Grilled chicken sandwich with apricot sauce

This is delicious sandwich recipe that I tried a few months ago from www.thepioneerwoman.com. I make mine a little different :-) Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Grill chicken breast or use previously cooked ones. Season as you like. 
Combine equal parts apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise. Add cayenne to taste. 

To assemble, spread apricot sauce on two slices of whole wheat bread. Add chicken breast, baby spinach, and mozzarella cheese.
Drizzle with olive oil and brown on a panini grill.

 

Progress....

I am almost at the end of week 2 of this 8 week weight loss program and I am starting to see some progress. The diet part of this program isnt so bad. I just have to come up with lots of new recipes to try so I dont get bored with my food choices. I found a recipe for black bean brownies that I have been wanting to try. They look and taste delicious and are a healthy alternative to regular brownies. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
2. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. I like to mix in some chocolate chips.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.        

Goat cheese chicken

I am always looking for some good ways to spice up my low carb meals. Any new recipe I can find I try. This is an old recipe that I have been using for a while but I absolutely love it! It's simple and super easy! Only a few ingredients: Chicken, Chevre with herbs!

Rinse the chicken breasts. Slice down the middle long ways but not all the way through. Take some of the goat cheese and stick it in the slit you made. Season the chicken how you like and bake for 30 mins or until cooked through. I served mine with brown rice and peas. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do! It's great the next day cut up on a salad!

Fajitas without the carbs

Since I am doing a very low carb diet during this online fitness program I decided to share one of my favorite things to make. I love fajitas and this is an easy way to enjoy them without the guilt. I usually add peppers and onions before the chicken but was in a hurry and not really feeling them today. :-)

I usually use 1 chicken breast diced into small chunks.

spray the frying pan with some PAM and put the chicken in with some seasoning of your choice.

Cook the chicken until cooked through and then sprinkle some shredded cheese on top to melt for about a minute.

I serve mine with a little dollop of low fat sour cream. Super yummy!!!

Day 1.... and a recipe :-)

Today is the start of the online program I am doing and a new diet! I have been doing good today so far. I did my exercises this morning and I am already sore! I have some great recipes for some yummy dinners in the works. I found this recipe on another blog I follow (www.skinnytaste.com/) and I loved it so much I thought I would share it will you all. It's delicious!!!!!

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts 
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 pieces
Calories: 205 • Fat: 3.8 g • Protein: 32.0 g • Carb: 10.6 g • Fiber: 2.6 g   

• 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and juice squeezed out
• 1 tsp oil
  
• 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) fat free Feta cheese
• 1/3 cup fat free ricotta
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper
• 3 (1.25 lbs) chicken breast halves
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs (I used 4C)
• spray oil
• toothpicks

In a small sauté pan, heat oil. Add onions, garlic and scallions and sauté about 1 minute. Add spinach and parsley, salt and pepper and cook another minute. Remove from heat, add feta and ricotta cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Slice chicken breast halves into 3 thin cutlets. Pound them to make them thinner. This helps when you wrap the cutlets. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Place just under 1/4 cup of spinach mixture in the center of the chicken. Roll it and secure the ends with toothpicks to prevent filling from coming out. It's ok if it's not perfect. The egg wash and breadcrumbs keep everything in place.


Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs.


Spray cookie sheet with oil and place chicken on cookie sheet. Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove toothpicks and serve.

This blog....

I will be using this blog to document my journey through life and my weight loss adventure for the next few months. I will be trying to post something every few days. I love to cook and will be including some recipes and ideas for some good healthy meals. As of October 1st I will be doing an intense 8 week online weight loss program. My friends over at Fit for Fashion  http://rebekahreidy.com/  are going to help me get in the best shape of my life! Stay tuned......