Chicken in Yummy Sauce

Firstly, I will say that the actual title is Chicken in Red Wine Sauce but of course not everyone likes wine, does not like to cook with it and not allowed during the cleanse so I left it out from the title. Read on.. I will say that if your not on the cleanse and have nothing against wine please do yourself a favor and add Pinot Noir wine to this recipe, you're welcome.

Also, I apologize for not including photos for each step, the man was really hungry and I was sort of in a rush

Ingredients:

1 Large Onion peeled and sliced or diced however you prefer

8 oz Mushrooms of your choice 

Chicken Breast, trimmed of excess fat and cut into pieces 

1 cup chicken broth

Tinsy bit of minced garlic or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup of Pinot Noir (skip this if on the cleanse! let your guilty conscience be your guide) 

2 Bay Leaves

Tinsy bit of ground thyme and parsley or fresh if you have it

Take mushrooms and soak them in a bowl of hot water cover with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels works as well while you proceed with the rest of the recipe.

In a large deep skillet over medium heat add your cooking spray not too much! Add onions, at your preference you may take the mushrooms, rinse and slice them or add them straight out of the soak, whatever works for you, then add your chicken pieces. 

Your going to want to brown the chicken which can take up to 15minutes. 

About halfway through this time, add your garlic, and sprinkle salt and pepper 

Spoon and remove any excess fat and add the chicken broth, wine and herbs 

Adjust the heat so the mixture bubbles gently but steadily, cover and cook for about 20minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through. 

Done and Done.

If you try this dish and do not fall crazy in love with it-

1. something is wrong with your taste buds 

        2. something went wrong in the cooking process 

        3.unlike Advocare Satisfaction is not guaranteed :)

Lacking Asian, Asian Vinaigrette

Yesterday Nick DeBaca graced our home with his presence and he had a request for me to add an Asian Vinaigrette Dressing recipe to the blog inspired by a salad from Zin Burger, so as he and Ben went off to the Batcave I began searching online for the actual ingredients from Zin Burger's menu, this is what I found:

Chinese Chicken – $10

Chopped Greens, Orange Segments, Red Peppers, 

Wonton Chips & Asian Vinaigrette

So then I began google searching for "best Asian vinaigrette dressing" and man oh man there are soo many versions of this dressing, and they are loaded in sodium :( So I searched "light asian vinaigrette" and only found one.. at the end of this post I have the links to a few that I found so you may all take a gander and pick one to your liking.

I have not cooked anything asian inspired other then fried rice and orange chicken, but that was about 2 years ago before Ben and I decided to be healthy freaks so naturally I dont really have anything that this dressing takes in my fridge or cabinets such as any oils what so ever, or rice vinegar. So I used what I have and its so dang tasty! Even Ben said "Man, this is real good!" the man's belly is happy so I am HAPPY. Here is my version :)

2 tablespoons of White Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce, I didn't have light so I used the regular 

about a nickel of a size of honey 

a pinch of ground ginger since I didn't have fresh

a pinch of chili powder 

juice of half a lemon 

that's it! 

I forgot to include the lemon in this shot :(

White Balsamic Vinegar 

my favorite! Soy Sauce 

Honey

Ground Ginger

Chili Powder 

Whisk!

end result

Romaine lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell pepper and carrots 

Ben threw in already prepared chicken strips to his plate, I ate just as it was and it's so light and honestly delicious! 

Links

http://www.food.com/recipe/asian-vinaigrette-salad-dressing-114822 - this site actually provides the nutritional facts on their recipe 

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/oilvinegardressings/r/asianvin.htm

http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/recipes/view/6636/Asian-Vinaigrette

http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/asian-ginger-dressing-190933

(24day) Chicken Marinara and Healthy Calabacitas

I felt a bit Italian and Mexican, what can I say? You can always mix these dishes with anything else like brown rice, or steamed veggies or raw veggies for that matter or if you want calabacitas you can grill some chicken, cut it into strips and viola! you get the idea.

Ingredients for Chicken Marinara 

2 chicken breasts 

Buitoni Marinara Sauce All Natural (in the refrigerated section at the grocery) <--that's important for all you on the cleanse! 

Organic Cooking Spray Canola Oil 

Good ol' Pyrex Glass Pan

Preheat the oven for 400 degrees (make sure you check the oven before preheating for those pans you store in there, oh yea we all do it)

If your chicken isn't defrosted go a head and do that now

Once that is done, spray a tad of the cooking spray into the pan and place the chicken in, take a knife and cut slits into the chicken this will allow for all the marinara to seep in and make the chicken juicy 

you may season the chicken during this time if you like, I decided not to since the Marinara is loaded in flavor already. uuh I'll explain the target bag later

pour the sauce over the chicken, cover with aluminum and place in the oven for 45minutes. done.

Ingredients for Calabacitas

2 or however many squashes you want

1 large roma tomato

about half of an onion red or white

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chili Powder is optional of course

Cooking spray for the pan 

First spray your pan with cooking spray, not too much

rinse and have everything in hands reach, this will make things easier and quicker. The target bag is your trash, you're welcome :)

cut off ends of squash and slice through the center, try to cut the slices as thin as possible this will allow the squash to cook faster. After I cut and slice the first squash I turn on the stove at this point, medium heat. 

throw em in and stir them so that you incorporate the cooking spray, cover 

cut the onion and as soon as youre done add this to the squash, your squash should look something like that top photo. this is about 6 minutes  

cut your tomato, it is best not to add them too soon or they will turn to mush, once the squash and onion dont appear "raw" add the tomato, stir, I also add just a bit of minced garlic to the mix, stir.

there is the garlic

a bit of chili powder 

add your salt and pepper and stir, bring heat to a simmer and cover. Give it about 5 minutes and then its done

here is the chicken, I always slice it just to make sure its thoroughly cooked

end result

Vegan Vegetarian- Cook a meatless fillet and take some of the marinara sauce and pour over your fillet. 

Or add Chickpeas to the calabacitas 

(24day) Simple dee do Albacore

*24 Day Challenge or Vegetarian options are at the end of the post*
When Ben come's home claiming he is dying because he is so hungry, I like to fix this meal up for him because its really easy, good and fills him up.

 Ingredients-
Tuna or Albacore (number of cans is your choice, I use 3 so that there is left over for the next day) 
Vegetarian/Vegan-prepare with Chickpeas  
3 or 4 branches of Cilantro
3 sticks of green chives
1 whole Hot House Tomato or 2 Roma Tomatoes
4-5 leaves of Lettuce of your choice
Bell peppers, I used red because it was all I had left in the fridge and I only used half of it, I feel the flavor is beyond strong and over powers everything else if I use more.
1/2 tsp of salt or a pinch whatever works
Dill Weed sprinkled over before you mix
Light mayo is optional, I skip it.

First I rinse and chop everything up in no specific order, I like to chop everything fairly small.

Here is the cilantro and chives

tomato

and that is how I cut my lettuce leaves 

honestly, it smells good already or I am hungry

Red Hot Chili Peppers! just kidding.. 

how pretty! love the colors

oh yea. chicken of the sea or at least you think?...I like to use albacore because there is less water in the can and it has more meat

that is all 3 cans 

add your seasoning 

mix, mix, mix!

If you are on 24 Day Challenge!

You are going through a cleanse. avoid any crackers! to incorporate your carbs in this meal, you can have already prepared brown rice or quinoa say for instance you had left over from yesterday just serve it on the side or mix it along with the other ingredients. Remember! the last meal in the day during the cleanse the carbohydrate is optional.