Coconut Chicken and Veggie Polenta Bake

I've been quite the lil Chef Boyardee here lately.  Last night we had one of my favorite people over for dinner and a good long chatfest.  She loves food more than me, so I thought I'd try out this Coconut Chicken recipe I found from Chef Eric Ripert.  I'm a super duper Top Chef fan, and bottom line - this looked like something even I could handle!  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 (8-oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• Salt & pepper

• ½ cup cilantro leaves

• 1 lime, sliced into 8 rounds and 1 lime to squeeze

• 2 cups coconut milk (This equals 1 can of the Coconut milk you find in the Indian/Asian section)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 4 (20x8-in.) pieces of aluminum foil; fold each piece in half crosswise. Place foil sheets on ungreased baking sheet.

2. Place breasts on each sheet. Season with salt and pepper; top with several cilantro leaves and 2 slices of lime.  I also squeeze lime juice into the packets because I love lime!

3. Pull edges of foil over chicken, creating a pouch. Pour ½ cup of milk into each packet; crimp remaining edges to seal.

4. Bake packets 12 to 15 minutes or until they’re puffed. Cut an opening in top of each; fold back edges and serve.

People.  This recipe was legit!  I'd maybe salt and pepper a little heavier than I did, but it was by far the juiciest chicken I've had in a long time!  I cubed sweet potatoes, tossed them in EVOO and S&P and baked them in the oven, too.  Paired with a Sauvignon Blanc, I'd say it was a really nice meal (and even nicer company, Melly!  We love you!)

Another recipe I made today is Zucchini Squash Polenta Bake.  This was almost as easy, it just required a little more prep time with cutting up the veggies.  Here are the details:

2 zucchini

2 squash

1 tube of Polenta from Trader Joe's (Gluten Free)

1 jar of Marinara from Trader Joe's (Gluten Free)

A big bag of Mozzerella, shreaded (or if you like have spare time - shred your own.)

Parmesan Cheese

*I sliced the veggies into long strips, but you could probably dice them so they are easier to eat (especially if you have kiddos)

Oven Temp: 375 degrees

1st - place sliced veggies (about 1/2 of them) on bottom of glass dish.  Salt and Pepper

2nd - pour 1/2 of your sauce on top.

3rd - make a good layer of cheese 

4th - layer your thinly sliced rings of polenta on top

5th - place remainder of veggies.  Salt and Pepper again!!! (I didn't.  You will need to.  Italian seasoning would be good, too)

6th - dump rest of your sauce

7th - top with another good layer of cheese, using the Parmesan on top so it will give it a nice crust.

Pop that bad boy into the oven for about 25 minutes and then serve.  

~Afterthoughts: this would be good with spinach, carrots, green beans - basically make it veggie overload.  I'll have to play with this more.

Both of these recipes are Husband Approved.  I figure that is good enough for me.  Sawyer ate both, but he was not in the best of moods so it wasn't by choice.  Too bad, brother.  

I need to get better about taking Food Glamour Shots.  The chicken totally deserved it - the presentation in the foil was pretty cool and my sweet potatoes were diced to perfection.

With all of that said, I'm off to watch Top Chef and stare at food I would never even dream of making myself.  Cheers!

ME

What can I say?  I was cute and I obviously NEVER missed a bottle.

See?  Bottle.

I actually remember playing in this doghouse.  It smelled like wet dog.  I guess I ended up smelling like wet dog, too.  Sorry about that, Mom and Dad!  Kinda gross.

Here is me, meeting my parents for the first time!  If you think they may be a little dressed up for the hospital, these were actually taken a few weeks after I was born at the courthouse where they picked me up at.  Can you believe it, a perfectly good baby was just left there?  Just kidding, I'm pretty sure there was an adoption agency person or someone facilitating the whole thing.  Cute babies like me need an entourage at all times.  

The calm before the storm

Hi friends.

I went in for my pre-op appointment, and guess what?!  I'm ready for surgery and not pregnant.  I consider this a win/win, people!  Let's get this party started.

My friend (and then about 6 others in the last few days) asked me how I felt about surgery, if I was nervous, etc.  I started to give my regular "I'm so ready, blah blah" speech when I stopped and was like...dude, I'm freakin out.

I know (most of) y'all don't even know what is going on, and again - THIS IS FOR YOUR BEST INTEREST.  However, let's just put it this way.  If next Friday does not go well, it will be bad news bears.  Now, do I really feel like things will go south?  Not reeeallly, but then I watch Grey's Anatomy and all that freaky crazy stuff happens and my mind goes to places I do not like to visit.  I do know that this is a very important procedure and I feel very confident in my surgeon choice, so there is that.  It will be fine, just surgery of any kind is way scarier than I like to deal with.  Honestly, I wish I were getting something fun done like new boobs or a tummy tuck, if I'm being honest.  For the amount of money this is costing, I could probably have had both done with cash to spare.  Alas, no one will get to see what my tiny fortune has fixed, but at least I will be good as new and ready to rock n' roll.

I'm so ready to work out.  I really wish personal training was financially feasible, but since I had to spend what little money I had stashed (and a whole lot I don't) looks like I'll be doing this reboot all on m'own.  I'm ok with that, I just really like having someone help me do proper exercises and most of all keep me accountable and safe while in the gym.  I really want to get my A-game back quickly and even possibly be bathing suit(ish) ready by June.  Running will have to come slowly again, but hopefully the ole size 10 feet don't start killing me again like they did the first time around and that muscle memory is an actual thing.  I've been toying around with buying a workout video (a la Jillian Michaels or Insanity) to do, too.  Does anyone have great success with these?  So many things I want to do, so little time.

Oh, and a personal note to myself.  You are not a size 20 anymore.  Quit buying clothes so damn big.  I know people don't want to hear this, but I can not wrap my head around the fact that I am no longer able to fit into anything in the Women's department.  I seriously keep buying clothes that are 1-2 sizes bigger (and not trying anything on, because i hate dressing rooms) and have them fall off of me after 10 minutes of wearing them.  I think I might need to see someone about this.  I honestly think I'm the smallest I've been since before children (whhhaaa??!?  Seriously.  That is a crazy town thought.), and if I'm not I just look a hell of a lot better than I did then anyway.  I've dug up some old pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I really think I've found my calling as a brunette...

Here is me, in Cancun, for my graduation trip in 2004.  I think I'm about the same size here as I am now, weight-wise, but I think I look totally different.  I also have no idea why I'm wearing that outfit.

This is our graduation weekend, December 2004.  Sean looks 12.  I look bloated from too much drinking the night before.  

Me and Sean, again in Cancun (this time for a wedding) in 2008.  I was one year post-partum from having Sawyer.  I was starting to lose some weight again for Amanda's wedding, but I was eating like CRAP and also working long hours.  It really didn't do me any favors...

This was Mandy's bachelorette party, August 2008.  I'd dropped to about 215 or so - the least amount I weighed since I had given birth to Sawyer.  I looked pretty good, but still carried the baby belly.  It's truly the bain of my existence. 

I don't have any recent pictures of me....maybe I should do a Whole 7 and then take some!  haha  I had a few bites of Sawyer's birthday cake yesterday and that was a bad idea.  All this Valentine's Day candy hanging around isn't helping, either...

I earned my Whole 30 badge today!

I did it!  I wasn't perfect, there were a few slips, but I have completed my FIRST WHOLE 30!!  Man, it feels so good to say that.  This was such a crazy, ridiculous, expensive month it is nice to have at least this to feel proud about.  I have found something that I'm really passionate about, and I hope that I may have inspired some of my village along the way, too.

So, for the good stuff, right?  I lost a grand total of eight pounds in the past 30 days!  That is incredible for so many reasons.   I haven't been able to work out this entire month.  That means, on diet alone (where I wasn't perfect, we all know about those latte's I had to have) I dropped more lbs in one month than I have ever before in this whole "Don't be a fat-ass" adventure I began in September.  I wish I had been able to combine Whole 30 with working out, but that just wasn't in the cards.  I was in indescribable pain the first 18 days into W30, and in recovery for the remainder.  The doctor has been so impressed with my recovery that I was able to get my surgery scheduled a few weeks earlier than expected.  I contribute a lot of that to my clean diet that has proven to reduce swelling, which has been crucial in my situation.  I also looked up my old measurements and I have lost 2 inches from my biceps, 2 inches in my waist and 3.25 in my FUPA area.  That is insane, yall!  I knew, obviously, that things had changed, but seeing numbers like that is really uplifting.  Lil old PCOS-ridden me is really doing this!  I'm not counting calories, I'm not counting points, I'm not eating boxed foods, I'm not having cheat days or out of control binges - I don't need them!  It doesn't make sense to me to have cheat days when I feel fulfilled and not missing out on anything as is.  If I want a treat, I will give myself one.  I will have a glass (or three) of wine.  Crazily enough, when given the option of having chocolate again or my cinnamon apples, I went for the apples imeediately.  It just makes me feel better.  Creamer in my coffee tastes disgusting, and cheese seems like wasted calories.  I had always heard it takes three to four weeks to break a habit and create a new one, and that is really true.  As hard as it was to start running, I got better at it and even PRed in races.  As hard as it was to go Gluten free, I had to do it and feel better for it.  As hard as it was to cut my eating down to clean and organic as I did, it has changed my views on a life and how I want to fuel this body.   It's made my mommy heart happy that Sawyer has picked up some of the eating habits I have, and wants to eat spinach leaves, fruit salads and vegetables more than ever.  It's really cool.

To continue the great Health Debacle of 2013, my second and hopefully last surgery is scheduled for the 22nd.  Everything is looking great and I am healing up quiet nicely according to the good ole doc.  I was actually healing up so well that I was able to schedule my surgery a few weeks earlier than Dr. T had originally anticipated.  I am so excited to get this ridiculousness over with.  I won't be cleared to workout until the end of March, so I'm looking forward to April being my big return to beast mode at the gym.    I hope to get at least one race done before the heat of the summer kills us all, but following doctors orders I might not be able to attain that and I'm going to have to be ok with it.  Maybe this year will be the year I finally swim a lot?  I just have to be really careful and not undo all the handiwork I'm about to have done.  I will be starting over on my C25K to regain my stamina with running.  I really like that program because it really helps you pace yourself and not burn out too quickly.  

I guess that's it.  Whole 30, take 1 is a wrap.  I proved it to myself that I could do something hard even during trying times, I lost a ton of weight, and I feel really, really good.  I'm toying with the idea of doing another W30 in April when I'm cleared to work out to see how it would go.  I really, really like the Paleo lifestyle and really plan to maintain it.  For my insulin and hormonal issues, the lack of sugar really makes sense and obviously benefits me.  I also hope I can maybe make it the whole time without any damn lattes (even if they were made with soy).  If you are reading this and think "hey, maybe I should give this a try" - just DO. IT.  Seriously.  Take a few days, gather up some recipes, meal plan your little ass off and make it happen.  If you have family members not wanting to participate, tell them to fend for themselves if they don't want to ride the healthy train.  I cooked W30 and if the boys wanted something more or different (including Sean), they would add it to their plates themselves.  It was kind of harsh, but it wasn't like I was trying to be mean - I just knew if I started handling cheese/milk/desserts I would cave and cave quickly.  After a few weeks, it honestly became no big deal, but it was crucial the first week or so to not be around that stuff as much as possible.  Don't beat yourself up if you have a slip.  This isn't about making yourself feel bad, it's about making you be more aware of the choices you make when it comes to food.  Thank you to all my friends for all the support I received during my first W30.  You all made it a really fun and uplifting experience and I loved sharing it with you.  Cheers to another adventure in the books!