Breaded Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach & Feta

If you are a fan of stuffed chicken then this dish is no brainer. It's extremely tasty and satisfying you will think you are cheating on your diet. Needless to say, a serving of this dish is about 200 calories give or take.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of chicken breast (thinly sliced into cutlets)
1/2 cup Frozen Spinach (Thawed and water squeezed out of it)
2 Tbsp of Scallions
1/4 of an onion (diced)
1/4 cup fat free feta cheese
1/6 cup fat free (or partly skim) ricotta
McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning (or any of your choice...this one is my favorite)
2 Tbsp of parsley (chopped)
Salt 
Pepper
1 egg
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/4 cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
Oil Spray 
1 tsp olive oil
Toothpicks
Cookie Sheet

Directions: 
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

1. In a small pan, heat the olive oil and add diced onions, garlic, and scallions and saute for about 1 to 2 minutes. 
2. Add salt and pepper (to your liking), as well as the spinach and parsley. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. 
3. Once everything is done cooking, remove pan from heat and add the feta and ricotta cheese. 
4. Pound your thinly sliced chicken cutlets to make them slightly thinner then season them with the chicken seasoning, salt and pepper. 
5. Place about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the spinach mixture to the center of your cutlets and roll them while securing the edges with toothpicks.
6. In the separate bowls, have the egg wash and breadcrumbs ready for dipping. 
7. Dip the chicken in the egg wash first then roll them in the breadcrumbs until fully covered. Place aside. Do this for all your chicken rolls. 
8. Spray a cookie sheet with oil spray ( I love Trader Joe's canola oil spray).
9. Place chicken rolls on cookie sheet and spray them with oil. 
10. Cook for about 25-30 minutes. 
11. Remove toothpicks before serving. 

Enjoy! I served mine with Trader Joe's Cauliflower Romanesco Basilic for a complete meal. 

The Best Avocado Face Mask !

My skin has been really dry and flaky lately which is why I decided to take matters into my own hands. I've always heard that Avocados are rich in Vitamin A and amino acids which both do wonders for your skin. Every year our ex landlord gives us a buckload of avocados. Therefore, I decided I would make use of them and rub them all over my face.Okay so maybe that's not exactly what I did but it was pretty darn close. This face mask is so easy to make that you will wonder why you ever spent all that money on high end face masks that contain so many nasty chemicals.

I am a huge advocate on natural products which is why this mask is perfect for me. Great for skin, easy on the wallet and 100% natural (no parabens, no chemicals, nada). This mask also contains honey is great for acne due to it's antimicrobial properties and lemon juice which is great for acne scars (I suffer from both so I am really planning on using this mask at least once a week).

What you will need: 
Avocado - 1 Tbsp (mashed)
Honey - 1 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp

Combine all the ingredients together until the consistency is thick and creamy. Spread mask all over your clean face and neck. Leave mask on for approximately 20-30 minutes. Remove with lukewarm water and pat dry.

I am sure you will love this mask as much as I do.

Mexican Chicken Soup with Chipotle Peppers & Corn

Mexican Pozole is one of my most cherished meals but one that I cannot eat much too often due to the fact it is very high in calories and fat content. Sure, you can substitute chicken in place of beef, but the truth is preparing this Mexican favorite does require some time and planning (not to mention a bunch of ingredients). So when you are in a time crunch, or are looking for a healthy version of this dish, coming up with a mock version is ideal. Therefore, I decided to come up with a healthier (and yummier according to my husband) version of this delicious and savory soup.


My husband and I really enjoy spicy food and something we always have in our pantry is a small can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. If you have never tried cooking with chipotle peppers, you will be amazed by how much flavor it adds to a dish. When I first started cooking with chipotle I would only use it to make Tinga tostadas (another favorite of mine) but since then have experimented with these peppers and have created several dishes with it. Yes you guess it, the star of my chicken soup (or caldo as us Hispanics call it) is the chipotle peppers. Get ready to give your taste buds something to write home about.


What you will need:

1 large chicken breast
1/2 onion
4 garlic cloves
1/2 onion diced
1/2 cup of corn (frozen, fresh or canned)
1/2 can of Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (about 3.5 oz)
1 cup shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup of cilantro
2 green onions diced
Sea Salt
Black Ground Pepper
Water for cooking


Directions:

1. In a large pan bring about 3 cups of water to boil. Add 1/2 onion, salt, garlic cloves and chicken breast. Cover pot and cook for about 25 minutes.
2. Once chicken is done cooking remove from pot, let it cool then shred. Set aside. Save the chicken broth (you will need this).
3. In a blender, blend the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Once blended, add mixture to shredded chicken and mix well. Add a little bit salt and pepper.
4. Remove onion and garlic from the chicken broth and add the chicken mixture.
5. Add diced onions and corn and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Serve in deep bowls and top with shredded cabbage, green onions and cilantro. Eat on it's own or with a tostada (our favorite way to eat this).

Tip: For a more authentic feel, try adding hominy instead of corn.

Warning: This soup is pretty spicy. Therefore if you would like it to be more mild, use less chipotle peppers or vice-versa.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Beans, Brown Rice and Diced Potatoes

This is a repost from my old blog. Recently, my husband and I decided to go gluten free for a while. Yes, you guess it, that means no more bread, flour tortillas cookies, couscous (this one is hard) or even.....pizza (unless they are GF). Of course we can find alternatives for these foods such as brown rice tortillas (yuck) or even GF pizza dough, but it's going to take some getting used to. Many people who give up grains that contain gluten do not do it by choice but my husband and I are always experimenting with different lifestyles (when it comes to diet) so we decided to see if the gluten free diet works for us. Hey, if it helps us with tummy aches and headaches while at the same time helping me lose some weight (notice how I said me...my hubby is naturally thin) then why not?

Giving up grains is harder than I thought, the Pizza Hut commercials keep torturing me (I guess I should of had pizza before starting this diet...but I haven't had some in over a month), I keep wanting to bake some cookies or cupcakes, and I miss eating my black bean couscous. But I really want to give this a shot for a few months to see if I notice any difference. 

Normally I liked adding breadcrumbs to my stuffed peppers but being that these are GF, breadcrumbs are not allowed. 

What you will need  (meal for 2):

2 bell peppers (color of choice, I prefer green though)

1/4 cup Black beans (cooked, drained and seasoned with sea salt)

1/4 cup Brown rice (fully cooked. I will post my brown rice recipe soon)

1 medium sized golden potato 

1/4 cup Shredded mozzarella

Cilantro

1/2 Roma Tomato diced

1/4 diced onion

1/2 Serrano Pepper (diced) 

Salsa of choice (I used a homemade tomatillo salsa)

Water

Sea Salt

Garlic Salt

2 Tbsp Cilantro (chopped)

Directions: 

1. Cut the top of the peppers off and remove all the seeds. Set aside. 

2. layer in the following, beans, rice then potatoes. 

3. After the last layer top with 1/2 mozzarella (this will create a nice crust)

4. Place stuffed peppers in a baking dish with foil and a little bit of water on the bottom.

5. Place in oven at 350° for about 40 minutes

6.then top with the rest of the mozzarella and let it melt for about five  more minutes. 

7. Remove from oven 

8. While the peppers are cooling mix the diced tomato with the diced onions and pepper. Add a little bit of salt and garlic salt to taste. 

9. Top stuffed peppers with tomato mixture, salsa and cilantro. 

Tip: If you do not need for this recipe to be GF go ahead and add some panko bread crumbs as well =) 

Enjoy! 

Delicious & Moist Zucchini Muffins

This is a repost from my old blog. Every Summer I get to enjoy lots of Zucchinis courtesy of my parent's garden. I love eating them steamed along with other veggies, baked into a pasta, or even fried then topped with parmesan, but my favorite way to enjoy them are as delicious muffins.

Sure, muffins may not be "calorie friendly", but these are so good you won't even feel guilty for eating them.  These muffins are really easy to make and taste like you have been baking for hours. They even taste better the next day so these are a great for preparing a day ahead. Great for picnics and barbecues! They also freeze really well. 

Ingredients: 
4 cups shredded zucchini
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
6 cups of flour
3 1/2 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups vegetable oil

Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions: 

1. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

2. Mix in brown and white sugar. 

3. Add vanilla, cinnamon and eggs....mix well

4. Slowly add in shredded zucchini and mix well

5. Add mixture to cupcake liners

6. Bake for around 30 minutes in 350 degrees.

7. Sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!!!

Beauty Secrets Using Coconut Oil

If there is one beauty product I cannot live without (other than mascara, concealer of course), it's Coconut Oil. Coconut Oil has hit the beauty world by storm. Everyone seems to be obsessed with this stuff so naturally I had to try it.

I had heard a lot about the benefits of Organic Coconut Oil for your hair from the Youtube beauty community but the more I did research on this product the more I was intrigued to purchase it. So a few months ago, while doing my usual grocery shopping at my favorite Grocery Store ever, Trader Joes, I decided to pick up a bottle.

At $5 and some change, how can anything this affordable be so effective? As skeptical as I was I decided I had nothing to lose. As soon as I got home that day I soaked my hair in this stuff. Now mind you, this stuff is solid at temperatures under 72 degrees so I didn't actually "soak" my hair per say, but I did melt some in my hands and ran it through my hair concentrating on my ends and scalp...especially my scalp (boy oh boy has the Winter weather been harsh on my poor head). I loved what it did to my hair that I decided to do a little research on what else I could use it for beauty wise.

1. Scalp Treatment-
Due to hereditary genetics, I have a pretty dry scalp. It is also due to my Hypothyroid among other things. So for the majority of my life I have suffered from light to moderate dandruff. I know that may sound disgusting, but this is a very common condition. I read somewhere that coconut oil is amazing for your scalp so I decided to rub some all of over my scalp and leave it on over night. I was amazed by how great this stuff works! Definitely more effective than head n shoulders for sure.

2. Eye Cream-
I have a huge fear of wrinkles, so whenever I see small fine lines start to form I freak out! lol. Eye creams can get pretty expensive and a lot of them are full of bad chemicals. Therefore, I use coconut oil instead. I take very little of it (because a little goes a very long way) and dab some around my eye area. I started doing this ever since I noticed my eye area getting extremely dry due to the cold weather and I have noticed a huge difference. Coconut oil has a lot of anti aging properties too.

3. Face and body moisturizer-
Regular moisturizers contain a lot of water which makes your skin feel soft but then dry again after a short period of time. A lot of them contain tons of parabens too...yuck. Coconut oil is a great substitute. Not only is a great moisturizer, it smells good, it's natural and did I mention it has anti aging properties? Oh and it doesn't clog your pores (great for acne prone skin).

4. Lip Balm-
I pretty much stopped using all my EOS and Nivea lip balms as soon as I discovered this stuff. It keeps my lips hydrated for many hours. I like to apply some before bed but I can see it working great under lipstick too...especially those matte drying ones.

5. Hair mask-
I think one of the main uses this product is used for is as a hair mask. I like to pretty much cover my entire hair (concentrating on the ends) with this stuff and leave it on four a few hours or overnight. It may take a while to wash off but you will notice your hair will have so much shine it will be totally worth it. It leaves your hair super soft and manageable. I wish I had more time to do these hair masks more often.

6. Makeup Remover-
Oh my goodness this stuff is amazing! I don't know why I have spent all this money on useless makeup removers. This stuff works better than anything I have ever tried. Just apply some on a cotton pad and slightly melt it with the warmth of your fingers and viola. Removes all eye makeup (including waterproof) and leaves your eyes moisturized afterwords.

7. Shaving "cream"-
I apply this all of my legs and use it as a shaving cream. It works great and does not irritate your skin! A lot of times shaving creams contain a lot of chemicals that can cause skin irritations so this is definitely a must for sensitive skin.

There are many other ways you can use coconut oil as part of your beauty regimen but these are the ways I love to use it.

How do you use Coconut Oil?