Category Archives: chicken

Chicken with Balsamic Tomatoes

It was below 0 when I got up this morning to go to the gym. Enough already!  😡 I am really getting antsy for spring. I warmed up and then did the weights.

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Lying leg press 3 sets of 10 at 110# <—increase Lower Body
Dumbbell pull over 3 sets of 12 with 20# DB Back
Captain’s Chair 3 set of 10 Core
Incline Chest Fly 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs (30# total) Chest
Calf Raise 3 sets of 10 at 170# Calves
Good Mornings 3 sets of 10 at 55# Low Back and hammies
Upright row 3 sets of 10 with 30# bar Shoulders

The gym was crowded today. Well, crowded for my gym at any rate. Tuesdays are normally very quiet, but I think people that didn’t come yesterday because of the snow came today.

Came home to peanut flour waffles!

I am totally addicted to the peanut flour, so I think I will have to order some online and stock up.  Or drive 3 hours to a Trader Joe’s.  Road trip!!!

You know, lately I feel like life has been in such flux, especially since I lost one of my jobs in January and then I changed up my workout schedule.  Now things just seem… unsettled.  I can’t put my finger on it because nothing really has changed outwardly in any drastic way, but I feel like I am waiting for something to happen, but I don’t know what that is.  Guess I am supposed to make something happen, but I don’t know what that is, either.  And I am a little tired of thinking about it.

Anyway, I also had some trouble thinking of lunch.  Didn’t feel like eggs and today is a lower carb day.  Chicken on the menu for dinner already.  So, mish mash – welcome to the table!  I split open a magic roll, toasted it, and did half almond butter and half cream cheese.

This was good, I have to say.  Plus a perfectly ripe pear.  Filling as well – yay fat!

Not much work this morning, which means pile it on later in the day.  Sigh.  Part of that unsettled feeling.  John made up the lattes this afternoon.  I am loving the new Saigon cinnamon.  Sprinkle, sprinkle!

and peanuts:

I planned out dinner tonight with the thawed chicken breasts.  We decided on the Chicken with balsamic tomatoes from ReadySetEat.

  • 2 tablespoons oil (we used coconut)
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 cup sliced onion (we used 1/2 cup diced)
  • 1 can (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained (they recommend seasoned ones, but we just had plain)
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt and pepper; cook chicken 5 to 7 minutes or until browned, turning once. Remove from skillet; set aside. Add onion to skillet; cook 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat or until crisp-tender.

Add undrained tomatoes and vinegar to skillet; bring to a simmer. Return chicken to skillet; cook 10 to 12 minutes more or until chicken is no longer pink in center.  I added some dried basil and oregano to this.

The only thing I added different was when the chicken was done, I added a couple teaspoons of cornstarch mixed with a couple tablespoons of water to thicken the sauce a little bit.

They recommend serving with pasta (which John had), but I had mine with broccoli!

Serves 4

Calories: 226

Fat: 9.3 g

Protein: 23.2 g

Carbs: 12.4 g

This was quite good and very easy.  I think I might cut down the vinegar a bit next time or get a better quality one :mrgreen:   We have leftovers, so you will see this tomorrow!

We were supposed to go out for coffee tonight, but with all the late work – somebody is working at nighttime.  3 guesses as to who that is…

Guess I will make some decaf for home sipping.

Question:  Ever cooked with balsamic vinegar?

Staying on track Monday.

Happy Monday everyone!  Or probably Tuesday by the time most of you read this 😀 Don’t forget to enter the cookbook giveaway!

Off to the gym this morning to workout.  It was really weird there today, as I overheard one of the new owners talking about pallbearers and funerals, and the other owner wasn’t there.  That got me thinking about Saturday and how the gym was not open in the morning.  I hope nothing happened, but it was pretty obvious something was wrong.

I did this:

  • Chinups:  2
  • Romanian barbell deadlift:  3 sets of 8 at 75 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Barbell bench press:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds
  • Seated lat row:  3 sets of 8 at 55 pounds

Alternating sets:

  • Reverse lunges with 1 dumbell on shoulder: 3 sets at 20 pounds
  • Arnold press: 3 sets of 10 with 10 pound dumbbells
  • Plank:  3 sets with 90 second holds.

I was going to then walk on the treadmill, but then a woman came in crying and hugging the owner.  I felt so uncomfortable working out in this atmosphere and it felt disrespectful, so I decided to go home.  I checked in the paper, but didn’t see anything.  I don’t know them well enough to really ask much, you know?

I made some Cream of Wheat for breakfast:

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  • 35 grams of Cream of  Wheat
  • 1 ultraripe banana mashed
  • cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon blackberry jam

Unpictured cafe au lait on the side…  So tasty.  This is a new bowl, too.  A local potter made it!  I love pottery. I burned my tongue on this, too, because I was so hungry.  I actually did not eat a snack preworkout today.

Thinking about finishing the year strong.  I know Christmas is in there, but there is no reason I can’t make an extra effort on the other days.  I am starting to get lazy. I set 2 mini goals for today.  One goal was to not snack except for my planned snack.  This is really hard for me as working at home I can go get a few chips or some nuts if I so choose at any time.  And I have gotten into the habit lately of munching.  No wonder I can’t get off the last 10 pounds!

My other goal was to have 2 vegetables at lunch and dinner today.  So – lunch was a tuna wrap with lettuce mix, served with a side of baby carrots.

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And the most tart kiwi ever!  It was almost like a lemon 😯

I drank a lot of tea today to help keep me from snacking.  It worked pretty well.  I was ready for the planned snack of a latte!

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About an hour before dinner, I got really hungry and I told myself that I could have a clementine only.  No nuts or chocolate chips or the like.  So I had one.

I had another giant salad for dinner.  This used up the last of the lettuce, so there won’t be any salads for the rest of the week!

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Lots of protein on this salad.  About 3.5 oz of chicken and an ounce of feta.  And yummy pan sauteed broccoli.  Kermit would be proud of me today 😀

Ornament of the day:

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Another horn ornament!  This has a pretty stained glass appearance to it.  I have had this one for a long time and it is one of my favorites.

Question:  Will you challenge yourself to one thing tomorrow?

Another 100% day

Felt good today, in control and on track. I found a couple before pictures which are really humiliating to look at. I know that is silly, but I really looked horrible before. Same person inside – just didn’t look so good on the outside.
At 250

Today at 181

Breakfast
Nutrisystem low fat granola with fat free plain yogurt, a tsp of honey and chopped strawberries. Coffee with milk

Lunch:
NS whipped sweet potatoes
1oz of 75% reduced fat cheddar (surprisingly good!)

Snack:
Latte with 1% milk
Clementines

Dinner:
NS Chicken patty on whole grain light wheat with 2 tbsp of cranberry sauce – sooooo good!
Steamed cauliflower and broccoli
Clementines

Snack
NS Nutrichocolates. First time having these, not bad – they taste a little butterscotchy to me, but I liked them.

Yummy chicken recipe

Today I ate nutrisystem food for breakfast and lunch – did dinner on my own.
Marinated chicken in some fat free yogurt with Bangkok blend spices mixed in (from Penzeys). Broiled it in the oven, delicious! Served with roasted broccoli and cauliflower, and brown rice.

Tomorrow is weigh in day!!

On a happy/sad note – I think I found a home for the stray kitty. Got a call from a woman who has several pets, but said she has a quiet home, and a large house for Moxie to be an indoor cat only. Not sure why this makes me cry – I have grown very attached to Moxie, but do want a good home for her! Will see if it really goes through.