It feels like a Monday, but it’s already Tuesday! Woohoo.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, regardless of whether you had yesterday off. My long weekend consisted of a low-key Friday night in, a double teaching session Saturday morning (I subbed 8am Cardio Ball and 10am Kickboxing), lunch with Mom at Strip T’s, a little shopping (Old Navy was having a 40% off EVERYTHING sale!), Hank’s surprise 30th birthday party at Jake & Joe’s, brunch with Geoff & Trina on Sunday morning at Murph’s Place, a lot of cleaning and studying, watching the movie Crazy Stupid Love, grocery shopping, walking the reservoir and Cardio Cutz class, and Fiorella’s Express for dinner with Ashley. Whew!
I also took the time last night to prepare all my food for the week. I cooked up some chicken and asparagus, whipped up a batch of last week’s tuna salad, and chopped all my veggies. I love how much time and money this saves me during the week!
Oh, and I took a look at my week to plan out my workouts too:
- Monday: Cardio Cutz class
- Tuesday: Two A Day! Kickboxing with Liz, then teaching Circuit
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: Teaching Circuit in the morning, maybe back for Zumba at night
- Friday: Either yoga, Interval Training, or Zumba – depends on my mood!
- Saturday: Off
And now for a new recipe to share with you guys!
I mentioned in yesterday’s “Things I’m Loving Lately” post that I am loving my quesadilla maker. Since I was subbing early on Saturday morning, Tim and I enjoyed a low-key night at my apartment the night before. We thought making quesadillas would be a fun Friday night activity. And cooking Mexican style doesn’t have to be bad for you, you know!
Here are some pointers on making sure your ‘dillas are a healthy choice:
- Use a whole wheat or grain wrap or tortilla
- Load up the quesadilla with veggies
- Try to steer clear of too much cheese, if you need cheese try to opt for a low-fat or part-skim mozzarella
- Sour cream isn’t necessary, just substitute with plain Chobani yogurt
- Salsa is a great way to add flavor without adding too many extra calories
- Use lean cuts of meat, such as ground turkey or chicken
Chicken & Veggie Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 orange pepper, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- Sliced mushrooms
- Whole wheat tortilla wraps
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 cup low-fat, part skim shredded mozzarella
- Basil, to taste
- Garlic powder, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Salsa
- Cooking spray
- Plain Chobani yogurt
- 1 avocado
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
Lots of ingredients, but we had most of this stuff around the house anyways!
Directions
- Cut up the chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces.
- Cook the chicken in a large saucepan, with olive oil and the spices (basil, garlic powder, pepper). Saute until chicken is no longer pink.
- In the meantime, chop peppers and mushrooms to desired size.
- In a separate saucepan, sauté the veggies all together.
- While chicken and veggies are cooking, whip up some homemade guacamole if desired for a healthy quesadilla topping. In a bowl, mix together avocado, onion, and lime juice. This should probably have also had cilantro, but we ran out.
- Now it’s time for the quesadilla maker! Spray the quesadilla maker with cooking spray, and place 1 tortilla at a time on it. Add the veggies and sprinkle with cheese. Top with a second tortilla, and close the lid. Cook until tortillas start to brown.
- Cut ‘dillas into desired slices, and enjoy! Top with the guacamole, plain Chobani yogurt instead of sour cream, and salsa.
Glass of red wine: Optional.
These filled us right up! But I did still manage to leave room for a sugar cookie for dessert, made by Slesh. Sorry, no picture!
What are your favorite quesadilla ingredients?
Off to work!
The ‘dillas were yummy!
Oooh, a quesadilla maker sounds like the best appliance ever! Gotta get one of those. As you mentioned, mexican doesn’t have to be bad for you by any means with a few quality ingredients. As always, thanks for making us a part of your meal, Athena 🙂
Always! Your plain was delicious as our sour cream!