Broccoli & Cheddar Stuffed Chicken

 

Who doesn't love stuffed chicken breast??  These Cheddar Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Breasts were a huge hit for the whole family, even the picky 2 year old!  I remember when I was little LOVING those frozen stuff chicken breasts but I'm positive they aren't good for you! Here is a quick, healthy solution for you!  They also make wicked leftovers!

Broccoli Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Breasts

 

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts (mine were quite small)

1 1/3 cup shredded cheddar (I threw in some mozzerella I had also)

2 cup frozen broccoli (or steamed fresh)

1/4 tsp both Himalayan Salt & pepper
1/2 tsp each minced garlic, onion powder, and cayenne

3/4 cup cottage cheese



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Chop your steamed or thawed broccoli into small pieces and set aside.
Take your chicken breast, place on wax paper and place saran wrap over the chicken.  Flatten with mallet until about 1/2 inch or thinner.
In a bowl, mix together shredded cheese, cottage cheese, spices and broccoli.  Section the mixture into 4 equal part and make each section into a loose ball with your hands.  Place the ball in the center of the chicken breast and roll the chicken breast around the mixture, tucking in the ends so all of your cheesy goodness doesn't escape!  Place the opening side of the chicken down to keep it secured while cooking.
Place all 4 stuffed chicken breasts onto a cooking sprayed, tin foiled baking sheet.  I sprinkled the top of mine with Seasoned Herb Medley or Mrs. Dash but any non salt seasoning would be great!
Place the chicken breasts into the oven for 25-30 minutes.

**21 Day Fixers** 
Each chicken breast is 1 1/2 red container, one blue container, and 1/2 a green container.

 

 

How to make Kombucha Tea

How To Brew Kombucha
After reading abut all the amazing benefits of Kombucha Tea, I needed to add it to my daily routine!  At $6 a bottle from health food stores, I really didn't want to budget this in when I knew I could brew it from home!  It was actually a lot easier than I had expected.

This was my first time making a batch and it turned out AMAZING! Here is what I did:

Materials Needed:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 liters of water
• 4-6 teabags or teaspoons tied in cheesecloth (I personally used red rose for this batch)
• a mother SCOBY/mushroom

*this is a ratio of ingredients, you may need to adjust according to the vessel you are using to brew the tea*

• A piece of light cotton (freshly laundered) or a piece of paper towel
• 10 L stainless steel or glass pot (never aluminum)
• glass, wooden or stainless steel spoon

Brewing Your Kombucha Tea:

Put water into the pot, add sugar and bring to boil.  Boil for 3 minutes.  Add the tea and boil for a further 2-3 minutes (this is kill any mold spores that may be present in the teabags).  Turn off the stove and steep for another 10-15 minutes,  Remove the teabags.  Let the tea cool to the touch (I left my covered overnight) (35 to 45 degrees C).  Pour the steeped tea into you vessel.  Add the other SCOBY and the 12oz of mother tea into the brewed tea.

Use the cotton cloth or paper towel to cover the top of your vessel.  Place the covered brew into a

quiet area with good air ventilation, and a warm temperature (23-28 degrees C). 

 

The brewing process will take 7-10 days all depending on the preference of your tartness (I preferred it after 10 days)

 

***NOTES***

Once you have found a quiet place for your kombucha to brew, do not move it! this can disturb the fermentation process.

Never put your SCOBY into hot tea, it will kill the culture.

CARE should be taken when brewing to prevent contamination (this will ruin the entire batch).  Clean your hands with vinegar, clean utensils with vinegar, keep your brewing area clean.

 

Harvesting Your Tea and Culture

You're ready to harvest your new "baby" SCOBY and do a second fermentation of your beverage!  This part is EXCITING!
Remove the cotton from your vessel.  You will notice that you now have 2 cultures, the mother and a new one that has formed on top (this sort of resembles the cold fat when you refrigerate gravy).  These can be separated and the baby SCOBY can be stored in a jar or baggy with 12-24oz of the brewed tea and refridgerated.

 

You can stain your brewed tea through cheese cloth or a strainer to remove some of the accumulated culture.  Pour into a glass measuring cup and transfer into flip top bottles (like the ones I used below, I found mine at a local brewing company).  Make sure to leave enough starter tea for your new batch of kombucha (12-24 oz).  Then mother will continue to sprout babies while in the keg.

 

 

Jalapeno Popper Turkey Burgers

Want a hubby approved burger without the BORING but still keeping it healthy??  Here it is!  These are so easy to make and are delicious!

Jalapeno Popper Turkey Burger
Ingredients:

Burger:
1 lb. Ground Turkey
1 medium egg white
1.5 tsp. Italian spice
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. Chipotle spice
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp both Himalayan salt and pepper
1/2 cup whole wheat panko crumbs

Stuffing:
1/2 cup Tofutti Cream Cheese (or any whole fat variety)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp. diced white onion
2 tbsp. chopped jalapeno
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

Fire up your grill or grill pan over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Combine all ingredients in the burger list in one bowl and mix well, using your hands to mix all the spices together.  In another bowl, combine all of the stuffing ingredients and blend well.
Place a sheet or parchment or wax paper over your counter.  Divide your turkey into 8 equal parts (1/4 cup each) and place onto the wax paper.  Flatten them all out quite thin.  Spread the stuffing mixture over 4 of the patties.  Lift the 4 remaining patties off of the wax paper and place over the cream cheese patty.  Using your fingers, lightly press the top patty outwards to meet the edge of the bottom patty and bring the 2 edges together.  Pinch the two edges together so all of your stuffing doesn't leak out when cooking.
Grill the patties for 5 minutes each side.

I served mine over Multigrain cheese buns with greek salad!

**21 day fixers** 1 yellow container for the bun, one blue container for the stuffing mixture, 1 red container for the turkey! ---->cream cheese isn't your TOP choice for the fix so I would recommend using this as more of a treat meal!

SERVES 4
350 calories, 16 g fat, 31 carbs, 32 protein

September Inferno Challenge

Gosh I totally LOVE September! I always feel so motivated to get back into the swing of things, Summer really takes a toll on the ol' bod.  I can't wait for this group to start!

Ladies...does the idea of completely TONING & TIGHTENING your LEGS, BOOTY and & TUMMY, while learning proper nutrition using a very simple portion control system (yes, I will include chocolate and wine!) to KEEP the weight off and short 30 minute workouts a day interest you??? OF COURSE IT DOES!!!

The Inferno Challenge is designed to help you lose 10-15 pounds in 21 days! Super easy, straight forward, personalize to your individual needs....FAIL PROOF with LONG LASTING RESULTS!

What does it entail?

• short, easy to follow home workouts every day you do right from the comfort of your own living room.  These workouts are perfect for ALL fitness levels!
• a specialize meal plan that teaches you HOW to eat, no dieting here!  You eat all the foods you love and can skip the ones you don't.  It includes color coded portion control containers, basically you eat what you want as long as it fits into your containers!  Simple enough right?
• SUPPORT!  This is by far the MOST important part of the challenge.  You will be given free access to your very own customizable website where you can find workout buddies, log your workouts, track your progress, celebrity workout tips, meal ideas...the list goes on and on
• THE CHALLENGE GROUP!  I will post a daily assignment in a VIP Exclusive group on facebook to keep you plugged in and motivated with your program.  We also use this group as a community to share recipes, tips and CELEBRATE!  You also have ME, your FREE coach! I will be with you, pushing you, every step of the way!  We are in this together.

To apply for the Inferno Challenge:

Fill out my online form.

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For my personal results and review on this program, click here.

Coconut Heaven Energy Balls

Coconut Heaven Energy Bites. They REALLY are a little bit of heaven!!  They are super healthy, full of coconut and coconut oil, with healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, and protein.  These make a wonderful high healthy fat snack!  Anyone else LOVE coconut??

Ingredients
⅔ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 ½ tsp. non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
2 Tbsp. coconut butter
1 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
1 Tbsp. agave nectar or raw honey

Instructions
Mix the almond milk and shredded coconut to moisten the coconut a little. The texture will be a bit crumbly, do not use more milk, or the truffles will get soggy! Then add the agave nectar and mix.
Put the coconut butter and coconut oil in a little bowl and soften in a hot water-bath; or if you are lucky and have a microwave, just warm it up in there.
Warming the mixture is enough. Really heating the coconut butter would lessen it´s nutritional value.
Then simply mix with the shredded-coconut-mixture and form into bite sized balls. And you are done!

21 Day Fixers:
2 balls- 1 orange container (3 times a week *treat*)