Grilled Southwest Chicken and Avo-Corn Salad

Nothing beats cooking on the grill on the middle of winter. Which in turn makes you wish for summer, sunshine, warm days, lake time and BEACH weather ... sooooo it might be a bit bittersweet! BUT grilling in Indiana in the dead of winter is just a basic, seasonal rite-of-passage us Midwesterners enjoy. And mah belly enjoyed this CHICKEN!

Spicy, still moist and totally perfectly grilled. Plus we threw the veggie mix in foil and dropped it on the grill to warm, too. Heck, if the grill is on, you might as well utilize the heat!

The original recipe came from Martha Stewart but again, I had to make some changes and updates as usually. I RAN OUT OF CAYENNE! Yep ... talk about being prepared *eye roll for my lack of planning*. SO the little dash I had was used and then I broke out the Southwest Chipotle Seasoning so I could get some spice and smoke into the flavor. The avocado salad got an upgrade with corn for some added bulk (can you tell we've been digging on corn as our single carb for this round of the Cleanse?). Yummy and the leftovers were great in salad the next day.

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Grilled Southwest Chicken and Avo-Corn Salad

2 tsp. Southwest Chipotle Seasoning
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Minced Garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small lime juiced


2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks
1 c. corn (frozen or can)
Black Pepper


In a small bowl, combine all the seasonings. Dredge chicken through to coat and place on a plate. Let sit 30 minutes before grilling.

Combine corn, onion, avocado with the leftover seasoning mix. Place in foil and sprinkle with black pepper. Fold down foil, toss lightly and ready for the grill.

Place marinated chicken on grill; 5-8 minutes each side on medium to high heat. Place veggies on top rack or lower-heat grill-side to cook along with the chicken.

Plate and SERVE.
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Yes, I added a TOUCH of BBQ sauce to my chicken ... so sue me! But dang it was good! We even convinced Alice to eat some chicken, so we are rockstars :)

Challenge-Friendly: YES.

Juevos Mexicano

I was in HEAVEN last night with this dish!

#1 I love breakfast for dinner, so eggs were exactly what I needed.

#2 FLAVOR!

#3 And it wasn't even too spicy for me. Perfecto!

Anyone who knows me has seen me eat "Mexican" food before. I'm that girl who mixes EVERYTHING together ... the most common comment I hear is, "OMG! It looks like baby poop!" after I finish getting all the flavors combined. BUT I do it so I have the combo of the flavors all mashed up in my mouth and exploding my taste buds at one time! As a flavor bonus last night, I added diced mango and avocado into the mix and created that perfect blend of spicy and sweet. SERIOUSLY in love with this dish!

I adapted the recipe from Closet Cooking with a couple of differences. I didn't have chipotle chili powder so I used my regular Southwest Chipotle Seasoning mix I have on hand. Also, I baked the eggs at the end like they did ... but it took more like 25 minutes for them to be done instead of 5-8. *SADNESS* Dave didn't like the egg results even after baking so he pouched his and added them, so that is the method I'm going to suggest in the recipe because it takes LESS TIME and the result is about the same. Also added in corn for a carb (you could do rice if you wanted) and a little less jalapeño which made it perfect spiciness for me. Never be afraid to add more veggies! In fact, I added spinach to get more "green" into the dish and you couldn't even notice a taste difference.

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Juevos Mexicano

1 tbsp. EVOO
1 small red onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chipotle seasoning
1 jalapeño pepper, diced
2 10-oz. cans diced tomatoes (with green chilies) or 4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
1 12-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. frozen corn
1 tsp. oregano

1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 handful fresh baby spinach

2 eggs per person

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until tender. Add the garlic, cumin, chipotle, and jalapeño and cook for a minute. Add the tomatoes, black beans, oregano and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. At the end, throw in cilantro and spinach and warm until wilted.

Pouch your eggs or pan fry sunnyside up (all you need is a squirt of cooking spray to keep them from sticking to the pan). Two eggs per person should be enough protein along with the beans in the sauce for a meal.

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Again: I paired my awesomeness with mango and avocado for extra flavor and fell in love! I'm a huge yolk person so this is a perfect meal for me.

Challenge-Friendly: YES.

Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

I wanted to do some meatballs tonight for pasta instead of my plain ole pan cooked ground turkey. And, of course, I hid veggies in that meaty deliciousness. ;) Birdie even saw me putting the broccoli in but promptly forgot when it came to eating them. WIN! Please note: she also stole about 6 slices of orange bell pepper off my cutting board before dinner; DOUBLE WIN!

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Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 c. Broccoli
1/4 red onion - diced fine
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. basil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
Black Pepper

1 c. Whole grain rotini
1/2 c. Tri-peppers - diced
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 c. Spaghetti sauce

Put the broccoli in the food processor and get it down into little pieces. I like to cut mine down, freeze them, then process so they don't juice themselves to death when processing. Add all the meatball ingredients (Turkey through black pepper) in a bowl and work the mixture like you would prep for meatloaf (really well so it compacts well).

Roll out 1" meatballs. Place directly in a big frying pan - not heated. When they are all placed, turn the heat on medium, cover and let cook about 10 minutes (no oil needed if it's a non-stick pan). You can start turning them after they've been cooking for 5 minutes. There should be lots of liquid built up in the pan from cooking them covered.

Throw in the peppers, rotini and garlic. Add about 1 cup of hot water and cover. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through. Add the spaghetti sauce (and I sliced the meatballs in half to make sure they were cooked through at this time) and cook another few minutes while everything combines with the sauce. Dish and serve!

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You can also do carrots, cauliflower, whatever veggies you want to add to the meatballs. In the future, I also would add spinach leaves to the whole thing when I throw the sauce in to warm and cook just for extra greens. Goooooood stuff!!


Challenge friendly: YES. Max Phase only due to pasta content. Try meatballs over spaghetti squash for Cleanse Phase.

My Food-Stock

I started "posting" my food pics on Facebook when I switched my food-style back in April (2012). I had started blogging my menu at that time since I made an effort to switch to totally clean eating for the cleanse part at the beginning and it was tough to make fresh EVERYDAY but it taught me a lot about flavor combinations. I get asked once in awhile what I staples I keep in my kitchen, so here is an overview of the yumminess I generally have on hand and some tips!

Getting Ready

(previously posted on my Challenge blog)

1: Clean out your Fridge and Pantry!! I threw out 2 black trash bags of CRAP that we hadn't ate or was expired. This included cake mixes we never made, dip packages, sauces in my fridge that were old and mostly unused, old pasta, crackers, etc. Really: it was eye opening. What did I keep? A couple of mixes I might someday need in a pinch for brownies, spaghetti, pickles, A1 (I'm sorry, but sometimes you need the tang) and the list goes on. I kept condiments that are general and used most often. Removing temptation was necessary for me to succeed!

2: Buy Local! I shopped one of my local health food stores and picked up organic nuts for snacking and salads, bean soup variety mixes, quinoa, rice, oats, chicken stock starter with no whey or MSG, etc. Next, I somehow made it to the Saturday Farmer's Market with both kids and walked out with fresh veggies and ground turkey to use in meals this week. I didn't have enough arms for the fruit ... so I'll be going back on Thursday during lunch to pick up more supplies. I actually felt bad that I had to run to Meijer to pick up strawberries for my salad today. BUT I will have to get my fish from the grocery store because I'm not pay $18 per pound at the Market ... and I'm not catching my own and fileting it ... unless you want to filet it for me!

3. Just Be Aware of what you are buying. Just because it says "hummus" at the store doesn't mean that it's JUST a basic hummus. There are preservatives, hydrogenated oils, refined sugars and more in most packaged items you buy at the store. Shop smart!

My Current Kitchen

Spices!

Considering that we have cut a lot of sodium, spices are a great way to make sure my food has flavor. When combined with other enhancers (vinegars, oil, citrus) I can create almost any delicious dressing or marinade I need. I have a TON of spices on my shelf, so bare with me. I use many of them frequently and some I never had until a recipe called for it and now I find myself using on a regular basis.

Cumin (great for ground meat and hummus!), Coriander (fish mostly and sometimes chicken), onion powder (everything), Minced Garlic (Garlic Garlic is my fav from Tastefully Simple!), ground mustard, paprika, marjoram, curry, ginger, dill, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, red pepper flake, sage, red pepper, chili powder, black peppercorns (in the pepper mill). Those are my basic dish/meat flavors.

Baking-wise, I haven't used some of my spices in awhile :( But I keep the following on hand and use them in other dishes when needed: cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, anise, vanilla, cloves, pumpkin pie spice.

Now, I do have some salts left but only use them VERY rarely. Cajun seasoned salt, Lawry's (sorry but everyone needs it!), sea salt, non-MSG based chicken stock (health food store awesomeness!). Also, a low sodium soy sauce for asian sauces. I want to get Liquid Aminos but haven't found them in the store yet.

Sweeteners: my main sweetener is now agave but I do love honey! I have sugar and brown sugar on hand ... But the only time I have used any lately was a couple of weeks ago for my grilled chicken marinade and it was worth it!

Vinegars & Oil

Yeah, I have two oils in my house that get used: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Tihini. Yes, I have spray oil but how often do I really need that?

OMG vinegar has seriously helped curb any sodium cravings I had in the beginning! And there is such a vast variety out there and each one enhances differently and I love it. On my shelf: white (I like the organic better than the plain mass-produced kind), red wine, balsamic (I always thought I hated it, but I love it now!), rice (again, amazed at the flavor difference), apple cider (regular), Bragg's Apple Cider (mmmmm!). There are others out there and when I run out, I do try different brands to help find favorites.

In My Pantry

I keep some very basic items around at all times when it comes to grains or canned items. Since I try to go unprocessed, my pantry is much less packed than it used to be! Also, I go organic when I can. Love my local health food stores!

Grains: quinoa, rolled oats, steel oats, rice, simple whole grain pastas, black beans, chickpeas, whole wheat flour, regular flour. As for "processed," we don't use bread anymore, so we buy the Sam's Club pack of Santa Fe Tortilla Co. Whole Grain Tortillas (100 cals, 6 carbs, 7 g fiber). And I keep fast-acting yeast on hand to make whole wheat pizza crusts.

Canned: I do get canned fruits for the kids to make sure I always have fruit on hand so peaches, mandarin oranges, pears - I buy light or in juice to keep the sugar/syrup down. I love diced tomatoes with green chiles and the Meijer brand ones are just fine. I also keep green beans and corn as back up.

Fresh: real garlic (I LOVE my garlic press), fresh ginger, uncut onions, bananas, organic peanuts/almonds/brazil nuts.

Other than that: you will find kids stuff like graham crackers, animal crackers, biscuits and mum-mums. LOL

In My Fridge

My refrigerator is always packed after I hit the store and it will last me up to two weeks! What I freeze (meat-wise) lasts us about a month.

My Veggie Must-Haves: lettuce mix (I like spring mix with spinach because you can pick out the spinach for a dish if you need to!), cucumber, zucchini, squash (when available), carrots, tomatoes, avocado (must have!), peppers (all 4 colors when I can! I slice them into strips and the just chop up what I need for a dish or snack on the strips), green onions (easy for salads). I buy the big bag mix of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots from Sam's and freeze it so I have fresh cut veggies on hand for steaming or roasting. Also I keep frozen corn and peas around.

Fruit: whatever is fresh! We usually have berries on hand of some sort. And I try to keep a mango around for mango salads. CITRUS!!! I always have lemons and limes on hand for cooking and dressings now.

Dairy: milk (for the kids), Greek yogurt, feta, eggs (love the ones from the Farmer's Market!), and sharp jack (because sometimes you need a different flavor). I was keeping almond milk around but I haven't been making oatmeal much lately so it keeps going bad.

Jarred/processed: yes we still have basic condiments like ketchup, mustard, ranch ... but we rarely, if ever, use them. Dijon mustard has been a favorite enhancer lately. Kalamata olives (Dave can't live without these anymore and we eat greek chicken at least once a week!), pickles, green olives, relish. Nothing really out of the ordinary here.

Meat: I buy bulk and freeze because it has been cheaper. If I make it to the Farmer's Market, I will buy fresh ground turkey or chicken. But lately it has been more efficient to buy at Sam's once a month, portion out, and freeze for the month. I get chicken breasts, ground turkey, fresh salmon and fresh talapia.

OMG I Think That's My Kitchen!

Wow. I think I just inventoried everything for you :( Well now you know why I can whip something up at the drop of hat! My meal planning has been seriously lacking lately so I end up just pulling a protein and veggies and whipping something up for dinner each day. I use the left over meat from dinner for salads the next day. And it helps that I work from home now so I can prep, get the kids from school and then make dinner when I get back.

As a note: yes, we have alcohol in the house! I will do a separate post on alcohol when the time is right, but please note that even with us eating better, we still indulge in certain items! Hey: we are only human!