Recipe of the Week – Chicken Taco Salad in a Jar

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Recipe of the Week – Chicken Taco Salad in a Jar

Prep this recipe in a mason jar and have lunch pre-made for the next day.

Ingredients:

( Serves 4 )

4 whole 12-ounce mason jars

2 whole chicken breasts (grilled or poached)

1 cup black beans (canned)

1 cup corn (canned)

1 cup tomatoes (diced)

1 cup romaine lettuce (chopped)

Creamy Avocado Dressing:

1/4 cup greek yogurt

2 ounce goat cheese (crumbled)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

1 whole lime (juiced)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 whole avocado

1/4 cup water

 

Directions:

  1. To make dressing: Combine greek yogurt, goat cheese, cilantro, lime juice, salt, avocado, and water in a food processor. Puree until mixture is smooth. Set aside.
  2. Using a fork, shred grilled chicken into small pieces.
  3. Assemble each mason jar in the following order:

– First (bottom) layer: 1/4 cup avocado dressing

– Second layer: 1/4 cup corn

– Third layer: 1/4 cup black beans

  • – Fourth layer: 1/4 cup diced tomatoes
  • – Fifth layer: 1/2 cup chicken
  • – Sixth (top) layer: 1/4 cup romaine lettuce
  1. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. When ready to serve, dump jar’s content into a bowl, toss, and enjoy!

Source: Recipe Corner original recipe, developed by editor Amanda Patton. http://www.recipecorner.com/chicken-side-salad-recipe_recipes/chicken-taco-salad-jar_recipe

 

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Recipe of the Week – Asian Noodle Jar

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Prep this recipe in a mason and have lunch pre-made for the next day.

Ingredients:

For the salad:

  • 4 ounces soba noodles
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shelled edamame, cooked
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup crunchy rice noodles

For the Spicy Peanut Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 4 teaspoons sambal oelek
  • 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
  • 4 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Directions:

  1. In large pot of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water and drain.
  2. Meanwhile, make Spicy Peanut Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sambal oelek, rice vinegar and soy sauce. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil until all oil is incorporated. Stir in sesame seeds.
  3. Divide Spicy Peanut Dressing equally among 4 pint-sized mason jars. Divide soba noodles over dressing. Layer remaining ingredients, ending with rice noodles. Top with lids and refrigerate up to 5 days. To serve, pour onto plate or bowl, stir and enjoy.

Recipe Source: http://foxeslovelemons.com/asian-noodle-salad-jars/

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Say “No” To Franken-Foods

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Fat free, sugar free, low sodium, reduced calorie, gluten free, low carb; Are these really better?

Taste comes from three places: sweet (sugar), salt, or fat. Remove our reduce one an another has to be added or increased to make up for taste. Or worse, something fake gets added.

Eat real food and stay away from all the Franken-Foods and their deceiving labeling that makes them sound like better options.

If you’d like more information about fitness coaching click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

What 80/20 Really Looks Like

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You may not be eating as well as you think.

Sure Monday through Friday you may do well. But, then Friday night hits. You go out for dinner and order the grilled salmon with steamed veggies and skip the bread. But, you have dessert and a bottle of wine.

Or maybe on Saturday you feel that it would be nice to make your kids a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon. You tell yourself it’s okay because “it’s for the kids” and you’ll only have a little.

Then there is that stressful day that just needs unwound with a few drinks or a bowl of ice cream.

These are the small things that by themselves are perfectly fine, but added up can wreck your progress. To get results in the gym it takes eating clean 80% of the time. For most, it ends up only being 60-70% clean.

So what does 80% look like? Or better yet, what does the 20% look like?

To stay at 80% or above means you can have roughly 3-4 cheats per week. Every alcoholic drink that is a cheat. Every dessert that’s a cheat. Every piece of chocolate or candy another cheat. Fried and processed foods, a cheat again. Chips and salsa, you get the point.

Eating clean is the missing link to getting results. And many times what we think is clean eating isn’t clean enough.

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https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Recipe of the Week – Cacio e Pepe Inverno

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Give this recipe a try for dinner this week after a workout to help your body refuel and recover.

Ingredients:
8 oz. dry spaghetti
1/2 cup freshly grated Percorino Romano, divided
1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
4 cups chopped roasted vegetables (carrots, brussel sprouts, leeks) warmed
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 lb. cooked shrimp

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

2. Remove drained pasta from heat and sprinkle with half the cheese and all the black pepper. Pour in 1/4 cup of reserved pasta water and toss.

3. Add vegetables, half the remaining cheese, and enough reserved pasta water to make a smooth sauce. To serve, divide among 4 bowls and sprinkle with more black pepper and remaining cheese. Add shrimp on top.

Recipe source: Men’s Health, January 2017 issue

If you want more information about fitness coaching click here:
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Recipe of the Week – Mussels Puttanesca

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Recipe of the Week – Mussels Puttanesca

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 small shallot
1 can (28 oz) unsalted diced tomatoes
½ cup green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ cup white wine or water
8 oz fresh tagliatelle
1 lb mussels, cleaned

Directions:
1. In a deep skillet with a lid, warm olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot and cook until softened, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, olives, and fennel seeds and cook until bubbly, 5 minutes.
2. Pour in wine and add pasta, stirring to coat with the sauce. Then add mussels, and cover and cook until mussels open, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Source: Men’s Health, January 2017 issue

If you want more information about fitness coaching click here:
https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/

Recipe of the Week – Pasta with White Beans, Broccolini, and Lemon

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Recipe of the Week – Pasta with White Beans, Broccolini, and Lemon

1 lb. dry whole-wheat chiocciole
2 bunches boccolini, chopped
1 can white beans (15oz)
½ cup olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp red chili flakes

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package. Add broccolini during the last 2 minutes; drain pasta and broccolini together.
2. Toss with white beans, olive oil, and lemon juice and zest. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes.

Source: Men’s Health, January 2017 issue

A Cheat or Two Is Fine, An Entire Weekend Is Not

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A Cheat Or Two Is Fine, An Entire Weekend Is Not

Four awesome workouts and five days of cleaning eating. You’re feeling good and a little proud of yourself. So you feel like you deserve a little reward for all of your effort.

The key words being “little reward”. Not dinner and dessert with friends followed by a night of drinking until the last bar in town closes and then hitting McDonald’s or downing a pizza before heading off to bed. Only to then wake up feeling like death warmed over and spending the next day on the couch eating hangover comfort foods.

Unfortunately for many this is exactly what they do and is why they struggle to see the results they want. Coming into the weekend with a daily 200 calorie deficit, or 1000 for the week, and then binging on 4000 extra calories over the weekend still adds up to a weekly surplus of calories.

A couple glasses of wine, your favorite meal of fish and chips or pasta, a delicious slice of cheesecake are all fine by themselves. The problem is when they all come together. They taste great in the moment, but are regretted later.

Enjoy life, don’t deprive yourself of the foods you enjoy. Just make good decisions around them and don’t undo all your hard work on the weekend.

Need a coach to hold you accountable? Get started today:
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Recipe of the Week – 5 Delicious Soups To Try This Winter

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5 Soups To Keep You Warm This Winter

Wedding Soup – https://pittsburghnorthfitness.com/recipe-of-the-week-wedding-soup/

Creamy Cauliflower Soup – https://pittsburghnorthfitness.com/recipe-of-the-week-creamy-cauliflower-bacon-soup/

Rustic Cabbage Soup – https://pittsburghnorthfitness.com/recipe-of-the-week-rustic-cabbage-soup/

Minestrone Soup – https://pittsburghnorthfitness.com/recipe-of-the-week-minestrone-soup/

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup – https://pittsburghnorthfitness.com/recipe-of-the-week-slow-cooker-chicken-taco-soup/

It’s Not How Much You Burn, It’s What You Eat

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A good workout is not one that just burns a certain number of calories.

You need to burn calories, but you also need to control what goes in your mouth. Focusing on burning a high number of calories in each workout results in muscle wasting, a slower metabolism, a craving for carbs, and a tendency to overeat. This works if your goal is to be skinny-fat.

Workout to improve your life and create the best version of yourself. Don’t workout to punish yourself for what you ate yesterday or will be eating today. You should feel good and alive after your workout, not dead and beat.

A workout that has you doing total body movements, carrying heavy things and working in the 70% heart rate zone produces better results than one that is only focused on burning 1,000 calories.

Calorie burn determines very little about the quality of the workout and what the end result will be.

To get started on your fitness journey and have a coach guide you every step of the way, click here:

https://pittsburghnorthfitness.leadpages.co/21-day-shape-up-challenge/