Barbecue Chicken Salad

I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve eaten this salad daily for the past…oh, two weeks or so. A big serving of protein over a bed of lettuce covered with sautéed red onions and a bit of sweet barbecue sauce, topped with my favorite cheese – mozzarella.

It’s a lighter fare, but still allows me to get some protein and veggies in, while being not too filling so that I can hit the gym not too much later.

Barbecue Chicken Salad:
serves 1

• 3 cups of chopped green leaf lettuce
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 c. (100g) of shredded, cooked, chicken breast, chicken thigh, or a combo of two
• 1 T. barbecue sauce (I used Bone Suckin’ Sauce, original)
• 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella
• coconut or olive oil
• fresh ground black pepper

I like to bake chicken breast and thighs ahead of time and once they’re cooled turn them into shredded chicken. I love dark meat chicken to bring a bunch of flavor to chicken breast.

Heat a bit of oil in a cast iron pan over medium-low to medium heat, and saute the red onion. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until warmed.

While this cooks, chop your lettuce, and spread on a dinner plate.

Place the cooked chicken and onion in a bowl and top with 1 T. of BBQ sauce. Pour on top of the bed of lettuce, top with shredded cheese, and fresh ground black pepper, if so desired.

My Favorite Breakfasts

I love breakfast – hands down it is my favorite meal of the day. Starting my morning off with a big bowl of creamy oats, especially in the winter, is the best way to start my day. Oh and coffee, of course.

Some recent breakfasts I’ve been enjoying:

Greek yogurt with a crumbled blueberry muffin and frozen blueberries:

Pumpkin oats with homemade sunflower seed butter & jelly + sliced almonds:

…eaten quite a few times…

Pumpkin oats loaded up with Nuttzo, dark chocolate chips, hemp seeds, shredded coconut, and vanilla spice hemp protein.

What are your favorite breakfasts?

Baking: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a baking itch this past weekend. What’s better than a fresh baked cookie? Not much! Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, mix-ins. Using your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe (technically it was a mesquite flour chocolate chip cookie recipe), and then assembling extra ingredients to make a variety of different combos.

Gather your ingredients.

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and the vanilla. Slowly add in the flour in batches. Then divide the dough.

My combos:

• Chocolate chip (classic!)
• Chocolate chip pecan
• Goji pecan
• Oatmeal raisin
• Oatmeal raisin pecan

Using a cookie scoop (or a spoon), place on a baking sheet. Note: I placed them close together so I could freeze them, so I’d have my own “break and bake” - minus the breaking – in the freezer. Fresh baked cookies in a moments notice, but made from scratch? Yes, please!

The key is in a little creativity. Get baking!

Country Breakfast

I’ve been sick the past couple days, laying in bed missing school. My appetite has been lacking for the most part, but this morning I was finally feeling up to breakfast. This is a favorite of mine from when I was a kid, and it just made me feel better having my favorite breakfast.

Two eggs, over medium, a slice of toast with butter and strawberry jelly, 2 chicken sausage links and a slice of turkey bacon.

Not from my childhood but a current favorite: greek yogurt with a banana and a Clif Kidz Zbar (Chocolate Brownie flavor) with coffee.

What was your favorite childhood breakfast?

I also loved oatmeal – strawberries and cream, apple cinnamon, or maple brown sugar. Oatmeal is still one of my favorite adult breakfasts.

Banana Cream Pie

 

Banana Cream Pie
serves 1

• 1 egg
• 85g greek yogurt
• 4g protein power (or flour)
• stevia, to taste
• cinnamon to taste
• 55g (~1/2) banana

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a small baking dish.

Whisk the egg together. Add the greek yogurt and protein powder – combine until mixed. Add the stevia, cinnamon and the banana.

Bake @ 350F for 30 minutes, then turn off oven and let it remain another 20-30 minutes. Place in the fridge at least 4 hours or overnight.

 

 

Topped with greek yogurt, strawberry jelly, sliced almonds and chocolate chips:

Alternatively just eat it out of the bowl.

 

Leek and Potato Soup

 

One of my favorite things about winter is soup. When it’s cold outside, nothing warms me up more.

I love making a big pot and having it on hand – pairing with sandwiches, using it to dip food in.

On the menu from the weekend was a homemade Leek & Potato Soup:

Leek & Potato Soup

• 2-3 leeks, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large or 2-3 small potatoes, chopped
• chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 bay leaf

Heat a medium sized pot over medium low heat. Add a bit of olive or coconut oil. Saute the leeks and garlic for about 5 minutes until they start to brown. Add the potatoes and enough broth to cover. Simmer for 45 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Blend everything in a blender (lid on, but cap removed to let steam release – cover with a towel to prevent it from spilling). Pour back into the pot.

I served mine with some turkey bacon and shredded cheese. Perfect!

What’s your favorite soup?

 

 

Thursday Meals

 

Crumbled Udi’s GF Blueberry Muffin, frozen bloobz, greek yogurt.

Homemade roast beef, open-faced sammie, chicken noodle soup, clif kidz zbar:

 

Chicken and waffles (my current favorite meal!), homemade cranberry sauce, peas with butter:

Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Brownie Froyo with 2 Udi’s GF Chocolate Chip Cookies:

On a cut too. PR-ed my DB bench yesterday (30lbs 4×8) and one arm DB row (50lbs x 8). Killing it in the gym still.

See you later!