieces, then blend until smooth. If necessary, stop the machine and scrape from the sides.
3. Add the coffee, cinnamon and chocolate to the food processor, and blend again to fully incorporate. Serve.

Maple Salmon

This is a super simple clean eating Salmon recipe that I just LOVE!  If you haven't been able to tell yet, I like simple and this recipe is just that!   

(Makes 4 servings)

INGREDIENTS

• 4 salmon fillets (about 4 oz each)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium preferred) 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• pepper
• sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray
2. Arrange salmon fillets on baking sheet
3. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and salt
4. Brush salmon fillets with mixture until evenly coated
5. Place in oven and bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork... ENJOY! 

Lemon Chicken with Thyme

(from Eat Yourself Skinny)

This is one of my favourite go-to clean eating, simple chicken breast recipes!  It's super simple, not a lot of ingredients are needed and it's clean! 

(Makes 4 servings) 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 chicken breasts
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp of fresh Thyme
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp of sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper
3. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish and pour mixture over top making sure to completely coat them
4. Bake for about 40 minutes (depending on size of chicken), until juices run clean.  Enjoy!  

Are you a habitual excuse-maker?

Do you find yourself coming up with a ton of reasons as to why you can't workout or eat right?  Let's face it - life happens!  Sometimes it is just way too difficult, maybe even impossible to squeeze that workout in or to prep that healthy food.  The thing is however, that EVERYONE has life happen while they are on their fitness journey.  It's that CHOICE that we all have of whether you are going to USE that excuse and skip that workout or if you are going to power through and get it done anyways - NO.MATTER.WHAT.

I know some of you may be sitting there reading this thinking - "well no what I'm going through is different - I don't have the choice, I just literally don't have the time to workout or prep healthy food!"  If you're thinking that then you are probably not gonna like what I am about to tell you.  You absolutely DO have the CHOICE.  There are workout programs out there that are only 25 minutes, 5 days a week... 25 minutes!!  I am going to bet that you probably spend more than 25 minutes each day contemplating stuff that you need to get done... or doing your hair and makeup for the day... Or watching your favourite TV shows.  We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it's your CHOICE what you do with that time!  Yes, you may have to sacrifice watching your favourite TV show... you may have to get up 30 mins earlier or go to bed 30 minutes later - but if your health and energy are worth it, you will find a way!  

As for time to meal prep - I have some amazing news for you.  Guess what!  Spending just a couple hours prepping food on a Sunday will actually SAVE you a ton of time preparing all throughout the week!  It's also super simple and I will make a separate blog post on meal prepping soon, but it's literally as simple as seasoning and throwing a bunch of chicken breasts in the oven and leaving them to bake... Roasting some veggies in the oven at the same time as the chicken and cooking up some brown rice... BOOM!  Easy, simple and DONE!  Guess what?  You're also gonna save yourself a ton of money by not needing to eat out and pre-packaged, processed foods are NOT always cheaper.

So... Are you gonna choose to find excuses or are you gonna choose to find a way to get it done?

Grilled Honey Cumin Chicken

Grilled Honey Cumin Chicken

Spice up your chicken with a touch of cumin.

Total Time: 25 min.
Prep Time: 5 min.
Cooking Time: 15 min.
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. raw honey
2 Tbsp. 100% orange juice
4 4-oz each raw chicken breast, boneless, skiness
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
Sea salt and ground black pepper (to taste; optional)

Preparation:
1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Combine honey and orange juice in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Set aside.
3. Brush each chicken breast lightly with oil. Sprinkle both sides evenly with cumin, salt (if desired), and pepper (if desired).
4. Place chicken on grill; cook, without turning, for 5 minutes. When chicken releases easily from the grill, turn and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
5. Reduce grill heat to low. Brush chicken evenly with honey mixture. Be careful, honey will burn if exposed to flames. Grill until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of each breast reads 160° F. Remove from grill. Let chicken rest 5 minutes before serving.

Note: The FDA suggests cooking chicken to a temperature of 165° F. Chicken will continue to cook after it is removed from heat, so we recommend that it be removed from the grill at 160° F to prevent drying out.

Nutritional Information (per serving):

Calories: 184

Fat: 7 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 67 mg

Sodium: 439 mg

Carbohydrate: 10 g

Fiber: 0 g

Sugar: 9 g

Protein: 23 g