Spinach Artichoke and Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Every time I go to make an elaborate dinner (and by elaborate, I mean, not grilled chicken and veggies, or something plain and similar), I always look to pinterest. But this time, I couldn't find anything that I wanted to make! So I came up with my own recipe...which I then found later, a little different than how I made it, but very similar. 

It really was pretty simple, and EVERYONE loved it. Please try it out, and let me know if you have any thoughts to changing it up a little bit.

Ingredients:

5 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 8oz package of light cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1 cup of fresh spinach leaves
1 6oz jar of Artichoke Hearts
Fresh minced garlic
Panko Bread Crumbs
Toothpicks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Pound out grilled chicken till flat and spread thin, then set aside
3. Heat cream cheese in microwave for 45 seconds, allowing it to warm and become soft and easy to mix.
4. Chop artichoke hearts, then add artichokes and garlic to cream cheese and mix well.
5. Here you can switch it up. My chicken wasn't very large, so I chopped my spinach in to thirds and mixed it in with the cream cheese. Or you can just layer it in the chicken before adding cream cheese, to leave the leaves whole.
6. Place a scoop of spinach and cream cheese mixture at the top of the thinned out chicken, and then roll up, stuffing the cream cheese in the middle in case it starts to spill out of the sides (DON'T BE AFRAID TO GET YOUR HANDS A LITTLE MESSY...JUST MAKE SURE THEY'RE WASHED!)
7. After chicken is rolled up, place a toothpick through it to keep the chicken together and rolled up.
8. Roll chicken in the panko bread crumbs. It should stick to the sides lightly because of the wet chicken, without the need for an egg base. If you're chicken has dried and the panko is not sticking to the chicken as well, dip into a beaten egg mixture before dipping in panko.
8. Bake chicken on oiled pan in oven for about 35 minutes, then serve.

This is an extremely light and flavorful meal...you might want to double it, your family WILL want more!

4th of July...Get Drunk, Not Fat.

I'm not sure what it is about America...but give us any holiday (4th of July, MLK Day, Christmas...oh wait, it's a Chinese New Year?! Sure, add that in too), and we will drink to it. We love to celebrate any cause. Unfortunately, when you're dieting, those holidays can waste away those past couple of weeks of weight loss you've spent all your time and energy on.


I just found this new website, and am in love. It's called Get Drunk, not Fat. So thanks to these people, I am able to give you ways to...well...get drunk and not fat, this 4th of July.

1. Rum and Diet (Or CokeZero). A normal drink is about 2 oz of liquor to about 1 cup of mixer. Really, however much you'd like. 1 glass= 115 calories.

2. Sour Apple Martini. Mix 2.5oz of sour mix, 3/4oz of three olive vodka, 3/4oz sour apple liqueur (not midori!), shake until cold and serve up. Only 160 calories!

3. Champagne. A 4oz glass of that yummy bubbly is 85 calories. 

4. Michelob Ultra. If you're a beer drinker, you know that it's almost impossible to find a low calorie good tasting beer. But if you want a lighter beer, go for a Mich Ultra at 95 calories.

5. Yuengling Premium Light. I'm proud to say, we've got our own Yuengling brewery right here in great ol' Tampa Bay. A nice yuengling light will only set you back 99 calories. I'll have to give this one a try!

So happy drinking to you! Of course, everything in moderation, and don't drink and drive :)

Check out this website:

www.Getdrunknotfat.com

Back to Blogging...and Down Weight!

Things have been crazy in my life since the end of the last semester. It's definitely been a journey this past month, and I have some excellent news to share soon!
But throughout my insane schedule (which of course mostly involved school and social life, and the occasional DIY nights), I've managed to keep up with my weight loss. I'm happy to say, that I've lost a total of 19 pounds...the right way! 
And it's all thanks to exercising at least three times a week with some light weight training, and eating under 1200 calories a day. Which might seem extremely hard, but it wasn't too bad at all.


My biggest tip for keeping under 1200 calories a day, was to snack a LOT. I know...sounds weird right? But whenever I was hungry, I would constantly keep something around to munch on till I got full. Here's some excellent yummy snack foods to try out:

1. Tomatoes: You can cut up an entire tomato and snack on it with some light salt and pepper...i think it's so good! And only 22 calories for one medium sized tomato!

2. Cantaloupe: This has been my FAVORITE snack. It cures that sweet tooth, and fills you up so fast! The great thing is...one cup of cubed cantaloupe is only 54 calories.

3. Pretzel Sticks: I buy the Rold Gold Pretzel sticks, and I'll munch on those during snack time. This helps out the salty cravings, and 53 pretzels is only 100 calories.

4. Pistachios: These were a once in a while snack, mostly because about 45 nuts has 160 calories, and it doesn't make you full fast...but they taste oh so yummy. It's also a great source of fiber.

My thing is, when I have these snacks, I set aside portions to bring to work with me, not the entire bag and then just eat from that. That's where I always go wrong, and by the time I've noticed, I've eaten almost an entire bag of pistachios or half the bag of pretzels. Combine this snacking with carbs eaten earlier in the day and good sources of protein and fruits and veggies, and you'll see the pounds come off easily :)