Eat more to lose weight, not less.

Since I was 18 I have battled with portion control. When I was younger I could eat, and eat, and eat, and eat and eat, but it never affected me at all. By the time I was my biggest I thought eating less would do the trick, but I was wrong. I thought not eating certain foods would work and it did, but not without consequences. Losing muscle along with fat will make you smaller, but not healthy. There are a million fad diets or diet pills( I never used ), but there are really only two options I see that are correct; eating more often (healthy foods) and eating more often and exercising. When a diet tells you YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING YOU WANT it generally means it's ok to have a burger or pizza even ice cream, but not everyday. Portion control, when I implement it correctly, has been the one thing I've done that has shown the quickest results.

A couple months ago, on and off, I began a protein shake regiment with the girls, Christine and Kat. I would wake up in the morning and drink a shake within 30 minutes of getting out of bed, I got that from Christine, and it worked wonders on my energy level and my overall mood. I would then eat every 2-3 hours whether it be scrambled eggs and salsa or a handful of cranberries and nuts, but I would limit my servings to never exceed a measuring cup worth of food. It also helped a lot to jot down every time I ate and at what time. That motivated me to not only eat more, but better. Don't get me wrong I still ate cream cheese and mashed potatoes, but because I was being more personally responsible with my diet it was easier to limit heavy foods, or junk. I also made a huge effort to not eat carbs with dinner, which can be hard with Ty and the Baby, but they didn't notice much and that made me happy.

 There are two things that really make eating throughout the day easier for me and it's Greek yogurt and Cottage cheese. I buy the 0% yogurts by Chobani that come in really awesome flavors like "Black Cherry" and "Blood Orange." Mixing things into cottage cheese can make it easier to eat for some people, I'm not one of those, but I put chopped tomatoes and pepper or even mix a little with one of my bean salads if I have one already made. While you want to watch fat, and sugar intake, you really just need to pay attention to the other benefits of certain foods. Both Cottage cheese and the yogurt have protein. Greek yogurt is also a great probiotic and can be used inplace of things like Mayo or Sour cream. I was reading not to long ago that not consuming enough protein is what forces some of us to snack on certain things that we definitely don't need. I found a calculation to help figure out what your daily amount of protein should be:



The DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound 
(found on  http://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-protein-per-day/ )

The protein shake I drink equals about half of my daily requirement for protein, so why don't I just drink two? Well because what I'm trying to do is not about eating less, it's about eating healthy. I have researched liquid diets in length, and they are not necessarily advocated by doctors, dieticians, or health experts. Yes, you will lose tons of weight by drinking your meals, but we have teeth for a reason and there is a lot necessary function to the act of chewing your food. Chewing is the first step in proper digestion and is what tells the body to start producing digestive enzymes so you can efficiently break down food and absorb all the benefits. If your body isn't absorbing the vital substances from your food than you are missing out and that is what experts say happens in a largely liquid diet.

I have found with this eating habit I eat anywhere from 5-8 times a day starting within 30 minutes of getting out of bed and stopping by 7p.m. Drinking more water than normal has shown, in my experience, to be really helpful when drinking protein shakes. The protein powder can have a tendency to absorb a lot of liquids from your system upsetting any "regularity" balance in place. This is to be interpreted as a choice on my behalf, I am not an advocate for any particular diet I have just found a healthy way to start controlling an out of control habit of overeating. I have more energy and a better attitude which is funny to be able to attribute eating "more" to that conclusion.

Here in the link below WebMD has an article that maybe interesting for you to read if you are torn between the 3 square meals or 6. Keep in mind they are discussing what is better for weight loss, while my approach encompasses both health and the average of 4 lb.s a week I have lost in a one month trial. Again, I have found something that works for me, but we are all different! The worst thing you can do is find out something doesn't work for you and move on:)

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/3-hour-diet-or-3-meals-a-day

*Remember to always educate yourself on any extreme diet change.

Beware of food trends...

There are so many conflicting opinions on the Internet and in real life about health issues. You can find studies to support an issue and studies to support arguments. It can become very overwhelming for us to determine what is really going on and what we should really be worried about. I find a huge problem with reliability, even the most well-known sources have been known to retract their health claims, and sometimes it's done in a low profile way which is even more disturbing than these sources being wrong in the first place.

Tonight was spent doing a little research on "health trends." I found an article, rather two articles, on the Huffington Post website that are about 2013 and 2014. It was a little silly to see that the 2013 article was titled, "The worst health trends of 2013: Health trends we'd be happy to see go in 2014." The article for 2014 was labeled, "Heath trends of 2014." I guess in 2015 we will see a correction and it will tell us what they would like to see gone in 2015 about 2014. This is exactly what continues to cause such confusion about our information on health. While I'm not an avid follower of the Huffington Post I know a lot of people are.

In my last post, "Superfoods: Kale and Beans," I lightly touched on this issue. There have been instances where I have shared something I read on the web, or even in a magazine, that I have had to retract later on when the truth was discovered. There is another problem I see in this "free information sharing" generation of ours, sometimes people are HALF correct. That is kiiiinda dangerous in my eyes and I'll tell you why; either starting out with the right idea or ending with it creates a room full of people who begin to think professionals can be anyone, or that a professional is always correct. Now without going into my opinion on "why I believe a doctor is still just a human being" I will end this paragraph with DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

Superfoods are superfoods, and it's unnecessary to call them that, my opinion is if it grows in the ground, takes energy from the sun, needs water to flourish and soil to support it then it has everything you need so eat it. Try all things, eat foods you don't thoroughly enjoy because they are good for you, that's life kid! Showers, sleeping, eating and exercising are necessary to survive..mostly ..so stop looking for the miracle, stop eating fast food and listen to your body. I have learned that 9 times out of 10 when you don't feel well, have a mood, skin, attitude, physical or allergy problem it is because you aren't nourishing your body correctly. Obviously there are some real issues out there that sommme people have that can't be rectified with diet alone, but for the majority of us it's just that. It is very important to clarify here that when I say try things that I don't mean because some food "expert" tells you to. All these great new trending ideas, the new expensive health secret, are usually no different than the health foods you already know about. The price does not make it better for you and for some people that is terribly difficult to understand.

*Side note: while I sit here and blog I am going in between my other tabs to look things up as they pop up in my fast track mind, and I found an awesome article that is a more eloquent version of the pontificating you just read. I found it right after I finished my last paragraph and would have loved to have had it for reference throughout this ramble sesh, but here you go anyway. Don't be fooled by the title, it isn't about "The Dangers of Superfoods."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/09/he-dangers-of-superfoods.html

Superfoods: Kale and Beans

I am in no way advocating a completely meat-free diet or judging anyone who adheres to one. Years ago I personally worked in a raw, organic, vegan kitchen and it was a lot of fun. I feel that people should be very understanding that it truly is a lifestyle and a lot of work. Being "Vegan" or "Vegetarian" isn't just not eating meat or animal by-products. To be healthy and to safely live a meat-free life you need to supplement correctly with foods that will make up for not eating the sources of some pretty important vitamins and minerals. While no one actually likes to hear that they should eat "fats" it is also a pretty important component to overall health and energy.

In my, so far, short existence I have encountered many different ideas on food and feeding the body. There are many correct ways to make that happen and then there are many detrimentally unhealthy reasons for not being healthy. Since food is such an important part of my life I love getting to talk to people about how and what they eat, and sometimes that isn't the true nature of our conversations. In listening to people and watching them I have learned a little about "some things" and enough for form a small opinion.

Here I would like to share that I myself have struggled with my weight and have tried many different "eating habits" to maintain or control myself for optimum health. Anything you read here is an observation of a wide variety of experiences and an educated guess at best, but generally that is what most sciences are.

The inspiration for this rambling today comes to you via "MindBodyGreen" a health forum I follow on Facebook. I love their posts because they have great ideas along with RELIABLE information. There is nothing more frustrating than reading about something I find on the internet or even in a magazine regarding health, passing that information on to my friends or family, and then finding out I have to track them down to tell them it was wrong. And YES, that is something I DO, just ask The Hunebee! It is very comforting to know that MindBodyGreen does their research keeping their opinions to themselves till they have gotten to the bottom of all the possibilities:)

Today we are not talking about why Animal Meat products are bad, rather what foods you can eat that have as much if not more of the vital nutrients and less of the cholesterol. This is also inspired by the constant struggle I have with picky eaters, staunch childhood diets, and emotional pacifiers. There is a MAJOR balance between food "The Vitality for LIFE" and food "The Hobby."

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6142/All-Hail-Kale-Infographic.html This is a great article from MindBodyGreen with some amazing facts about Kale.

"Did you know that kale has more iron than beef, or more calcium than milk." 

That is the first line in the article, how could that not grab you!! I also learned from MarthaStewart.com that the colder the weather the sweeter the kale, making fall through spring the best time to grow or eat.

Some great Kale recipes can be found here:

For those of you that LOVE bacon and the tang of apple cider vinegar check out:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/braised-kale-with-bacon-cider-10000000577156/

Everyone knows how much I love Garbanzo beans, if you do as well go here:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/garbanzo-beans-greens-50400000109639/

I love a very basic kale, cooked down, a little spicy and definitely with fresh lemon. Try Martha's recipe:
http://www.marthastewart.com/862205/spicy-sauteed-kale-lemon?czone=food%2Fwinter-produce%2Fwinter-produce&gallery=286367&slide=862205&center=1009854


BEANS!
Protein, Fiber and Antioxidants OH MY! By the way Red Meat has little or no fiber (found on WebMD's article http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/beans-protein-rich-superfoods), but I'm not cutting out meats entirely, I'm just giving you an option that you can add to your meals. Red meats shouldn't be eaten with every meal or even every day,  and with "Super foods" like beans you don't have to. Here is an excerpt from WebMd on the importance of Beans and the benefits to your health and weight loss:

"Beans are comparable to meat when it comes to calories, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, a registered dietitian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Wellness Institute in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. But they really shine in terms of fiber and water content, two ingredients that make you feel fuller, faster. Adding beans to your diet helps cut calories without feeling deprived."
(By Jenny Stamos Kovacs WebMD the Magazine - Feature Reviewed by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD)

*Who doesn't want to feel full on less?!

Besides my bean recipes here are some great ones that I've found while searching around:

Slow cooked tomato and herb white beans from theKitchn.com

http://www.thekitchn.com/slowcooked-tomato-and-herb-whi-97163

Here is a Three Bean salad from Allrecipes.com it's a sweet version of the bean salads that I often post:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Three-Bean-Salad-5/Detail.aspx?prop24=RD_RelatedRecipes

I had these at a local soda shop in San Diego and they were fantastic! Roasted crispy Chickpea's from Steamykitchen.com :
http://www.steamykitchen.com/10725-crispy-roasted-chickpeas-garbanzo-beans.html

I have met many people who don't understand not eating meat every day, or at least for dinner every night. While meats have their benefits they also have consequences. I see that if you can eat something else once in a while and not deprive yourself of the health requirements, then why not? That, in the first sentence, is the most obvious answer to why there is so much more meat consumption....people don't understand. Like all eating habits it is about education. We all love to indulge, but when indulgence meets health safety we have to grow up and think outside the box. I am lucky to have a toddler who will eat most anything you place in front of her. Oddly she prefers not to eat as much meat as she does beans and vegetables, but that is a win in my book.

So to conclude kale and beans are a great source of iron, calcium, protein, fiber and a mixed alphabet of vitamins. Some of those vital nutrients prove much higher than that of red meat, which is a great thing for creating healthier eating habits and learning new things.

New Mommy Menu

This is a way overdue blog post from last week. With our new nephew being born recently and a very tired Mommy, who is tired of a Daddy's version of quick dinner, (fast food:/) I offered to cook a short week of healthy food to help her out. Nothing real fancy just easy, healthy, quick food so she could spend as much time resting as possible. Most of these menu items have been made in previous blog posts with detailed directions and recipes so here is a recap of what I prepared. Sissie is a huge fan of the "Bean Salad" so that was a must, along with Cauliflower, Broccoli salad and Lemon Orzo. She asked for those things specifically and I made a huge post of Chicken Stew, Gluten Free, which was the topic of my last blog post. Pictured last is the Sour Cream and Onion sauce I used for my "Smothered Pork Chops"(recipe from 3-27-14) on a bed of rice pilaf. Not pictured was a container of mini meatballs in a sweet and savory sauce of carrot, onion and garlic that is usually poured over pasta, minus the meatballs and is called " Genovese." I shopped for all these ingredients and then prepared it on a budget of $35.00, it took a little over 4 hours to make 4-5 days worth of food.  

Basil and Parsley Garbanzo salad with Tomatoes

Lemon, Olive oil and Parsley Orzo

Broccoli and Cauliflower salad

Gluten Free Chicken Stew

(There is also a small "how to" video for the Chicken stew at https://www.facebook.com/COOKINGTTREATS ) 

Sour Cream and Onion smothered Rice Pilaf

*For any questions about a specific recipe you can't find please feel free to contact me for individual instructions! ENJOY!!

Mini menu for the Sissie, Gluten-Free Chicken Stew!

New babies, new ideas! This week has been crazy busy with cooking, my own family, getting ready for Easter and time for me to take a breath...I love it though. I have never been this busy before and I can only imagine it picking up. Since last week, the 11th to be exact, we have had an addition to our family his name is Luke and he is a perfect little nephew! I offered to cook for our Sissie, since not only having a new baby at home, she has two other little step-boys that we ADORE and not a lot of energy for cooking. Last night the Hunebee came for her weekly visit and I started my cooking and when she jumped up on the counter I thought was just trying to find a spot in the kitchen to sit and be silly. I was wrong, she was making a video that you can find on her Facebook via Instagram and here's a link https://www.facebook.com/theboxgirl?fref=ts I wasn't able to paste it here so hopefully you'll get to see the beginning of my stew and later on today when I'm finished I'll show you the quick, easy healthy menu I have planned for her!

It's GLUTEN FREE! yay!

More pictures coming!

Tahini is MY new Peanut-butter!

About a month and a half ago, after the girls started their diets, I started a protein shake regiment. Christine uses Herbalife and Kat uses Body by Vi. I purchased a generic chocolate whey protein powder which I actually found to have more protein per serving than both of those other two products and is cheaper. I love cheap stuff. In the beginning I used one scoop of powder, 6-8 oz. of water and 1 frozen banana. There are people who use peanut butter for added protein and of course flavor but I saw that as a lot of unnecessary fat. Christine found out that bodybuilders and weights enthusiasts use a dehydrated form of peanut butter that is somewhere around 70% less fat (might be higher) and has all the benefits of protein and flavor. I looked for dehydrated peanut butter and the only place that carried it that I could drive to was GNC, I'm assuming it's a specialty product, and it was way tooo expensive for "peanut butter."

I found a solution in substitution and that came in the form of "Tahini." Tahini is sesame seed paste most commonly used in "Hummus." It has many wonderful health benefits and a great nutty flavor. I use a brand that roasts the seeds before they are ground down which has shown to boost the level of calcium per serving and has been proven to be the type of calcium most easily absorbed by the body. There is also a huge difference in "hulled" and "unhulled" sesame seeds. Unhulled sesame seeds are still in the casing and the most healthy of the two. Hulled sesame is obviously seeds no longer in the casing which has been proven to show a major decrease in calcium levels. So to recap use unhulled, roasted or toasted for the highest serving of calcium. Sesame seeds is also a great source of magnesium, copper, vitamin B1, zinc and dietary fiber. (reference and information found on http://saveourbones.com/the-power-of-the-sesame-seed/)

Now for added vitamins, overall health and flavor I use 1 Tbs. of roasted Tahini paste in my protein shake every morning. The flavor is great and although it is not peanut butter, it isn't really a comparison, and just tastes awesome! LASTLY, but not least it's GLUTEN FREE.

TRY IT!

Jazz it up in less than 10 minutes, from prep to plate!

Today the Boo and I had a great visit from a girlfriend I've known since middle school. She and her adorable little boy Adam came and played for a couple hours and we had a little snacky lunch. I threw together a pasta salad real quick, made some yogurt dip for vegetables and Greek potatoes(lime and dill) I had so much fun last night with The Hunebee, attempting videos, that I decided to throw something together real quick so I could get my practice on!

In less than 10 minutes I prepped up some add-ins for the already completed Pasta Salad. Inside the salad, already, was olive oil, Queso fresco, fresh thyme, fresh basil, and about a 1/3 cup Greek yogurt. I added fresh spinach, scallions (tops and bottoms), and Lime all ORGANIC and garden fresh from Momma Gina that Christine brought last night. From my fridge and pantry there is garlic and sweet peppers that I sauteed all together till slightly wilted and immediately tossed with the original Pasta.

Although it was a little different taping myself it was fun to try and it's helping me figure out my way. We are thinking of going "Go-Pro" soon so I promise quality will only improve!

ENJOY!

Adventures in Cooking video-clips

I have been playing around with the idea of making videos of my cooking for the last couple weeks. I was motivated last week by Mark and Matt, from my weekly business chat, to have one to show this Wednesday. My day on Monday was hectic and although Jesse came up from North Park to help I had no way of tackling that endeavour. Christine (The Hunebee) came up for what was supposed to be the day of my Sissie's (Amanda) Induction date, but that got rescheduled, and ended up being a great opportunity to try making a video. We ran into a couple roadblocks but persevered otherwise. Instagram was a total fail and although I'm proud that we stuck with it I have to admit that the original video clip was so awesome. It was supposed to be a beginning  to the end type of show all with no words, but halfway through my Application decided to crash and deleted the whole thing. Funny, normally that would have upset me, but for once in the history of time The Hunebee and I traded places in the reaction department. So although I would have preferred to offer a much more quality clip I am pretty proud that we tried something new and below you can see a glimpse of something I intend on improving, and including, each week for everyone's viewing pleasure! 

The Meals* featured in the video clip were a carrot salad with mango, mint and cucumber for The Hunebee. Jesse got a jar of spinach and garlic mashed potatoes with lime, dill tilapia, while Angelo got lime-salmon and potatoes. Again the intention of the video was to show prep. to finished plate, but when life gives you limes (from The Hunebee and Jesse's Momma's house) use it to deglaze a pan of fish<3

Pak Choi: Highly underestimated

Most of us know it as "Bok Choy" but I prefer to call things what they are. Pronouncing them as they are called is important to me as well, and that is not pretension, but a respectful preference. You can buy this in most any grocery store, I actually found this at a Mexican market, oddly though most people find it almost completely synonymous with Asian food fare. Pak Choi is actually a form of cabbage, although not looking or tasting anything like a traditional one, and is used in some versions of "Kimchi".(Korean pickled cabbage) 

My first discernible experience with this "white vegetable" was when working for Cilantro Live and they had an "Arame & Dulse" Bok Choy salad. I didn't prefer the seaweed aspect of that salad but fell in love with this cabbage's texture. It's really hard to explain to someone what it tastes like when they've never tried it before. It looks like celery, but isn't stringy, it has a leafy top, but isn't lettuce, and definitely doesn't taste like cabbage. I find Pak Choi to have a bland, earthy but pleasant flavor. I feel my liking is more about the texture, cooked or raw. 

"When speaking about health benefits Pak Choi is full of Vitamin A and C. One cup of cooked bok choy provides more than 100% of the recommended dietary allowance of A, and close to two-thirds the RDA of C." (<- From WebMd.com "Bok Choy 10 Healthy facts.)

Pak Choi is also a source of Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium and Vitamin B-6 and has been found to be one of the Cancer eliminating foods. 

Unfortunately besides Stir fry and Asian cuisine, you don't see much of it around, and I don't think most people would even know what to do with it. But here on Mondays we love Pak Choi and below is a couple quick ways to use it.

 This is a lightly sauteed version of Pak Choi with a little Olive oil and spices.

Ingredients:

2 cup Pak Choi
1 diced Scallion
dash of pepper and lemon chili salt
2-3 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together. Heat a pan and throw it all in on a high heat for 1-2 minutes tossing and turning, you don't want to cook it but rather flash fry it.

Last week I made The Hunebee and Kuizzy a spicy Pak Choi and red bell pepper salad, marinated in a tangy vinaigrette and serrano peppers.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Cost: $2.00 per jar

Ingredients:

(2 jars)
4 cups Pak Choi
2 serrano peppers, diced very thin
1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced
1 scallion diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
dash of ginger powder
salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, and then jar it. The salad should keep for up to 5 days, but again be careful of the serrano pepper's heat. The Hunebee and Kuizzy love SPICY food. You might want to try one pepper the first time.

ENJOY!

And then there were 6 (Bean Salad)

A little play on words there..:) Which reminds me, last week while slinking through the back alley of a particular North Park neighborhood with The Hunebee, we stumbled upon a couple crates of discarded library books. Beneath the heap of junky magazines were some great finds. I walked away with a small stack of cookbooks, an old copy of "Moby dick" and "Bound for Glory," by Woody Guthrie. It was an added excitement to Monday Menu Madness...I love free stuff. One man's junk was definitely our treasure.

As of this week I have taken on two more people, which puts me at 6 personally tailored menus for the weeks to come. The first is Jesse, The Hunebee's littlest brother, and one of the sweetest boys I know. The second is another one of Vapure's "gems" Zachariah, he works in the awesome Oceanside store with Ty. I was busy before but like I said in "Winner, Winner Chicken dinner..." The more the merrier! It can only give me more to blab about when telling my stories of "Adventures in Monday Menus."

On to a whole new realm of cooking on the side. I want to thank all my friends for giving me the opportunity to hang out in my kitchen all day creating things I hope they'll love!

Here is another one of those great bean salads for The Hunebee.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Cost for 1 jar: $3.75

Ingredients:

1 15oz. can of garbanzo beans
1/3 cup roma tomatoes
1/8 cup red bell pepper
1 scallion
1 Tbs. fresh basil
1/3 cup of red wine vinegar
2 Tbs. olive oil
Dash of dried parsley
salt and pepper

Directions:

Rinse beans and set them aside to drain. Dice the tomatoes, and peppers to same medium size and slice a whole scallion. Tear the fresh basil and add vinegar, oil, parsley, salt and pepper, mix. Add the beans and marinate or eat right away.

ENJOY!

*Here is a fun little clip showing how I had to find a much better spot for my "new" old books:)

Winner, Winner Chicken dinner!

I was about to take the easy way out tonight. I've been exhausted and I see no signs of stopping. Ugh, kinda intimidating when I really think about it, but none the less...ONWARD and UPWARD! Todays agenda was house cleaning overhaul but dinner still had to be made and that's the funny part of being a stay at home Mommy that they never tell you.

Maybe I should enlighten you with the fact that I love to procrastinate. Although in recent times I have found that knowing that and then challenging myself to work to the bone has become such a great joy. Positive energy attracts positive energy and from my diligence this evening I was met with two more opportunities in my personal cook endeavour. I "Tweeted" tonight that I'm seriously in need of a bigger kitchen now, but that has always been the case. Along with my procrastination, I'm a "more the merrier" kinda lady, and somewhere along the line those two together seem to contradict themselves in my own head, but I love it.

Back to the simple dinner that turned into work:) I decided that just doing it is better than skimping out AND the health of my two favorite people in the world is more important than me being lazy. The Hunebee's Mom sent home an organic goodie bag for me this Monday. A bundle of flowing green onions, an over-stuffed bag of minty mint, perfect limes and randomly growing cilantro from her ever bountiful, organic home garden. I had a huge bag of roma tomatoes that I got on sale, 3lb.s for $1, and I decided that I wanted to do a fresh tomato sauce. I was about to add olives and then I remembered having dinner with Momma-Gina last week and that was one of the things she told me to stop eating(tooo much salt). The sauce was for a couple chicken breasts thawing in my sink. I was mulling over what to make with it but rice, potatoes, or pasta just sounded like too much. I was really trying to go NO-carb, so I opted for a Panzanella like salad...ha.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Cost: $7 for the whole dinner

Ingredients for Chicken:

2 medium(on the large side) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in two(4 pieces)
2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper

Sauce:

3 roma tomatoes, diced
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 green onions, dice the bulb up to the dark green(set aside for salad and garnish)
1/8 cup carrot, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Dash of dried basil, thyme, oregano and parsley
1/2 cup fresh chopped spinach
salt and pepper
1/3 tsp. white sugar

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, saute scallions, carrots and garlic in olive oil then salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt pepper and sugar. Once the sauce has coked down a little add spinach, turn down the heat and let it simmer very low.

I like to rinse and dry my chicken before cooking it. In the oil, fry on both sides after seasoning. Tonight I added the juice from the chicken directly to the sauce, IT"S FLAVOR!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pre-shredded carrot
1 roma tomato, diced
1 persian cucumber, partially peeled
1 cup of croutons (Garlic)
about a 1/3-1/4 cup of scallion leaves chopped

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. yellow mustard
Salt
1 small serrano pepper, sliced thin, about 1 Tbs. (watch out!)

Toss the salad and dressing right before you are about to serve so it doesn't get soggy. Also be careful of  the serrano pepper, use less if you aren't familiar with its heat.

ENJOY!