Apricot Almond Chicken

Trying out a new recipe from a slow cooker cookbook . I liked the look of this recipe because it was already pretty clean and healthy as long as I used natural apricot preserves. I had a bit of a sweet craving today so thought this would satisfy it.

Apricot Almond Chicken

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups chicken broth (I used homemade I had)
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 small onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 lb)
4 tbsp apricot preserves
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions:
In a greased casserole dish (13"x 9"), combine broth, rice, onion, peppers, salt if desired, thyme and marjoram. Top with chicken.

Cover and bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until rice is tender. Uncover and stir rice. Place 1 tbsp of preserves on each chicken breast. Bake for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 5 minutes longer or until meat juices run clear. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I used only red peppers, because that's what I had (Kevin doesn't care for the green ones so I don't buy them). I chose to omit the salt because I find that thyme usually adds a salty enough taste for me. I used simply fruit apricot preserves which I always have as its a personal favorite, one of the few really sweet things that I like. I also didn't toast my almonds before hand. Just tossed slivered almonds on top and put it back in the oven.
I found that 350 in my oven wasn't hot enough to cook the rice. I increased the heat to 400 and everything was ready in 20 minutes. Also, the preserves slid off in large part. For next time, I would combine the preserves and almonds and see if that creates more of a crust.
Taste was great, it was filling and Kevin liked it. I served the chicken and rice with a large green salad. My serving was approx 6 ozs of chicken, 1/2 c of rice, and 1 1/2 c of salad with 1 tbsp of Ceasar dressing.

Huevos Rancheros- the clean version

Yesterday, we went out for an approximately 40 minute mini-hike that left me out of breath and ridiculously sweaty, renewing my commitment to eat correctly and get going on some more regular exercise. I'm limited on the amount of exercise I can do, for now sticking mainly to bodyweight moves and walking at the request of my doctor. I'm looking at this next few weeks until I can workout more as an opportunity to really get my nutrition on track before adding the demands of working out on top of breast feeding and the lack of sleep.

Kevin very generously cooked dinner last night- a roast with mashed potatoes. While I generally prefer to limit my beef consumption (too much over the course of a week upsets my stomach), sticking with a smaller portion size and adding some veggie munchies afterward made for an excellent dinner.

Despite a fussy night last night, I pushed myself out of bed this morning and into real clothes (as in- not having elastic or previously belonging to my husband) to attend coffee with some friends. The little man cooperated by sleeping the entire time, which made me wish I'd brought a pillow. The energy boost from not-male, sympathetic conversation helped more than I expected- allowing me to actually get some things done around the house.

For dinner, I decided to try out a recipe in the sept/oct issue of Clean Eating, with a few modifications.

Huevos Rancheros
with chicken, black beans, and roasted potatoes

Ingredients:
1 med onion
1 jalapeno (I didn't use)
Cilantro
Garlic
Cooking Spray
15 oz can of black beans
3 med, diced russet or idaho potatoes
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 lb chicken breast
Sea Salt and Pepper, to taste
3 tomatoes
6 egg whites
4 whole wheat tortillas

Instructions:

1. Combine 3 tbsp onion, 1 tbsp jalapeno, 1 tbsp cilantro, and 1 clove garlic and set aside.
2. Preheat medium sauce pan over medium high heat for 2 minutes and mist with cooking spray. Add onion-jalapeno mix and saute for 2 minutes. Add beans plus 1 tbsp water and reduce heat to low. Cook for about ten minutes, stirring occaisionally.
   
3. Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line a medium sized pan or baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
4. In a medium bowl, mix potatoes with 1 tbsp cilantro, 1 clove garlic, cumin, and oregano. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes so potatoes evenly brown. Remove potatoes and leave oven on at the same temp.
   
5. Line another medium sized baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Add chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes at 350, turning occaisionally with tongs. Remove from over and let cook for 5 minutes. Chop.
   
6. Heat a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium high heat for 2 minutes. Mist with cooking spray. Add remaining onion, jalapeno, and garlic- saute for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and saute for another minute. Add remaining cilantro and chopped chicken and saute for another minute. Add egg whites and saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until cooked.
   
7. To assemble, place 1 tortilla on each plate. Divide beans among plate, top with egg-chicken-vegetable mixture. Serve potatoes aslongside and enjoy.

Serving- 1/2 c potatoes, 1/2 c black beans, 3/4 c egg-chicken-vegetable mixture, 1 tortilla
Calories- 480. Total Fat- 5 g. Carbs 74 g. Fiber 11g. Protein 36 g. Sodium 660 mg.

**Modifications- I made a few changes to this recipe mostly to use up leftovers. Instead of chicken, I subbed approximately 6 ozs of roast from last night. Instead of dried oregano and cilantro, I used fresh oregano, chives and basil from my garden. I also prepared three cups of dried black beans in my slow cooker instead of using canned as I use black bean quite a bit during the week for lunches and such. I didn't have any jalapeno or tortillas. And I served four eggs over easy in deference to Kevin's tastes. I also cooked everything on the stove top instead of in the oven. :) It turned out well although for next time I will do the scrambled egg whites as I think that would be better. This would be a great use for left over chicken although I don't think I would make it if I had to bake the chicken. Almost all of the main ingredients (black beans, eggs, chicken and potatoes) are items that I usually have in my kitchen and f=often have leftovers of. This is a great use-up-leftovers dinner.

Eating Clean

I am a huge believer in the power of nutrition. It is an art and a science. The art of cooking and preparing food in all its varied forms. The science of fueling the body for maximum performance and health. For me, the power of food manifests itself in the prevention of my migraines. I suffered from intense headaches and migraines from childhood. In my 20s, I discovered that by reducing or eliminating packaged foods with their preservatives and dyes from my diet I also reduced my migraines and generally felt better.

As I attempt to regain my fitness post-baby and make myself into the healthiest role model possible, I find myself again looking to nutrition. The eating style that I have found matches up most closely to my own ideas and opinions I found in a body building magazine. The concept of "eating clean" appealed to my sense of preferring food in its original form.

I am now embarking on a new adventure of combining eating clean with eating with attached infant. :) One of my projects for the next few months is adapting slow cooker recipes that I have liked to be healthier.

The basics of Clean Eating:

• Eat five to six times a day- three meals plus two to three snacks. Including lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, and a complex carb at each meal.
  
• Drink plenty of H2O- I aim for half my body weight in ozs
• Get label savy- Aiming for whole foods and avoiding chemicals and preservatives.
  
• Avoid processed and refined foods- white flour, sugar, bread and pasta, and most foods that come in a box
• Know your enemies- avoiving foods high in saturated and trans fat, fried foods, foods high in sugar
• Shop with a conscience-consume humanely raised and local meats and produce
• Consume healthy fats- a balanced diet is vital, and includes fat. EFAs are a basic building block
• Learn about portion sizes- and learn to recognize and respect them
• Reduce your carbon footprint- eat seasonal and local
• Moderation is key- limit alcohol to a treat
• Slow down and savor- food tastes best and is best absorbed when eaten slowly and enjoyed!
• Take it to go- pack a cooler for work or outings so healthy options are always available.
  
• Make it a family affair- food is social glue that should be shared. Improve the quality of your family's life (and set yourself up for success) by sharing the benefits of eating clean

**My first post-baby goal- to consistently fit in five to six balanced meal/snacks, with at least 64 ozs of water. **

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A New Page

"There are only two choices- make progress or make excuses." - Ellen Mikesell

Garrett Michael Smith made his entrance into the world almost four weeks early at 5:57 am on July 27, 2009. He was in a considerable hurry to join us, as I was in active labor for only about four hours. He made his entrance weighing in at 6 lbs 14 ozs and measuring 19 inches, with a head full of dark hair.

Aside from a brief elevation of his billirubin levels, requiring a hospital overnight under light therapy, he is a happy, healthy, easy going infant.

Today was Garrett's two week well baby checkup. He has exceeded the goal of regaining his birthweight and now weighs in at 7 lbs flat, as well as growing to 20.5 inches. It will be interesting to see where he's at by the time we reach his due date of August 23rd.

I was incredibly fortunate that my mom was able to come out and help me for the first two weeks of his life. It was amazing- and not just because she got up with him in the middle of the night so I could sleep a little more. Having her there to reassure me, to answer questions to recount memories of my childhood and hers- it made the experience of bringing my first child home so much more complete. It really makes me wonder how much we lose by being as spread out as our culture is now.

So, now to look forward. Enjoy this time with the little man, work on getting fit again, and making this new house really feel like home.

Pre-Baby Workout

Yesterday, sitting right at a month till Baby is expected, I created myself a very gentle Pre-Baby workout. Just something to give me structure between here and there. The objective is not so much to finish the four week cycle, but simply to maintain as much muscle and flexibility as I can. I have to work on how to attach it to my blog...hmm, something to try to get done today.

Thought for the Day:

I often lose motivation, but it's something I accept as normal. Bill Rodgers, American Marathon Runner

Consolidating

I am attempting to consolidate. This is an ongoing struggle of mine. I love starting fresh, new projects....so much that I rarely finish them because I've moved onto the next new project. I've gotten better. For some reason, scrapbooking really helped because I love having the finished product. Although I do tend to go on kicks. I'll sit down and finish a scrapbook in one sitting, start on another one, then not touch it again for a month.

I have the same problem with journals and blogs. A tendency to start several different ones and lack consistency with any of them. Which is odd because I used to be a compulsive journalist.

So here I am. Consolidating.

PCSing Adventure #1

We found out on Dec 3 that we needed to be in MO for Kevin's career course by Jan 5. Which meant I had lost brain function by Dec 4th.

I immeadiately started working on transportation and arrangements for my horses- one is retired and will stay in the NorthWest while one will come with us. I scheduled appointments for the dogs to get their annual vaccines and health certificates and copies of their full medical records. I called in a refill of my migraine meds. I started the ball rolling on housing for us down in MO. Notified our landlord. Put in requests for quotes for carpet cleaning. Went ahead at turbo speed on our christmas cards and rewrote our Christmas letter to include the move.

Then, taking a breath, I looked around the house we've lived in for two and a half years. Looked at the garage- which contained all the debris that had come from my husband's bachelor apartment. Started to scream.....but took a deep breath and appreciated the opportunity to lighten our physical load. It's so easy to accumulate things that they begin to crowd the people out! I'm a bit of a pack rat, but I like my hoardings to be sorted, organized and stored. I don't like to see them just know that they are there. My husband is also a pack rat- but likes everything to be accessible on a whim- and has no organizational impulse. I've encouraged him multiple times to sort through and get rid of things that are not worth keeping but it never managed to get done.

So I pulled out my rubbermaid 18 gallon tubs and started in our guest room- which houses my "crafty stuff". Since it is doubtful that I will have the time over the next busy three weeks of moving and holidays to sit still, that seemed a logical place to start. So, I sorted through. I built up donate piles, trash piles, and stored away what would be coming to MO with us. I felt great about my progress.

Fast forward to the weekend. My husband, bless his heart, wants to also get started on his stuff. He begins with his military equipment- which takes a day and ahalf and takes over our garage. By 3 pm Sunday, it's mostly done but somehow his uniforms have migrated to our living room floor. I'm still busy sorting upstairs, so I take a deep breath and bury my head in what I'm doing.

Sometime mid afternoon, I hear him knocking around in our closet. A few minutes later, he walks by with a massive load of clothes. In response to my confused look, he explains that he's decided (since he's on a roll) to go through his clothes and throw out what he doesn't wear and decide what will come with us on the drive and what the movers will ship. OK. He's being proactive, I'm a fan!

In the evening, I come downstairs to start dinner and behold the Federal Diaster Area that had been my living room. The christmas decorations and wrapping storage that I had worked with that morning was now on the couch with all our jackets and the dog blankets and bed on top of them. Various tools and whatever had been in every pocket was on the dining room table. The clean clothes that I had folded that morning were on the other couch (with the dog on top of them). The clothes basket that had contained the clean clothes now held a small mountain of apparently dirty uniforms and workout clothes. The entire floor area in front of the tv was occupied by considerable mounds of clothing that had no discernable pattern- at least to my untrained eye.

As I stood at the bottom of the stairs surveying the "progress" my husband had made, he came cheerfully through the front door proudly displaying pocketknife that had been hiding out in one of his jacket pockets. I considering having a small mental breakdown since there was no place to sitdown and I was going to have to rewash the clean clothes.

But he's trying to help. My order-challenged husband was attempting to share the load of preparing for this move. So I closed my eyes, reminded myself that when I am teaching the dogs or the horses a new behavior even a fractional move in the right direction earns a reward, and smiled. Commented on how much of his stuff he'd gotten through. Then I grabbed a bowl of leftovers and retreated back to the guest room to remind myself that at least in this corner of the house there was visible floor space.

And tried not to think about the 12 loads of laundry that I knew he was leaving for me to do on my day off.