Chicken Stir Fry

Alright, this recipe took me FOREVER to get right, because I was trying to cook everything in the same pan like I always do, but sadly, it order to make sure your meat isn’t dry, you have to cook the meat and veggies separately :/
Anyway, here’s a healthy-ish version of a chicken stir fry! Fell free to use beef as well, or even tofu. I have tried all 3: with tofu, however, I had to bread and fry it so it was a little less “healthy” and when I added the soy sauce it got soggy, so use tofu with your own tofu expertise in mind.

For this recipe you will need:

• Two Frying pans
• A knife
• A cheese grater
• A spatula, spoon, or tongs (I actually used a fork lol)
• 1/2 to 1 chicken breast, sliced
• Olive Oil
• Cayenne Pepper
• Pepper
• Garlic Powder
• A Sandwich Bag
• Ginger Root, grated (less that 1/4 cup)
• Fresh Garlic, grated or minced (2 cloves)
• 2 slices of yellow onion, choppped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 6 baby carrots or 1 large carrots, chopped
• 3-4 mushrooms cut in fours
• snow peas (~10)
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

Instructions:

1. Place chicken in sandwich bag, and cover in pepper and garlic powder. Only add 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 TSP of cayenne! The ginger makes it pretty spicy already, so if you want less spice, don’t add the cayenne at all. Massage into chicken through bag. Add 1 garlic clove and half of your ginger and massage that in as well. Let sit during next few steps. 

2. Get a little olive oil on your pan and heat it. I use around 4 on my stove, and the highest number is a 6, so a little more than medium. Add carrots, onion, and celery. 

3. Add pepper, the rest of your ginger, and the rest of your garlic. Mix periodically.

4. Put that aside on a different burner set to low, and in a separate pan with olive oil, cook your chicken, covered around the same temperature for 3-5 minutes, flipping periodically. 

5. Place Chicken in vegetable mix, and switch burners. 

6. Add mushrooms and snow peas, and mix frequently.

 

7. Add 3 tbsp of soy sauce and 2 tsp of sesame oil, and continue to mix, or “stir fry” until your chicken seems more thoroughly cooked, but not dry. 

8. Now you have a chicken stir fry, ready to eat!

P.S I also made this with broccoli and bok choy and it was bomb. I used the mesquite seasoning for the Chicken, and it was oddly very good lol. I even measured everything out when I did it to give you all accurate nutrition facts. You can replicate it with a food scale. I did 1/4 of a chicken breast for this one.

*I just realized I didnt specify what the nutritional values represented.. lol it goes:
calories, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, fat, saturated fat (all in g), then cholesterol, sodium, and calcium (all in mg)

Enjoy!

-Soli

Tuna Stuffed Bell Peppers

Hi everyone! Today I am posting something I like to make when I am in a hurry and don’t wanna spend too much time in a kitchen. As a college student, I buy a LOT of tuna! However, if you’re tryna to avoid carbs or gluten, its difficult finding creative ways to eat it. You can also start to get sick of the taste, no matter what way you’re eating it. Sooooooo

Today I’m going to share my favorite tuna recipe!

p.s. I’ve been minding all of your feedback and will be adding more photos per step. Let me know if it’s better/worse!

You will need:

• A small bowl
• A cutting board
• A pairing knife
• A fork or spoon
• 1/2 a small tomato, chopped
• 1 slice of onion, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 a dill pickle (up to you), chopped
• 1/2 an avocado
• Black beans
• Salt and Pepper
• 1/2 to 3/4 of a medium sized bell pepper, cut as pictured below

Instructions:

**Your bell pepper: I cored mine with the pairing knife and left about 3/4 of it. If you wanna cut it in halves and eat two, feel free! It all depends on how hungry you are! I made the tuna recipe in a generous quantity, so that you can fill both halves of your bell pepper. 

1. Add your tuna, tomato, onion, and pickles into the mixing bowl, and stir it up until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

2. Cut your avocado like this

then slide it into your mixture. 

3. Add black beans. This quantity is up to you. I start with a little and add more if I feel like its not enough. I normally add around this much. 

4. Mix until ingredients are evenly distributed. The avocado is going to act as your “mayonnaise” and give it some moisture, so don’t worry about this recipe leaving your tuna dry. 

5. Coat the top with pepper and add a pinch of salt. As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts, I’m not very big on salt, but if you taste it and decide to add more, its completely up to you!

6. Mix until evenly distributed, then stuff your bell pepper. If you want you can try and be fancy like me and add some parsley to make it look cool, and plate it with fruit around it. 

Hope you all enjoy!

Soli

Lemon Pepper Chicken

When I was in middle school an old friend of mine showed me how to cook my first (healthy) meal. It was lemon pepper chicken prepared with chicken breast and green beans. It’s been 8-9 years and I still make it to this day.

This recipe is rather simple, however, its amazing for when you are on a crunch for time because it has to be prepared FAST. It’s also a great prep meal.

You will need:

• 1 Frying Pan
• A Cooking Utensil (I use a plastic spoon thing)
• A Cutting Board
• A Chopping knife
• Olive Oil
• 1/2 a Lemon
• 1/2 a Chicken Breast (sliced into small strips)
• Pepper
• 1-2 Slices of Onion, chopped
• 1 Garlic Clove
• Garlic Powder 
• As much Green Beans as You Want! (I chop the ends off mine, but its not necessary)

Instructions:
1. Heat your frying pan with about a tbsp of olive oil, you can also just pour a circle of oil around the center of the pan, and thats usually a good amount.  I usually set my stove to around 4, but all stoves are different, so I’m gonna suggest a medium temperature.
2. One the oil is heated, throw in your galric and onion, and mix it up. Sprinkle some garlic powder into it, after about 30 seconds, set the strips of chicken on top of it.
3. Season with Pepper and garlic power, then sqeeze the lemon juice on top of your chicken. Really target your chicken! It can taste weird if there is too much.

4. Cover for 1 minute and 30 seconds
5. Uncover and stir, periodically checking if your chicken is cooked. Normally when the lemon dissipates, its done.
6. Empty onto a plate or into a bowl, and rinse your pan. Doesn’t have to be thoroughly rinsed or washed unless your chicken started to burn ur pan.
7. Put another 2 tbps of olive oil into your pan.
8. When the oil is heated, put in your green beans. A lot of people LOVE putting salt on their green-beans, but me and my boyfriend are pepper fanatics, so we tend to go big on the pepper, and leave the salt at home, but its all your choice.
9. Mix it up and stir, then cover for about 2 minutes.
10. So here you have 2 options. If you like your green-beans crunchy like us, take them out, they’re done. If you like them a little softer, add like 3 tbsp of water and cover for longer. I realize green bean crunchiness is a sensitive topic for many people, so keep cooking for as long as you’d like to obtain the perfect texture/flavor.

10. You’ve gotta delicious healthy meal (:

*Tip: Add avocado, quinoa, or rice if you’re gonna eat this for lunch to help maintain fullness a little easier for the rest of your day.

 

Enjoy!

Soli

Cauliflower Stromboli

I LOVE Stromboli, and when I found out there was a way to make it gluten free, I HAD to try it. It was my first time trying out a cauliflower crust recipe, so I made a few tweaks/modifications to make the process a little easier for those of you who read my blog.

Also: PLEASE DO NOT FEEL LIMITED BY THIS RECIPE! Feel free to stuff your Stromboli with anything you want!

You will need:

• A kitchen Towel or Cheese Cloth (so much easier with cheese cloth)
• A Baking Sheet
• A Medium Sided Bowl (microwave safe)
• Parchment Paper
• Clean Hands

For the Crust
1. 3 cups of shredded cauliflower (~1 head)
2. 1/4-1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella/Cheddar cheese mix
--> You are able to solely mozzarella, but this is a personal preference, and I also basically thorough a handful in there, so I’m guessing a quantity right now. I might edit this once I make it again, but I’m gonna go with somewhere in between those values.
3. 1 Egg
4. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5. 1/2 tsp oregano (I had a plant that was dried and crushed, but feel free to use store bought dried)
6. 1/4 tsp black pepper

For the inside
7.  Your favorite pasta sauce/pizza sauce
8. Handful of Spinach
9. Handful of sliced Mushrooms
10. Another 1/2 cup of the same mozzarella mix or more if you love cheese
11. 3 small cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs or 2 large cooked in italian seasoning. SHRED IT UP.

For the top
12. More Oregano
13. Shredded Parmesan Cheese

**its easiest to prepare the shredded cauliflower and chicken before hand!

Instructions:
1. Cauliflower Prep

• Cheese grate your entire head of cauliflower into a bowl 
• Microwave for 7 1/2 to 8 minutes
• Empty bowl onto cheese cloth or towel (carefully!)
• Squeeze all excess liquid into sink
• Squeeze all excess liquid into sink
• Squeeze all excess liquid into sink
• If this isn’t done properly, theres a chance your crust wont come out
• Place back in bowl

2.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees fareinheit
3. Cover your pan with parchment paper, and coat with olive oil
3. The Crust

• Add your egg, cheese, salt, oregano, and pepper and stir thoroughly. 
• Spread your mixture into a rectangle on your pan. You don’t want this to be SUPER THIN, but you don’t want it to sit as a small thick rectangle in the center of your pan. Make it thin, but not so thin that it would tear apart. 
• Bake for 10 minutes, no longer! 

4. The Filling

• As soon as you take your crust out of the oven, spread your sauce onto 3/4 of it. Remember that you’re rolling it into a Stromboli, so you want to have a small space thats just dough for connectivity. Add your toppings! Mushrooms, Spinach, Chicken, and Mozzarella! 
• This is the video I used to get a general idea on how to roll the stromboli 
• I Lightly cut around 5 slits along the top just so the insides were lightly exposed from the middle
• Top with more oregano and some parmesan cheese to your liking! 
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until you feel its browned enough

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did, 

Soli 

Baked Chicken Pesto

I recently took a metabolic biochemistry course on nutrition, and there’s this study on the trade off between certain strains of the same vegetable. Basically, my professor told us that the amount of nutrients/antioxidants per 100 grams of vegetable goes up 8 fold if you chose to eat spinach over iceberg lettuce, however, I HATE SPINACH. I have never liked it all that much, so I decided to start hiding it inside chunks of romaine lettuce and other vegetables in the form of a salad. 

Now, most people know how to put together a salad they way they like it, so I won’t get into all that, but one of the most important things that masks the flavor of spinach or kale, or whatever raw leafy green I decide to trick myself into eating, is the meat or protein I decide to use.

My dressing of choice is balsamic vinegar, so I tend to move toward spices that have potential to go with it, but here is one of my favorite ways to prep my chicken! You do not have to limit yourself to pesto. This recipe also works with your favorite salsa, barbecue sauce and more!

You will need:

• A Cookie Sheet
• Olive Oil 
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, defrosted
• Fresh Garlic (2 large)
• Garlic Powder (I like McCormick Roasted Garlic Powder)
• Freshly Ground Pepper
• Rock Salt 
• Pesto (my favorite is Classico brand)

Instructions:

1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Lightly Coat your Cookie Sheet in Olive Oil

3. Chicken Prep

• Slice each of your chicken breasts into two even cutlets. Here’s a video on how to slice your chicken breasts into cutlets just in case you are new to this term!
• Place each evenly spread on your cookie sheet
• Mince your garlic, then distribute evenly among the 4 cutlets. 
• Add about a tsp of garlic powder, as well as a tsp of pepper to each cutlet. 
• Salt: I don’t personally add salt, but a lot of people like the flavor enhancement, so add to your usual taste!
• Flip over and repeat
• Add your pesto to each cutlet! Be as generous as you want, the more you add, the moister your chicken will be.
• Fill free to add veggies before baking too!

4. Place in the over for 25-30 minutes 

Tip: Always check to see if your chicken is done backing by sticking a fork in the middle and searching for rawness. Some ovens are weaker than others, so be very careful. Ingesting raw chicken can be deadly.

                 

Enjoy!

-Soli