Diet - Easy And Tasty Recipe #5

Gee, its been awhile since I've shared a recipe on here. March 20th was the last time I posted a diet suggestion. Today I have a new one for you, and its part of the nutrition plan that I have been following for about a month now.

Curry Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
lettuce, chopped
cucumber, diced
red pepper, diced
onion, diced
zero or low fat cheese (2 small slices, cubed)
one hard boiled egg, peeled and sliced
3oz chicken
zero or low fat balsamic dressing
1 tsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp crushed coriander seed
salt and pepper to taste

Gently saute the chicken in a pan with 1 tbsp of olive or canola oil. Add the curry, cumin, turmeric and coriander when the chicken has browned. Add 1 tbsp of water and cover and simmer.

Meanwhile; assemble your salad by layering the lettuce, cucumber, pepper and onion in a salad bowl. Garnish with the egg and cubed cheese.

Slice the chicken when finished cooking and add to the salad.

Top with 1 tbsp of balsamic dressing.

Enjoy!! 

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Nutrition Plan: Update

I finally have an update for you on the nutrition plan I have been following. Its been going very well. I am finding that the meals are actually quite tasty even if they are incredibly simple. Some of the combinations seem a bit unconventional, but once you try it you discover although it seems a bit weird, it actually tastes pretty good. Such as the combo of canned tuna with a sweet potato.

I think the trick is being able to stick to the plan. Just like any plan, of course!!

So I typed out the first days' meal offerings for your reading amusement:

As you see, and as I noted previously, the focus of this nutrition plan is on protein, low fat, low carbs and metabolism boosting foods.

I've already discovered ways of making the grocery list easier on your wallet. The yogurt can be found at any grocery store; BUT it is almost half the price at discount department stores who also now offer grocery shopping. One store in particular, which is found all across Canada and the US also has the best price on the liquid egg whites. Almonds I found for $3 in a large container at my No Name brand grocery store. The chicken is the most expensive item on the list, however if you are saavy, you can save on this too. I have a farmers market type-grocer in my city that offers amazing deals on meats. I tend to stock up when I visit there.

Another thing to keep in mind is look for items that are low in fat. The Greek yogurt has 18 grams of protein per 3/4 cup serving; most other yogurts offer 4 or 8 grams. This is available in regular fat and 0% fat. Always get 0%. I also opted for the plainer flavours, vanilla or honey as the calorie count was lower.

For the almonds, always buy raw almonds. They are lower in calories and higher in protein.

The tuna should always be packed in water. Does anyone still buy it in oil?? Tuna is relatively cheap and can often be found really cheap when its on sale. Stock up.

Something else I should note. Today I ran out of sweet potatoes. So instead of having the 1/2 sweet potato with my tuna, I substituted 1/2 cup of lentils. The lentils were the canned kind. I did not compare the nutritional data before deciding on the substitution. Lets check now to see how I did:

1/2 cup Lentils (canned)

calories - 115

fat - .5 grams

carbs - 20 grams

fibre - 8 grams

sugars - 2 grams

protein - 9 grams

1/2 sweet potato

calories - 103

fat - 0 grams

carbs - 24 grams

fibre - 4 grams

sugars - 7 grams

protein - 2 grams

hmm.......well, not a perfect substitute but not a terrible one. Lentils have more fibre, less sugar and more protein. I suppose overall its not a bad choice. Which is great, because for some reason I have several cans of these in my pantry.  I used this web site to check the nutritional values: Nutritional values Checker

I think the point of this nutritional plan is to eventually teach me how to make better food choices and establishing new and better habits by eating smaller meals more frequently through the day. For some odd reason, we in North America have adapted the habit of having our largest and heaviest meal in the evening. Which, as you can imagine, is probably not the best idea. This give our body little time to digest and even less time to burn off all the mindless calories we consumed at such an ungodly hour. LOL!!

Anyway, change is good. Embrace it. Well, at least try it!!!!!!!!

always remember, don't sweat the small stuff!!!

Diet - Easy and Tasty Recipe #1

I love Blogger, I only wish I could choose what page I want my posts to appear. Then, I could catagorize my posts into; Workout Updates, Freedom - updates on my journey to being smoke-free, Diet - Tips, food prep ideas and recipies. But until they introduce this into blogger, I will have to make do with all my posts being on the same page.
And now to the topic at hand!!
Today I enjoyed a tasty, healthy easy-to-prepare lunch. I'm not a nutritionist or a chef, just a normal average woman. I am creative, and was able to throw together a few ingredients and create a nice meal. Below are the ingredients and general preparation for a dish that had a Thai-like taste. Enjoy!

 Ginger and Orange Chicken
serves 2
2 - skinned and deboned chicken breasts
1 orange (grate rind set aside, cut in half, remove skin from half and dice, set other half aside)
1 brown mushroom silced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup red pepper (roasted or fresh) diced
1/4 cup chicken stock (low sodium or homemade)
sea salt and black pepper
rice stick noodles (thin or thick; whatever your preference)

• Heat 1 tbsp of canola or olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add chicken and sear both sides till slightly brown. Remove chicken from pan and let rest. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Add to the saucepan the mushroom, red pepper and ginger. Saute until mushrooms are lighty cooked.

• Meanwhile bring medium pot of water to boil and cook rice noodles until done. Drain noodles and set aside.
• Add chicken back into the pan when mushrooms are lightly cooked. Add grated orange rind and chicken stock. Cover pan and simmer lightly for 5-10 mins or until chicken is nearly done. Remove lid and finish cooking chicken, sauce will thicken slightly.
• Place noodles on plate and arrange chicken on top, with sauted vegetables and sauce from pan. Squeeze the 1/2 orange that was not diced onto the chicken and add the diced oranges to the plate.

Serve and enjoy!!