Tasteful Chicken Parm and Marinara Sauce (hidden veggies too)

I have to admit this is probably my favorite so far! I was very proud of this one and will be making it again. It's a bit spicy but YOU can flavor it to your liking. I also "hid" some cauliflower in the chicken breading shhhh DON'T tell Ayvah! She's my picky eater and will notice a veggie in almost anything UNLESS it's shakeology! I couldn't wait to see her face when eating this chicken my face probably lit up brightly when she said she liked it! Sadly she refused to eat chicken with the sauce on it but that's a'ok! 

I may even use this on pizza, I bet it would give it a nice ZING ;) 

As you know I try to make family meals as healthy as possible, mostly homemade, and hide veggies when I can. With picky eaters it's soooo hard to do this so I bought this book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield where I get lots of ideas from. I use her recipes as more of a guideline and add my own ingredients and substitutes. She has some ingredients in the book (can't think of the top of my head) that I simply don't agree with SUCH as using vegetable. I pitched that crap a LONG time ago. We use olive oil and coconut oil ONLY. You may notice a difference at first but after a while you'll get use to it :) Moving along below you will find the recipe to this awesome sauce, I bet you could use it in almost anything ;) Let me know if you've made it in the comments below and how it turned out and tell us how else you may use it! I think next time I may even add some pureed veggies to the sauce. 

Marinara Sauce:
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil1/2 finely chopped yellow onion2 garlic cloves, mincedsalt and freshly ground black pepper1/4 tsp dried oregano1 pinch red pepper flakes (add more or less depending on your taste)1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes3 cubes of frozen basil leave cubes ( you can purchase this at trader joes) OR 1 tbsp dried basil leaves

Directions:

Saute the onions in the olive oil for about 5 minutes, add the garlic clove for another 2-3 minutes, adding in the remaining ingredients to simmer. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, set aside and let cool. Once cooled place in blender and blend until smooth and creamy (or until it's a good consistency for you)

Chicken Parm:

3 chicken breasts split in halves
3 cubes of pureed cauliflower (or 6 tbsp fresh pureed cauliflower) 
1 egg white
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cups whole wheat bread crumbs (found at Shop N Save) 
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
1 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp dried oregano 
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil 

Directions:
While sauce is simmering, sprinkle each chicken breast half with salt and let sit for 5 minutes. Mix in the spices, 1 cup cheese, whole wheat bread crumbs and set aside. Mix together the flour, egg white and cauliflower puree. 

Heat oil in pan. Dip both sides of each chicken breast into the egg and flour mixture then place in bread crumb mixture. Once both sides are covered place in pan for 5 minutes on each side. Once done place on a greased pan (I prefer to use the olive oil spray from Trader Joe's) and add the remaining cheese then broil for 3-4 minutes until cheese starts to brown. Top off with marinara sauce! There you have it BEST chicken park I've made in my house thus far! Hope you enjoy :) 

Rice Bean and Pepper Bowl-Daniel Fast Approved

So I decided to make a commitment to start the new year with the Daniel Fast. If you're not sure what it is, it is a Spiritual Lead Fast to find some answers in a certain area in your life from God. You can check out more info here http://daniel-fast.com 

Anywho on the fast you pretty much eat fruits, veggies, nuts, whole grains, oils, legumes, and tofu. You can't eat any animal meat, or dairy etc. Because I am nursing I needed to make sure to find protein from other sources other than meat. You can eat poetry while nursing but she's not nursing as much so I decided to find it other places. So I chose the vegan shakeology for 14 g of protein, beans, tofu, spinach, nuts, and peanut butter to find it all which comes to about 40 g a day which still isn't enough :O But it's a fast so we'll make do. 

aNyWhO I'm typing this post to share with you this aWeSoMe recipe! I am not one for eating rice it's too bland! So What I did was I cooked the rice in a veggie stock that I previously prepared (recipe for that is in this book http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Toddler-Cookbook-Homemade-Healthy/dp/1740899806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421202983&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+food+books) to give it some flavor. I've also heard cooking the rice in the liquid from the beans gives it flavor as well. I cooked the beans, sautéed the peppers with salt, pepper and olive oil, and once they were all cooked I mixed it together and added some smoked paprika to give it that Mexican style taste and Done too easy! You can even add onions to this for even more flavor! I even portioned out and froze some in zip lock containers. This recipe is both Daniel Fast and 21 Day Fix approved. Check out the official directions below :)  Oh and I added left over tofu from the night before for extra protein :)

Recipe:

1 Can Black Beans

2 cups brown rice

1-2 cups (depending on your preference) peppers (i bought a frozen bag of peppers from Trader Joe's my fav store!!)

1 tbsp olive oil

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1-3 tsp smoked paprika (again depending on your preference)

veggie stock  amount according to the rice package

Cook the rice in the veggie stock until done. Mix the olive oil, salt and pepper over the peppers and sauté for a bit (if you added onion add it here). Cook the beans, once all are done mix into the rice and add your smoked paprika.... and ENJOY! This is my favorite way to cook rice because it is so bland I had to find a way to make it tasty and I finally did!