Tag Archives: dinner

October 24, 2012 · 10:20 PM

Chicken Scarpiello with Fusilli

Did you know that this month is National Pasta Month? I certainly didn’t and I almost felt ashamed because I am Italian and I do LOVE me some pasta! I can thank the lovely @ComplicatedMama, @PastaFits and the #PastaFits hashtag over on Twitter, for pointing this out to me. In celebration and to get in the spirit of the #PastaFits Twitter party, I whipped up one of my favorite recipes for dinner:

Chicken Scarpiello with Fusilli

Chicken Scarpiello with Fusilli

Ingredients:

  • 1 Large Jar of Roasted Red Peppers
  • 1 Chicken cut into parts (I actually cheat and use chicken tenders cut into chunks)
  • 1 Pound of Sweet Sausage, cut into pieces
  • 3 cups of white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of flour
  • 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
  • 3 cups of Chicken Broth
  • 1 cup of homemade tomato sauce or good quality store bought sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley or (1 tablespoon of dried)
  • Fusilli Pasta (or similiar shaped pasta)
  • Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt & Fresh Cracked Pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Cut the peppers into 1/4 inch strips and set aside.
  2. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and reserve.
  3. Add the sausage to the skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes. (Reduce the heat as needed to keep the skillet from burning). Toss in the mushrooms and cook along with the sausage, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the peppers and stir in the flour. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in the vinegar, broth and tomato sauce and bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Return the chicken to the skillet along with any juices. Cover and simmer, gently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes (a little less if using the chicken tenders method like I tend to).
  6. While everything simmers, prepare the pasta according to the package directions for Al Dente. Strain and toss with the chicken, sausage and sauce.
  7. Garnish with parsley and parmagiano cheese.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it comes together really quick and easy. I love that this dish makes a lot of left overs for my family and I love most pasta dishes even better the next day.

Do you have a favorite pasta dish? Worried about enjoying pasta while trying to reach your fitness goals? Don’t be! It’s all about portion control and making some simple substitutions to lighten up some of the heavier, more calorie dense recipes out there.

blog sig

4 Comments

Filed under Main Course, Recipes

Tagged as , , ,

October 16, 2012 · 9:13 AM

Baked Ranch Chicken Fingers

Football season means finger foods, chips, salsa and beer! It also means a lazy day in my house, but I don’t like to toss out all of the hard work I’ve accomplished all week, nor do I like to give up all of the foods that I enjoy. I’ve been avoiding the beer and trying to keep the finger foods on the healthier side, which can be tricky, but I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe. It’s not picture perfect, but when compared to the deep-fried ones you might normally pull from your freezer and heat up, or order at your local sports bar, they are a gift from heaven. Plus, you can feel like you are cheating without all of the guilt!

Baked Ranch Chicken Fingers
(Makes 6 Servings)

Baked Ranch Chicken Fingers – served with baked sweet potato fries and bbq sauce.

Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts (sliced into strips) – or a package of chicken tenderloins
1 cup corn flakes (crushed)
¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 (1 ounce) packet Hidden Valley dry ranch dressing mix
1 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 egg

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray.

In a shallow dish combine crushed corn flakes, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper, and dry ranch dressing mix.  In a small bowl beat together eggs and milk.

Dip each chicken strip into the egg/milk mixture and then roll in the crushed corn flakes/ranch dressing mixture. Repeat until all of your chicken strips are well coated.

Place chicken onto your coated baking sheet and bake, uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through ( internal temperature 165 degrees).

This recipes is really quick and simple, plus it goes great with some baked sweet potato fries. I have made it a few times already and even my son, who is a VERY picky eater LOVES them!

What are your healthy football snacks?

blog sig

Leave a comment

Filed under Main Course, Recipes

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

September 22, 2012 · 9:16 AM

{ Fitness Friday }

Yeah, yeah, yeah….I know. It’s Saturday. This week has been a hectic one for me so this post is a day late. Sue me.

This week I conquered the new Phase 2 workouts, CST (Chest, Shoulders & Triceps) as well as, Back & Biceps. My arms have felt sore as hell all week from them, especially my triceps since Tony neglects to stretch the triceps BEFORE you begin the workout! I forgot all about that since it’s been a while since I’ve done P90X, but a mental note has been made and I’ll be sure to stretch them before I start the workout on Monday. Back & Biceps had me feeling a little weak. I don’t know if it is because my arms were already fatigued from work on Wednesday, if my biceps really are not as strong as I thought they were or a combination of both, but I felt defeated at the end when I couldn’t finish the last move, which I believe were called Strip-Set Curls.

Overall, this week felt pretty good and I know I have to really “bring it” this month so I can see more results. This week was just kinda shaky as I started it off not feeling well due to a slight cold and I was mentally not stoked to workout each night. Thankfully I have been doing this round with the hubs so we keep each other going.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter & Instagram might have noticed I haven’t been doing my plank challenge, and I didn’t reach my goal. Well, I started to feel like I tweaked my left shoulder and the scar from my surgery (which is still healing) started turning a very angry purple color, so I decided to back off and give my body a break. The P90X workouts I’m doing are hard enough on my still healing body, especially since my rest week workouts focused on my core. I’ve been doing shorter planks in the workouts, just not pushing to the point of injury!

As for nutrition, I messed up yesterday and forgot to eat lunch because I was busy trying to finish things at work. I should know better than to do this, but it happens. I ended up with an awful headache (which sucked) but I managed to live and get my workout done with it. The rest of the week was pretty good and I did have a “cheat day” last weekend. We went out for dinner and drinks with some friends. I had a burger, fries and a few beers and I enjoyed every bite of it! NomNomNom!

This weeks goals are to plan our dinners and prep them all in advanced to make my life easier. I planned everything out two weeks ago and had all of the ingredients on hand and it really helped. I want to take it a step further and have everything prepped and in bags, already measured out and labeled. I always do better when I’m organized and I’m at the point where nutrition trumps workouts, so this could really benefit me and help me reach my goals quicker.

I’d also like to find the time to run. I haven’t ran since the Walk With Joe 5K, two weeks ago. The weather has been perfect for running, but between me not being a morning workout person, work and it getting darker earlier, I’ve failed to do it. I know, that is a lot of excuses, but it’s all true.

As always, I welcome those of you who take the time to read my posts to share your week in fitness and your upcoming goals with me. I’d really love to hear what you have going on too!

blog sig

2 Comments

Filed under Health & Fitness, Tummy Tuck

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 28, 2012 · 10:37 PM

Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

I’ve been on a hunt for clean eating recipes this week and tonight I decided to give this one a shot. I’m usually willing to try anything with a Mexican flair to it so I didn’t think twice about tossing everything into the slow cooker and heading out the door without a back up plan for dinner.

Easy Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

Mexican Chicken Tostada

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (trimmed of any excess fat)
3-4 Tbs of Homemade Taco Seasoning (recipe to follow)
1 cup of Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and make sure the chicken is coated with all of the spices. Arrange in a single layer the best you can, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. The chicken will shred easily when it is fully cooked.

I happened to have some fresh limes in the house, so after shredding the chicken, I squeezed some lime juice over it, stirred and placed the lid back on to keep things warmed while I prepped the rest of dinner.

Homemade Taco Seasoning:

This is so quick and easy to make! No need for all of the sodium, MSG and preservatives that are included in those big name packets of taco seasoning.

2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder

You can store this in an air tight jar or mini tupperware and have it ready for easy use. Use about 1 Tbsp of seasoning for each pound of meat when making tacos.

Oddly enough, I had never tried a tostada before so I decided that’s how I would serve this up. I just tossed some whole wheat organic tortillas in a 350 degree oven, directly on the rack (make sure they don’t bend between the grate) for about 5-7 minutes per side, and then topped them with the chicken, organic salsa, corn, guacamole, lettuce and chopped tomato.

I’m hoping to try some more slow cooker recipes over the next week to prepare myself for the back to school craziness. Do you have a healthy slow cooker recipe you love? If so, please share it with me!

blog sig

Leave a comment

Filed under Main Course, Recipes

Tagged as , , , , , , ,