Low Carb Chicken Parm

Low Carb, 21 Day Fix Approved, Chicken Parmesan

This was a total throw together dinner. I had some chicken and broccoli slaw in the fridge and BAM. Here we go. 

Ingredients 
Chicken
Broccoli Slaw
Diced tomato (Canned)
minced garlic
Mozz Cheese 
EVOO
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Oregano 
Parsley
Basil
Crushed Red Pepper (optional) 


First, start by preheating your oven to 350. 

While it's heating, toss your chicken in:
EVOO
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Oregano 
Parsley
Basil
Crushed Red Pepper (optional) 

Lay your chicken on a baking pan and cook for 12 minutes. Flip the chicken after 12 minutes and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.  Continue baking for another 15-20 minutes until your chicken is cooked through. 

While this is cooking - In a large pan spray with cooking spray and let heat. Add 1/4 cup of water and broccoli slaw. Cook for 7-8 minutes until the broccoli becomes tender. Then add one can of diced tomatoes, and 1 tbsp of minced garlic. You may also add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and onion powder to taste. Let this cook for 5 minutes or so until all the flavors have come together. 

Serve the broccoli slaw mixture with your chicken. I melted one string cheese over my chicken. 

This was really good and surprisingly filling!! 

Fix friends - measure your broccoli slaw for 1 green or 2 green, whichever you prefer and i usually count 2 - 2.5 chicken tenders as 1 red <3 Happy eating!

Hammer and Chisel - Week 2

My recap of Week 2....

Well that was a complete bust. 

Monday - went to lunch with co-workers, which I did really well with!! I got Mediterranean Chicken Pita Tacos and instead of the side of grain I got brussel sprouts. 

Mediterranean Chicken Pita Tacos

Seasoned grilled chicken breast, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, feta cheese and cilantro tossed in red wine vinaigrette and drizzled with Greek yogurt crema in a chargrilled pita. 

However, I worked super late and didn't go home due to the snow we were going to get so I ate 1/2 a burger, some fries, and some chicken tenders.

Tuesday - I ate my meals according to plan. I worked super late and did my workout when I got home. It was 9pm by the time I finished so I had my shakeology with banana and spinach for dinner. 

Wednesday - I went to lunch for my bday with some coworkers and we went to get mexican. I ate a whole burrito like my life depended on it. WHY?! I don't even know. Then I wasn't hungry the rest of the day or for dinner. I had left over ribs, ground turkey and some noodles.  I did however do my workout and 1/2 of Cardio Fix from the 21 Day Fix!

Thursday - my boss came to town and we have a meeting during lunch. I ordered a chicken sandwich and had some fries. I mainly ate the fries because I was craving them since my friend told me she stopped at McDonalds for a coke that morning.

Friday - I met my brother for lunch and I got a salad - dressing on side and barely used it. However, we split a fried app. It was just me for dinner and I definitely over indulged. I have found that when I work out in the morning and come home to relax I get the urge to snack!! Please tell me I'm not alone. 

Saturday - My bday celebration. I started my day well with a workout and Shakeology and ended it with beer, wine, and shots. Always a winning combination. 

Here is to a better week three. I took some progress pictures at the start of week three to kick my butt into shape. 

Hammer & Chisel Week 1

Hammer and Chisel Week One Recap A little bit of a delayed post because work got crazy. This is how my week 1 went....

• Monday - Wed I was on point. I did really well and stuck to my plan. 
• Thursday - I went to DC during the day to see a comedian with one of my friends. We did a lot of walking... 22,000 steps. I also did not eat well.... well I barely ate at all. I had lots of adult beverages that day. 
• Friday - I stuck to my plan!
• Saturday - my birthday!! I went to Brunch and then to my parents for dinner. I had lots of wine and two cupcakes. 
• Sunday - Super Bowl. I ran to the store when I woke up with Shakeology in hand. Then I made a wrap when I got home. I had some of the butternut squash mac n cheese - I made Friday night for dinner. (Pictured below) For the game I had a couple beers, grilled wings, grilled ribs, and sweet potato fries made at home!

For the Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese use this recipe....

For this week I got an awesome new planner for a discount that has an insert for fitness! It's perfect for meal planning and writing your weekly goals! Here is the link PLANNER

Last week I did each work out and utilized the Beachbody Performance Line, which I have found helps me with my sore muscles and I sleep a lot better. If my muscles are tight and sore I tend to wake up a bunch. I am super excited that last week I was able to increase my weights from when I originally started and felt like some of the workouts were harder than my first time around!

I feel like I am starting to tone a lot, but I really wish I just didn't feel so bloated / belly. I think this will go away with time. I don't think drinking this weekend helped that at all!

My hurdles this week...

• Co-worker wanted to take me to lunch on Monday 
• Co-worker wanted to take me to lunch on Wednesday
• I had a project going out early Wednesday morning and had to work tons of overtime Monday and Tuesday
• Birthday celebration at the bars on Saturday
• Most likely hungover Sunday.

I will make it work though!! I'm excited to report back next week on how I did.

Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese - my take on it

Who is with me that eating "clean" can be difficult?! Well now you can get a veggie serving in with your mac n cheese. I will be honest with you - if you are looking for Mac n Cheese that is like 100% mac n cheese this isn't for you. It's a bit different than the normal AMAZING mac n cheese, but it's still yummy!!

I followed this recipe by Martha Stewart to make my version of this... 
http://www.marthastewart.com/337716/macaroni-and-cheese-with-butternut-squas

The ingredients she uses are listed below - my changes are in red next to what she used.

• 1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock, skimmed of fat - I used organic chicken broth... didn't have stock at home.
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat milk - Unsweetened Almond Milk
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper - I didn't have this so I used cajun seasoning
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt - no salt added
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound elbow macaroni - Whole Wheat Pasta
• 4 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated (about 1 cup)
• 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated (1 ounce)
• 2 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs - left the breadcrumbs off! Who needs them when you have "cheese"!
• 1 teaspoon olive oil - didn't use
• Olive-oil, cooking spray - didn't use
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese - I had cottage cheese on hand so that is what I used.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Combine squash, stock, and milk in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Mash contents (I used this potato masher)of saucepan; stir in nutmeg, cayenne, and salt, and season with black pepper. Stir to combine.
3. While this was cooking I cooked some turkey bacon to add! YUMMMM!!! Plus protein. You could do turkey sausage, chicken, broccoli, onion.... the options are endless!! 
4. Cook your noodles according to the packaging. 
5. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl; stir in squash mixture, cheddar, ricotta, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. (Make sure you have a large enough bowl... I didn't at first so I had to clean 2 bowls.)
6. Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking dish (4 inches deep) with cooking spray. Transfer noodle mixture to dish. In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and oil; sprinkle evenly over noodle mixture. (Like I said you don't need the bread crumbs, but an alternative would be Panko Breadcrumbs)
7. Cover with foil, and bake 20 minutes. - This should be ample amount of time if you don't have the bread crumbs. I didn't use foil when I cooked mine. I also added some HOT SAUCE on mine for some more flavor.
8. Remove foil, and continue baking until lightly browned and crisp on top, 30 to 40 minutes more. Serve immediately.

Hammer and Chisel - Prep

I've been having a hard time staying on track lately. I haven't been meal planning or prepping. TOTAL FAILURE when I don't do that. I decided for the next 8 weeks I will be posting my meal plan and meal prep for the week to help myself stay accountable AND hopefully help others that are struggling too. 

DAY ONE PICTURES:

First thing to know. This is my second attempt at Hammer and Chisel (Hammer and Chisel Link here ) because I got sick week 3. The results I was seeing in definition were insane.  So I'm ready to commit to my nutrition to see even better results. I also plan to use the Beachbody Performance Line this time too for my best results.

Second. I've basically let myself go and feel disgusting. I'm at my heaviest in 2.5 years. I'm getting married in October and want to be toned. 

Third. I'm ok if I don't lose pounds, but lose some inches and tone up. Muscle weighs more. 

Four. My fiance is doing the program with me, but I have to prep for both of us. SHEW.

So here is the workouts for the week: 
Monday - Chisel Balance
Tuesday - Hammer Plyo
Wednesday - Iso Strenght
Thursday - REST!
Friday - Iso Speed Hammer
Saturday - Chisel Endurance
Sunday - Total Body Hammer & 10 Min Ab Hammer

FOOD PLAN:

How am I going to accomplish all this food!?

SIMPLE PREP!

I woke up Sunday morning and started right away. 

First thing I did was pull out the George Forman grill. I like the chicken grilled more than baked. You can marinate your chicken before grilling :) 

Second - grabbed my laptop and put Friends on Netflix to keep me company!

Third - while my chicken cooked I prepped my salads I got some awesome containers from Amazon. The small part is exactly a protein serving! 

Fourth - I made my fiances sandwiches while more chicken cooked. 

Fifth - Sliced the chicken so it would be easy to eat for lunch

Six - slice my strawberries and portion my carrots and celery

Seven - portion my oatmeal for the week

These are my hurdles for this week:
1. Monday - Office Pizza Party
2. Thursday - Going to see a comedian mid day - yes I took off work for a fun day with a friend
3. Saturday - My Birthday - Last one of my 20's eeeek
4. Sunday - Super Bowl Snacks!!! 

Stay tuned until next week to see how this week go and to find out what I will be making next week!

Clean Eating on a Budget

Clean eating can be expensive. We all know this, but so can eating like crap. Here are my suggestions for eating clean on a budget.... 

First. Make a meal plan so that you are not buying unnecessary things or throwing away food that goes bad.

Second. Look at the deals before you go to the store. Most stores are now allowing you to load coupons to your rewards card. 

Third. I recently downloaded an app called Ibotta (click here to check it out) which allows you to select rebates before you shop, then you verify the purchase, send a picture of your receipt and you will be awarded money. When you hit $20 you can cash out by sending it to paypal or venmo. Here is the cool thing - they have a whole bunch of bonuses, which you don't know about until you start using it. For example the first time I shopped I got an extra $5 bonus! When I got $5 with of bonuses in one shopping trip they gave me a free $5. It starts to add up. The cool thing with this app is it will let you buy produce and get money! I have got money on apples, onion, lettuce, tomato, lemon, green pepper, banana's! It also lets you add generic things such as any brand yogurt, cheese, eggs, milk. So you can really save if you have an additional coupon or there is a sale going on. Also there is an app called Checkout 51. I haven't had much success with it, but others have.

Four. Try shopping at Costco or BJ's for deals. They also accept coupons. I buy items in bulk at a cheaper price and freeze them. This is especially good for buying meat. 

Five. You don't always have to buy fresh produce. You can buy frozen veggies and save money!

Six. Check out your local paper and see if they are running any deals for signing up. We get the Sunday paper with coupons for less than $1 a paper. I usually save a few dollars each time I go with the coupons I've clipped.

Seven. There are stores like Aldi that have items at a discounted rate. I don't have one near my house anymore, but it's a good store to save money in. 

My best advice is to make a plan and stick to it. Don't go to the store hungry. Avoid the middle isles. Sure the two bags of chips for $6 sounds great, but let's be serious those things start to add up. Don't forget to check out Ibotta. It's been my money saver lately and I'm totally loving it. 

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

I saw something like this on Pinterest, but kind of did my own thing. I am not a huge lasagna fan and my boyfriend is not a huge spaghetti squash fan, but figured I'd give it a whirl anyways. (It has cheese in it - so couldn't hurt).  Let me tell you how amazing it is and I can't wait to make it again.  My boyfriend has already requested it be added to our dinner rotation. 

It takes about 5 min to prep the squash, and total cooking time 50 minutes to an hour.

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash
Cottage Cheese 2%
Ground Turkey
Tomato Paste (8 oz)
Mozzarella Cheese 
Basil 
Oregano
(other Italian spices you enjoy) 

Directions: 
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F 

2. Slice your spaghetti squash in half long ways.  Scoop out the seeds and gook in the middle, like you would a pumpkin. 

3. Rub the inside of the spaghetti squash with some olive oil.

4. Place the inside of the spaghetti squash face down so the outside of the squash is outward.

5. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

6. While that is cooking - chop an onion.  I didn't measure this you can put a little bit or a lot of onion depending on your taste.  I'd say I used about 1/4 a cup.  Put the onion in a pan with some olive oil and let it start to cook.

7. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic to the pan and let that cook for 2 minutes or so with the onion.

8. Add 1 package of ground turkey - about 1 lb. and cook that with the onion and garlic.  Add your spices to the meat at this point and let it cook with the turkey.  I did about 10 leaves of fresh basil chopped and about 1 tsp of oregano. 

9. Once the turkey is cooked add tomato paste and mix it with the turkey, onion, garlic mixture. 

10. Set this aside so the tomato paste does not burn.

11. When your Spaghetti Squash is finished take it out and flip the squash over so the inside is facing up. 

12. Using 2 forks - one to hold the squash in place and the other to scrape the squash into "noodles"

13. Once you have most of the squash scraped - I moved it all to one side and added a spoonful of cottage cheese and a spoonful of the meat mix.  Then move the squash on top and fill in the other side. I then added a layer of cheese - you do not need a lot of cheese just a light sprinkle over the top.  Then add a layer of meat, then another thin layer of cottage cheese and sprinkle of cheese. 

14. Put this back in the oven for about 10 minutes. 

15. ENJOY!

I mixed mine up inside the spaghetti squash before I ate it so I got a good mixture of squash, turkey, cottage cheese and cheese! 

To make 21 Day Fix Approved you can measure out the turkey mixture you add in 1 red, cottage cheese in 1 red, cheese in 1 blue, and the squash as 2 green.