One Pan Hawaiian Chicken

I was super excited to make this recipe, there were some ingredients I wasn't too sure about, one being the toasted sesame oil.  I am not positive, but I think that is what kind of caused the chicken to be very soft.  I also may have used too much pineapple and it was very ripe.

But needless to say, I hope this one pan meal serves better in your kitchen, I did not follow the recipe exactly, I didn't add sweet potato to mine.

I plan on trying this one again with different seasonings!




1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used breast tenderloins because they’re easiest to cut into small cubes, but any boneless skinless breasts or thighs will work)
2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into small 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
1 tablespoon lime juice

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Prep pan with oil to keep from sticking, I used a stone and do not need to prep the pan
Place chicken, pineapple, peppers, and potatoes onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with sesame oil and canola oil; sprinkle with sugar and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat all ingredients.
Roast in oven for 15 minutes; stir, and return to oven to an additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned and chicken is cooked through.
Sprinkle with coconut and drizzle with lime juice just before serving.

One Pan Chicken Sausage and Veggies

I am loving these one pan recipes!!  I have a lot of them pinned on Pinterest, and I take each one and make it my own!

I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Ingredients

2 cups (~1 small) red potato

3/4ths pound green beans

1 1/2 cup of broccoli florets        

1 1/2 cups chopped bell peppers         

9 ounces chicken sausage        

6 tablespoons olive oil                  

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Serve over rice and sprinkle with parmesan cheese        

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a large sheet pan with foil or parchment paper, I used a stone

Prep the veggies: chop the red potatoes small pieces, trim the green beans and halve, chop the broccoli, chop the peppers into thick squares, and coin the sausage in thick slices.

Place all the veggies and sausage on a sheet pan. Pour the olive oil and all the spices on top. Toss to evenly coat all the veggies and meat.

Bake 15 minutes, remove from the oven and flip/stir all the veggies around. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender and sausage is browned.

One Pan Chicken and Veggies

This was by far the best recipe I have made in one pan!  I am all about easy prep and clean up being a busy working mom!

I loved the vegetables and most of them in this pan I would not eat, the flavor was so good with the spices after it baked that all the veggies had the best taste!  I highly recommend this dinner!  

Here is the recipe, I don't always follow the recipe when it comes to spices, I will add more depending on how much it calls for.  This one I used pampered chef Italian seasoning and I used more than what the recipe called for.

2 medium chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped ( I used grape tomatoes)
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp black pepper
1 Tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 Tsp paprika

1. Preheat oven to 500 degree F.
2. 
   
3. Chop all the veggies into large pieces. 
4. Chop the chicken into cubes. 
5. Place the chicken and veggies in a medium roasting dish or sheet pan. 
6. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper, italian seasoning, and paprika. 
7. Toss to combine.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the veggies are charred and chicken is cooked. 
9. Enjoy with rice, pasta, or a salad.

One Pan Steak and Potatoes

• This dinner was very easy to prep, make and clean up for those busy nights!  
• 
  
• 2 pounds baby red potatoes
• 3 cups of fresh broccoli florets
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 pounds (1-inch-thick) top sirloin steak, patted dry or Fajita sliced sirloin is what I used

1. Preheat oven to broil. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook potatoes until parboiled for 12-15 minutes; drain well.
3. Place potatoes and broccoli in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil, garlic and thyme; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine.
4. Season steaks with salt and pepper, to taste, and add to the baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Place into oven and broil until the steak is browned and charred at the edges, about 4-5 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until you like your steak cooked.

3 Day Refresh Results

My results are in and they are amazing!!  I am so happy with the weight loss and inches I lost.       5 lbs and almost 5 inches lost!  It looks like it was all over weight loss, which is very nice.  I could tell my pants were a little baggy today.

 And I lost a lot in my thighs!  This was tough, you have to be very disciplined to complete the 3 days, and stick to the eating plan!  Some things I will take away from this:

1. Drinking 8-10oz of water when you get up is very important to jump starting your day

2. Sugar is bad!!!  I tried to have a cup of coffee and creamer and it didn't even taste the same!

3. Abs are definitely made in the kitchen, as you can see in three days they are starting to come back!

4. You can eat clean without adding salty sauces and spices.

5. It is so important to keep track of your progress because these pictures are what keeps me going!

I hope you enjoyed this post, I am proud of myself and feeling more confident with my body, even though when I look at those pictures, I still see things I am not happy with. I am a work in progress, and I will continue on with my journey!

Day 2 of 3 day refresh

Cucumber and Tomato Salad
This was my dinner tonight on day 2 of the Beach body 3 day refresh.

1/2 Medium cucumber
1/2 Cup Cherry Tomatoes
1 TBSP chopped red onion
1 TBSP Fresh Chopped Italian parsley
1 TBSP Fresh chopped Basil

Dressing
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 Tsp Balsamic vinegar
1 Tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 dash Himalyan salt
      Herbal seasoning blend to taste

To be honest, this was not my favorite dish, I love tomatoes and cucumbers, but I think it was the fresh basil and parsley that was a little overpowering.  I did finish it because I was very hungry.  Today was better overall, no headache, and I had more energy, I resisted chocolate in the office today and realized if I want to make a change this is the start to the change I need.

Day 1 of Refresh

This is my Spinach salad, it has:

2 Cups of Spinach
1/2 Medium cucumber
1/2 Medium bell pepper
1/4 Cup of broccoli

1/2 Tsp Olive Oil

1 TBS Lemon Juice

1 Tsp of sunflower seeds

I followed the meal plan for the day and I am not going to lie, I feel a little tired and sluggish, which is probably the sugar leaving my body and withdrawal. I also have a small headache, which last time I did a detox I had one too, it is said it is the toxins leaving your body.  I am happy they are leaving, take some weight with you!!!

The shakes were not too bad at all, there is a fiber shake and vanilla shake.  Everything I have eaten is dairy free, and sugar free!  I am proud of myself for completing the first day. I was going to try and workout, but I am so tired there is no way I can even try.

I am a salt-a-holic and I put salt on EVERYTHING, the lemon juice mixed with the sunflowers gave it a tangy taste were I did not need any salt!  My plan for the night is to finish my water, have some nighttime tea and wake up refreshed in the morning!   Day 1 is done!!

3 Day Refresh

I am so excited to get this in the mail today, I am hoping to start this soon.  I needed a little detox to start off my New Year to get all the junk out that I put in over Christmas and New Years!  Sometimes you just need a little extra kick to lose the weight.  I started to read through the pamphlet and it is pretty straightforward with shakes, fruit and veggies.  Since I am kind of at a standstill with my weight loss, mostly bc I find in hard to stay on track over the weekends!  Plus my husband is not on board with clean eating, he likes to eat pretty much anything that is really bad for him.  I am slowly working on him, but he hasn't been convinced.  I will continue to post my journey!  Thanks for reading!

Eating Out and Staying on Track

I had my meal plan ready for the week, but as always, we like to go out on Friday nights, so I attempted to prepare myself all day for where to go and what I would choose to eat.  I even saved containers and didn't eat as much food, so I would be safe at dinner.

Things didn't go as planned, my little one was very fussy, most likely bc she didn't get a good nap at daycare, I now know this bc she was in bed by 7:30 tonight.  However, I ordered a salad and some risotto, thinking I would be safe, well an hour later as I am starved, (the restaurant was very behind) I started eating my little ones chips and chicken tenders.  I did resist the fries that my husband ordered, so I will say that is a little victory.  I think we are steering away from going out for a while which is good bc I am going to start the 21 day fix extreme next week.  I really want to give it my all to lose the last little bit of baby weight that is lingering.  Nutrition is the key, they say abs are made in the kitchen and I am believer in that!

Here are some tips for staying on track when out at a restaurant:

1, Plan ahead
2, Think ahead- make sure the menu has a lot to offer
3. Substitute a side salad instead of fries
4. I also find it easier to split your food in half and ask for a box right away for lunch the next day
5. Chew your food, it's best to chew 20-30 times, its proven to work

2017 Goals

I have been learning a lot about goals the last couple of weeks and I have said before it's something I struggle with, so I decided that if I write them down then they are real, and I will have to take action.

This week I was taught that the goal has to be SMART S-Specific M-Measurable A-Accountable R-Realistic T-Timely.  I did a lot of thinking bc it's important to figure out what your PRIORITIES are, and what is most important to me.  So for me that looks like this:

FAMILY

CAREER

HOUSEWORK

HELPING OTHERS

Based on the above I need to make my goals in line with my priorities, meaning, if my family is my most important priority I don't want to take time away from them to run my business or work too much!  

So I have started with these goals and I plan to really strive to make all this happen, and put this into action with what I have learned! 

1. Plan 2 vacations this year with Madison and Nick

2. 1-2 dates a month with my husband

3. Lose 15lbs by June 31st

4. Read 5 Personal development books this year

5. Pay off 1 credit card by June 1st

6. Blog 3x a week

7. Reach Diamond Rank by July 16th

8. Reach Star Diamond Rank by Dec 31st

9. Help 25 ppl reach their health and fitness goals by March 31st

10. Save $600 by June 1st 

I now have to break each of these goals down and make a plan of actions, which I have already started to do!  Bring on 2017 bc great things are going to happen! 

Meal Plan For Week 1 of Piyo

My meal plan is completed for the week!  This week I am focusing on eating my pre-planned dinners, I usually fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to dinner and that's where I fall off track and eat unhealthy meals.  Not this week, I am going to lose these last 15lbs so I can feel even better.

I know this weight is going to be the hardest to get off bc of my body type and my petite size but I am determined to get my abs back after my baby!  I am so pumped to continue on with my journey and inspire others to as well!  Have a great week!