Sam gave me a new recipe book titled "Gourmet Nutrition" the cookbook for the fit food lover.
I've been wanting for some time to improve what Dan and I eat. Our problem as of late...is time! We never know where we might be for dinner and what time. {During nut season we have no set schedule ..so it's eat quick or don't eat.}
Which leads to a lot of bad food choices....plus, it's a habit hard to break once the season slows down.
We both hate diet foods....no flavor and boring. Our thought.... If you hate your food whats the point?
In comes Sam with the gourmet recipe book.
I looked through it and everything looks good and has easy to find ingredients. {nothing I have to travel to china to get =)
Plus, nothing takes longer than 30 min. to prepare; most are 10 to 15 min. Most everything is under 500 calories per serving even for the large portion.
Now we are testing/tasting it out.....Our number one rule....Must taste good.
To work I go-
- Build a meal plan
- Shop for supplies...WinCo had everything I needed.-{buying lots of whole foods etc.}
- Plan ahead
I know eating this way is however, somewhat more involved and requires a little bit more focus and commitment on my part....but... I'm up for the challenge.
{also, now that we are empty Nester's...we can be a little more adventurist with our food}
First on this weeks menu- I will be pairing these two together.
Baked coconut Chicken strips- 5 min preparation time, 15 cooking- 205 calories
Portobello Pizzas- 5 min preparation time, 10 cooking- 271 calories
For a total of 476 calories- Danny's servings will be larger, making his calories total a little bit more.
Portobello Pizza Recipe.
Ingredients- 3 Portobello mushrooms
- 1 cup salsa
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions-
Preheat oven to 400. Place the mushroom, upside down, on a baking try and top each one evenly with salsa then pine nuts and then parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Fresh Tomato Salsa I used- Preparation time 5-8 min
Ingredients-
Vine-ripened tomato {small diced} 3/4 cup
Red onion finely chopped 1/4 cup
corn 1/4 cup
Black beans {cooked or canned, drained} 1/4 cup ( I cooked mine}
Fresh garlic minced 1 tsp.
Fresh cilantro 1 tbsp
Salt 1 pinch
Pepper 1 pinch
Chili powder 1 pinch
Instructions-
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss until well combined. Look at it for three minutes, while thinking "that was easy" Then serve or store.
25 calories per serving.
Baked Chicken Strips-
Ingredients
-
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 pinches salt
1 pinch pepper
1 pinch paprika
1 egg
2 T. water
1/2 c. whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 c. grated coconut
olive oil cooking spray
Instructions-
Preheat oven to 350. Season chicken evenly with salt, pepper and paprika. Add the egg and water to a mixing bowl, whisk together well and set aside. Mix the breadcrumbs and coconut together in a separate mixing bowl and set aside. Dip the chicken in the egg and toss until coated completely. Remove and allow excess to drip off for 1 or 2 seconds and then place directly into the breadcrumbs/coconut mixture. Roll until nicely coated. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with spray and place the strips onto the tray and then into the oven. Bake until golden brown or cooked through (about 15 minutes} you can remove the largest strip and cut it in half to check doneness.
204 calories per serving size. (3-4 pieces of chicken}
The nice thing I noticed about most of the recipes, you can make ahead of time freeze or store. For later use.
Since most recipes are for 4....makes perfect since to use the left overs for lunch the next day.....
meaning I only need really plan and prepare dinner..... Happy Day
Other recipes we will be trying this week-
Breakfast quiches
Banana Cream Pie oatmeal
Ranchers omelet
Spaghetti squash spaghetti
Lamb chili
Ground Turkey Casserole
Presto chicken Pizza
Coconut cauliflower mash.
To name a few. I will share our favorite recipe at the end of the week.
Taste test number one very good.... I will be making these again! and they are Danny approved!
Happy day
