Clean Chicken Parmesan

A funny thing happened last night. I found this new recipe at cleaneating.com for a shaved asparagus salad that looked really refreshing and light. I figured it would be delicious and a new recipe I could blog about.

I was going to marinate some chicken to grill to go with it but I started late and there wasn't time for the chicken to really soak up the flavor so I changed the chicken plan. Faith actually hates chicken served in any form other than chicken nuggets so I was trying to think of a way I could make her enjoy it more. I reached for my panko but there wasn't enough left. Why do I do that? Why didn't I toss the box and why did I leave it in the cupboard again last night?

Anyway the funny thing is I didn't care for the salad much at all but I loved the chicken last night. I will not be blogging about the salad after all. I will give you a link in case you are curious though.

I first tenderized my meat with this handy little tool I have had for years. If you don't have a tenderizer you can poke some holes in your chicken with a knife. It really helps it absorb all the flavor you are adding and keeps it nice and moist.

I started with some whole wheat flour and coated my chicken really well on all sides.

Then I picked this balsamic tomato seasoning to top the chicken. For something similar look for a seasoning with lots of dehydrated vegetables like tomato, garlic, onion, and green onion. You can always add regular balsamic vinegar too. I also gave each chicken breast a dash of pepper.

I melted a couple tablespoons of Earth Balance in the bottom of a 9 X 13. You can skip this step but it adds some flavor and helps keep the chicken really moist. I put this in the oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes I took it out of the oven to add a can of these. I LOVE the flavor of fire roasted tomatoes. You should try them!

I poured them all over the top of the chicken but left that one breast plain. Faith hates tomatoes and they are actually bad for her reflux so I don't make her eat them plus I knew she would ask for ketchup to dip this chicken in and that is plenty of acid for her belly. I am sick of reflux by the way! I put this back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

I did not top it with cheese at this point just to save a few calories because I had eaten to many nuts and crackers yesterday. But you should if you want the real chicken parm kind of feel. Top the whole dish with some fresh parmesan or mozzarella during the last 5 minutes of cooking or so but don't add another 5 minutes of cooking. This chicken was soooooo moist. Miles thought the tomatoes were a bit salty this time for some strange reason but he said the chicken was very good and moist.

I served it with my flop of a salad and some fresh grapes and strawberries. Faith even said as she was forcing her first bite down the hatch, "These taste like chicken nuggets!" That little coating of flour did the trick! Plus that is a great way to not have a ton of extra calories but still get the feeling that there is a breaded chicken breast in there! I used to do this all the time with white flour and tons of butter and lemon pepper. Every time I think of lemon chicken all I can think of is the show Raymond. Poor Debra. I feel bad for her. No more white flour and loads of butter anymore but this was delightful and I am glad it worked out or there would have been nothing to blog about for a while!

Here is the asparagus salad. Now before I completely trash this dish I must say that I am not a huge asparagus lover. I do enjoy it but it isn't my favorite vegetable so maybe if you really love asparagus you might enjoy this salad. I did love the added protein it contained with the beans and the dressing was good. Here is the link if you would like to give it a try. Shaved Asparagus Salad

I am off to St. Cloud with some friends for a girls day to celebrate my dear friend Julie's birthday. A stop at Sam's will be necessary for some more dates!!! I love those medjool dates.

Clean Chicken Parmesan

4-5 chicken breasts
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. Balsamic tomato seasoning (or your alternative)
2-3 tablespoons melted earth balance or butter
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 -1 cup grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese
dash of pepper for each chicken breast

Directions:
Trim chicken breasts to equal sized portions. Pour flour onto plate and coat each breast on all sides. Make sure to cover it well. Top each breast with a dash of pepper and balsamic tomato seasoning. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and pour can of tomatoes over all. Bake for 5 minutes and then add cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Blog Give Away Winner

Good morning faithful readers! Did you jump out of bed to visit this morning to see if you are the winner????? I was super excited to get up and see who the winner would be! I had my lovely assistants help with the drawing. Are you ready?

Giving instructions to the assistant.

Reaching that little hand in there.

Trying to read the name on the paper. And the winner is.....

Ka-Lee Hoffmann!!!!!

Ka-Lee is my good friend here in Willmar and I have to say she probably uses my blog more than anybody! She is always trying my recipes and finding recipes for me too. She has taken lots of steps to clean up the diet of her family and has asked me lots of questions and learned lots along the way. What I love is that Ka-Lee didn't really need to lose weight but she has realized that it isn't just about weight loss but about nutrition and fueling your body with good food. Plus she is always so kind to tell me how much she liked a recipe. It is very fitting that she won. Congratulations Ka-Lee! I will call you later today about delivering the loot to you!

Thank you to everyone who entered the give away! You have greatly increased the traffic to my blog and I am so thankful! I loved reading all your comments about the things you have done to clean up your life and the progress you have made. I am so glad so many of you are trying my recipes. What an encouragement you are! This was super fun and I will have to do it again soon! Have a happy, healthy, day!

Easter

I haven't actually posted in almost a week because I have left my previous blog post up so everyone would be able to enter the give away. One lucky winner will be chosen in the morning! It was kind of nice to have a break and just concentrate on getting your emails and comments all straight so I could enter you the appropriate amount of times. That was a bit trickier than I thought it would be. But it was also Easter and I needed time to prepare!!

We had a wonderful spring break just being home and capped it off with a fabulous Easter Sunday. Church was wonderful. It is good to be in the house of the Lord any Sunday but Easter is so pivotal to my faith that I think I would literally cry if I couldn't go to church on Easter. We had some dear friends and their kids over for Easter dinner after church and sat and visited and ate and enjoyed ourselves so much and realized it was about time for the last meal of the day. Times flies!

So here is our Easter menu. Nothing fancy but like my friend said, good food with no guilt! And I cooked my favorite way---no recipes!

Mixed lettuce salad with cucumbers, grape tomatoes, red onion, strawberries, feta and my homemade mustard vinaigrette.

Fresh fruit salad. I mixed in fresh pineapple, pears, kiwi, strawberries, apples, grapes, and a cara cara orange. Those are my favorite oranges.

Mixed roasted potatoes with an herb butter and spiral ham. I do not use the glaze that they provide in those things. Too much sugar for one thing and the ham is perfectly delicious without it.

My favorite balsamic green beans! I blanch the beans and then cook them in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar with red onion and sliced almonds.

I don't really love my buffet but I do love to be able to serve from it. We have such a small kitchen it is nice to be able to dish up here and sit down plus I had the kids at a table in the living room so they could grab their food and go!

For dessert we had these cupcakes. They were white cake with an almond buttercream frosting and there was absolutely nothing healthy about them. I just like to make cakes and cupcakes. They were delicious!

Of course we had all our traditional celebrations as well.

We did a little Easter egg dying on Saturday morning. This was my favorite Easter tradition as a child. Didn't you love leaving one egg in the dye overnight to see what color it would turn out to be in the morning?

I also had to teach my kids about mixing colors. That was the other thing my sister and I loved to do. We'd put an egg in one color for a while and switch it to another and another and another. I made a pretty stellar midnight blue egg this year that my kids really should have been more impressed with than they were! I would love to have done some natural dyed eggs but it can be fairly time consuming and I ran out of that precious commodity!

This year Evan got picture clues on the ipad that led him to his Easter basket. He found an egg in each location with some quarters in it. Some of the pictures were pretty easy and others we made really obscure. He loved it and so did we because we weren't up late thinking up clues that rhyme!

Faith had her own clues too and she could read them all by herself this year! Thank you kindergarten teacher! Her reading is amazing me!

We always have to have a family photo since I tend to make our clothes somewhat match at Easter and it is easy to grab someone after church to take it.

Of course I have to get the kids by themselves and I usually get the eye roll from Evan but he is coming along and I didn't get that attitude this year.

He is also getting better at taking our picture and not leaving tons of headroom!

We also had to hide a million eggs for our kids. For the record I HATE doing this! I mean it. I despise it. But they love it and I'm their mom. Plus this kid is 12 and he still wants to do this. I am hanging on to whatever innocence I can!

However, I do totally LOVE the smile it puts on their faces. Faith is giddy when she is waiting inside for us to finish the hiding. She can hardly contain herself. She wanted to find this big egg so badly she was telling her daddy beforehand to tell her where he was going to hide it. That girl!

Notice the 12 year olds basket is much fuller than his baby sister's basket. He is usually a pretty compassionate kid but he had no problem snatching up as many eggs as possible before that sweet little girl could get them. He went to grab all the easy eggs first and said he would come back for the hard ones.

Now the only dilemna left is these eggs! What on earth am I supposed to do with these things? I hate to throw them away but I hate eating them when their dye seeped through to the egg making it a funky color too. My problems are big aren't they?

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well. If you haven't entered the blog give away this is your last night to do so. I will draw tomorrow morning, April 10th, for the winner. I will try to post right away and contact the lucky duck!



The 100th Post = BLOG GIVEAWAY!!!

This is my 100th post! I have enjoyed writing each and every post and learning along the way all about blogging and finding some of my own favorite blogs in the process. The blogging world is incredible. Especially the food blogging world. There are some extremely talented people out there and I am thankful for the inspiration I receive from them.

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I began this blog on labor day weekend after some encouragement from several friends who just wanted my recipes in one place I think! I didn't realize what a true portion of goodness in my life it would become. I have heard such encouraging words from so many of you and I feel truly blessed to enter into your world each time you click on a link and read my latest post.

Some interesting things have happened along the way. Some funny things too. Here is a list of a few.

- I have become the grocery store police. I have run into some of you at the store and you don't want me to see what is in your cart. It makes me laugh!
- My children now wait when we sit down to eat not because we have to pray but because I have to take a picture of the food.
- I have been reduced to my recipes. My husband said the other day that at least if something happened to me he would know where to find my recipes!
- I now wish that my brain understood science much better. I never thought I would wish to like science but it would sure be nice to have some credibility when I am talking to someone about nutrition.
- My favorite stores have become Whole Foods and Trader Joe's instead of Pottery Barn and Gymboree.
- I am pretty sure I have made my kids hate the word green, as in, "Is there something green on your plate? or How much green food have you eaten today?"
- People often text me from the grocery store to ask where they can find a certain product. Have you all seen me reading labels and spending hours there or something? Funny thing is I usually know where the product is located! 
- The word quinoa is a regular part of my vocabulary now and surprisingly it has been added to the vocabulary of tons of people I know. I even know some 9th grade boys who know about quinoa. That excites me!
- I have forked over more money on healthy food than I ever thought my frugal brain would allow. In fact I am pretty willing to pay good money for something I think is healthy like my $5.50 Sunbutter or my $4.50 Sprouted Pretzels.
- I regularly find my own husband reading my blog. He even looked up my recipe for mustard vinaigrette so he could make it himself one day.
- I have had more fun than I could have ever imagined doing this!

My last point brings me to the reason for this post. It has been so fun and I feel the need to thank you for valuing the things I have to say enough to keep coming back for a visit. I love it when you share about a recipe you have tried or the steps you are taking to make a more healthy life for yourself or the color you are adding to your plate! It all excites me! So I wanted to give you the opportunity to win something fun as a way of thanking you for your continued support. Nothing major but just a few of my favorite snacks, gadgets, and foods.

So here is the loot..............

Nature's Harvest banana chips, dry roasted pepitas, and oat bran sesame sticks.

Your very own BPA free microwave popcorn popper. I am also hoping to add some organic popcorn to the loot. They didn't have it at the store today.

My very favorite lemon juicer. I use mine all the time.

This is the best sugar free chocolate bar! I usually don't like anise but it is subtle enough in this bar that I don't mind.

Of course you knew I would have to throw some quinoa in the mix. It would be wrong of me not to. I also use a ton of Bob's Red Mill products and I thought you should try some wheat berries in case you haven't yet.

These are just some fun little prep bowls I use often that I got at Target. I also like to serve my Just Bananas Ice Cream in these. They are the perfect size for that.

I love these cocoa roasted almonds. I like to keep a pack in my purse just in case.

Last night my husband said he would really love to open this bag of pretzels. I said go ahead. I will get another one tomorrow for the blog giveaway. He ate some and then my children promptly followed slightly arguing over the bag. The bag is now empty. I went back for more today and they were out. I promise to get a full bag before I send/deliver this to the winner. They are crazy good!

This is just a fun little milk frother. I picked one up at IKEA after reading about it on another blog. It does an incredible job for such a small thing. It is fun to have some frothed cream or milk in your coffee or tea occasionally. I will include the batteries.

And finally a BPA free cup with a straw to get you to drink more water. I have had a cup like this for quite some time and a couple months ago I got some for the kids. They drink a ton more water with these. Then Miles felt left out so I got him one this week and he loves it. In my defense the man usually has 4-5 Nalgene water bottles going somewhere so that is why he didn't get one sooner.

I might find something else fun to throw in there too when I go looking for the organic popcorn at our local health food store, Potpourri.

So this is how you can get your name in the drawing for the loot! I am trying to keep this fairly simple but still give you several chances to get your name in. For each thing you do I will add your name giving you 4 chances to get your name in the drawing.

#1 - Become a follower of my blog. Just click on "Join This Site" where you see all the other little faces. If you are already a member then you automatically have one entry. Hooray for you!

#2 - Leave a comment on this post telling me something you have learned, enjoyed or about a change you have made to your lifestyle. If you don't have a google identity just comment as anonymous but be sure to type your name in so I know who you are.

#3 - Share a link to my blog on your facebook or twitter account and tell me you did so in a comment here, on facebook, or email. My email address is pamrohde@q.com

#4 - Tell me about a recipe you have tried from the blog in a comment, on facebook, or through email and why you liked it.

#5 Invite me over for dinner. Just kidding. No bonus entry for inviting me to dinner!

Unfortunately because this will be a heavy box to ship I will not be shipping overseas or to Canada this time. I do still love all you lovely people reading from all over the world. Next time I will do something like a gift card that is easily shipped! You have until Monday night April 9th to enter for the giveaway. I will have my lovely assistants help me draw for the winner on Tuesday morning and announce it first thing. Please make sure I have your contact information so the rightful winner can be notified!

Again thank you for making this blogging experience a true Portion of Goodness in my life. You are appreciated!

The Dirty Dozen

I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. As you know we have taken a lot of steps to clean up our diet and our life. We took baby steps because I think that is what is practical and can help you maintain your new life style. When you try to change too much at one time it is just to overwhelming and you will get discouraged and quit. For example, when we began to drastically change our diet we didn't exercise. Giving up a lot of your favorite foods is hard enough and we wanted to concentrate on one thing at a time. We discovered that losing weight is so much more about what you put in your mouth then how much you exercise. I tell you that to let you off the hook just a wee bit with the exercise if you are just getting started. We were still fairly active people during that time and engaged in some physical activity just not like we do now. Don't get me wrong. Exercise is very important for so many reasons, especially for maintaining your weight loss, but like I said we were taking baby steps.

Along the way in my baby steps I had a thought like this, "Wow! Now we are eating so healthy. We eat tons of fruits and vegetables and a heck of a lot of lettuce every single day. I wonder what they are putting on all this produce I consume?" Imagine my shock when I learned that on some of my favorite produce over 60 different pesticides have been detected!!!!!! Enter next baby step: BUY ORGANIC!

I know what you are going to say. Eating healthy is already expensive enough and now I am asking you to think about buying organic. Trust me. I understand. I know how much money I spend on food every month. It hurts sometimes. We live on one income for the most part and our grocery bill is a huge percentage of our budget. Dave Ramsey probably wouldn't be that proud of my grocery budget.

So that is why I am supplying you with the 2012 Dirty Dozen List today. If you can't afford to buy everything organic like most of us Americans, but want to take some baby steps like I did, then these would be the top 12 things to begin buying organic on a regular basis.

This is the symbol you want to keep an eye out for because then you will know that it has been certified organic. And this is why you want to look for it......

“What is organic food? Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.  Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.  Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.  Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” Consumer Brochure, USDA National Organic Program, http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html

I want to know that there are some checks and balances in place if I am going to pay the higher price for my food. I look for this label because I know that a farm is following the rules and that certifier's have actually visited the farm where it is being grown. Are you ready for the list??

2012 Dirty Dozen List

#1 APPLES   - Are always on the list and usually near the top. They have had over 40 pesticides detected on them. This also means you need to buy applesauce and apple juice organic. Many of the pesticides and fungicides are added after harvest to preserve shelf life.

#2 CELERY - Has been labeled the dirtiest vegetable with over 60 different pesticides detected.

#3 STRAWBERRIES - Over 60 pesticides. Frozen strawberries usually have less.

#4 PEACHES - Always on the list and over 60 pesticides. There are fewer in canned peaches but those single serving kinds still have plenty.

 #5 SPINACH- Leads the leafy green pack at 50 pesticides. Frozen still has nearly as many but canned does a bit better.

#6 NECTARINES (IMPORTED) - Has tested as high as 33 pesticides but domestic peaches are better.

#7 GRAPES (IMPORTED) - More than 30 pesticides detected and this also brings into question raisins and wine.

#8 SWEET BELL PEPPERS- All color varieties are affected. Over 50 pesticides used.

#9 POTATOES - Interestingly 91% of potatoes will test positive for pesticides and over 35 have been detected. Sweet potatoes have less chance for residue.

#10 BLUEBERRIES - My favorite! They unfortunately usually make the list with over 50 pesticides. Frozen are a bit better. Cranberries and cherries are often contaminated too even if not on the list.

#11 LETTUCE - This is the one that bothers me most because I eat the most of it at more than 50 pesticides. I do prefer to buy my lettuce organic and triple washed anyway in the boxes.

#12 KALE &COLLARD GREENS (Tied for 12th)

 I know these two aren't on that many American plates anyway but in case I have talked you into adding kale to your diet then you should be aware. Traditionally kale has been known to be a pretty hearty vegetable not in need of pesticide but it has made the list for two years now.

I know it might be hard to remember these at the store so keep a list in your wallet or purse somewhere and the more you buy these organic the more you will remember. Also try to remember these three main categories, TREE FRUITS, BERRIES, AND LEAFY GREENS. These are typically in the danger zone! Picking 5 fruits and vegetables to eat from the 12 most contaminated can cause you to consume 14 different pesticides in one day. I don't know about you but that would be pretty easy for me to do almost every day!

The Enviromental Working Group puts out this list every year. The foods are ranked on how much or how little pesticide they contain. The group estimates that you can reduce your exposure to pesticides by 80% or more if you switch to organic for these 12 foods. (actually 13 with that tie) The USDA does set allowable pesticide residue limits it deems safe but some watch dog groups think it is too liberal. The EWG does also say that the benefits of eating fresh fruits and veggies does outweigh the the known risk of consuming pesticide. But if you can reduce your risk that much by shelling out a bit more cash for these foods than it just might be worth it! I am trying to protect myself from cancer, not give it to myself by consuming pesticides.

If you refuse to buy organic then promise me you will start washing these 12 things much better with something like this .....

Or you can use plain vinegar as well and really get in there and scrub them up!

Also keep in mind that there are other foods besides fruits and vegetables that contain pesticides and you should think about buying those organic as well. A few worth mentioning are milk, wine, chocolate, and coffee. Many of those things are grown overseas where there are lax regulations on pesticides and for things like coffee that you can't really wash it is worth considering. Interestingly enough pesticides are found in fatty meats as well but lean meats come up clean.

Thank you for reading such a long post! I am really hoping to get to something more fun tomorrow; the blog giveaway post! One sick child has consumed my day today so I am a bit behind. So stay tuned for pictures of what I am giving away and how you can get your little self entered!