Tag: Chicken Breasts

Sports Nutrition and Quick Food Fixes

Athletes are busy people. They try to balance training with work, school, family and other activities. With all these responsibilities, athletes consume a lot of energy each day. Food preparation can become a challenge but it is a challenge that athletes need to face since good sports nutrition help to adequately fuel work-outs and improve performance and recovery.

Eating well should be a part of an athletes overall training plan. But buying well is a requirement for eating well.

Nutritious meals begin at the grocery store. If you purchase the right ingredients, its a cinch to whip up a nutritious and flavorful meal. Stocking up with healthy staples is critical to good sports nutrition and will give you many options when you get home from a workout. Here are some foods busy athletes must be armed with.

Freeze Health

Frozen foods are time-savers. Many prepackaged frozen items let you use the exact amount you need thus cutting cleaning up time. Leftovers are also instant meals on a busy night.

Freezing is an important method of preserving most nutrients. Frozen vegetables are a lot of help because they require no washing, chopping, or peeling. Serve vegetables as a side dish, or incorporate into soups, sauces, or pasta dishes.

Frozen fruit has longer shelf-life and are easily available if supply of fresh ones is low. Frozen blueberries, mixed berries, and mangoes can be blended into a smoothie with fruit juice and milk or yogurt or used as cereal topping.

Chicken breasts or fish fillets that are frozen in individual packing are a good protein source for your meals. Frozen meatballs provide variation and can be easily mixed with pasta.

Pantry Staples

Canned products dont compromise nutrition. Upon being harvested fruits and vegetables are processed to keep nutrients locked in.

Beans that are canned are nutrient dense, and will load you with the important fuel for maximum growth and sports performance.

Canned tuna and salmon are rich in protein and omega-3 fats, which have been shown to help conditions of cancer, heart disease, arthritis and mental health. Pasta dishes, salads and sandwiches can be given another character by including these in the recipe.

Peanut Butter is a good source of calories, and for busy athletes, an easy fill. Use this as sandwich spread and top with a banana or enjoy with carrot strips. Peanut butter is packed with healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats and vitamin E.

Popular among athletes is the use of tomato sauce. Processed tomatoes are concentrated with protective compounds. One half-cup of tomato sauce, for instance, contains six times more of the antioxidant lycopene than a medium fresh tomato.

Tomato sauce is usually cooked with pasta which is a staple of many athletes sports nutrition diet. If available, use the whole grain variety because refined pasta has been stripped off of its vitamins, fiber and other nutrients. Frozen bell peppers and tuna can boost protein content of meals with tomato sauce.

A wide variety of whole grains must be explored, examples of which are brown rice and red rice. Whole grains take a little longer to cook so cook in medium batches just enough to have leftovers for the next day.

In the Fridge

Fridge wonders include prewashed and ready-to-eat salad greens and carrots, cheese, eggs, milk, and yogurt.

Satisfying And Light Chicken Salad Recipes

Chicken has grown to be the favored meat especially in Asia. Mainly because chicken do not have the same strong taste like say, beef, it has become a favorite addition to salad recipes. The combination cannot be any greater, the filling effect of the chicken without the strong taste to clash with the light, fresh taste of the fruits, vegetables and dressing.

Below are two widely researched recipes that are guaranteed to satisfy your salad cravings. So what are you waiting for? Get your choppers ready and let’s start making that salad!

CURRIED CHUTNEY CHICKEN SALAD (from AllRecipes.com)

2 whole chicken breasts (or about 5 cups cubed cooked chicken)
1 cup seedless white grapes, cut in half
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into cubes.
Greens of your choice for serving
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted.
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, white and green parts

Dressing:

1/3 cup bottled Major Grey’s chutney, large pieces chopped.
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup mayonnaise, homemade or high-quality purchased.
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Roast the chicken. When it is cool enough to handle, remove the skin from the chicken. Pull the meat off the bones and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Place the meat in a large bowl. Add the grapes and pineapple.

For the dressing, in a bowl, whisk together the chutney, curry powder, mayonnaise, lime zest, lime juice, and salt.

Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture. Toss gently but thoroughly. At this point, you may refrigerate the salad for up to 3 hours, or turn it out onto a platter lined with lettuce leaves, chill briefly, and serve. Sprinkle the pecans and green onions over the salad before serving.

MEXICAN CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. honey
1-1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 whole chicken breasts, skinned, boned, and cut into 2″ strips
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
16 oz. pkg. frozen corn
1 cup chopped plum tomatoes
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
10 oz. pkg. lettuce mix
2 avocados, peeled and chopped
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 cups slightly crushed blue corn tortilla chips
1 cup sour cream
10 oz. jar thick and chunky salsa

Combine salt, vinegar, cumin, pepper, and honey and mix well; set aside.

Heat oil in skillet. Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt, then saute in pan until white, about 5 minutes. Combine cooked chicken, corn, tomatoes, black beans, onions, and red peppers in large bowl. Stir in dressing. Chill for an hour.

Mix chicken mixture with lettuce. Serve along with avocados, cheese, tortilla chips, sour cream and salsa.

How To Make Your Own Chicken Salad

Making a chicken salad is often perceived by many to be extremely easy; just pour in the chicken. Actually, it is not all about the chicken. Chicken salads are about the overall taste it has, together with other ingredients.

Therefore, it is highly important to take note of the other ingredients that you put in your chicken salad for it to have a delicious and savory taste.

You will need three chicken breast halves that are of large sizes. With these chicken breasts, it is important that you do not remove the bone.

You will also need a good-sized apple, which you will dice; one or two large celery stalks that you will also dice; a half cup of chopped nuts, you can use either pecans or walnuts, both are good for chicken salads; salt and pepper; and a good type of mayonnaise.

First you have to season the chicken with pepper and salt. After doing so, bake it, while placed in foil, for fifty to sixty minutes at three hundred seventy-five degrees. Once done, drain the liquid, for it will not be needed. Leave your chicken to cool down.

Once it is already cool, cut the chicken meat into small chunks. You can also tear the cooked chicken into thin strips if you do not like chunks.

You may add in more salt and pepper if you think doing so is necessary. Add the apple that you have diced, with the celery and the nuts. To attain that desired moistness, put in your mayonnaise.

And there you have it; you have just conjured your very own chicken salad. When you want to serve your self-made chicken salad to your guests already, just place an ample amount of it on a bed of lettuce leaves. Serve it with bread, hot rolls, crackers or biscuits to have a complete, delicious meal.

If you have taken note of the ingredients, you will notice that the ingredients used are not oozing with cholesterol. Chicken salads are healthy, but they will not make you bloat. They are perfect for nutritious diets, for they are most certainly filled with different nutrients.

Making a chicken salad is not difficult. However, you have to be accurate and careful in choosing the ingredients you put in it as to keep that slender body of yours. You do not feel hungry, and you also do not have to worry about getting fat. What more could you ask for?

Crockpot Recipes for Low-Fat Dieters

You may not believe this but there are actually a countless number of crock pot recipes for people who are on a low-fat diet. Apparently, such low fat crock pot recipes are intended for people who are watching their health and their weight very carefully. In this regard, we would want to share at least two of the low fat crock pot recipes that most dieters prefer to prepare.

Arroz Con Pollo is one type of a low fat crock pot recipe that we highly suggest. You will need to prepare such ingredients as two tablespoons of freshly chopped cilantro, two cups of cooked rice, ten ounces of frozen peas that have been thawed, two tablespoons of red wine, one half cup of chicken broth, eight pieces of chicken thighs that do not have skin, two teaspoons of chili powder, one teaspoon of oregano, one clove of crushed garlic, one fourth teaspoon of pepper, and one half teaspoon of salt.

Mix such ingredients as chili powder, oregano, garlic, pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Such spice mixture should be sprinkled all over the chicken pieces. Once each of the chicken pieces is sprinkled with the spice mixture, you may place all of them in a crock pot. The wine and the broth should then be poured all over the chicken pieces. Cover the crock pot and let it cook for at least five to six hours using low temperature. After five to six hours, remove the chicken and set the crock pot on high temperature. Add the peas soon thereafter and cover the crock pot again and let the ingredients be cooked for another seven to ten minutes. The cooked rice as well as the chicken should then be added into the crock pot. Before serving, make sure to sprinkle the freshly chopped cilantro on the dish.

Another low fat crock pot recipe that we suggest is the recipe for Basil Chicken. This is also an easy-to-prepare dish as it only requires few ingredients and can also be cooked while the crock pot is running unattended.

The ingredients include one half whole green pepper that is sliced, one can of cream of celery soup, one half teaspoon basil, one half teaspoon of pepper, and four whole chicken breasts that are skinless.

To begin the procedure for this low fat crock pot recipe, you must place first the skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot. The chicken should then be sprinkled with basil and pepper. The cream of celery soup should then be poured over the chicken pieces. Afterwards, the sliced green pepper should be placed on top of the chicken that is covered with soup. Cover the crock pot and let it cook for approximately eight hours. The crock pot should be set on low temperature for this low fat crock pot recipe. You do not have to wait for eight hours for this recipe to be cooked. There are instances when six or seven hours will do. This recipe only contains four grams of fat and is composed of 55 grams of protein and three grams of carbohydrates.