Recipe Rundown for the Week

 
I hope that you have all had a fabulous Fourth of July with family and friends!

This week was FULL of eating. And not all of it was entirely nutritious, I'll admit. Holidays are always a tough time, aren't they? And man do we celebrate a lot of holidays in this country! But as you can see, the title of my blog has a big beautiful key word in it: BALANCE! And finding balance in your life is truly a beautiful thing. Sometimes the torment you put yourself through denying your body constantly of any and all things full fat and full sugar can be worse for you than simply indulging every once in awhile (in moderation).

Example: wouldn't it be better to take one delicious chocolate chip cookie from the table in your break room and get that fix for your sweet tooth, versus denying yourself all day, coming home and unintentionally binging on five or six servings of your "healthy" snack alternatives because you just can't stop yourself at that point! Trust me, I am guilty of that, and the calories and damage done on my diet would have been far less had I just done that ONE little treat for myself.

However, please note, indulging can't happen daily, or else it isn't a TREAT anymore... that then becomes your norm. Find the balance that works for you!

I will not take the time to list off all the ways I indulged this week (besides the shout out I must give to the delicious bonfire s'mores I enjoyed at my parent's house!! If you haven't built a s'more using pretzel crisps instead of graham crackers, boy you are missing out!!) However, I WILL share four little tidbits with you of healthy and satisfying recipes that I enjoyed this week.


Baked Sweet Potato Fries (Servings: 3 or 4)
**2 sweet potatoes (sliced, peeled if you desire)
**Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (1 TB generally)
**Salt, pepper, any other seasoning you desire (cinnamon for sweet, paprika and/or cumin for savory)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the potato into fry sized pieces. Place the fries and olive oil into a large gallon-sized bag, shake until well coated. I have found that this evenly distributes the oil instead of over "drizzling" a gallon onto your fries, or unevenly coating the fries in general. Place on a metal baking sheet, sprinkle with seasoning, and bake for 15 minutes. Flip over and continue baking for 10 more minutes or until crispy to your liking!


Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips (Servings: 2)
**8 oz. of boneless, skinless chicken breast or tenderloins (cut breast into strips)
**1/4 TB olive oil
**1/4 c. organic Panko bread crumbs
**1/4 tsp. garlic powder
**1/4 tsp. chili powder
**1/4 tsp. paprika
**Dash of black pepper to taste
**1/8 c. Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Heat oil in the skillet. Meanwhile, mix the bread crumbs and all seasoning in a large, flat dish or bowl. Coat the chicken strips in the bread crumb mixture, and cook in the pan for roughly 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Once chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from heat and toss with Frank's Red Hot Sauce until evenly coated. Serve plain, with celery and dipped in healthy blue cheese dressing or ranch, or on a whole wheat tortilla as a wrap like my hubby did! Or you can be a weirdo and dip them in organic ketchup like me. :) I know, I'm a child.


Simple Baked Apple Slices
**1 medium to large apple (Granny Smith is my favorite!)
**Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the apple and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and softened slightly. Enjoy alone, or dipped in a variety of sweet healthy dips! Two of my favorites dips: 1.) an equal parts mixture of PB and plain, no fat Greek yogurt OR 2.) a tablespoon of PB mixed with a teaspoon of cocoa powder. :)

Quest Bar Whoopie Pies
**Chocolate brownie Quest bar
**1 TB vanilla protein powder (I use EAS vanilla)
**1 TB coconut flour
**3 TB water

Preheat oven to 380 degrees. Mix the protein powder, coconut flour, and water together until creamy and refrigerate to allow mixture to set up. Soften the brownie Quest bar in the microwave on a greased plate for 6 to 8 seconds! Cut bar into 12 pieces and flatten each piece into a circular wafer. Bake the 12 wafer sandwich pieces at 380 for 2-3 minutes per side (until crispy). Allow the sandwich wafers to cool completely. Spoon the cream mixture onto the wafers, creating 6 mini protein whoopie pies! Place the pies in the fridge for 15 minutes to allow the cream to firm up, or enjoy as is, but know ahead of time that it may be a delicious mess! :)


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That's all for this week folks. Let me know if you try and enjoy any of my recipes! Or if you find any creative new variations that you discover along the way! Please stop by tomorrow to see my Sunday Smoothie recipe of the week!

Stay hungry, and healthy, my friends! :)
Court