7 Family Friendly Weeknight Dinner Recipes

4/29/15-

 

7 Family Friendly Weeknight Dinner Recipes –

A client recently asked me to share my best tip for losing weight quickly. She exercises regularly but wanted another way to accelerate her results.
Can you guess what I answered? The 4 P’s.  🙂  Eat Protein and Produce and try to stay away from Processed and Packaged foods.
This is a tough one for a lot of us. Life, work, and family are hectic and time consuming, so the concept of eating a healthy and simply prepared dinner seems completely out of reach. The truth is that we over complicate the idea of a healthy dinner.  It’s easier than you think!
Here are 7 truly healthy dinners that are quick and simple to make…
1) Stir Fried Chicken & Veggies on Cauliflower Rice: Sauté chicken breast, sliced onions and sliced bell peppers in a skillet with olive oil. Season with sea salt, black pepper and fajita seasoning. Set aside. Cut a head of cauliflower into small pieces and run through a food processor with the shredding attachment. Sauté the shredded cauliflower for 5 minutes in a skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil. Serve the chicken and veggies on top of the cauliflower rice with a side of soy sauce.
2) Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs & Sautéed Kale: Brown 8 beef short ribs in a skillet with coconut oil. Place in a slow cooker with ½ cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce), 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar, ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, 1 Tablespoon crushed garlic, 1 Tablespoon crushed ginger and ½ teaspoon ground red pepper. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours. Serve with sautéed kale.
3) Super Greens Salad & Roasted Chicken: Combine a mixture of super greens in a large bowl: baby spinach, beet leaves, arugula and kale. Top with sliced, grilled chicken and drizzle with balsamic vinegar glaze.
4) Baked Catfish (or fish of your choice) & Shredded Cabbage: Grease a casserole dish with olive oil and scatter 1 cup of chopped cilantro over the bottom of the dish. Wash and pat dry 4 fish fillets. Rub the fillets with curry powder, sea salt and sweet paprika. Lay the fillets evenly in the dish, over the cilantro. Drizzle the fillets with lemon juice and sprinkle with chopped garlic. Bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Serve with shredded cabbage.
5) Roasted Broccoli & Poached Eggs: Toss chopped broccoli with a little olive oil, sea salt and minced garlic and roast on a baking sheet at 425F for 25 minutes. Drizzle with lemon juice and serve with poached eggs.

6) Smoked Salmon Omelet & Sliced Tomatoes: Whisk together 3 eggs with a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper. Cook in a heated skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil. Line the egg with smoked salmon and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Fold the egg over the salmon and cheese, and serve with sliced tomatoes.
7) One Pot Chicken & Veggies: In a large skillet, brown a pound of chicken tenders in olive oil. Season with sea salt, black pepper, dried basil, crushed rosemary, sweet paprika, dried thyme, dried parsley and cumin. Add 4 cups of chopped veggies (zucchini, onion, tomatoes) and 4 cloves of chopped garlic. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until tender and fully cooked. You see, healthy dinners can be quite simple to prepare. Don’t get too hung up on the exact measurements of ingredients and instead focus on combining a handful of quality ingredients together in a delicious way. There’s no such thing as a dinner that’s too simple when nutritious, wholesome ingredients are used. Don’t forget that a consistent, challenging exercise program is the key to getting and staying fit and lean. If you’ve been dragging your feet about joining one of my programs then today is the day! Call or email and let’s get started!
For more great Recipes ideas you can follow me on Instagram at:
www.instagram.com/tonedinten
or with my Nutrition Guide at:
www.tonedintenfitness.com
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The Benefits of Dark Chocolate

I love Dark Chocolate!

It’s full of antioxidants to help hydrate your skin, fight inflammation, and may even fight depression and help lower blood pressure.  Be careful though – be sure to choose 75% or higher cacao content to assure the chocolate has high anti-oxidant potency and lower sugar content.  Check out my video here for more great benefits of eating dark chocolate, my favorite brands, and portion size recommendations.  Enjoy!

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3 Ingredient Chocolate Almond Clusters 

chocolate-nut-clusters-5

A Lovely Dark Chocolate Dessert Recipe from www.lecremedelacrumb.com.
Creamy, melt-in-your mouth chocolate and almond clusters made in the microwave with just 3 simple ingredients!  I substitute dark chocolate for the almond bark and it’s even better and better for you!
INGREDIENTS
  • 12 ounces almond bark (I use Dark Chocolate instead with 75 % Cacao content, roughly chopped*
  • 2 cups whole raw almonds* (such as Diamond of California)
  • 1-2 teaspoons coarse sea salt*
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
  2. In a heat safe bowl, microwave almond bark or dark chocolate like I do on high for 2 minutes. Take it out, give it a stir, then return to microwave for 30 seconds at a time – stir after each – until creamy.
  3. Add almonds to the bowl of melted chocolate. Use a tablespoon to scoop out almonds and chocolate and pour into a mound on prepared baking sheet. (The chocolate will spread out a little) Repeat process with remaining almonds and chocolate. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
  4. Allow clusters to cool completely. If you have room in the fridge or freezer, you can stick them in there for a few minutes and they’ll harden up in no time. Store at room temperature or chilled in an airtight container.
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Enjoy the yumminess!