Monday, May 16, 2011

1 week down

Yipee!!! 1 down, 2 to go.

We experimented with some great recipes this weekend. And boy did we need it!
Swiss, Green, Coconut
1 cup Swiss Chard
1 Mango
2 Kiwis
1 cup Almond Milk
1T Coconut
1T Chia seeds
1 scoop Amazing meal
pinch of cinnamon

Most of our smoothies turn out very green because of the Amazing Meal protein power. But we were able to over power the color with frozen blueberries & blackberries.
Purple Power
1 cup Blackberries
1 cup Blueberries
1T Almond butter
1 cup Almond milk
1T Chia seeds
1 scoop Amazing Meal
1t cinnamon
1t vanilla

Both of these were original recipes we came up with. We were really looking to branch out from the provided list this weekend. They were both very good & definitely different. 

For lunch, we used a great recipe from the Clean Cleanse recipe book.

Balsamic Vinegar Roasted Chicken with Wild Rice
(2 servings)
2 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly lengthwise
1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons minced rosemary
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups cooked wild rice, made with a vegetable stock
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for 2 hours (we substituted pine nuts)
1. Heat oven to 425º F.
2. In a small saucepan reduce the balsamic vinegar by simmering and stirring occasionally until it
becomes the consistency of a syrup.
3. Add the garlic and rosemary and simmer for 2 minutes more. Set aside.
4. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and salt.
5. Place on a baking tray and roast in oven for 10 minutes.
6. Brush with generous amounts of balsamic mixture.
7. Turn the oven down to 375º F and roast for a further 10 minutes.
8. Brush again with balsamic mixture and cook 2 minutes more.
9. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, and remove the skins.
10. To make the pilaf, place chicken, rice, scallions, cilantro, mint, and sunflower seeds in a bowl.
11. Mix together and season with salt and pepper.
First of all, this was DELICIOUS! Secondly, sorry for the picture. We were so excited to eat, I completely forgot to take a picture until the pretty display had vanished. But you get the idea and can see all the yummy ingredients.

It was the best meal we had all week. It ended up being wayyy too much food. We ended up setting aside 1/2 the rice. It was perfect... because that meant, we were able to have the other 1/2 for lunch today! Cant wait. The chicken with the balsamic was delicious & moist. The substitution of pine nuts was amazing! I am a huge fan of those nuts. But sunflower seeds would probably be delicious too.

I also made homemade hummus this weekend... a first for me. It is so yummy. It will be incorporated in a meal to be. :)

Lastly, I am sad to say Blogger never recovered my lost post or my lovely comments from all you! So sad and disappointed. Just know, I love hearing from all of you and visiting all your sites as well. XoXo

13 comments:

Gloria said...

i'm totally making that tasty chicken recipe this week - looove wild rice!

Jenna Lee said...

I like the purple power! looks YUMMO! Thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog! So sweet!

THE ALTERNATIVE WIFE said...

Oh this all sounds delicious! Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Alexa said...

Yes that balsamic chicken dish looks amazing! YUM!
Love your blog!
alexa
www.theshortandthesweetofit.com

Anonymous said...

I love the color purple so you know I was drawn towards your purple power smoothie!

Joanne said...

Girl you are ROCKING this challenge! i dont' think I've ever seen such inventive smoothies before!

Anonymous said...

Omigosh, those smoothies look amazing! I must make them right away! Thanks for dropping by :)

Food Glorious Food! said...

Loving your Purple Power! Wonderful idea!

www.StarHughes.com said...

Yum! I would sure love to see your recipe for making homemade hummus - that sounds delicious!

Hannah {Culture Connoisseur} said...

How are you feeling? Notice a difference yet?

Buttercream Blondie said...

Good for you sticking to this cleanse! The balsamic chicken with wild rice looks wonderful :)

birdie to be said...

@Hannah, yes! This week I actually feel really good. I have lost some excess weight and this week have got my energy back.

Thanks for all the lovely notes. You're my motivation to keep trekking! :)

annie@mostlovelythings said...

This is all very motivating! Your photos are quite beautiful. The smoothies especially look like something I'm going to have to try!