Meals of the Week Part 2: Pesto/Avo/Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Continuing meals of the week, I put together another recipe tonight that contains this week's staples: pesto & chickpeas.  Lettuce wraps always feel a little more substantial than a salad, maybe because you can eat them with your hands...?

Anyway, between the lettuce wraps I made tonight and the two dishes I've already shared - I hope you find some inspiration for your next pesto meal or can of chickpeas! 

Need:

- 1/2 Avocado

- Chicken tenderloins (At the beginning of the week, I marinate chicken in extra virgin o/o, lemon juice, salt, garlic, crushed red pepper, & rosemary from my garden) 

- Tomatoes (used twice this week)

- Toasted Chickpeas (used in all 3 meals this week)

- Pesto (used in all 3 meals this week)

- Feta (used twice this week) 

- Large lettuce leafs (I used romaine from my deck garden) Bibb lettuce and Romaine are also good options

Start arranging! Avocado, Feta, Tomatoes.

Grill up the chicken & toast the chickpeas. I have some extra chicken that I can bring to work tomorrow for lunch!

Dollop with pesto. Shred the chicken with a fork and knife. Dollop with pesto again. Done!

These were really yummy! Each meal I had this week was completely different so I never got sick of eating pesto or chickpeas. Here are the health stats: Protein from the chicken & chickpeas, omega's, fiber, potassium, & the B vitamins from the avocado, lycopene & vitamin c from tomatoes, fiber & too many vitamins to name from the romaine. 

If you want to see a 15 second video on how to make this - I shared it to my instagram account... here. Check it out. 

And hey,  it's almost Thursday! Have a great day!  xo

Meals of the Week: Pesto

Over the weekend, I was thinking that many times I post recipes on here that use a lot of different ingredients. I like to do that to give you all some variety in your meal plans and show some creativity.  Then, I got to thinking about the comment I often hear when discussing buying organic and/or healthy foods... "It's really expensive". It is expensive, I can't deny that. That being said, there are definitely cost saving ways to eat healthy on a budget. And sooo... getting to my point... I'm going to start posting weekly meals that contain the same staple ingredients. Each meal will be really different and still show some creativity!

Alright so, guys, remember my little garden I planted back at the beginning of June? This, is how my little basil plants looked before. Now look.

I cannot keep up.

And so, I make pesto!  I made this pesto a little differently. As much as I love me some pine nuts, I try to avoid making some recipes with nuts because 1) my mom can't have nuts so I try to modify things for her 2) sometimes I just don't have them in my fridge. Here's how I made this one:

- Overflowing handful of basil

- Clove of garlic

- Parmesan (1/4-1/2 cup)

- Extra virgin o/o (1/4 - 1/2 cup)

- Handful of chickpeas - replaces the pine nuts (another staple of the week) 

- Squeeze of lemon juice

Last night, I made a simple tomato salad with toasted chickpeas, cucumbers, feta & pesto. Light and refreshing.

It doesn't look like much, but, it was actually rather filling with the chickpeas. I also had snacked on some hummus while I made the pesto. This is a great "Meatless Monday" meal. Chickpeas provide the protein, tomatoes have lycopene - great for recovery, garlic is anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and a great antioxidant!

Today, I whipped up some barilla protein plus pasta with shrimp, baby bella mushrooms, & pesto. I was STARVING after boxing. Two days in a row of really difficult classes. Sprints, sprints, and more sprints. Sprints. For. Days. I needed some serious recovery tonight.  

Need: 

- Barilla protein plus pasta

- Pesto from yesterday

- Baby bella mushrooms

- Garlic

- Crushed Red Pepper

- Shrimp (I always keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer) 

I think I ate this in 7.5 seconds. So good. Lots of protein from the pasta & shrimp. Carbs from the pasta. Anti-inflammatories, anti-oxidants from the garlic, pesto, & mushrooms! Let me know if you need any additional ideas! Have an awesome week! xo

Weekend Sunshine_7.21.13

It's been realllly hot here in the North East this past week.  Very tropical. Not sure what all the complaining is about, Summer didn't really start until July 1st this year.  It rained most of May & June... I'll take a week in the 90's - bring it! Plus, it's New England... extreme conditions don't last forever. It's  b e a u t i f u l  out today! Here's how I embraced the heat! 

Drinks around Fenway on Friday night.  Our famous Citgo sign... I'm such a tourist in my own city.  

Running outside didn't happen much this week so I took advantage of the weight room upstairs at Peter Welch's after class to extend my workouts. I love this weight room - everything you need - no frills.

Hot weather is the perfect excuse to order ice cold oysters... both Friday.... & Saturday night. (Oysters are loaded with Zinc - more than any other food.  Also high in protein, magnesium, omega-3's and potassium. Low in calories & fat!)

Here's my motivation for the week: Push harder in your workout - you are stronger than you think. Yesterday, at the end of a rather difficult boxing class... we had to hold a seated squat for two minutes straight... no breaks. Something we've done before in class, but, not really something I'd probably do on my own in my living room.  What goes through my head during 120 seconds of burning is usually something similar to... "You can do this, half way there, how else can I distract myself, 30 more seconds, you can do this, ow, ow, ow, ow....".  Our instructor was great yesterday and kept talking the whole time and said "It's just lactic acid, it's going to burn, you will walk out of here, your legs are not going to fall off, I promise". That pretty much sold it for me. So... my point... you can always push yourself harder. Remember, it's just lactic acid, it's going to burn, your legs are not going to fall off. 

Have an awesome week! xo