Tumeric Chicken and Brown Rice

Having a  middle eastern Dad, I grew up with tumeric being a staple spice in our home but I realized that we only ever used it  in Arab dishes and to color our rice yellow and never in any other type of food so I decided to experiment.  Tumeric is a superfood believed to ease inflammation so the more of it I can get in me, the better.

Ingredients:
2 tbs. Coconut oil
1 Onion. (sliced)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thinly sliced)
1 tsp. Himalayan sea salt
1 tbs. Tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin (I'd use more but Dan doesn't like the smell)
1/2 fresh jalapeno
3 celery stalks (sliced)
1 broccoli stalk (cut into florets)
1 green bell pepper (sliced)
1 tbs. minced garlic
2in. fresh ginger (minced)

1. Over medium heat cook onions and bell pepper in oil for 3 mins.
2. Add tumeric, garlic, ginger, jalapeno and cumin.  Mix well.
3. Add chicken and salt and stir so all pieces are coated with seasonings.
4. Once chicken is cooked add celery and broccoli and squeeze half of a lime, stir to coat.
5. If you prefer your vegetables cooked you can cover and put it on low heat for an addition 10 mins.
**I prefer crunchier veggies so after stirring all the ingredients I covered it and removed it from hear for 5 mins.

Serve over brown rice and top with green onions or sliced radishes.

Homemade Granola Bars

1 Mashed banana

1/2 c. dried fruit (I used cranberries)

1/2 c. coconut flakes

1.5 c. oats

4 tbs. Honey

Mash or blend all ingredients except oats, once blended mix in oats by hand or with spoon.

Grease a baking dish (I used coconut oil in a loaf pan)

Make sure to pack the granola into the dish as tightly as you can 

Bake in the oven for 20 mins at 180 degrees.

Remove from oven.

Allow to cool.

Cut.

I froze mine after this final step but it isn't necessary.

Store them in an airtight container and ENJOY!

BONUS SNACK

1 banana
1tsp. coconut flakes
Drizzle of honey
nomnomnom


























As with every recipe from me, this is more like a skeleton.  Cooking in my opinion shouldn't be structured or restricted, you should be creative and make it your own.  If you love a certain ingredient more than others, toss some extra in.  If it comes out funky then it's a learning experience and you'll know better for next time.  This is how I learned how to cook.  My mom taught me the VERY basics and now I'm the one giving her lessons :) The more passionate you are about what you're doing the better it will taste.

Day One

Day One Workout: Arms, Chest & Back.


30 mins. before I headed to the gym I ate an orange and had some water with ginger and lemon.


Warm-up:
10 mins. on the treadmill, 3.5 speed with 5.0 incline
25 Jumping Jacks
25 Sit-ups
25 Push-ups

5 minutes of stretching

Set #1
Bicep Curls
1 arm Row
**2 x 15 w/ 15lb. weights

Set #2
Tricep Extension
Chest Fly
**2 x 15 w/15lb. weights

Set #3
Rear Row
Back Lift (no weights)
**2 x 15 w/ 15lb. weights

Set #4
Lat Pulldown
Seated Row
**2 x 15 w/ 35lbs

Ended with a 10 minute jog at 5.5

After the gym I made a protein shake:
3tbs. Soy protein powder
1c. plain almond milk
1/2c. vanilla almond milk
1 frozen banana

(Maybe one day Santa will bring me a Vitamix.)


For lunch:
Tumeric chicken over brown rice

Snack:
Banana w/ peanut butter, coconut flakes & honey
Homemade granola bar

Dessert:
Husband made brownies, luckily I burned enough calories the still stay under my 1420 for the day, it's the weekend anyway.  Everything in moderation.

Time for change.

For the last 6 months I've been living the newlywed life to the fullest. Eating whenever and whatever I want and working out only when bored, inspired or forced to. This is a big lifestyle change from the 11 months leading up to my wedding where I went from 151 to 129 pounds with the right diet and exercise. As a byproduct of my new lifestyle I have developed some new ailments including migraines, bloat and joint pain. I'm only 25 and I've been in pretty good health and shape my whole life but now that I'm living with a boy I've allowed him to influence my eating habits way too much, I'm talking canned and box food, sugary cereals, frozen dinners, dessert every night! All of this may sound like a dream but I've never been one to eat these things so I can only assume they are the cause of my new aches and lack of energy so I have officially returned back to my past ways half as an experiment and half as a grasp at relief. For the next two weeks (at least) I will be living my pre-wedding routine once again in hopes of returning back physically to where I was before. I sure will miss those frozen Oreos .

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