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Healthy Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

By on August 28, 2015 in Main Dishes

No matter where go you, there is no shortage of Mexican restaurants. Because what’s not to love? Sugar-sweetened meat, loads of melted cheese, processed-flour tortillas. Good news! There is a way to still enjoy delicious Mexican food without eating a ton of processed food, sugar and bad-for-you oils. And it won’t take all day.

This is a dump-in-the-slow-cooker recipe, so it takes very few steps and comes out moist and flavorful. When my husband was eating this he kept saying, “There’s just something about this.” That’s always a good sign.

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Start with the chicken breasts or thighs in a slow cooker. I personally like thighs because they come out much more moist. But if you prefer breasts, go right ahead.

Top with the taco seasoning, lime juice and zest, and chicken broth. No need to stir. Just turn on the slow cooker on high for four hours.

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After four hours, shred the chicken and add it back to the slow cooker. Stir in the salsa and let it heat through for another half hour.

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Now serve it in lettuce wraps. If you really hate lettuce wraps, substitute a whole-grain tortilla. I always use green-leaf lettuce but you can use romaine or iceberg. Top it with sour cream, guacamole and shredded cheese.

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Healthy Diary-Free Chocolate Peanut-Butter “Milk” Shake

By on August 21, 2015 in Guilt-Free Treats

For the most part, a healthy lifestyle is easy to maintain. The hardest part is when people are eating dessert. I can usually resist, but there’s always part of me that wants to grab the milkshake out of their hands and chug it down. But then I remember how horrible I feel after I binge on sugar and talk myself down. Rather than cheat and feel like death after, I try to come up with ways to have a treat without loading my body with processed, sugary crap. This healthy take on a classic milk shake was a huge success.DSCN0174

I bring this all together with my immersion blender. This is one of my favorite tools because it creates way less cleanup than using a blender.

Combine coconut milk, a frozen banana, protein powder and peanut butter with an immersion blender. I use this protein powder.  It tastes great and doesn’t have all the bad stuff some protein powders do.

This is so thick you’ll need a spoon. See! Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can’t indulge.

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Healthy Twist on a German Pancake

By on August 14, 2015 in Breakfast, Main Dishes

For years, we’ve had breakfast for dinner every Friday night. That often meant huge grocery-store muffins, sugar-loaded cinnamon rolls and French toast made with processed bread. Yum… I knew when we switched to a healthy lifestyle, my family would not be okay nixing the Friday-night breakfast tradition. Nor would they accept omelets every Friday. I quickly realized that with a few tweaks I could revamp some of our favorite recipes. That’s my favorite part about eating healthy; finding ways to still eat the foods we’ve always loved but in a healthy way. This German pancake is packed with protein, comes together in just a few minutes and lets us still have our Friday-night breakfast tradition.

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Rather than melting butter in advance, just stick the butter in a 9×13 pan and put in in the oven while it preheats. I always love the chance to cut out a step.

Whisk the eggs and almond milk together. Then add the almond flour and whisk the heck out of everything until it’s totally smooth. You can also use an immersion blender or a stand blender to get a really smooth consistency. I just don’t like extra dishes, so I stick with the whisk.

Once the butter is melted just pour the batter into the pan and bake it for about 20-25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it’s golden brown and puffy in spots.

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My husband and kids like to eat this with pure maple syrup but you can also use peanut butter or honey. I like to just toss some berries on top and eat it all together. That’s a great way to get in some added nutrients.

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Better than Restaurant Pico de Gallo

By on August 7, 2015 in Dressings and Sauces

Whenever I go to a Mexican restaurant, I always load whatever I’m eating with pico de gallo. Did you know pico de gallo is healthy? And did you know it’s extremely easy to make? I know that now and my life is much better because of it.

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Here are my top five favorite uses for pico de gallo:

  1.  Rather than spending a lot of time making a salsa or buying one full of preservatives, make a batch of pico de gallo and use this in place of salsa for tortilla chips.
  2. Use it on top of enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas or nachos to make them taste extra fresh and yummy.
  3. Top a salad with pico de gallo instead of dressing. Eating healthy means a lot of salads, so this helps to change things up a bit
  4. Grill a chicken breast and top it with pico de gallo. If you’re like me and make a big batch for the week, this makes dinner extremely easy.
  5. Stir pico de gallo into some brown rice for an easy side dish.

Now I’m sure you’re curious how to make it, so here we go. Pico de gallo has only 4-5 ingredients, plus salt and pepper to taste. I say 4-5 because the jalapeno is optional. I opt out because I have kids who aren’t fans of spicy food and I’m a spice wuss. At least I’m confident enough to admit it.

Start by chopping equal parts roma tomato, red onion and cilantro. Make the pieces as large or small as you like, but try to make them uniform. If you’re adding a jalapeno, remove the seeds and finely chop it. Stir this all together and squeeze in the juice of two limes. Now add salt and pepper to taste. That’s it!

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This is easy and versatile enough to whip up every week. And this is one of those fabulous recipes that gets better as it sits. Since I love the stuff so much, I’d love to know your favorite uses for pico de gallo.

 

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