4 Elements in 2 recipes

Hi everyone,
I know everyone has a busy schedule these days and it's hard to find time in your day to cook a good healthy meal. I have some good tips to share with you to help you be more prepared. Also 2 recipes that have 4 Elements! So let's stay on track and still enjoy life!
My life is busy but the same as it was 6 years ago, when worked full-time, the girls were younger and I was trying to loss weight! For me now it is a little easier however I still use the same plan of attack to keep myself on track!

BEING PREPARED IS KEY!

When you are hungry to need to have good thing at your fingers tip. I don't know about you but when I am hungry I eat anything I can get my hands on! That is why be prepared works, if you good food in the house you eat food. If you have bad food you eat bad food. Right? So to make sure that I have good on hand I have to be prepared.

Sunday was and still is my day to look ahead and figure out when I have time to cook and what. I would go grocery shopping and plan our meals for the week. Usually 3 dinners to make on Sunday and chili. Turkey chili was a staple I would eat it for a snack or lunch depending on the portion, of course. I also knew when I would be eating breakfast on the run ( the days I workout before work) so I knew a shake would be it on the other days I had to to make breakfast. 2 other staples for the week were greek yogurt with berries and hard boiled eggs.
Now life is a little different in our house, as I said I still use Sunday as my day to look ahead but I have more time to cook most days. Other thing that has made life a little easier is Cristin! For those of you who don't know our boot camper Cristin, she is the owner and chef of Be My Guest Personal Chef Service. So now I look ahead to see when I cook or take it out of the freezer. That's right a full homemade meal in about 20 minutes. Tonight is Mango Chicken, I can't wait!
Honestly cooking is a chore for me unless I am in mood. I like things simple,easy,quick, and healthy.
I have some recipes like that so I want to share them with you so today I have 2, and in 2 weeks I will post 2 more, I would love it shared your recipes with us too!
Enjoy

Hope you enjoy them!!

Parmesan Baked Chicken Breasts Recipe

Prep Time: 7 mins

Cook Time: 26 mins

Total Time: 33 mins 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup(s) bread crumbs, Italian-style
• 1/4 cup(s) cheese, Parmesan, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black
• 2 clove(s) garlic, pressed
• 2 tablespoon oil, olive
• 24 ounce(s) chicken breast halves, 4 (6-oz) skinless, boneless breasts
• cooking spray
• 1/2 cup(s) spaghetti sauce, fire-roasted tomato-and-garlic pasta sauce, warmed

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Heat a large baking sheet in oven for 5 minutes.
3. Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish.
4. Place garlic and oil in a small glass bowl, and microwave at HIGH 30 seconds or until warm and fragrant.
5. Dip chicken in garlic oil; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Coat preheated baking sheet with cooking spray, and place chicken on pan. Coat chicken with cooking spray.
6. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until done and golden. Serve with pasta sauce.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 2 tablespoons pasta sauce)

 Calories per serving 295, serves 4 carbs 7g, protein 41.5grams

Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Orzo Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 22 mins

Total Time: 32 mins 

Ingredients

• 8 ounce(s) orzo (rosamarina), preferably whole-wheat
• 1 cup(s) water
• 1/2 cup(s) tomato(es), sun-dried, (not oil-packed), chopped, divided
• 1 medium tomato(es), plum, diced
• 1 clove(s) garlic, peeled
• 3 teaspoon marjoram, fresh, chopped, divided
• 1 tablespoon vinegar, red wine
• 1 2/3 tablespoon oil, olive, extra virgin, divided
• 4 piece(s) chicken, breast, boneless, skinless, (1-1 1/4 pounds)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, black ground
• 9 ounce(s) artichoke hearts, frozen, thawed
• 1/2 cup(s) cheese, Romano, finely shredded, divided

Preparation

1. Cook orzo in a large saucepan of boiling water until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and rinse.


2. Meanwhile, place 1 cup water, 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, plum tomato, garlic, 2 teaspoons marjoram, vinegar and 2 teaspoons oil in a blender. Blend until just a few chunks remain.

3. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent burning, until golden outside and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate; tent with foil to keep warm.

4. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan and bring to a boil. Measure out 1/2 cup sauce to a small bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes to the pan along with the orzo, artichoke hearts and 6 tablespoons cheese. Cook, stirring, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Divide among 4 plates.

5. Slice the chicken. Top each portion of pasta with sliced chicken, 2 tablespoons of the reserved tomato sauce and a sprinkling of the remaining cheese and marjoram. 

A little high in calories 457 per serving- carbs54g protein 36g

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I'm sorry I didn't hear you.

Last night at bed time my girls asked if I could stay a few minutes and talk before they went to sleep. Of course I was happy to stay and listen to the days events with them. I sat down as MacKenzie started to talk about all the fun they had at Grandma's house, but I wasn't listen at all. All I could think was I am STARVING! Now it's 10pm and normally I would be in be so I was thinking am I normally this hungry but don't notice because I am sleeping? Then I hear "Mommy are you listening to me?" I feel guilty I did not listen to a word they said. I could only think about FOOD. I gave kisses and headed for the stairs. As I walked into the kitchen I opened the cabinet and thought "what am I doing I know better". Then I went to the refrigerator, same thing. I sat down on the sofa and wondered what is going on?
I realized my whole schedule was off! On vacation I was staying up later, getting up later which throw off not only my sleeping schedule off but my eating schedule. Getting up later means eating breakfast later, snacks later and everything. When we came home things did not get better, I was up early again but not eating since I was not hungry. Again I know better! I was eating dinner when Michael came home at 8pm, so going to bed at 11pm I was not hungry. Then on Tuesday morning I woke up around 6:30am and just eat breakfast before I left the house out of habit. Thank God good habits are hard to break too! Since Tuesday night the girls and I were eating dinner at 5:30, so last night the hungry I felt was my metabolism working again! It only took 2 days, not bad.
I did not eat anything, I drank some water and went to bed.
When I woke at this morning I was hungry! Now that my eating is back on schedule I have to work on the sleeping!

Keeping to schedules is good for weight loss, feeding your body more often with less of a portion is key. Think of your body as a car without fuel it does not go! Smaller portion more often keeps your body fueled and running smoothly. When you are not STARVING you make better choices!

Sleeping is also very important to weight loss, your body needs 7-9 hours of sleep a day (at once). A good way to know how much sleep your body needs is to go to bed when you are tired and don't use an alarm and let yourself wake up on your own. That is how much sleep you need.


Here a quick workout to do at home if you have 20 minutes!

Warm-up with some stretching
BW squats  40
Forward lunge right 40
Forward lunge left 40
Push-ups 15-30
Plank 1 min
rest 1 minute
Repeat 3times

P.S. I don't recommend not using an alarm  when you have to get up and go to boot camp!

Why Choose Kettlebells Instead of Dumbbells? .

by Anthony DiLuglio

Don't choose! They are simply different strength tools and should be considered complimentary, not exclusive. The primary benefits of kettlebell training lie in the philosophy of the movements that have grown up around it. Kettlebell drills have historically focused on working many muscle groups in unison. Dumbbells have been more commonly used for isolation drills (preacher curl, front raise, etc.) in traditional western weight training. Kettlebells are also more convenient for explosive movement patterns which are frowned upon in most traditional mainstream gyms.

You can certainly perform many of the kettlebell drills with a dumbbell. Swings, for instance, just feel more pleasant and natural with a kettlebell. The round, compact shape and offset handle are made for this movement pattern. The wide, angular dumbbell shape makes the movement awkward and less intuitive.

Some kettlebell drills have dumbbell alternatives that offer lower difficulty levels. For instance, I love the added instability challenge that comes from perching atop two kettlebells in the Renegade Row... but, I often start my clients on this drill with dumbbells for a more stable base.