Last time I wrote, I was headed to UCA for the Dietetic Internship. Well....a year and a half later, I graduated from the internship. I am currently studying for my RD exam and looking for a job. I decided with my free time I am going to post recipes and pictures from the meals I cook and exercise/workout tips and ideas. I am very passionate about eating....and eating healthy...and working out. I love coming up with new, creative meals and hopefully I can inspire and motivate some of you to try something new!
I wish this had posted under the recipes, but some day I will figure all this out. The picture above is from dinner last night. Baked chicken, green beans, and oven baked fries. The picture below is the creamy honey mustard I made to dip the chicken in. YUM!
FOOD
Sometimes Dan and I really CRAVE fried foods because we rarely eat them. When we are craving fried foods I will make my "healthy" version of chicken strips and french fries and I always add a green vegetable in there too. Last night was one of those nights. I made chicken strips, baked fries, green beans, and a homemade honey mustard dipping sauce.
Oven Baked Chicken
4 chicken breasts (or you can buy already cut tenderloins)
1 cup oats
2/3 cup reduced fat parmesan cheese
2 tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1. Thaw chicken and cut into strips. Marinate in Italian dressing for at least 1 hour if not longer.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a plastic bag.
3. Spray in a baking sheet with cooking spray.
4. Dip each piece of chicken in dry ingredients, coat thoroughly and place on baking sheet.
5. Once all chicken has been coated, spray the tops with cooking spray.
6. Place in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.
7. Remove and enjoy!
Homemade Creamy Honey Mustard
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
Mix ingredients until combined. Use for dipping oven baked chicken (and fries).
Oven Baked Fries
Baking potatoes
Season salt, Tony Cacheres, Nature's Seasoning (seasoning of choice)
Cooking Spray (I use olive or canola oil)
Cut potatoes into steak fries, coat with cooking spray and seasonings. Bake on 400 for 10 minutes, flip, recoat, and bake another 25-30 minutes.
This is not a regular meal around our house but it is one of our favorite splurge meals! It is a great way to fulfill the craving for fried foods without all the added fat.
EXERCISE
As most of you probably know, I am a runner. I have been for almost 7 years now, which seems CRAZY to me. I learn so much new stuff about running, exercising, working out, etc. every day that I feel like I still don't know everything I should know to be a runner. I hope I can give a little insight from what I have learned over the years that may help you in whatever exercise you enjoy. I definitely don't claim to know much but have learned a lot from past mistakes!
I do not run every day of the week. On my days off from running I cross train (XT). For XT I like to do some plyometrics. Plyometrics is a type of exercise that incorporates high impact, jumping moves to improve strength and power. It is a good substitute for speed workouts if you are looking for something different. Sometimes I will use a workout video or I will just do some things on my own. Yesterday was a video day.
A few of the exercises from the video that are my favorites include:
- Squat jumps: start in squat position and jump (making a full 180 turn) landing in a squat position. Repeat, turning back and forth for 30-45 seconds. Do as many reps as you can in that amount of time. This works glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core really well!
- Pogo jumps: stand on one leg with arms straight up, bend at the waist and touch fingertips to the floor. As you raise back up, jump on the one leg and land back on the same leg. Repeat for 30 seconds on each leg. This is great for your core because of the balance it takes to bend over and touch the floor. It is also great for calf strength.
- Wide in-and-out Abs: start on all 4's with your hands directly underneath your shoulders and your feet spread wide (plank position with feet wide instead of close together). Using your lower abs, jump your feet towards your arms and back to starting position (keeping them as wide as possible). Repeat for 30-45 seconds. This one is hard to describe but I hope that description helps. It is great for your abs, obliques, and shoulders.
Those are the only moves I will share with you today. More to come!
Hope you can enjoy these recipes as much as we have and maybe try some new exercise moves!
Have a great Wednesday!
Jenny Odom
