Honey Orange Chicken Drummers

Over the weekend, Jack (my oldest) came to me with a new recipe he wanted to try out this week.  I was pleasantly surprised to see it was a pretty healthy recipe.  Of course, it was chicken, because that's about all he eats.  But he is making an effort to try new things.  And he's becoming quite the chef!

It's so funny because when he cooks with me, he is all about following the directions exactly as they're written.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with that but I like to just occasionally throw things in.  And I'm terrible about measuring out things while he is very precise.  But we work pretty well together and I love spending the time with him!

So here is the recipe to our latest concoction!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip cookies

There is not much better than some homemade chocolate chip cookies!!  And when you can find a recipe that is gluten-free AND sugar-free, BONUS!!  I can't take credit for this recipe, I'm not that good!  But I did make them and they are seriously DELICIOUS and KID-APPROVED!  Everyone in my family ate them all up!

So this recipe is from Autumn Calabrese's Cookbook which can be found here FixateCookbook .

Thai-Inspired Stir Fry with Coconut Rice

I started my 10 day Daniel Plan Detox yesterday!  So far, So good!  I actually had a really good day yesterday and didn't miss my sweets until after dinner.  I was really worried about being hungry last night between my snack and dinner because dinner was going to be so late and all I had for snack was a Veggie Mocktail.  But, surprisingly I wasn't!  So, a good start!!

I was asked by a few people to share last night's Thai inspired stir fry.  This recipe is from The Daniel Plan which I highly recommend checking out.  I did, of course, change it just a bit, so I will provide you with the recipe that I used.  It was really yummy!

Oh yea, and the rice, that's a funny story!  I asked my 13 year old to start the rice for me while I was at therapy with my youngest.  He's been doing a lot of cooking lately. I go to the kitchen and take the lid off and the pot is obviously full of water. 

So I ask him, "How much water did you put in there?" 
His response, "A lot!" 
Me: "Did you read the directions?"
Him: "I didn't understand them."
Me: "how much rice did you put in there?"
Him: I don't know, I couldn't find a measuring cup!"

Lol

Well, surprisingly I was able to salvage the rice and it was really yummy!

Antioxidant Salad dressing

If you haven't read the book or participated in The Daniel Plan Bible study, you should!  I'm in the middle of a bible study using this book right now and am learning so much!!  The concept is how to achieve a healthy lifestyle by focusing on faith, food, fitness, focus and friends.  LOVE it!  Check it out!

In this book, they provide lots of healthy recipes that I have been experimenting with!  One of my favorites is an Antioxidant Salad dressing.  Seriously, it is SO good!  I have used it on my salads as well as quinoa dishes.  It's too good not to share, so here is the recipe:

Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins

I've mentioned before how picky my oldest son is.  I'm always looking for healthy recipes that he may eat but I often have to get very creative.  I've really been working on getting him to eat a healthier breakfast in the morning before school. But it needed to be something quick because he gets on the bus EARLY!  When I asked him about things that he wanted for breakfast he of course mentioned chocolate chip muffins!  So, I had to come up with a way to make them somewhat healthy!  I found a few recipes on Pinterest and modified them a bit to get some protein added in and sugar taken out.  This is what I came up with!  They have been  HUGE hit with both my boys!  This is the 3rd batch I've made because they keep requesting them.  Yes, there is chocolate in them but I use chocolate chips with 70% or higher cacao.  So, not too shabby!

Buffalo Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

My oldest has always been such a picky eater.  To help him get over this, he's been doing a lot of cooking with me and helping me come up with things to cook that he would like to try.  I was SO EXCITED when he came to me the other night and actually asked to help me cook!!  I mean, he will be an official teenager in a month so most of his time is spent in his room.  I adore any time I get to spend one on one time with him.  Plus, I really enjoy cooking so its great that we can enjoy it together.

His favorite food is chicken wings and he likes them with a bit of spice so this recipe was right up his alley.  He's never been a fan of sweet potatoes but has started making them himself and eating them a little more so again, a good combination for us to cook together.  Before I give you the recipe, I will say this, while we enjoyed this recipe, my cooking was not perfect and I will need to adjust it the next time to make it even better.  I will give you the actual recipe but tell you what I am going to do differently next time.
*So, the only problem with cooking this all together in the oven was that my chicken got done before the sweet potatoes.  I ended up taking the chicken out of the mix and putting the sweet potatoes back in for longer.  When I served it, some of the sweet potatoes were still not done yet.  :(  But the ones that were,were delicious!  So, next time I think I will try cooking the sweet potatoes a bit before mixing all the ingredients together.  If you have another suggestion, please let me know!  Because, this really is a tasty and healthy meal.  :)  Oh yea, I also cut this recipe in half.

Buffalo Chicken and Sweet Potato

• 2 lb chicken breast cut into cubes
• 5 whole sweet potatoes peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 6 tbsp hot sauce (I actually used wing sauce)
  
  
• 12 slices turkey bacon cooked and cut into pieces
• 1 cup green onions sliced
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine together the olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, hot sauce, and season with pepper to taste.
3. Add the sweet potatoes and chicken and stir to coat.
4. Empty the bowl into a casserole dish.
5. Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
6. Add the green onions and bacon to the dish and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes to let all the flavors combine. Makes around 8 servings (1 cup each).

Fix Portions (per 1 serving): 1 red, 1.5 yellow, tsp oil

Baked Oatmeal Cups

We all have those days when we are rushing out the door in the morning before realizing we haven't eaten breakfast yet.  Well, you should definitely NOT skip breakfast, instead have something already prepared, that you can just grab and go.  And I don't mean a donut!  So, this week for my meal prepping, I baked oatmeal cups.  This is a nice clean, healthy breakfast to have on the run or even as a snack.  If you are going to be having this as breakfast, I recommend pairing it with a protein as well.  A good easy, on the go protein, would be a hard boiled egg.  I like to always have hard boiled eggs already prepared for the week so that I can grab them whenever I need some protein.

I have stored mine in the refrigerator, so that I can take one out and throw it the microwave for about 30 seconds and its ready to go.

Baked Oatmeal Cups

Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla etract
1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 cup pumpkin (could also use 1 banana instead)
1/4 cup honey
2 cups Oats
2 TBSP Chia seeds
1 TBSP Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk

Optional Toppings:  blueberries, dark chocolate chips, coconut, pecans, cranberries, raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix egg, vanilla, applesauce, pumpkin and honey together in a bowl.  Add oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well with wet ingredients.  Pour in milk and combine.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.  Divide mixture evenly into muffin tins cups.  Add toppings.

Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.

I didn't think about this until after I made these.  But you could totally add some chocolate Shakeology in the mix to add some protein and make it extra yummy!  I'm definitely going to do that next time!
Enjoy!!