Author: Kimberly Roberto

Wife, Mom, Daughter, Business Owner with a Passion for Cooking and Eating Healthy Food and Helping Others to do the Same!

Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Serves:  4

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 cups spinach, washed and drained
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
6 slices cheese (preferably raw cheddar, havarti, feta, ricotta)
4 organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
sea salt
black pepper

Butterfly chicken breasts, lay them flat and using a sharp knife, slice the breast in half longways, opening it up like a book.  Be sure not to cut through to the other side.  You want it to be one large, thinner piece of meat.  Salt and pepper both sides and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Boil a some filtered water in a saucepan and add sun-dried tomatoes, boiling for about 5 minutes.  Drain and when cool enough, chop fine.

Heat olive oil and garlic on low heat.  When warm, add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.  Remove from heat.

Lay chicken on a cutting board and spread 1/4 of the spinach/tomato mixture on the chicken and top with a slice of cheese.  Roll up as tight as possible and secure with a toothpick if necessary.  Place in a greased baking dish.  Do the same with the remaining 3 breasts.

Cook about 18-20 minutes or until thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Serve as is or use a very sharp knife to slice into rounds.

Serving Suggestion:

Asparagus & a fried egg (over easy or over hard)

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Pistachio Smoothie/Ice Cream

I did a shopping tour at Costco yesterday and at the end the Vitamix “guy” was there so we stuck around for a demo. He made a pistachio ice cream but it used a couple of non-maximized living approved ingredients. I decided to modify it and give it a try. It turned out amazing! You will definitely need a vitamix or something equally powerful.

You won’t believe how delicious this is!

Makes about 3 medium smoothies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk
Large handful organic spinach
Handful shelled pistachios (I was surprised that roasted salted pistachios worked well. If you can find raw pistachios use them!)
1/2 avocado
2 -3 scoops Perfect Protein
2 cups ice
More stevia to taste (I used one of the mini scoops in the Kal brand pure stevia)

Blend everything together using the plunger. This can be eaten with a straw or spoon.

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Kimberly Roberto1 Comment

Pecan Shortbread Cookies

This is an amazingly tasty, simple cookie recipe that is great as a quick snack or with a nice cup of hot green tea.  This is even a cookie you can feel good about eating for breakfast!

The recipe is from Lin Hardick, the mother of my co-author Dr. B.J. Hardick.  She comes up with some amazing recipes that are fail-proof.

Enjoy this one!

http://goodfood-lin.blogspot.ca/2012/08/pecan-shortbread-cookies.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Healthy Chicken Fingers your Kids will LOVE

Kids love chicken nuggets and chicken tenders but the kind you buy frozen or get at a restaurant are unhealthy and even dangerous.  There are some brands on the market that are better than others and may be made with organic chicken but they are still typically breaded with wheat breadcrumbs.  Many of the “healthy”, grain free/gluten free recipes result in a less than exciting taste, breading that just won’t stay on, and doesn’t get the crispy, crunchy texture kids love.  You can also feel great about this grainless, gluten-free, highly nutritious chicken recipe.

I have experimented with a lot of recipes and finally found one that passes the test.  I tried multiple ingredients and convoluted recipes and ended up with one that is just 3 ingredients (5 if you count salt and pepper) and is fabulous.

1 lb organic chicken tenders or chicken breasts pounded thin
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise (recipe in Maximized Living Nutrition Plans book, organic plain greek yogurt (preferred)  or Grapeseed oil Vegenaise.  (This brand is readily available and has a purple top.  There are other versions that use canola oil which we do not recommend)
1 cup almond flour
sea salt and black pepper to taste

UPDATE:  I recommend using the plain yogurt or homemade mayonnaise because Vegenaise contains some soy – based ingredients.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Dredge in Vegenaise and then in almond flour.  Place in a glass baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 – 40 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:

•Make a lemon butter sauce for a “piccata” style dish

•Make the chicken into chicken parmesan by adding organic spaghetti sauce and mozzerella

Kimberly Roberto2 Comments

“Pigs” in a “Blanket”

I had to put pigs and blanket in parentheses because it is not the typical “pig” (our nutrition plans exclude pork) and uses beef or chicken instead.  The “blankets” which are usually packaged crescent rolls loaded with refined flours bad fats and lots of additives/preservatives are replaced with a fiber-rich, flourless dough.

This recipe comes from Maria Emmerich who is a nutrition/recipe enthusiast like me.

“Blanket”
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder (found in health food stores)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup grass fed organic butter
1 cup boiling water

“Pigs”
Organic chicken breakfast sausage or grass fed beef hot dogs (cut into 1 1/2 – 2 inch sections)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine coconut flour, phsyllium husk powder and salt.  Start boiling water and melt butter.  Add melted butter to flour mix and stir continuously.  Pour in boiling water while stirring dough.  Once dough forms move quickly and pinch 1 tablespoon sized pieces of dough, using your fingers, flatten the dough and form it around the meat.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes until dough is puffy and golden.

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Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Advanced Plan & Core Plan

(makes 1 – 9 inch round cake or 18 mini cupcakes or 6 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups already cooked white beans (great northerns)
5 large organic eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted organic butter OR extra virgin coconut oil
3/4 cup xylitol plus 1/2 teaspoon liquid or powder pure stevia extract
6 tablespoons almond flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ cake pan with coconut oil or a thin layer of butter. Cut a round of parchment paper and line the bottom of the pan (put a couple drops of oil so that is doesn’t curl, then grease the top of the parchment lightly.

Drain and rinse beans and shake off excess water. Place the beans, 3 of the eggs, vanilla, stevia and salt into blender. Blend on high until beans are completely liquified. Make sure there are no chunks. Mix together almond flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter with xylitol until light and fluffy. Add the remaining two eggs, beating for one minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix. Finally, stir in almond flour mixture and beat the batter on high for one minute or until smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth the top.

Bake for 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Cake is done with the top is rounded and firm to the touch. It may be very brown, but it is not burnt. After 10 minutes, turn out cake from pan, and flip over again on to a cooling rack. Let cool until cake reaches room temperature. Then frost and refrigerate the cake.

Frosting:

8 oz. block organic cream cheese

6-7 fresh strawberries, chopped

¼ cup xylitol, monk fruit, or erythritol, blended fine like powdered sugar

splash of vanilla

Mix cream cheese until smooth. Beat in sweetener. Mix in other ingredients. Frost and enjoy.

Kimberly Roberto1 Comment