Snack Ideas & Salsa Chicken

I've been on a kick to improve my lifestyle in many ways lately. Attempting to go to bed earlier (not successful tonight), taking Zumba classes, doing the Couch to 5k program with Chris, drinking at least 40oz of water a day, and also...eating better.  I've never had a problem with the first two meals of the day.  I have instant high fiber oatmeal and a light yogurt every morning. I love it. It never gets old.  For lunch, I have some kind of Lean Cuisine frozen meal or Healthy Request soup with apple sauce and a light or reduced fat cheese snack.  I have to eat often, so I usually throw in a banana and Nutrigrain bar for snacks throughout my day.  These snacks DO get old.

But tonight, I tore out a few pages of interesting snack suggestions from my Real Simple magazine.  They gave these "rules" for what makes a good snack. 1. about 200 calories - enough to keep your metabolism going 2. at least 3 grams of fiber 3. at least 5 grams protein 4. no more than 12 grams of fat.  Most the snacks they suggested didn't meet all four requirements, but they came close. These were my favorites:

• 14 Wheat Thins Cinnamon Kick Crunch Stix + one 3.9oz cup Mott's Healthy Harvest Granny Smith Applesauce (180 calories, 3g fiber, 2g protein, 4g fat)
• 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt with 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice (114 calories, 1g fiber, 6g protein, 2g fat) p.s. I can see myself making little cups of this at the beginning of the week to grab and take to work!
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice + 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt + 1/4 cup strawberries + 1/2 frozen banana blended into a smoothie (137 calories, 2g fiber, 4g protein, 1g fat)
• 1 cup blackberries + 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta + 1 teaspoon honey + grated lemon zest (158 calories, 8g fiber, 9g protein, 6g fat)
• 2 clementines + 7 walnut halves (163 calories, 3g fiber, 3g protein, 9g fat)
• 1 hard-cooked egg smashed with 1 teaspoon light mayo + a slice of whole-wheat bread (163 calories, 2g fiber, 10g protein, 8g fat)
• 1 Skinny Cow White Mint Truffle Bar (100 calories, 3g fiber, 3g protein, 3g fat)
• 2 sliced tomatoes + 1 oz mozzarella + 5 basil leaves + 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (122 calories, 3g fiber, 9g  protein, 5g fat)

As you can see...I have some fun new snack ideas to try.  So that takes care of breakfast, lunch, and snacks. And that leaves dinner. Whomp, whomp.  For some reason I've never been able to get my act together when it comes to preparing healthy dinners.  I think because I'm usually starving by the time I'm ready to make dinner.  I hate being hungry so I look for something fast.  But I am also cheap and lazy...let's be honest.  I tend to buy too much "ready-made" stuff at the store.  I also stick to old favorites that I know I'll like.  But, as part of my new lifestyle improvement kick, I'm slowly starting to tackle healthy dinners.


First step was buying some staple entree items from Market Day so they are frozen and individually packaged.  Cooking for two - this saves a lot of waste and is uber-convenient.  I ordered boneless/skinless chicken breasts, tilapia, and flat iron pork chops.  So now, I am finding recipes to test out.  If it is relatively easy, pretty quick, pretty healthy, and we really like how it tastes...it will go on the "rotation" I plan to create in the future.  

Tonight was the first recipe test.  It was Salsa Chicken...and let me just say that this WILL be on the rotation. I even had to make a note that Chris would like 2 pieces of chicken next time. It was VERY easy.  Has only a few ingredients (I don't even bother with recipes that have long ingredient lists), and it tasted awesome.  So here it is.

Salsa Chicken

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

2/3 cup water

4 tablespoons taco seasoning (I used the McCormick's chicken taco seasoning)

1 jar salsa

Monterrey Jack Cheese (About 1 cup)

Sour Cream (Optional - I used light)

The night before - put water and taco seasoning in a Zip-loc bag and add chicken breasts to marinate over night in the refrigerator. 

To prepare, heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of salsa.  Add chicken breasts to dish and pour some salsa on each. 

Bake (uncovered) 25-30 minutes (28 was perfect for me)

Add some Monterrey Jack cheese to the top of each piece for the last 3-5 minutes of cook time
Serve with a little sour cream if you'd like...I highly recommend it.