BBQ Chicken & Sweet Potato

I have totally been MIA but summer is busy! My main focus has been my kids and my challengers, so the blog has definitely seen better days but I did want to share a new recipe with you all that was SUPER simple and yummy!! Next time I make this, I want to top it with a slaw of some sort! I love an extra crunch in my food! 

Serves: 2 servings, 1 sweet potato and about ¾ cup chicken each

Ingredients

• 2 small sweet potatoes, washed, pierced several times with a fork
• 1½ cups shredded cooked chicken breast, boneless, skinless, warm (I cheated and used a rotisseree chicken & peeled off the skin)
• ¼ cup barbecue sauce (they always call for reduced sugar, I can't find one, so I use Trader Joe's or you can make your own)
• ¼ cup Quick Pickled Red Onions (or 2 Tbsp. chopped red onions) (optional, I skipped this step)

Instructions

1. Place sweet potatoes on a plate. Pierce each sweet potato 3 to 4 times with a fork. Microwave 4-6 minutes or until tender. 
2. While sweet potato is cooking, combine chicken and barbecue sauce in a small bowl; mix well. Set aside.
3. Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.
4. Top sweet potatoes evenly Quick Pickled Red Onions and chicken mixture. Serve and enjoy! 

Tips:

1. Look for barbecue sauce that has an ingredient list that does not contain artificial sweeteners, additives, or preservatives. There are many brands on the market that are sweetened with small amounts of honey, maple syrup, or molasses.
2. Use Healthy Barbecue Sauce as a homemade alternative to store-bought barbecue sauce.

For my Fix Family, it is 1.5 yellow and 1 red! 

Spicy Asian Tilapia w/ Mixed Veggies

I typically prep 80% of our lunches and dinner.  However since we have gotten back from our cruise (another post, another day), I have tried to mix things up a bit! I decided to throw some fish back on the menu, I can't tell you the last time I bought Tilapia, cooked it at home and actually enjoyed it! Usually it is way too fishy for me but this was so good! And it was the EASIEST meal to throw together ever, especially on a week night! 

No prep work, just out of the package & into the pan! I even used the same pan for the tilapia after I cooked the veggies to save myself (er...Aaron) the hassle of washing more than one pan! Yes, you read that right, he does the dishes around here too. 

What you need: 
2 pkg precut veggie mix from Trader Joe's (pictured) 
1 lb Tilapia (farm-raised fresh tilapia from TJ's, pictured)
San-J Szechuan Sauce (or other flavor you like), this one is spicy! 

1. Spray a large pan with olive oil cooking spray. Warm it up & throw in the veggies! Sauté them to your liking, I cook mine for a while because I prefer them softer. 
2. Once they are done, set them aside, covered in a bowl or container. 
3. Spray a tad more olive oil in the pan & place the tilapia in there. 
4. Salt & pepper the fish. Cook 2 minutes & flip. 
5. Squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the fish. (About 1-2 tsp total) 
6. Cook another 5 minutes. Fish will flake when done. 
7. Place 2 cups veggies on a plate with 1 piece of fish. Top with 1 tbsp of the sauce (or less if you can't handle spicy), serve immediately and devour! 

You can add brown rice if you want or even turn it into tacos but it is perfect with just the veggies!

Enjoy! 🙌🏼

For my Fix Family: 2 green, 1 red, 1/2 orange

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

I love Mexican food. Any kind.  I could seriously eat Mexican every day of the week in some form or another...it probably isn't a coincidence that Margaritas are my favorite drink too! Which, by the way, don't forget to check back on Cinco De Mayo for my Skinny Margarita recipe! 

These fajitas were really good and I doubled the amount of chicken from what the original recipe called for so that we could have extra for tonight's dinner! 

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Prep Time: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 2-5 hours (just depends)

What you need:

1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes (or diced tomatoes with green chiles), no salt added
1 medium onion, cut into quarters, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium orange bell pepper, cut into strips
3 tsp. ground chile powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 lb. raw chicken breast, boneless, skinless, sliced

Optional: 
8 6-inch whole wheat flour tortillas, warm OR 4 cups romaine or bib lettuce (for salads) 
½ cup fresh tomato salsa
8 tsp. low-fat (1%) plain Greek yogurt
½ medium avocado, sliced
Finely chopped cilantro

Preparation:
1. Place tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, chile powder, cumin, pepper, and lime juice in a 3-quart slow cooker; mix well.
2. Add chicken; cook, covered, on low temperature for 4 to 5 hours (or on high or 2 to 3 hours), stirring once or twice, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.
3. Evenly divide mixture between tortillas or onto lettuce for salads. Top evenly with salsa, yogurt, avocado, and cilantro.

For mine, I didn't use the greek yogurt or the tortillas (obviously), instead we made ours into big mouth watering salads!

For the salad:
2 cups lettuce & fajita veggies
3/4 chicken
toppings....

That left us enough chicken for salads tonight and just enough to make the kids some quesadillas from it.  I topped my salad with tomatoes, salsa, cheese and avocado. 

If you make yours like mine and are part of my Fix family: 2 greens (mix of fajita veggies & lettuce/tomato), 1 red, 1 blue. 

If you make them according to the recipe and use the tortillas it would be: 2 green, 1 red, 1,5 yellow, .5 blue. 

 

Turkey Taco Zucchini Boats

Who loves tacos? Me? Who could eat tacos every night? ME!! Who is trying to eat all of her carbs before dinner....yeah, me. So I decided to take my favorite Southwest Turkey Taco Meat and make Zucchini Boats out of it! 

Both Aaron and I were a little unsure as I was making them but when we took our first bite, we were sold! 

What you need for 2 servings:
2 servings of Southwest Turkey Taco Meat (about 3/4 cup each) 
2 large zucchinis, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
1/2 cup of salsa
Shredded Cheese
Guac (optional) 

How to prepare: 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Boil water in a large pot (just enough to throw in your zucchini).
3. Spread enough salsa to cover the bottom of a baking dish (you should have about 4 tbsp left) 
4. Meanwhile, use a small spoon or melon baller to hollow out the center of each zucchini halves. Leave about 1/4 inch in each zucchini shell.  You can take the center of the zucchini and chop it up to add to your turkey taco meat, that is optional. 
5.  Place zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 4-5 minutes (we like ours soft, you can do 1-2 minutes if you prefer a crisper veggie). Remove from water.
6. Place each zucchini boat in your baking dish.  
7. Each person will get 2 zucchini halves and 3/4 cup meat mixture, so divide it equally among the boats. Press the meat firmly into zucchini. 
8. Top each one with 1 tbsp salsa (4 tbsp total) and 2 tbsp shredded cheddar (8 tbsp total). 
9. Cover pan with foil and place in oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through.
10. Enjoy! 

Optional: You can serve with a side of guac, like I did! However, since I did that, I cut back on my cheese to do so, therefore my zucchini boats only had 1 tbsp of cheese on each one. 

For my Fix Family: I counted this as 2 Greens, 1 Red, 1 Blue (some may count the salsa if they use a ton of it, I didn't) 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

So last night, I had "Easy Pizzas" from the Fixate cookbook on the menu but for some reason, I wasn't feeling the toppings I had planned (veggies, natural ham, red sauce...the usual) and I was SOOO close to caving and going out and getting pizza from a new place "near" our house. I put "near" in quotes because no place I like to eat or ever want to try is NEAR our house. 

Anyways, I was looking at menus, drooling, then it dawned on me, I had my amazing crockpot buffalo chicken in the fridge AND I had my pizza crusts that we use for our Easy Pizzas, so why not make my own healthier version of a restaurant worthy pizza?!

What you need (1 serving):
4oz of Crockpot Buffalo Chicken, get recipe here. 
1 Whole Grain Ultra Thin Pizza Crust from Golden Home (I find these at my local grocery store) 
Franks Red Hot
3 tbsp reduced fat shredded cheddar
2 tsp yogurt ranch (I use Bolthouse Farms)  

1. Make sure you make the chicken first! It takes 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 on low. 
2. Once the chicken is done & you are ready to start getting your pizza together, preheat your oven or your toaster oven (I use my Breville Smart Oven) to 425°. 
3. While that heats up, cover your pan with foil, non stick spray is not needed. 
4. Lay your pizza crust on the foil. You can also use a whole wheat or sprouted grain tortilla, it just does not crisp up as much.  
5. Drizzle Frank's Red Hot over your crust, now this is totally up to you and your taste buds on how much you use. I like mine hot! 
6. Top the pizza with the 4oz of Buffalo Chicken and 3 tbsp of reduced fat shredded cheddar.
7. Place in Oven or Toaster Oven, bake for 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbling. 
8. Take out, drizzle with 2 tsp of yogurt ranch.  
9. Let it cool, slice & serve!

Writing out this recipe seriously makes me want to go make one right now! Typically I would eat closer to 6oz of meat (give or take) on my meal plan so I did a little picking at the meat while my pizza cooked to get my portion in...hey, I was hungry. 

This pizza would be great with a side of celery & carrots!