Feta Chicken with Curried Rice and an Update

A new and EXCELLENT recipe!

For this recipe, I LOVE THIS FETA CHEESE, oh my it is soooo yummy

(found it at whole foods, but check your local grocery)

And, it has a lot of good for you vegetables! You could really add whatever you have in your kitchen!

This dish was amazing! I loved it and will definitely be making it again. It reheats well and has lots of flavor!

Feta Chicken with Curried Rice

Recipe adapted from Kitchen Parade

Ingredients for Chicken:

1 cup low-fat Greek-style Yogurt

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Ingredients for Rice:

1 Tbs butter

1/2 diced onion

handful of slivered almonds

1 diced red pepper (or could use orange, yellow, green)

3 chopped carrots

3 zucchini, chopped

1 tsp curry powder,

salt and pepper

2 cups of cooked rice (I used basmati rice)

Directions:

Whisk the yogurt, garlic, spices (oregano, pepper, pepper flakes) in a bowl. Add the cut up chicken and stir into the yogurt mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This can be made the night before and let it marinate over night!

Cook 2 cups of the rice.

Turn the broiler on, place chicken on baking sheet (I line mine with foil for easier cleanup). Remove the chicken from the yogurt (leftover yogurt mix should be thrown away) and broil for 6 minutes, then turn over, sprinkle with the crumbled feta and broil for another 5 minutes or until well cooked.

While chicken cooking, melt the butter in pan, add onion, almonds, zucchini, chopped red pepper, and carrots. Saute for a few minutes, until cooked and becoming tender. Stir in the curry powder, salt and pepper, and cooked rice. Mix well, continue cooking while you are stirring everything together.

Plate the food, rice on bottom, chicken on top, if you want, throw some feta cheese on top....

This is delicious and gives us a nice taste of ethnic food!

Other than this recipe, things around our home have been going well. I got the laundry room cleaned out (will post pics later) and have been working on sorting thru recipes.

Weight progress: Lost 1 lb last week! I did a lot of walking with Tucher and Mandi/lil Jake which definitely helps add to the cardio. It was absolutely beautiful the latter part of the week and now it is FREEZING and snow flurries predicted. BOO. I am ready for spring to STAY! So far, weight loss is going good, just have to keep staying in the negative!

Have a good MONDAY!

Cleaning out, weight, plus new recipe!

Spring sprung for about 7 days here and now it is back to rain, cold, and grey skies. OH WELL! It at least got me started on some ideas for Spring Cleaning. I am going to do the unthinkable... post a picture of the inside of cabinets and the laundry room (sorry, can't do the closet just yet!) This will hopefully get me to start thinking of cleaning these out so YOU can see the AFTER picture!

This is a pic of the under cabinet where my "filing" system is... Maybe this is why I cannot find my tax information that my CPA needs! It is also Ryan's bag of meds, that will stay there, just hopefully look more organized and cleaned up:

This is directly above the cabinet. So called "recipes" cabinet. Could ANYONE find me the recipe for pulled pork??? Didn't think so because it would takes years and by that time the pork would be spoiled. I am going to 1)go thru all the magazines and loose paper and sort thru the recipes, keeping what I want, 2) we got that nice green leather recipe binder for a wedding present that is personalized- I am going to put my recipes in there instead of being thrown around, and 3) I might just get to use the rest of this space for something else USEFUL!

OK, we also did some redecorating!

Hung some of our pics from the wedding and honeymoon in these Rustic Wood Frames going up the stairs:

And a further away pic:

And FINALLY hung these 25x25 frames with 8x10 in them over our bed! I think that I have wanted to hang these frames for a couple of years now and finally did it! Actually Ryan did hence why they are perfectly straight! More pics from Hawaii (Can you tell we LOVE HAWAII!)

And one last one - sorry for the glare

So, this is turning out to be a long post! Guess that is what happens when you don't blog for over a week...

I lost 1.6 lbs at weight watchers (weighed in last Friday). Overall, I was elated! I did a lot of walking incorporated into pilates and logged all my food, and alcohol (which ADDS up QUICK)

So, I am now into week 2 and things are still going well... except for the Chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels from Trader Joe's that Holly brought me that I can't get out of my mind!

And now for a quick recipe! Let's call it Creamy Chicken Skillet!

Not sure where I got this, but I did find it amongst that dreaded cabinet that you saw up at the top! It was written when I was back at University of Florida so I am not sure who to give props to!

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast - cut into chunks

1 can cream of mushroom

1 jar of sliced mushrooms or fresh mushrooms (whichever you have in kitchen)

6-8 ounces of sour cream

1/4 stick of butter

1 TBS fresh chopped parsely

1 red bell pepper - finely chopped (or you can just add red pepper flakes if you are in a hurry and don't feel like chopping the fresh pepper)

Directions:

Melt butter in skillet

then Add the Chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the mushrooms (including liquid if from a jar) and red pepper. Then Stir in the soup. Cover and cook over low heat until chicken is done (about 10 minutes). Add sour cream, salt and pepper (to taste). Cover and simmer for as long as you can. This can be served over basmati rice or spaghetti.

The recipe for the asparagus will come in next post.... just to keep you wanting to come back!

Weight Watching

The winter months have added a few pounds to my waist line it seems, people sometimes say that it happens during your first year as a newly wed, but I refuse to agree with that. Although I work out at least 5 days a week, and pretty intense, I feel like I need something to be accountable for. I weigh daily and record my weight on Spark People. It is a great website, where you can log food and track your progress. I did this for a while (a year and a half) with no real change in my weight... Why not? Well, I have come to the conclusion that I have no accountability.

I have studied nutrition for over 7 years... one would think I know how to eat. Well, one thing is for sure, I know that I can tell others how to eat! (MOM, BRO, RYAN!). I think that I have come to a point where I know too much about nutrition and sustainable/filling foods and now I need to tackle the mental part, which is arguably the most difficult cause they don't teach you that in school!

Therefore, I have decided to go to weight watchers to have that accountability and group support that I know will help me. Back when I was a senior in high school, I lost 35 lbs doing weight watchers, so I know that it is possible. There is just something about knowing that you have to let SOMEONE ELSE look at your weight weekly. I have a goal to lose 10 lbs and nothing more. Now, whether or not I agree with weight watchers completely, that is a different post that I am sure will develop at some point, but I do agree with having accountability and being in a group setting.

Just giving you an update on what is going on... I will be posting some recipes later and keeping everyone posted on a weekly schedule of my weight loss!

Is anyone else trying to lose some weight? What are your thoughts and how are you doing it? How do you stay accountable and not let those lbs slip back on without noticing?

Take a Stand

Please do this! It is to protect our food industry from letting the USDA ruin what we have that is good for us.

I just submitted my comments to the USDA telling them to protect the integrity of organics by not approving the use of genetically-modified (GMO) alfalfa. The USDA has alarmingly and mistakenly announced that they do not believe that consumers care whether or not GMO's are a part of our food supply and our agricultural production. Approving GMO alfalfa would significantly harm the integrity of and access to organic food, as well as the livelihoods of organic farmers. We need to show them that we do indeed care!

Please take a moment to submit your comments to the USDA by following this link from Food Democracy Now! Then please pass this on. Every voice counts!

http://fdn.actionkit.com/cms/sign/make_a_stand_for_organics/?source=taf

What an inspiration weekend!

Susan and Steve invited us and some others over for a dinner at their house. Knowing that it would be a late evening, I took a LONG nap before heading over to their home at 8:30. Good thing since we got home way past 3 am! Well, I was truly inspired! Steve is an amazing cook, I would use the term chef, but I think that you have to go to school to be called that! Anyways, we started off with this amazing dip... scallops, shrimp, tilapia, with mango and peppers, etc.... delicious. Then some chipotle sausage with a wide variety of sauces to dip it in. Well, after this and being full, we had a spinach salad with blackberries and raspberries and a mango poppy seed dressing. On top of the salad was bacon wrapped scallops and seared tuna steaks! WOW! This could have been the entree, but instead we had chipotle raspberry sauteed chicken breasts with asparagus (think these were marinated in italian dressing?) all plated beautifully over shoepeg corn with peppers and seasonings. It was simple delicious.

Of course, their wine collection would make any one's mouth water! I dream of having a wine stash like that!

This meal was an inspiration because of the presentation. When I plate dinners, it just simply doesn't look like this! I must work on the aesthetic appeal. It was also an inspiration because of how well everything complemented the mix of flavors. I hope to be this creative in the kitchen one day... I just LOVE following recipes versus creating on my own and experimenting. Steve reminded me a lot of my brother... he can just throw stuff together and also has a wonderful presentation. The only difference between the two... John simply never makes the same thing twice, so there is never a recipe! He just creates and then the next time it is somewhat the same but also different!

I will be posting some recipes this week, so make sure to try them out!

Sonoma Chicken Salad

Coming up for lunch ideas is a tough thing to do for us. For one, I am limited at work on microwave options... That will be changing soon, but regardless sometimes if you are warming up something that has a strong flavor you feel bad for stinking up an office!

Ryan will eat whatever for lunch, which helps out a lot! We usually buy chicken salad from Whole Foods or V.Richards, where the salad is already made up and ready to go! However, after wasting time one day on Whole Foods website, they posted our FAVORITE chicken salad.... Sonoma Chicken Salad! I was so happy because at $9.99 per pound of this stuff, you say to yourself, if only I could get the recipe! So, please enjoy this one, it is amazing and when you take out your lunch at work, you will feel important with this fancy looking and colorful salad!

Sonoma Chicken Salad:

From Whole Foods

Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (love Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar)

5 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons poppy seeds (or less if you don't like too many poppy seeds)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Salad

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup pecan pieces, toasted

2 cups organic red seedless grapes

3 stalks organic celery, thinly sliced

Method

In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to

dress the salad. This can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place the chicken breasts in one layer in a baking dish with 1/2 cup water. Cover

with foil and bake 25 minutes until completely cooked through. Remove cooked chicken breasts from pan, cool at room temperature for 10 minutes, then cover and refrigerate.

When the chicken is cold, dice into bite-size chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in pecans, grapes,

celery and dressing.

It is really good to put on a bed of lettuce (preferably bibb lettuce) or put on a pita.

Greek Pasta Bake

Hello All!

Last week was another crazy week, we did eat well, but I am still slacking on my blogging. I am currently finishing my year long training program at Pilates on Highland. I test out next Wednesday, then I will be a full instructor! So, needless to say between the papers to write and the reformer work that I am attempting to master, it is crazy!

Other than that, we had a great Valentine's Day. I will post some yummy recipes from what I made on Vday for our neighbors on another post, but it was super delicious so you will want to check those recipes out.

For now, here is the Greek Pasta Bake (once again with no pictures-I am too lazy to upload them!)

Greek Pasta Bake (adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

3 chicken breasts (diced into bite size chunks)

8 oz whole wheat penne pasta

28 oz tomato sauce

1 jar artichokes (drained)

1 jar roasted red peppers (drained)

14.5 diced tomatoes (drained)

1 bag of chopped frozen spinach (thaw it out and then squeeze it until it is dry)

1/2 cup of onion

1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black or green olives

1 bell pepper (I used a yellow one)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

2 Tbs red pepper flakes

1/2 or more cups mozzarella cheese (I used smoked Mozzarella Cheese which was amazing!)

1/2 cups Crumbled feta cheese (I must be honest and say that I didn't measure, so I probably used more!)

Instructions:

Oven preheated to 400 Degrees

Boil water and start cooking pasta, drain when al dente

Cook chicken in pan with a little olive oil until cooked through

Combine cooked chicken, pasta, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spinach, artichokes, roasted peppers, olives, onion, yellow pepper, and spices (basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes). Add a dash of salt and pepper if you wish. Mix this all together well. Then put in 9x13 pan and sprinkle the top with the feta and mozzarella. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly!

You will love this meal, we ate it for several dinners as it dose make a lot for just 2 people, but we love leftovers on busy weeks!

Let me know what you think!

A Look Ahead

While reviewing recipes to make for the week, I have decided to try a lot of new meals this week!

Just to get you excited, here is what I am planning on making!

Greek Chicken Pasta Bake

Sonoma Chicken Salad

Chicken Gyros

Jalepeno Popper Dip

Check back through the week, I will try to take some pics and definitely post the recipes and my "critical review" haha.

Goat Cheese Pasta

Above copyrighted by Mandi! I am so lazy and bad at putting pics up that now people take pics of them themselves and send to me! LOVE IT! Thanks girl for sending me a great pic!

Lots has been going on here in the Pearce home, we have been "winter cleaning" if you will. I think that we are going to get a bill from the waste management company regarding the large amounts of trash we are putting out! It is so refreshing though to clean closets and the garage out!

Anyways, to move on to a delicious recipe....

Holly from Pilates on Highland inspired me to make this easy recipe that she enjoys herself. It is delicious, we have made it several times.

Goat Cheese Pasta:

Benissimo Brand Italian Olive Oil (this is an olive oil that comes with added seasonings right in the glass jar-add all the flavor you need! It is available at Publix, Whole Foods, etc)

4 Organic Chicken Breast

1 Organic Green Pepper

1 Organic Red Pepper

1 Organic Yellow Pepper

1 Head Organic Broccoli

8 Ounces Organic Whole Wheat Pasta (I like the Bow Ties or Spirals, but you can use whatever you have in the pantry)

Approx 4 ounces of Belle Chevre Goat Cheese (or other type of Goat Cheese but this one is made in alabama and is simply amazing!)

Optional: Toasted Pine Nuts

Instructions:

Chop the peppers, toss in the olive oil and bake on 350 for about 45 minutes (or until they reach your particular texture that you enjoy)

Cook the pasta until al dente and drain

Cut the broccoli where you just have the florets, rinse well. Then get a bowl that will hold the amount of broccoli that you have, wrap the broccoli in a wet paper towel (may need two depending on the amount) and make sure that the paper towel(s) covers all of the broccoli and that it is not damp but rather wet. Then put in microwave for approx 4 minutes, until steamed. By the way this is how I always cook my broccoli!

Cut the chicken in bite size pieces (cubed). Toss the Chicken in the olive oil and add to medium-hot pan. Cook the chicken until done. Don't be afraid to add more of that olive oil if you need it!

Once the peppers are roasted, combine the chicken, pasta, peppers, and broccoli. At this point add about 2 TBS of the olive oil and toss. Then add the goat cheese and combine all. The goat cheese will make the dish creamy and soooo tasty! If you want, add some toasted pine nuts!

This dish is quick and easy, plus it tastes great and is great to warm up for leftovers!

I am working on taking pics of the meals, so next time I make it, I will put a pic up!

Give me feedback if you enjoy!

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup

For my bridesmaid luncheon at Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room we had delicious food and one of my favorite was the "Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup". Jeannie, one of my mom's friend who was there loved the recipe so much that she looked up the recipe online and found something close to the recipe. It was delicious, we made it tonight.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Soup:

Inspired by Jeannie and Miss Rosemarie's Tea Room

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

1 pound grass fed ground beef

2 cups chopped organic bell peppers (red, green, yellow)

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 can organic less-sodium beef broth (I like the Pacific Brand)

1 can organic less-sodium diced tomatoes, undrained (I like Muir-Glen Brand)

1 can organic less-sodium tomato soup, undiluted

hot cooked brown or basmatti rice (optional)

Heat a small Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add small amount of olive oil. Add beef, cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain fat. Add chopped peppers and onions, and cook 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in black pepper, broth, tomatoes and tomato soup.

Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook 45 minutes.

If desired, spoon 1/4 cup of hot rice into bowl and then top with one cup of soup.

Lentil Soup

By no means will we become vegetarians, we enjoy meat too much. However, I am trying to cook us more "veggie" meals. Basically, attempting to have a few meals every week that is vegetarian. Usually our meals consist of a meat protein, side (rice, pasta, or some starch), and always a veggie or two. I love to make broccoli, zucchini saute, asparagus, etc. So, in light of my new veggie meal goal, I made lentil soup. This recipe was a combination of two recipes that I had good reviews for. One was from Angel at Pilates on Highland who follows a raw food diet and another from this food blog.

So, with this being said, here is my variation. We both took it to work today and were satisfied afterwards. The toppings are optional, but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Pros of this soup: high fiber, lots of those good vitamins/minerals, great tasting, high protein

Lentil Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

5-8 organic carrots, chopped

5 stalks organic celery, chopped

1 organic zucchini, sliced

1/2 med organic onion (prefer the sweet instead of the white), chopped

2 shallots, chopped

6 cups of organic vegetable stock (or more if you like more liquid soup)

1 1/2 cup organic red lentils (dry) - picked over and rinsed

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp curry (or to taste)

Toppings:

Slivered Almonds - toasted

Feta crumbles

black oil cured olives-roughly chopped (I only had green olives and they were still delicious!)

1 bunch of cilantro (opt) - I did not add this but it was an option so I included it, I don't love cilantro unless it is with mexican food!

Heat large soup pot with olive oil, add the carrots, zucchini, celery, onions, shallots, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions are slightly caramelized and the veggies are getting tender (NOT MUSHY!). Stir occasionally.

Then pour in the broth, bring to a boil, then stir in the lentils. Simmer the soup for about 30-45 minutes (by this time the lentils are soft - kind of forming a thick slop if you will). If you like your soup thinner, add more vegetable stock at this time if it is not to your consistency liking. Notice that I did not add any salt, that is because I don't care for salty stuff but also used a normal vegetable stock instead of low sodium, so add salt to your liking.

Soup is now ready, serve in a bowl and top with almonds, feta, olives, and cilantro if you would like. I HIGHLY recommend if you had to choose one of these, pick the feta!

Makes 4-6 servings.

Food Incorporated

We watched the movie Food Inc. twice now. It is an amazing documentary that makes you think about where your food comes from. The way our food industry has changed in such a short period of time to include large amount of corn (Gov't subsidized), soy beans (genetically modified) and instead of farming animals we are now "factoring" them really makes you take a step back. I don't think that it is a coincidence that in the time that our food industry has changed, so has our expanding waist lines... This movie brings a whole new light to the saying "you are what you eat".

Here is a link to their web page... Food Inc.

And here is a way to "take part" in what you eat

I am going to post a link of an article that my massage therapist/ my pilates client wrote regarding Food Inc. She gives an excellent summary of the movie. She writes for the Examiner and has several other articles there that are worth taking time to read.

I cannot recommend this movie more to you to watch and share with all of your friends. I also bought the companion book so as I read through the essays I will update you more on my findings. Go out, buy Organic, and buy Local. Think about what you are eating while eating your next meal!

Welcome to the Pearce's Kitchen

Ryan and I just got back from our honeymoon and are so excited about our lives here in Alabama. I had a wedding blog and a pilates blog but I have always been obsessed with food/nutrition/health blogs. So here it is..... a combination of all things related to food and health. As a dietitian and a pilates instructor I love food and love exercising, so why not write about all of it in one place? I have a passion for organic, sustainability, and supporting local farmers. I hope that through my discussions you can understand the importance of where your food comes from.

Blog Goals: I am sure that these will change as I go but here is what I am thinking for now

1. Delicious whole food

2. Tips on health

3. Recipe reviews

4. Facts on organic/local grown food