Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders.

I'll just start off by saying these are probably my best creation yet. Who doesn't love chicken tenders? You can enjoy these without sacrificing your fitness goals!

What you'll need:

1 package of organic chicken tenders

1/4 cup hummus of your choice

1/4 cup egg whites

1/2 cup almonds

2 handfuls of Mary's Gone Crackers (THE BEST <3)

Salt/pepper/spices of your choice (I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder)

In a large bowl combine hummus and egg whites. Stir until you have a creamy consistency. Go ahead and place your chicken strips into the mixture. I let the chicken marinate for about 30 minutes, it adds extra flavor. However, that's optional! 

For the "breading" place almonds, crackers, and seasoning/spices into a food processor. Pulse until you have a coarse mixture. Do not over pulse.

Once the chicken strips have marinated, coat them in the "breading" mixture. 

Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees or until crispy!

What I eat in a day!

A lot of people ask me about meal plans but I really don't follow a plan. I eat 5 meals a day, which are minimally processed, and sometimes dessert! You guys can see what I ate throughout the day and maybe get some new meal ideas :)

Meal One was Oatmeal(and NO, not Quaker or something doused in sugar. I prefer plain grain by Three Sisters), with blueberries, half a banana, 1 tbsp almond butter, and raw coconut flakes.

Meal Two was a Perfect Fit Protein Bar! These are so delicious!! They are available online! Perfectfitprotein.com

Meal Three was one egg, two egg whites, a slice of yogurt cheese, 1/4 an avocado, and mango hot sauce on an Ezekiel English muffin.

Meal Four was 1 cup of non-fat greek yogurt with 1/3 cup KIND granola and two dates.

Meal Five was a hummus crusted chicken breast, 1/2 cup long-grain brown rice, and a tomato/cucumber salad with feta cheese! 

Sweet Potato Enchiladas.

Yup, you heard me... SWEET POTATO! I made these last night for the first time and they will blow your mind. They were so delicious that I didn't miss the chicken at all. These are great for Meatless Monday or what I like to call Meat Without Feet Monday because I still eat fish. In my brain I just don't consider fish to be meat... I'm weird. Anyways lets get to the recipe!

What you will need:

• 6 Tortillas, I use Brown Rice Tortillas from Food For Life.
• 1 bottle of Enchilada Sauce, Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce has been my favorite so far! It's so tasty and surprisingly pretty low in sodium.
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup black beans
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/2 a red onion, diced
• 1 large sweet potato cooked with skin removed, mashed
• 1 jalapeño pepper, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 jar of salsa ( you'll only need 6 tbsp.)
• Cheese and Cilantro are optional!

I know this seems like a lot of ingredients but as far as the veggies go feel free to use what you have on hand and don't be afraid to substitute ingredients!

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Now add in garlic, cumin, chili powder, jalapeño, mushrooms, spinach, corn, black, beans, sweet potato, red onion, and cook until spinach is wilted. It should look something like this...

Next place about 1/4 cup of the mixture inside a tortilla with 1 tbsp of salsa.

Cover the bottom of your pan with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. Place all 6 enchiladas into the pan and pour remaining enchilada sauce over top. You can also throw in some cilantro and sprinkle them with cheese! 

Put into a 450 degree oven for about 25 minutes. 

Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt!

No Bake Chocolate Protein Date Cookies

These are a great pre-workout snack for energy, or post-workout for a little bit of protein!

What you will need:

• 1/2 cup of dried, pitted dates
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 pinch of Pink Himalayan salt

Start by placing the oats and protein powder into a food processor. Pulse until flour-like. 

Next add in the dates, peanut butter, and walnuts. Pulse again until everything is incorporated together. The mixture will be extremely thick. At this point go ahead and add the honey and almond milk.

Once everything has been processed together go ahead and transfer your dough into a bowl and sprinkle the pinch of salt into it. Knead your dough to make sure the salt is dispersed evenly. 

Now you are going to use your dough to make 8 balls. After you have rolled out the balls you are going to flatten them into a cookie shape. Place your cookies in the fridge for 15 minutes and then they are ready to enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Calories: 150

Protein: 7(g)

Carbs: 17(g)

Fat: 7 (g)

What I eat Wednesday!

Some of my favorite fitness bloggers often do posts like this! They are usually my favorite to read; it's interesting to me to see what other "fit foodies" eat on a daily basis! 

I always start my day off with a cup of coffee with almond milk and stevia. I just purchased these sweet drops from Whole Foods. They pretty much turn your coffee into a Skinny Vanilla Latte from Starbucks.. Just sayin'.

For breakfast I created this beautiful masterpiece haha, a breakfast sweet potato! All you need is half a sweet potato, 1 tbsp of almond butter, and a generous sprinkle of a dried fruit and nut mix! It's like candy for breakfast. So sweet and delicious. 

When I get home from class I like to have a little something before I workout to keep my energy up. Today I opted for 1 egg with spinach and half an orange. 

After my workout my go to snack is a protein smoothie. I blend 1 cup of coconut water, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder,  1tbsp of ground flaxseed, and 1/2 a frozen banana.

Lunch! I usually have some type of sandwhich for lunch almost every day. I used a brown rice tortilla and stuffed it with sliced turkey, peppers, onions, jalepeno, lettuce, and hummus!

For dinner I had sautéed eggplant and zucchini in roasted vegetable pasta sauce with shrimp. So good. I topped it with red pepper flakes and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast? Yea, don't knock it until you try it haha. 

Quinoa Summer Salad With Shrimp.

This recipe is based off of a quinoa salad by my favorite fitness blogger, Sarah Dussault. I did modify it a bit and it came out great! 

Serves 4

What you'll need:

•1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa

•1/4 red onion, chopped

•1/4 cilantro

•1 bell pepper, chopped (any color)

•2 tbsp olive oil

•1 tsp dijon mustard

•1 tbsp lemon

•3 oz of shrimp per person

Cook quinoa according to package and set aside.

In a bowl mix the olive oil, lemon juice, and dijon mustard. 

Add in your chopped pepper, onion, and cilantro.

Once your quinoa has cooled add it to the other bowl and mix.

Top each serving with 3 oz cooked shrimp, 1/4 avocado (optional), and salt and pepper to taste! 

Don't forget you can switch it up and substitute the shrimp for chicken!

My go to guilt free snacks!

Pictured above are some of my favorite snacks!

• Homemade Trail Mix. I make my trail mix using 2 tbsp of unsalted almonds, 2 tbsp of no sugar added dried fruit, and 1 tbsp of chocolate chips. I love making my own because it is portion controlled. It's about 200 calories, which most of my snacks are.

• KIND Bars. These bars are becoming very popular so you should have no problem finding them at your local grocery store. I tend to choose the ones with 5 grams of sugar or less. My favorite is dark chocolate nuts and sea salt!

• Über Bars. These can also be found at most grocery stores. My favorite is coconut macaroon and bananas foster.

• Questbars. These are great for a post-workout treat. I usually pop mine in the microwave for 10 seconds and top it with nut butter. These are a little harder to find but GNC does carry them.

• Hummus or Hommus (who knew there were two different spellings.. I didn't haha) I'll usually have 2 tbsp of hummus with baby carrots and a few pita chips. The pita chips are dangerous, at least for me, I can't stop.

• Turkey Roll Up. For a quick snack that'll keep me full I roll up a string cheese in 2 slices of turkey.

• Popcorn. Honestly popcorn doesn't always keep me full but I like it to snack on and really enjoy it! I like BOOM CHICKA POP because it comes in a single serve pack! They also have other tasty favors AND best of all their corn is non-GMO( It is not genetically modified like most corn products are)!

• Somersalts. I originally discovered these at Whole Foods but they are popping up at conventional grocery stores, even target. They are cookies with sunflower seeds mixed in. My favorite flavor is the Dutch Cocoa. It tastes like Coco Puffs cereal!

• Ants on a log. I'm sure you have all had this! I put 1 tbsp of almond butter on 2 celery sticks with 2 tbsp of dried fruit on top!