Smitten Life

I get so sick of chicken as chicken that I often try to find different ways to do it in which I can forget that it is indeed chicken. This pulled chicken recipe is amazing, great in a wrap, tacos, on a bun, topping off a salad and as I used it this particular time in a burrito bowl. It was so good that I ate it 4 days in a row! 

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

2 T cumin

1 T pepper

2 T cayenne pepper

1 container fresh, low sodium salsa 

1. Rub chicken with spices, place in slow cooker or rice cooker as I used. Cover entirely with salsa

2. Cook on low for 4 hours in slow cooker, or 45minutes in rice cooker (this way probably doesnt make it quite as pulled but I was crunched for time) 

3. Pull apart with fork and enjoy. 

For Burrito bowl: 

1 cup brown rice

1 lime

1/4 cup black beans

Handful fresh cilantro 

2 T plain greek yogurt 

1/2 an avocado 

1. Cook rice mix in cilantro and fresh squeezed lime 

2. Add on top black beans, the avocado, a large helping pulled chicken and top off with cilantro and the plain greek yogurt 

Cashew Cream: 1 medium white onion, chopped

1-2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 heaping cup raw whole cashews (75 g, 2.6 oz) (soaked for overnight in hot water if you don't have a high powered blender)

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

** I got this recipe from the Vegan 8, changed the veggie broth to chicken broth 

For sauce:

1. Sautee onion with 3/4 cup chicken broth and 4 cloves crushed garlic. 

2. Once it's reduced with no broth, add 1/2 cup of the whole cashews into the blender and add the nutritional yeast, pepper, lemon juice and the rest of the chicken broth in and blend it 

3. Heat it up in the pan

1. Sautee carrots  and chopped onion in olive oil with crushed ginger, garlic, cinnamon and cayenne pepper over medium heat in a large pot

2, Add in the chicken stock, let boil for 30 minutes

3. Put in blender with 1/4 the cashew cream, blend.

4. Place back into pot and let the flavours mingle 

Soup is my favourite kind of lunch, but unfortunately all the premade easy kind are FULL of sodium, and my heart does not approve of that. But that doesn't mean there is "no soup for you!" (iloveyou if you got that) it just means it needs to be homemade! Lucky for you and I that is pretty damn easy. 

Ingredients: 

5 cups cubed butternut squash (skins removed)

1/2 onio 

5 cups sodium reduced chicken (or veg) stock. This can be really high in sodium if you don't check the label, so be wise

1 T- fresh ginger

3 cloves fresh garlic

1 T Cumin

1 T Cinnamon

1 T Nutmeg 

1 T cayenne powder

1 T cilantro

2 oz crushed peanuts 

1. Cub your butternut squash,  heat a pot over medium heat with oil of choice (coconut or  olive are mine)  add squash in and brown 

2. Add in spices, along with onion, continue to stir and cook

3. Add in 5 cups of stock and let simmer for 30 minutes

4. Add mixture to blender, mix it up and return to pot. 

5. SERVE! With fresh cilantro and crushed peanuts 

Ingredients: 

3 chicken breast

2 cup spinach

3 springs fresh basil

4 ounces mozerella

handful of walnuts

1 cup tomato sauce, preferably homemade or lowest soduim option

1. Preheat oven to 350 f

2. Saute spinach in medium size pan over medium heat with olive oil until wilted. 

3. Butterfly chicken breasts, place them on parchment paper on pan

4. Fill with wilted spinach, chopped up basil, crushed walnuts, slice mozerella and then fold back over. Top with tomato sauce and a slice of mozerella and bake for 20-30 minutes in oven. 

This is my favorite lasagna recipe ever! I often substitute the noodles for zucchini but this time i went more traditional. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb turkey

9 whole wheat noodles

1 package spinach

1 package small mushrooms

3 garlic cloves

3 T ricotta

3 handfuls mozzarella

1 package basil

1. Bring water to a boil, add in noodles until semi-cooked, set aside. 

2. In medium sauce pan, on medium add in chopped up garlic and then add in ground turkey. Once cooked add in small chopped up mushrooms as well as chopped up basil. 

3. Remove this from the heat and set aside. 

4. Chop up spinach add to pan and cook until wilted. Mix in with the ricotta cheese. 

5. Start with three noodles on the bottom, spread ricotta mixture, then meat mixture, then noodles again. Add the rest of the meat, then cheese then top off with noodles. Cover with mozzarella cheese to taste. 

6. Bake for 30 minutes on 350 

1 whole chicken

1 Package rosemary 

1 whole lemon cut into quarters

4 cloves garlic

2 T garlic powder

1 spoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Coat chicken with a bit of butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, tear rosemary apart and stick to the chicken. Insert 4 cloves inside chicken, lemon as well as 2-3 springs of rosemary. 

3. Place in tin and cook in the oven for 75-90 minutes

4. Carve the chicken up, I used this youtube video to figure that out

I paired this chicken with my lemongrass mixed veggies and brown rice for dinner and it was so good!

This is another recipe I have stolen from my dad, I cant help it, hes just such a good cook! These veggies are the perfect side dish to any meal, they have a thai flavour and are so damn good. I even made them on Thanksgiving for a potluck. 

Ingredients: 

2 big T of chopped lemongrass

4-5 Lime leaves very finely chopped

1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce 

1-2 cloves galic

1 bunch of asparagus 

2 whole peppers

4-6 large carrots 

1 bag french beans

1 can coconut milk or coconut milk light

1 T cornstarch 

1. Mix the lemongrass, line leaves, garlic chili sauce in the frying pan with the crushed garlic over medium heat with a T of olive oil 

2. Chop all the veg up so they are in bit size pieces 

3. Add in carrots first as they take longest to cook, after a few minutes add in asparagus, beans and peppers last

4. Add in can of coconut milk and let veggies cook over medium heat until cooked but still slightly crunchy.

5. Mix in the cornstarch and voila, tasty veggie dish

I am OBSESSED with my spiralizer I got for my birthday (big shout out to darcy's sister & her husband). I can't stop, won't stop making oodles of zoodles. Literally first thing I did last week after getting it was buy and specialize 6 zuccini's. You can also get a hand held version that's cheaper but this version is really fun to work with. So I'm basically taking all my pasta recipes and turning them into zoodle recipes, they're a great option if you're going low carb. 

Ingredients: 

2 hot italian sausages

10 small tomatoes (I used orange but you can use red or yellow)

6 medium sized zuccini's spiralized into zoodles

4 gloves garlic

1 small package mushrooms

1 package fresh basil 

2 tbsp chili pepper flakes

1. Chop up garlic into small pieces, heat up oil in pan and saute garlic

2. Once it's fragrant keep heat on medium and add in hot Italian sausages chopped into small chunks. Once that's cooked through add in mushrooms, basil. Smash the tomatoes up and add them in so becomes a little thicker

3. Add Zoodles to this and toss it with the mixture, cook for about 3-5 minutes to ensure zoodles are cooked through. 

4. Garnish with chili flakes and more fresh basil 

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I eat shrimp a lot. Well, that's only partially true, I eat a boatload of chicken, as most fitness aficionados do since it packs a good punch of protein while being lower in  fat. However, there comes the time every week where I'm so over chicken. Like, if I see another chicken breast no matter how its disguised (sauce, baked, broiled, bbq's whatever) I will snap. So that's when I make shrimp! And it is always a fun and nice break from CFC (chicken fucking chicken, as one of my clients so cleverly says)

Ingredients: 

1 bag fresh pea pods

1 contained baby tomatoes

1 jar basil pesto 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb shrimp (I used pre coooked/peeled)

1 container whole wheat pasta

1. Heat up oil in pan, don't need much as there is some in the pesto as well. Add chopped up peas, tomatoes and 4 tbsp of pesto to the pan. Have water boiling for pasta while doing this

2. Add in shrimp, let this all simmer together until pea pods are still a little crunchy 

3. Mix all together, add some fresh basil or Parmesan to top this off.