Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa and Tostones

Grilled Chicken with a Mango Salsa

I will go into the Tostones in a second.

Here's what you need:

Seasoned chicken, ready to grill (go with a subtle/salty flavor)

2 Ripe Mangos (or peaches)

1/2 cup finely diced red pepper

1/4 cup finely diced white onion

2 tbsp chopped jarred jalapeno

2 tbsp cilantro leaves

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 salt

Grill chicken. (Sorry I'm not more specific but my hubby did the chicken)

Salsa is simple: assemble!

Serve immediately on top of chicken and enjoy!

Calores: 196, 19 g Carbs, 7 g fat, 28 g Protein, 4 g Fiber

And TOSTONES!

Tostones are a hispanic side dish (I guess like fries to Americans) that are amazing and come from plantains.

There are many ways to cook a plantain and this is one of the more popular way of cooking them.

There are 3 stages of a plantains life. 

Green: great for salty/garlic-y dishes.

Yellow: Great for a bit sweeter dish, like Amarillo.

Black: Great for making desserts.

For Tostones I wait til the plantain turns a pinch yellow to have a little sweetness added but most make Tostones with a green plantain.

What you need:

Green Plantains

Oil

Frying pan

Plantain squisher... I don't know what it's called. Or you can use a plate and the bottom of a cup, or 2 plates.

First, chop off the ends of the plantain and make a slit along the inner plantain. Peel away the... peel.

If you are having trouble peeling:

My grandma taught me this move. Place your plantain in a sink full of hot water and let sit for a minute or two and then peel it. It should come right off!

Chop up your plantain into 3-4 pieces and place in a pan of hot oil. 

Cook for a minute and flip

Flip all the way around

Using your 2 plates or your squisher-er...

Flatten!

Place back into hot oil.

Let cook each side for a minute or two until golden.

Place on a napkin to soak up excess oil.

Sprinkle salt and garlic on them.

Optional:

My family like eating these with a 'dip' 

Mix together vinegar, oil, salt and garlic. 

It's a strong flavor, but it goes great with these tostones!

Tostones aren't the best for low calorie meal, but they are an every once in a while treat.

For 3 pieces:

170 Calories, 37 g Carbs, 2 g Fat, 1 g Protein, 9 g Fiber

Enjoy!

How to Gain Motivation

I got hit with a triple dose of lethargy recently.

I don't know what happened. I was burning 1000+ calories a day, eating awesome, feeling great, motivation out the wazoo, then BAM! Couch , TV and ice cream, you say? Sounds wonderful! Maybe I burned myself out, maybe I just needed a break. But this is no time for a break. I'm running the Color Me Rad Run this Saturday! I need fuel! 

So for the last week, I've been working out a little here, a little there. But nothing like I was used to and I dreaded every moment of it. So, you won't believe what I did: I had a crazy splurge on acid day. My husband and I went to this amazing burger joint and had THE MOST amazing burger of my life... with a bun :( BUT I did get sweet potato fries instead of the regular fries. Then I had ice cream and more snacks than I care to mention. If someone had thrown a pizza in my face I probably would have eaten it all. I over did it like crazy. But... it worked! 

Today I woke up and had some scrambled egg whites with some sauteed onions, peppers and turkey sausage and some coffee. I was planning on having some fruit, but I got so full 3/4 of the way with my eggs. And I have this urge to go running, but it's down pouring outside, so I'm waiting for Joe to get home with car so I can go to the gym. I think I MAY be back!!

However, I don't recommend you do that every time you have the urge to just do nothing. I say do this evvvvery once in a while. But here are some other ideas that I do:

• Look at my Fitness board on pinterest. I look at all the motivating words and goals and skinny... no fit people and it amps me up!
• Make a motivation wall. I don't have one, myself, but I hear it's fun and you can be crafty, which I love!

• Look at myself in the mirror and see how far I've come or look at photos of my old self. I don't want that back! And I don't want to stay where I am either!
• Do some crazy, heavy, intense, deep cleaning. Even if you don't work out that day, you'd still have burned some calories, especially if you're moving stuff around. Clean until you drop!
• Okay, this is personal, but what do I care? HAVE SEX! It does burn calories, but that's not why I'm saying this. When I have sex, I feel way better about myself than before. I feel sexy and unstoppable! Then afterwards I want to workout again! Sounds weird and it does sound like I use my husband but don't worry.. He does not mind at all! ;)
• I tell myself "Just go for a walk or a jog for a mile or for 15 minutes. If you still don't want to, than we'll go back home" I've quit once and I was under the weather that day.

• Ask a friend to go along with you. When others are around I push myself harder.
• Take my fur babies on a walk
• Challenge yourself. I set monthly goals and take photos of myself every 10 days to see the results. And that in itself is motivating to keep going. 
• Post your lack of motivation on facebook or myfitnesspal or LifeKraze. People will either respond with sympathy, kind words or encouragement or they'll chew you out. Either way, go do it!
• Do a small workout. I like Bodyrock.tv or doyogawithme.com they have short clips of workouts that help me at least do something then I feel like doing more!
• Drive to the gym. Go inside. People will look at you if you don't do something, so you might as well just go.

• Change into workout clothes.
• If you skip your workout for even just a few days, when you do it's so much harder to pick it up where you left off. You'd have to start over again. Is that really what you want??
• Go to Zumba class. You don't feel like you're working out, you're having fun! But you're also burning calories... serious calories! 
• Go swimming. It's a light and fun activity that involves no sweating!

• Eat a salad for lunch with lots of protein. It'll make you move! Remember: what you eat effects you. Some people think that carbs give them energy, but for me it makes me feel sluggish. I go for protein instead.
• Play tennis or bowling! Something that is fun and requires other people.

New Zumba Routine

ZUMBA!

Zumba is so great! 

You're having so much fun but yet you're burning all these calories! 

That's right, Kitty. It's Zumba time!!

I like change. I've already done my last Zumba sequence 4 times and I need something new already. 

This one is an hour long and it has some of the last sequences videos, just in a different order and some new ones. I hope you enjoy!

Warm Up

Cool Down

You just burned 800-1000 calories!! 

Doesn't feel like you did, does it?!?!

Chicken Parm Meatballs

I know I'm biased but these were AMAZING!

What you need:

2 Chicken Breasts

1/4 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs

1 large egg   

1 tbsp Parsley

1/2 cup Onions, chopped 

1/4 cup  Parmesan Cheese

3-4 Garlic Cloves        

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Spaghetti Sauce

Food Processor

Cake pop machine - optional, but it makes things a whole lot easier

Pam

What you need to do:

In a food processor, pulse your chicken until it is nicely shredded.

Throw in breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, onion, parm cheese and garlic. 

If you have a cake pop machine:

Turn it on, spray and place scoops of chicken mix into it, close and let cook for about 5-7 minutes

(Don't worry about it not cooking in the middle, we will be boiling them in spaghetti sauce later)

While this is cooking, get a nice deep pan and pour in spaghetti sauce. I used the whole container of prego for the spaghetti.

When the chicken balls are done, gently scoop them out and place into pan with spaghetti sauce and cover. Let simmer while you cook the rest of the chicken. 

Do this about 3 more times, until all your chicken mix is gone. 

If you do not have a cake pop machine:

GO GET ONE! It makes this recipe, Tilapia Tots, and meatballs SO much easier! 

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll chicken mixture into balls.

Place into a well greased casserole dish that is deep as well as wide. 

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, just long enough so that the outside of the ball is sturdy enough to pour spaghetti sauce onto without breaking apart. 

Pour spaghetti sauce over the balls and bake for another 15 minutes. 

When your meatballs are just about done, sprinkle mozzarella cheese over entire batch, let melt and serve. 

I dished these up with some dreamfields pasta (Or you can use zucchini pasta), steamed broccoli and salad.

This recipe makes 24 Chicken Parm Meatballs and each are:

54 Calories, 4 g Carbs, 2 g Fat, 4 g Protein, 1 g Fiber

Banana Oat Muffins

These are very similar to the Pumpkin Oat Muffins and were also a hit in my house!

2 1/2 cup oats (I recommend pulsing this first until it's fine)

1 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt

2-3 ripe Bananas

1/4 cup Spenda

1/4 cup Splenda's Brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup Raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray tin with non-stick cooking spray.  I used silicone cupcake liners for these because it was recommended not to use regular liners.

Place all of the liquid ingredients in the blender, and then blend adding oats in 1/2 c at a time until smooth.  (I recommend grinding the oats first)

You may need to stop the blender a few times to stir.  Stir in raisins and walnuts after blending is complete.

Divide batter among 12 muffin cups (This might make a little more than 12) and bake for 20 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.

You could even add in some protein powder to make them into a great protein filled breakfast on the go!

For 1 Muffin, without Walnuts:

110 Calories, 21 g Carbs, 1 g Fat, 4 g Protein , 2 g Fiber

 For 1 Muffin, with Walnuts:

143 Calories, 22 g Carbs, 5 g Fat, 5 g Protein, 3 g Fiber

Amazing Fruit Dip

Would I lie to you? I don't think so. When I say this is a.maz.ing.... I mean it. 

I originally found this recipe as a sauce for a fruit pizza (P.S. also amazing with a pretzel crust... don't tell anyone I said that) but I loved it so much I just use it as is!

What you need:

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (I recommend the really good brand)

1 cup Sugar Free Cool Whip

1 Lime

Thaw out your cool whip until it's easy enough to scoop out and mix, but not super watery. 

Wash your lime. We need just a pinch of zest. Zest off about 1 tbsp of the lime. Cut lime in half. Squeeze lime juice into cup to make sure there are no seeds in it. Omit seeds if they are there. Pour juice from entire lime into cool whip. 

Next, open your can of condensed milk and pour into lime/cool whip mix. 

Mix it all together. 

You can eat it immediately but I recommend refrigerating it for a while first so that it gets back to it's thicker consistency. 

2 tbsp of this is 58 calories, 9 g Carbs, 3 g Fat, 1 g Protein, 0 g Fiber.

I love eating this with Apples, mostly, but it goes great with practically any fruit. I also love it with Oranges. I don't know, maybe because there is lime in it it make the orange pop? Either way it's amazing. 

Tuna Salad with Avocado

A great light but filling lunch. 

What you need:

Tuna, canned, drained

1/2 of an Avocado

1/4 cup onion

1 tablespoon lime juice

Garlic powder salt and pepper to taste.

I added in some Mediterranean yogurt dressing in it for some kick. If you'd like to try it click HERE.

Assemble!

I ate this with some sweet potato chips (Simple Truth brand) and an orange.

This total meal was 266 calories, 27 g carbs, 15 g fat, 7 g protein and 6 g fiber.