Lunch time goodness!!

You ever have those days where nothing in the house sounds good? I am having that day today. I make my meal plans, and try my hardest to stick to them every week. Sometimes wrenches are thrown in to our plans though and makes it almost impossible to stick to it. Well in the middle of the night last night I was awoken by those dreaded words no parent wants to hear, "Mommy I think I'm going to throw up." Followed by the sound of said action. So my night was spent cleaning up and caring for a sick boy. So needless to say it was not a good night, and a giant wrench was thrown into my plans.

My husband stayed up with our daughter, and let me get a little more sleep in. So the morning was not too terrible. When I woke up the last thing I wanted to do was cook breakfast so I had a quickie breakfast, but when it came to lunch today I wanted something a little more filling and well quite frankly delicious. Looking over my meal plan nothing looked good, and browsing through the cabinets again nothing looked good. Until I stumbled up a bag of noodles I had purchased last week that I had forgotten about. So I quickly put together a yummy lunch. It was very easy and quick to make, and to be honest more delicious than what was on my original meal plan. So I think this will be going into future meal plans. I'm calling it quick noodle yumminess!! Ok I may need to come up with another name :)

Quick Noodle Yumminess (I am currently accepting new names for the recipe :) )

8oz package of organic brown rice udon noodles
1lb organic chicken breast
1tsp organic unrefined coconut oil
1tsp organic garlic powder
1tsp organic cumin
1tsp organic sesame oil
1 organic red bell pepper chopped
1 cup organic kale (ribs and stems removed)
2 organic Portobello mushroom tops
1 organic zucchini 
Organic tamari

Cook your udon noodles as the package states. Coat your chicken in coconut oil, garlic powder and cumin. Grill your chicken (I just cooked mine on my George Foreman). After it has cooked for a little put 1tsp of tamari over the chicken. When the chicken is done cut it into chunks.

Warm up a pan with the sesame oil. Add your zucchini and kale first. After they cook for about 5 minutes add the peppers and mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Mix everything together in a bowl and add a little tamari to each bowl. This should serve 4-6 people.

Quick and delicious. I think it took me about 15-20 minutes for everything. You could add different veggies if you would like, but these were the ones I had on hand. You get your protein, veggie, good fats and complex carbohydrate in one yummy bowl. Let me know how you like it, and if you added any other veggies to it.

Scrumptious Saturday

Is breakfast the hardest time for you to get in a healthy meal? I know it always has been for me. I was never a breakfast eater until about 6 months ago. Now I always eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, but there are some mornings where I just do not feel like making anything. So I stick to my quick and easy healthy recipes on those days. Most people love pancakes right? The problem is when you load them down with butter and syrup and use all that white flour in them. They are pretty unhealthy. Well here is a recipe for some healthier pancakes that are delicious and very quick to make.

Protein Pancakes (makes 2-3 pancakes)

1/2 cup oats (or another grain of your choosing)
6oz plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 scoop vanilla whey isolate protein powder (you can use a different flavor if you prefer and you can also use a different protein whey, soy, rice, pea, hemp etc...)
3 egg whites
1/4 cup almond milk (can use coconut, soy, low-fat milk etc...)
1-2tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processer add your oats. They will look like flour once you grind them up. Then add the rest of your ingredients. I use a griddle for my pancakes and spray with a little bit of olive oil. Then add your batter it should make about 2-3 pancakes. If the batter looks to thick for you add a little more milk to it. You of course can double or triple this recipe or more. They will cook quickly so I suggest about 3-4 minutes on each side. Once they are done I usually add a little agave and maybe some fruit.

There are about a million different variations you can do with how to eat serve them. You could add 1-2 tablespoons natural peanut butter to the batter and top with some bananas, or you could add the bananas in the batter if you prefer. You could add any kind of berries to the batter. Cut up apple slices and add some cinnamon for a nice fall pancake. Also pumpkin puree and cinnamon would be good. Some dark chocolate chips in the batter would be good as well. You could also do a savory pancake and add shredded zucchini and some onions (of course in this one I would eliminate the vanilla and probably choose an unflavored protein powder and add some black pepper). Try these pancakes out for a quick breakfast or snack. Let me know what your favorite pancake combination is.