Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Throughout my school years, I pretty much always brought my lunch. For middle school and high school  I went to a small, expensive private school on scholarship. Tuition is now over 20 grand per year, so you can imagine how expensive it was to buy lunch! Although it wasn’t your typical school lunch where you go through a line and they slop food on a tray. It was more like a little café with burgers, fries, sandwiches, yogurts, salad bar, etc. Most of the families there had lots of money, mine did not. I didn’t mind at all, I got a great education and I never felt any less because we didn’t have money. We wore uniforms so its not like I was competing with designer clothes or anything. When some kids would buy lunch, they wouldn’t want to carry around their change the rest of the day. This means if their meal was $6.01, they would just leave their 99 cents on the table. Not that I went around searching for spare change or anything but if I saw it sitting there, you better believe I put it in the front pouch of my backpack! I even had friends who would intentionally throw away pennies! Craziness to me. Now I wouldn’t go into the trash to retrieve them (even though I’d want to) but I sure would take them if I saw they were about to be thrown away. Haven’t I told you how frugal I am before? Well on days where I found a dollar or two in change I would go buy either cookies (the insanely gooey undercooked ones) or an Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip muffin. I know, not healthy at all, but SO good. I saw a chocolate chip muffin the other day and instantly remembered these delicious muffins and decided I had to recreate them without the 440 calorie dent! When I looked up the calorie count on these it said 220 and I was thinking no way. I then noticed it said “per serving” and there were 2 per muffin…tricky tricky. Well not my muffin…

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Muffin

1 3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt (or butter/coconut oil if they wont be consumed quickly)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips + 2 TB for garnish

Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa, and salt. Add the milk, egg whites, yogurt, and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Alyssa really got at the mixing today, look at that hand go!

Stir in 1/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. The mini ones are really important here because you get more bang for your buck. You can add less and still get a little chocolate in each bite. Grease 12 muffin tins and evenly distribute the batter. Top each muffin with some of the remaining chocolate chips.

Bake at 375F for 14-17 minutes. Don’t overcook. Since there is not any fat (butter or oil) they will dry out if overcooked.

Let cool for a couple minutes then take them out and enjoy! I ate a couple of them warm straight out of the oven and man were they good. Definitely reminded me of my favorite high school muffin but was actually more of a muffin than straight cake.

Many people have the misconception that muffins are healthy. Quite the contrary. They are usually one of the highest calorie foods at a bakery! You’d be better off getting a cupcake or donut. At Dunkin Donuts the reduced fat blueberry muffin has 450 calories and 11 g fat where a glazed donut has 260 calories and 14 g fat. The regular blueberry muffin clocks in at 500 calories and 16 g fat. Crazy huh? Its actually like a straight piece of cake!

Well these muffins are actually muffins, light and healthy! We went to a dinner at our church and there are some little old lady’s who make some amazing desserts! Since Alyssa can’t have them (can’t know for sure what’s in them as far as nuts go), I make her a special dessert and bring it with us. She requested pudding and one of these muffins. Random I know, but she is amazing with not complaining about not getting to eat the same dessert as everyone else so I make her what she wants. I made a single serving of homemade vanilla pudding and brought a muffin along. Snack time or dessert time, these muffins are a winner. But honestly, when chocolate is involved, you can’t go wrong!

And I have to add in an Alyssa quote…

We were in the garage doing a circuit workout and she burped.

Me:         Hey, Burpy, how about an excuse me?

Alyssa:    Oo we are doing burpees next? lets go!

29 Minute Bodyweight Circuit

Spring is my favorite season to workout. I don’t sweat to death like I do in the summer (I am a sweaty person!) but my lungs don’t hurt from the cold like in the winter. And lets be honest here…impending bathing suit season gives everyone a little extra motivation. And luckily for me, I don’t suffer from seasonal allergies so I can be outside amoungst the pollen and still be able to breathe through my nose. Although unfortunately both of my girls inheritied their dad’s allergies and are currently all snotty.  My husband and all his dominant genes. My blonde hair and blue eyes were overruled and both my babies look just like him. At least I know Alyssa inherited something from my genepool because she is stubborn as can be :). Although so is Dave so she was doomed! Anyway, back to working out…I have been loving circuit workouts in my garage with the door open to get a nice Spring breeze. I made one up that used some similar exercises to my 50/10 circuit workout except this one is based off of time intervals. I think I liked it better this way actually.  Both Dave and I were sweaty as can be after it and Alyssa was out of breathe from partaking in her portion too (note: I never make Alyssa work out with me. I usually set her up with an activity if i workout while she is awake. She just joins in a lot of times because she wants to be doing whatever the adults are doing)

Do each exercise for 1 minute and then rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of three times through.

Somehow I think I struggled the most on the leg raises, didn’t see that coming. And of course I had to throw mountain climbers in there to torture my husband, he hates them! Workouts that go by time like this are either really easy to cheat on or really easy to bust your butt. You get out of it what you put into it!

I have also been intruiged by Tabata workouts lately. If you don’t know what they are, its where you do a particular exercise for 20 seconds full on, 10 seconds rest, and repeat for a total of 8 times. Each exercise set takes 4 minutes total. I know they have been around for a while but I just recently strayed from straight running and weight lifting into HIIT and circuit workouts. Does anyone have any good tabata workouts they can link up? Does anyone do them and enjoy it? I figure they would be right up my alley since they only take about 20 minutes to do an entire workout. Short and sweaty, just the way I like my workouts!

Healthy Mini Cheesecake Recipe

I am a self proclaimed  cream cheese addict.  I like making grain dishes with cream cheese mixed in, cheesy dips, etc. But cream cheese in desserts is where its really at. I love cheesecake but I often feel it sits like a rock in my stomach. It is usually sickening sweet and heavy. Its also a little tricky to use a spring form pan, making sure it doesn’t crack, and is the right texture. And while that graham cracker crust tastes great, it isn’t too good for you with all that butter. Enter, the healthy mini cheesecake. It still has the graham cracker crust and the perfect cheesecake consistency but its portion controlled and high in protein with the addition of greek yogurt. Its one of those desserts I almost wish I didn’t discover because now I won’t be able to stop making it.

Mini Cheesecakes

Makes 8 mini cheesecakes  (recipe can easily be doubled)

Ingredients:

homemade graham crackers

1 8 oz block cream cheese, room temperature

6 oz  plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup honey or coconut palm sugar

1 Tbs flour (any kind)

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 F.

This is the simplest crust ever. Break graham crackers into pieces and place into bottom of sprayed muffin tin

 

Now for the filling. Make sure the cream cheese is warm.  Add the yogurt, vanilla, sugar, lemon juice, and egg and combine well. Portion the batter into the 8 muffin tins overtop of the graham cracker circles.

Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes-1 hour. They are finished when they barely start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center no longer jiggles. Run a knife around the edges to loosen then place on a plate in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes until chilled all the way through.

I topped mine with some all fruit, strawberry preserves. I ate some plain as well. And I ate some with fresh strawberries on top.

So much for being built in portion control huh?

Depending on my mood, sometimes I’ll healthify desserts, sometimes I won’t. I don’t usually tell my husband until after we eat it though so I can get his honest opinion. He said they taste great and not healthified, just as good as any other cheesecake he’s ever had! You really don’t notice the lack of butter in the crust since the graham cracker sheet still gives lots of flavor.

Too bad we ate all these last night…but good thing I bought another box of cream cheese at the grocery store today!

As far as nutrional stats…check these babies out…

For 1:

150 calories

6 g protein

16 g carbs

My gosh, I wish I would have made these while I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes, they have only 1 small serving of carbs! I will have to remember this for my next pregnancy! And where else can you get a piece of cheesecake for 150 calories and 6 g protein?

Hm I think I just talked myself into making these again tonight!

Momma Jewelry

I asked for something called Chewbeads for Christmas. They are kind of like a teething ring you wear around your neck. I know it sounds gross to have a kid slobber all over your jewelry but its better than her chewing on my nice white gold cross. They also kind of looked like Betty Rubble jewelry according to Dave. So I forgot about them. Well now Cassidy is teething. She chews on everything and she is also very busy and always needs something to do. When I hold her or breastfeed her, she grabs all over my chest and neck. She grabs hunks of skin and scratches leaving me looking like a cat got me. She likes to tug on my nice cross necklace, so much so that she actually broke the clasp from tugging so hard. Chewbeads were my answer. But at 30 bucks a pop and a less than desirable “flinstone” look, I figured I could make my own! With some etsy inspiration I got going during naptime…

For all you Momma’s out there, I figured I’d give you a little tutorial. Although they are pretty cute aside from being functional so anyone could make these, and quickly!

First get some wooden beads (roughly 1/2 inch diameter). I actually took them from an old necklace I had and never wore. You can also get them from a craft store for a buck or two. Then take a piece of fabric about 3 inches wide by 46 inches (the width of fabric off the bolt) long. Fold it in half with the right (front) sides together. Stitch the entire length making a long tube. Turn it right side out. You should now have a long tube with the right side of the fabric showing and the seam hidden on the inside.

Now tie a knot roughly 10 inches from one end. Drop a bead in the long end of the tube.

Tie another knot, right up next to the bead.

Drop another bead, tie another knot. Repeat. I used 7 beads total.

Take the leftover fabric and trim it to 10 inches.

Finish off the edges and sew them together. Make sure it fits over your head before you sew it! If it doesn’t, make the ends a little longer than 10 inches.

Put it on and let baby at it!

Cassidy seems to like it so far!

So here is a close up…

I actually really like how they turned out. They are really cute and I think I am going to make a couple more in some more fun prints. The possibilities are endless and they cost under 5 bucks to make!

These took about 30 minutes to make. Would be great for a homemade gift!

Whirlwind Weekend

I had one of the best weekends I’ve had in a recent memory. We had a jam packed weekend and I loved every second of it (well besides a certain 5 second incident I’ll get to later).

Dave rushed home from work early on Friday evening because we had a date! That’s rare around here. Our church is doing a series on Marriage and as part of that they provided free child care on friday night so the couples could go on dates. It was a great tie in with the series and a great opportunity. We dropped Alyssa off at 6 and went out for some seafood and froyo. Cassidy tagged along because I didn’t want to leave her in a day care setting quite yet. She also eats at like 730 and doesn’t take a bottle so she goes where I go. But she was her perfect angel self and sat in a high chair next to us and quietly ate some green beans while Dave and I talked. We picked up Alyssa by 815 so we could have them both home and in bed before 9 because we had a crazy busy day Saturday.

Saturday started with a 30 minute circuit workout in the garage after a pancake and egg breakfast. Then Alyssa had her first soccer game of the season! There was a huge improvement over last season! She kicked the ball twice, which is 2 more times than she did the entire last season! She is still the youngest kid on the team but at least she is interested this year. She told me she wanted to score a goal and was kind of sad she didn’t. I told her she would get there and she would soon! After her soccer game we had a family St. Patricks Day party all afternoon.  Then we came home, fed Alyssa, changed clothes, and were out the door again.

But during this rush of getting changed, Alyssa and I had a little collision. She was walking in front of me, and all of a sudden stopped, and I didn’t. I kicked her heel with my baby toe. I wanted to cry. Not quite 24 hours later it looks like this…

This would be broken toe #3 for me! I didn’t even bother getting it x-rayed this time because I know what it feels and looks like to have a broken toe at this point. Check out this red, black, and blue swollen little toe. Its been a couple hours since this picture and the bruise is already all down the back of my toe as well. Its also starting to move down my foot some too.

But it didn’t slow me down. I tried my hardest not to cuss in front of Alyssa and then rushed out the door (in high heels no less). In my defense, I was hoping it was just badly stubbed and I thought it would stop hurting soon. Not so lucky.

This time it was just Dave and me. Yes, you read that right…no Cassidy. I left her for the first time with a babysitter. She was 24, cpr certified and all that, a nanny for a living, and a friend of a friend. So I felt safe but it was still so hard. But I know Dave and I needed it and the kids were only awake an hour before it was bedtime anyway. We headed out to an adult only St. Patricks Day party. We stayed out until 1130, woohoo! We are always home by 8 pm for the kids bedtime so this was a little crazy for us!

Sunday morning started with church. We have recently started going to a new church and we both love it. We feel like the preacher is talking right too us every Sunday, its just SO relatable. They also have a Sunday school class for Alyssa (And Cassidy too but we don’t leave her quite yet). Alyssa comes home with little bible verses and songs memorized, its so sweet.

At the moment they are doing a series on Marriage and I swear this guy must have heard Dave and I argue and spied inside our household because it feels like he is talking right to us. It could be a one on one marriage counseling session.

After church, we rushed home to eat lunch and change, then right back out the door. Where to this time? A Spouses kickball game! My husband is a Marine and I am part of a spouses kickball team for his unit and we play other unit’s teams. Well today we challenged our husbands to a game. We ended up splitting the teams co-ed so it would be fair. It was a blast! Dave and my team won 7-6 and out of our 6 runs, 2 were mine and 2 were Daves! I wore my cleats for a little extra toe support and when you kick the ball its more with the top of your foot where it meets your shin, so it didn’t hurt my toe. The running did a little, but I sucked it up, and now have an elevated throbbing toe as a result. The kids played on the playground right next to us with a couple of teenage girls watching them. One of them loved Cassidy and didn’t put her down the whole time.

On another note,  my mind is officially change about beets, I loved them! I cut them up, tossed in olive oil and garlic salt, and roasted until tender at 400F. I ate 3 entire large beets by myself! Even Alyssa and Cassidy loved them. I

This truly was an awesome weekend! We had tons of family time, a little alone time with just Dave and I, and tons of fun with every single actually we did! Now this week looks like it will be full of rest time to help heal this little toe.

The first time I broke my toe, I belonged to a gym so I just used the stationary bike and lifted weights. The second time, I broke my toe and foot really badly and had to keep it elevated for 16 weeks! Yes 16, not 6 because it was broken in a spot they couldn’t cast. It just would not heal and my hairline fracture turned into a full on break all the way through and crushed cartilage before finally healing. My husband was deployed when that happened and Alyssa was 18 months old, so needless to say I wasn’t able to rest and let it heal like I should have. But this time, I don’t belong to a gym. I run on my treadmill or outside and use weights and do circuit workouts. I think weights may be the only one of those I can  still do for a couple weeks.

Has anyone else broken their baby toe before? What do you do as far as exercise? Any suggestion?

Boredom Buster Treadmill 5k

I run on the treadmill a good amount. Although I just bought my double jogging stroller, I have yet to buy a weather shield, so if there is any wind or rain or its cold, I can’t expect the kids to sit through that. The treadmill was technically my “push present” from having Cassidy. Well that’s at least how we justified spending all that money. We got a semi-decent one that is able to fold up since we keep it in our living room. I wish we could have gotten one of the gym quality ones but since it isn’t used all day every day like the ones at the gym, we knew we could get away with a much cheaper one.

I love to run, well I love the feeling after I run. I actually get kind of bored while running, which is one reason I have started doing circuit workouts a lot lately. But there is just something about a run that leaves me feeling accomplished! It also makes me sweat like no other. Well besides that stair climber at the gym, the one with the revolving stairs. Man, that thing makes me sweat! So to keep me from dying of boredom staring at my living room wall, I always switch up my speed every couple minutes. I usually do increments of distance actually because it would kill my OCD if I finished and was at something like 3.19 miles. I would inevitably do an extra .6 to get to a number I liked.

3 miles is my favorite distance. Well somewhere between 3-4. If I do less than 3, I feel like I didn’t do enough. And if I do more than 4 right now, I start feeling like my milk supply goes down. A 5k is perfect.

I completed the run in 26:58 minutes and the cool down took me an additional 2 minutes. You can easily adjust the pace to be faster or slower. Just bump every speed up or down by 0.2 or 0.5, whatever suits your fitness level.

Make sure you have a towel ready because this will leave you nice and sweaty! Something about adding in those couple of walking intervals really gets me sweating. For some reason the instant I stop running, the sweat starts pouring. So starting and stopping and starting again really gets me!

See that sweet headband? Its my 3 year olds and it works perfect for running, especially after I got my hair cut!

Does anyone else mess with the incline and speed non-stop to avoid boredom? If I was talented enough, I’d like to read while running. But that ended badly once, so its just music for me!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites

After story time today, Cassidy passed out in her car seat right as we were pulling up to the house. I figured I’d take advantage of that time and quickly get in a workout. I put Cassidy in her crib (still in her car seat) and hopped on the treadmill. Last week when I ran, I didn’t warm up at all. Stupid, I know. Its like asking for an injury to just jump on and sprint. So this time my workout went like this…

0.25 mile warm up at 3.7 mph

1.0 mile run at 7.6 mph with intervals of 8.0 and 8.5

0.25 mile walk at 3.7 mph

0.5 mile run at 7.6-8.0 mph

0.5 mile walk incline 9.0 at 3.7 mph

After my run I did a little bit of abs and arms. Just some random arm exercises with free weights and various plank moves. I didn’t do too much because I started running around trying to get some chores done before Cassidy woke up and demanded food. But my little princess slept for 2 hours so I was able to do all my laundry, sweeping, dishes, etc and have time to play with Alyssa and have lunch just the two of us.

And on to dessert…Dessert was awesome!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana bites:

1 large banana

2 TB all natural peanut butter

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

2-3 TBs coconut

Slice 1 large banana into 1/2 inch slices and top with a smear of peanut butter. Lay them on wax paper and place them into the freezer fr 5-10 minutes while you melt the chocolate. Put chocolate chips into the microwave on low power until melted (stirring frequently). I then took the banana pieces out of the freezer, dipped each top into the chocolate and pressed a little coconut on top of the chocolate. Place them back into the freezer until the chocolate hardens but not so long that the banana freezes (20-30 minutes).

These were so good and simple and made with ingredients I always have on hand. This is gluten free, tree nut free, and vegan, so it would fit just about any eating style!

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

It feels as though Spring has definitely sprung! It stays light outside later, the temperatures are warming up, and berries are popping up in the grocery stores cheaper and juicier! Strawberries are Alyssa’s favorite food, I’d say. When we go grocery shopping I always let her have a snack while we shop. I’d say 9 times out of 10, she asks for a fresh tin of strawberries. Sometimes it will be grapes or pretzels, but rarely. Sometimes we will get to the register and I will have to pay for an empty 1 pound tin of strawberries, filled with the green leafy tops. Its not a secret what happened though based on my 3 year old’s red stained face and hands. Oh and her shirt too, since that’s what she uses to wipe the berries clean. I really need to start preparing better and bring a damp paper towel with me for her to use instead. If she happens to have a light colored shirt on, I make her use her pants. I make sure to pick up some extra stain stick too, don’t worry! Anyway, last week, our 2nd one pound tin of strawberries somehow got buried in the refrigerator and forgotten about for a couple of days. The berries started looking a little pathetic so I felt the need to use them up before wasting food *gasp*! And these super healthy and moist strawberry muffins were born.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

1 3/4 cup flour (preferably sprouted whole wheat)

1/3 cup sugar (coconut palm or unrefined organic), can substitute honey

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

3/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2-2 cups diced strawberries

oats for garnish (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt).

Add the wet and stir until combined. Fold in strawberries.  Make sure the strawberries are diced pretty small, the size of a bean maybe.

I like mine very strawberry-y so I use the whole 2 cups. You could also use sour cream or applesauce instead of the greek yogurt or if you wanted to, go all out with butter. But I like them being guilt free so I stick with the yogurt. A flavored yogurt like vanilla or strawberry would be great too!

Sprinkle with a couple oats and push onto batter lightly. This is just for garnish to look pretty so you can easily omit this. Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes. Mine took about 20, but I like my baked goods slightly undercooked.

Dive in and enjoy! Its like each bite is pre smeared with fresh strawberry jam. I made a half batch the first night when I was messing around with the ingredients. Since all 6 were eaten in 1 sitting by my family I made the full 12 the next night. And that night I happened to have a little extra buttercream frosting from Alyssa’s 3 1/2 birthday cupcakes. I put a little bit on top and oh my gosh, out of this world! It became a chocolate covered strawberry muffin. Dave and I both agreed we liked the muffins with icing better than the full blown cupcakes with icing. If you are ever making a birthday treat for someone who is into healthy eating, make these! The muffins are so 100% guilt free, its ok to splurge a little on the homemade chocolate buttercream. They are so fresh tasting!

This recipe is just in time for berry season which seems to have just begun. I LOVE strawberries and can’t wait to make these all throughout the summer when Alyssa and I go berry picking at a local farm. I may even request the frosted version for my birthday cupcakes this summer!

And if you needed anymore convincing to make these ASAP, check out the nutritional stats for 1 muffin…

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 muffin (62 g)

Calories 95 Calories from Fat 3

Total Fat                      0.4g      1%

TransFat                      0.0g

Cholesterol                  0mg       0%

Sodium                       65mg     3%

Total Carbohydrates     20.5g     7%

Dietary Fiber                2.3g      9%

Sugars 7.7g

Protein 3.5g

Vitamin A   0% • Vitamin C 24% Calcium 5% • Iron 3%

Only 95 calories per muffin and 3.5 grams of protein! Thats a pretty powerful muffin. I often eat food that is healthier because it is better for me, and sometimes you have to sacrafice a little taste. Like cookies made with banana instead of butter just aren’t the same. But these, you would never know how healthy they are by tasting them!

Happy 3.5

Being a military family means we are separated a lot. We are not able to spend holidays and birthdays as a family when Dave is out on training or deployed. That means when he is home, we take advantage of every occasion. Well on Saturday Alyssa turned 3 1/2, and we celebrated! In Alyssa’s eyes, 3 1/2 is just as important as turning 3 or 4. She will always say, “my friend “whoever” is 3 1/2 so she is a little bigger than me. But when I turn 3 1/2 I will be able to *insert any activity she couldn’t previously do* “.  She has been asking for the past 3 months when she will be 3 1/2. So we decided to get her a couple small gifts, make some cupcakes, and take her to Chuck E Cheese after dinner (she even asked for hand sanitizer after leaving that place so don’t worry!).

We woke up and did presents first, obviously! The Princess and the Frog movie, a new bike helmet, and some fairy wings.

I guess maybe the helmet is in case she tries to actually fly with those wings. I wouldn’t put it past her!

We ate a breakfast of omelets and strawberry muffins (recipe to come later this week, SO good!) before playing in the backyard for a while then going for a family run. After our run, we let Alyssa try out her new helmet and ride her bike for a while. Dave tried taking off the training wheels per Alyssa’s request since she is 3 1/2 now and all grown up. Still not so sure she’s ready for that though. We spend the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out around the house. I asked her what she wanted for her special birthday dinner and she said “whatever you want to make me”. Easy enough. We had broiled fish, baked sweet potatoes, and edamame. She LOVES seafood, her mommy’s girl for sure!

Cassidy sure enjoyed her sweet potatoes.

Alyssa gobbled her dinner up, but mostly because we told her we’d take her to Chuck E Cheese’s for a little bit after she finished. We only stayed for an hour before coming home for cupcakes. An hour at Chuck E Cheese on a Saturday night is all we could handle!

The cupcake part was good, but nothing spectacular. I subbed out a little butter for some greek yogurt in an attempt to make it healthier so I could go all out on the icing. Oh the icing… Man is homemade icing a thousand times better than that canned stuff. If I eat a cake with canned icing or bakery icing I always scrape it off. It just tastes like pure sugar with chemicals mixed in, which is probably exactly what it is.

And on top of her cupcake were 3 and a 1/2 candles.

.

Happy 3 1/2 to my sweet and spunky little girl, who is no where near a baby anymore!

Even my baby seems like she won’t be a baby for much longer. She turned 7 months over the weekend. She is still sweet as can be, but is no longer the calm, laid back baby she was. She is go-go-go.

Do you celebrate holidays often or just major ones like birthdays and christmas?

Any reason to do something a little special and out of the ordinary is fun, I think!

Rosemary Dijon Chicken over Brown Rice

So I did it, I got on Pinterest for the first time! It is awesome but not as addicting as I’d heard. I think that’s because I still don’t know how to use it very well. But I pinned some recipes and a couple of workout ideas. One recipe that looked good was a mustard chicken dish. It kind of reminded me of a dish we used to eat growing up, and one I’ve made myself as an adult. However both recipes had a lot of butter and tons of sweetener. I like my dinners a little more savory than sweet. So I figured I’d wing it in the kitchen. I only used a handful of ingredients, all ingredients I love, so I figured it couldn’t go too wrong. Luckily it didn’t go wrong at all and it turned out great! And with ingredients that I always have on hand, this recipe is sure to find its way into my rotation often!

Rosemary Dijon Chicken over Brown Rice

serves 6

1 1/2 lbs chicken

3 Tbs real maple syrup (or honey)

2 Tbs dijon mustard

1 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp rosemary (dried, or the equivalent of fresh I’m sure would be even better!)

salt and pepper to taste

1.25 cup brown rice, cooked

In a baking dish, combine all of your ingredients besides the chicken. Mix it well and add some salt and pepper to taste.

Cut fat off chicken and cut each breast in half. You could also use chicken thighs if you prefer. Cutting the chicken into smaller pieces makes them fit in the pan easier and requires a shorter cooking time. Flip the chicken breasts around in the marinade to cover completely.

Cover and put in the refrigerator to marinate. You can let them sit anywhere from 20 minutes to a day (nice prep ahead meal!). I let mine sit for a few hours then uncovered it and baked them at 400 F for around 25 minutes. The cooking time will vary based on chicken size but cook until the juice runs clear. As you can see from the picture below, I always cut the largest one open a little and check inside to make sure there is no pink.

20 minutes before cooking the chicken, place 1.25 cup brown rice and 2.5 cups water or broth on the stove to cook. Brown rice usually takes about 40 minutes, so plan accordingly. You could also serve it over quinoa or your favorite grain.

Once cooked, the marinade combines with the chicken juices, becomes a little thinner and is a great topping for the rice.

Place the chicken on top of rice, and spoon some of the sauce over top. It makes a good amount of sauce actually and we used every last drop!

Serve alongside a veggie or salad and meal complete. Next time I will choose a veggie that isn’t the same color as the chicken and rice so it’s a little prettier. But it’s the taste that matters, right?

Simple, quick, healthy, comfort food…doesn’t get any better than that!

Nutritional Information

Calories: 365

fat: 7 g

Sodium: 133 mg (6%)

Carbohydrates: 37 g

Dietary fiber: 2 g

sugars: 6 g

Protein: 36 g