Ridiculously Easy Salsa Chicken

I'll try to remember to take a picture when it's done tonight :)

So much to do today, but I want a healthy and tasty homemade dinner (the two can go together!) Everyone here LOVES Salsa Chicken and I love it because it is one of the easiest dishes you'll ever make.

You Will Need:

Salsa (no certain amount here, I probably use a regular sized jar for 6 frozen chicken breasts)
Chicken (I love that I can just throw the frozen stuff in the slow cooker because I'm feeling lazy and don't want to defrost it.)
Slow Cooker

Directions:

Throw it all in there and turn on high about 8 hours; All done.

Top it with some shredded cheese before serving. Serve with rice and beans (I'll have to post that easy recipe soon too, it's yummy.) or just rice... or beans, lol.

Everyone always raves about this dish and it is SO EASY!

Granola Bars

Granola bars are great to have on hand when you need a quick or portable snack, but they can get spendy at the store (especially with as many people as we feed here) and have you ever read the back of the box? Gross.

I have spent so long trying to find a granola bar recipe I was happy with. I wanted healthy, but doesn't taste like dirt and something that was soft and chewy, but stayed together in a bar shape. Oh I found it! A no-bake granola bar that is all my dreams and more :) This is a highly adaptable recipe so feel free to substitute with what your family likes and what you have on hand, just be sure to keep the same ratio of wet to dry ingredients.

Some things you might use:

nuts
seeds
protein powder
wheat germ
the dried fruit options are endless.....
almond butter or another nut butter
pureed pumpkin instead of peanut butter....
chocolate chips
mini m&ms (freeze them first!)

These are pretty sweet so feel free to experiment using less sugar or no brown sugar at all, but you need the honey to help it all stick together. Pay attention to if your dried fruit already contains added sugar, most of it does.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup ground flax seed
3/4 cup high fiber cereal (we used Fiber One)
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (chopped small)
1/2 cup peanut butter (natural with no added sugar. If you only have some with added sugar leave out the brown sugar.)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey (try flavored honey!)
4 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and grease just for good measure.

Mix together your dry ingredients (except for brown sugar and salt) in a large bowl, set aside.

Over medium high heat melt butter, salt, brown sugar, honey and peanut butter until boiling (stirring constantly.) Boil and stir for 2 more minutes, take care not to let it burn.

Pour liquid goodness over your dry ingredients and combine well.

Dump mixture onto your prepared baking sheet and using a rolling pin covered in butter roll it flat. You want to press down hard so it all sticks together well.

Cool in the fridge (faster so you can eat them sooner!) or on the counter (Boo!) and cut into rectangles and wrap individually.

These will make a great treat to bring camping and hiking this Summer.

Spring Shape Up Day Four

Well I have to say that it's been a little difficult, like missing our Wednesday trip to Starbucks :( But it hasn't been THAT bad and Mike has even lost a few pounds already. Planning the menus and calculating nutrients is time consuming, but I'll really enjoy having this information on hand and I hope you do to. The more planning I do, the easier it is to substitute snacks or meals for something else. One of the reasons I am terrible at making and keeping a menu plan is because sometimes I don't know what we want until that day. It's like picking out your outfit for every day of the week on Sundays..... that shirt might not be "the shirt" on Thursday, ya know? :)

Mike's 1,800 Calorie Menu

Breakfast

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup Original Fiber One cereal
1/4 cup Grape Nuts cereal
345 calories, 24 grams fiber

AM Snack

3 Mandarin oranges
1 carrot w/ 1/4 cup hummus
280 calories, 9 grams fiber

Lunch

3 cups Chicken Fajita Salad
372calories, 9 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

1 apple
4 cups popcorn
174 calories, 10 grams fiber
*changed apple for oatmeal muffin = 250 calories

Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
**A late night so we ended up having 3 spinach cakes w/ salsa & 2 mandarin oranges = 360 calories, 4 grams fiber (at least)

Total = 1,542 calories, 56 grams fiber
Actual = 1,607 calories, 56 grams calories

Elizabeth's 1,500 Calorie Menu Plan

Breakfast

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal &
1/2 cup Original Fiber One cereal with
1/2 cup soy milk
1/3 cup dried cranberries
355 calories, 21 grams fiber

AM Snack

2 Mandarin oranges
1 carrot w/ 1/4 cup hummus
235 calories, 7 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups Chicken Fajita Salad
248calories, 6 grams fiber
*had 1 cup salad and a banana instead = 229 calories, 6 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

1 apple
4 cups popcorn
174 calories, 10 grams fiber
* subbed 2 oatmeal muffins & dried mangos = 420 calories, 7 grams fiber <-- I was really craving something sweet! Dinner

Tomato & Broccoli Mac n Cheese
371 calories, 4 grams fiber
**A late night so we ended up having 2 spinach cakes w/ salsa & 2 mandarin oranges = 280 calories, 4 grams fiber (at least)

Total = 1,383 calories, 48 grams fiber
Actual = 1,519 calories, 45 grams fiber

Spring Shape Up Day Three

Today is Mike's day off so we get a hot breakfast, yay! We'll take advantage of some leftovers for lunch and make one of our favorite salads for dinner. Mike gets the credit for this salad which he made for me when we tried out the Atkins diet (which worked wonders, but they didn't last at all). Tossing the small amount of dressing with the whole salad rather than drizzling some on each individual plate leaves you with (surprisingly) plenty of dressing.

Keep in mind with these menus that I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. This is what we are eating, it may not be right for you. While I am doing my best to calculate accurate calories and grams of fiber I may not be exact; The smoothies for example change every day, but they are almost always under 200 calories and contain at least 3 grams of fiber. I also end up under rather than over calories. I do this so that if we feel like we want an evening snack or extra snack during the day, we have room to do so while still staying under our calorie budget.

Mike's 1,800 calorie menu

Breakfast

Breakfast wrap
2 mandarin oranges
426 calories, 16 grams fiber

A.M. Snack

1/2 cup yogurt
1 apple
214 calories, 3 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups leftover chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

Smoothie
carrot & 1/2 cup hummus
350 calories, 6 grams fiber
*We were out and about and actually skipped our afternoon snack, oops! Left us really hungry come dinner.

Dinner

4 cups Fajita Chicken Salad
496 calories, 12 grams fiber

Total = 1,856 calories, 50 grams fiber
Actual = 1,506 calories, 44 grams fiber

Elizabeth's 1,500 calorie menu

Breakfast

Breakfast wrap
2 mandarin oranges
350 calories, 16 grams fiber

A.M. Snack

1/2 cup yogurt
1 apple
214 calories, 3 grams fiber

Lunch

2 cups leftover chili
370 calories, 13 grams fiber

Afternoon Snack

carrot & 1/2 cup hummus
150 calories, 3 grams fiber
*no snack

Dinner

2 cups Fajita Chicken Salad
248 calories, 6 grams fiber

Total= 1,332 calories, 41 grams fiber
Actual = 1,182 calories, 38 grams fiber