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Recipes

21 Day Fix Chicken Parmesan Wrap

Ok, these were amazing. I don’t post any recipe we don’t LOVE, but I know this one was good when my husband is requesting it again tonight! During the summer time, I love quick dinners. Who am I kidding, I love quick dinners ALL the time. The less time I have to spend cooking, the more time I can spend with my family. This recipe is something that you can prep ahead of time and then cook whenever you are ready for dinner! I prepped this on the weekend and then had them during the week. Total prep and cook time during the week was less than 10 minutes total. My kind of dinner! These tasted like a pizza hot pocket to me, but without the junk and the gut bomb you would typically feel afterwards. Love meals that taste like a cheat! THAT is how I have stayed on track all of these years – eating foods I actually LOVE. I refuse to ever feel like I am on a diet because let’s face it, I am in this for LIFE and no one wants to diet for LIFE.

INGREDIENTS – Recipe makes TWO wraps

  • 1.5 cups of shredded chicken (I boiled 2 chicken breasts and then shredded)

  • 3/4 cups of pureed tomatoes (make sure tomatoes are the only ingredient)

  • 2 tsp of Italian seasoning

  • 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

  • 1/2 cups of Italian shredded cheese

  • 1 packet of stevia (optional – most marinera sauce has added sugar and is sweet, if you prefer a sweeter sauce, the stevia is great!)

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • Two tortillas – I used gluten free Mission Tortillas

  • 2 tsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a bowl, combine chicken, tomato puree, Italian seasoning, fresh basil, stevia, Italian cheese and then salt and pepper to taste. This can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator.

  2. Cook mixture in the microwave before filling tortillas for 45 seconds, or until warm. Doesn’t need to be piping hot since they will be cooked.

  3. Put half of the mixture into each tortilla and then fold up like a burrito, folding in two sides and then the other two sides. Brush the outside with a tsp of olive oil,

  4. Preheat frying pan over medium high heat. I sprayed mine with Pam cooking spray too.

  5. Cook wraps for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

  6. Enjoy!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix: 1 tortilla + half of the mixture counts as 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 blue and .5 green.

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Main Dish

21 Day Fix Chicken Pasta with Cauliflower Alfredo

This pregnancy has given me lots of cravings and food aversions. I have been loving all carbs and hating all meat. This dish is the perfect comfort food dish and it sneaks in chicken for some protein too!

Cauliflower Alfredo:

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 head of cauliflower

  • 10 cloves of roasted garlic (I roasted mine with a 1/2 tsp of olive oil at 400 degrees for 30 minutes)

  • 1 tbsp garlic salt

  • 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded

  • 1/2 – 1 cup of water

  • dash of salt and pepper

*Mine made enough for two Pasta dishes. Made a total of 4 cups of sauce*

DIRECTIONS

  1. Chop cauliflower into florets. In a large pot, boil water and add in cauliflower. Cook until tender and then drain the water.

  2. In a blender, add cauliflower, 1/2 cup of water, garlic, garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Blend until smooth. Add more water until you get your desired thickness. I added about 1 cup of water.

  3. Give it a little taste test and add in salt and pepper if needed, then set aside. See note below.

*I tasted mine and I didn’t care for it alone. I added in a little salt to make sure it had flavor. Mixed in with the pasta, this tastes SO good! So, if you don’t love it alone, don’t worry!*

Chicken Pasta Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 cups of pasta, I used gluten free penne

  • 3 cups of fresh spinach

  • 1 tbsp Ranch seasoning, I used the dry Hidden Valley packet

  • 1 tsp onion powder

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp salt

  • 2.5 cups of diced chicken, I used rotisserie

  • 2 cups of cauliflower alfredo sauce

  • 1.5 cups of mozzarella cheese

  • 2 tsp dried parsley

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  2. Boil a pot of water and cook pasta according to directions. Drain and set aside.

  3. In a pot over medium heat, add spinach and cook until partially wilted.

  4. Add in pasta, chicken, ranch seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and chicken. Mix ingredients well. Add in cauliflower alfredo sauce and gently mix with the pasta.

  5. Take pasta mixture and add to a greased baking dish and cover with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle the top with dried parsley.

  6. Bake pasta for 8-10 minutes, or until cheese starts to turn golden brown.

  7. Enjoy!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix, this recipe makes a total of six servings and is counted as: 1 yellow, 1 green, .5 red and 1 blue.

Both the cauliflower alfredo sauce and the pasta dish can be prepared in advance and cooked later. It is also really good as leftovers too! 

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Main Dish

21 Day Fix GF Cheesy Garlic Pasta

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups gluten free pasta

  • 1 head of garlic, minced

  • 1 cup ricotta cheese

  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning

  • 1 tsp basil

  • 2 tsp garlic salt

  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced

  • 3 cups spinach, stems removed

  • 2 cups of chicken, cooked – I used a rotisserie chicken

  • 3/4 cup mozzarella, shredded

  • 1/4 cup Parmesan, shredded

  • Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta for 6-7 minutes, or until tender. Save 1 cup of the starchy pasta water and then rinse and drain the pasta. Set aside.

  2. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, basil and garlic salt. Mix well and then slowly add in the starchy pasta water. You will not need the entire cup. Mix little by little until ricotta cheese mixture turns into a sauce with similar thickness to alfredo sauce.

  3. Place tomatoes, spinach, chicken and ricotta cheese mixture into a pot with the pasta over medium low heat. Stir ingredients together and cover for 3-5 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.

  4. Add in mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cook until cheese is melted.

  5. Enjoy!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix, 1/4 of the recipe is one serving and is counted as: 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green and 1 blue.

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Main Dish

Gluten Free Grilled Margherita Pizza

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Trader Joe’s gluten free flatbread crusts

  • 1 roma tomato, sliced

  • 10 basil leaves, chopped

  • 1/2 cup of mozzarella, sliced

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 2 tsp garlic, crushed

  • 4 tbsp pizza sauce

  • Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat your grill on high heat (I grilled mine at 600 degrees).

  2. Brush each side of the flatbread crusts with olive oil.

  3. Sprinkle each flatbread with garlic and brush on two tablespoons of pizza sauce (or more if you like more sauce).

  4. Layer on the roma tomatoes, mozzarella (1/4 cup each) and basil. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

  5. Place flatbreads on grill and reduce the heat to medium. Grill for about 6 minutes or until cheese is melting and flatbread has the grill marks.

  6. Enjoy!

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Recipes

21 Day Fix Chicken Taquitos

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.25 cup shredded chicken

  • 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

  • 1 cup mexican shredded cheese

  • 1/3 cup salsa

  • 1 tsp cumin

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp chili powder

  • 8 corn tortillas

  • Salt

  • Oil/Spray – I used Pam

*Optional Toppings: greek yogurt, salsa, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, opa ranch dressing

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. In a pan over medium heat, combine shredded chicken, greek yogurt, salsa, mexican cheese, cumin, garlic powder and chili powder. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  3. Sprinkle the mixture with salt to your liking and then set the mixture aside.

  4. Take your corn tortillas and place them between wet paper towels and microwave for 30-40 seconds. I do this in two batches of four tortillas each.

  5. Fill each tortilla with about 2 tbsps of the chicken mixture. Spread the mixture out on the tortilla and then roll up and place on the baking sheet.

  6. Once all of the tortillas are filled, spray each of them with cooking spray or brush with oil. I personally used Pam Cooking Spray.

  7. Bake taquitos for 12-15 minutes per side, or until crisp and golden brown.

  8. Enjoy!

21 Day Fix Container Counts:

Serving Size: 2 Taquitos = 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 blue (toppings are additional)

I did not use any toppings when I made them and I think they would be so good over a bed of shredded lettuce topped with salsa and greek yogurt! Opa Greek Ranch would be amazing too 😉 

 

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Recipes

Garlic Parmesan Red Potatoes

These were a huge hit in our house! Feels like a cheat – but they aren’t!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 lb red potatoes, chopped in 1 inch pieces (approx 6-7 red potatoes)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 3 cloves of garlic

  • 1 tbsp dried parsley

  • 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

  2. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with olive oil.

  3. Add in garlic, sea salt and parsley.

  4. Place potatoes on parchment paper on a baking sheet.

  5. Cook potatoes for 35-40 minutes, flipping halfway through.

  6. Once potatoes are about 5 minutes from being fully cooked, take out and sprinkle with parmesan and return to oven until done.

  7. Enjoy!

If you are following the 21 day fix, measure your portion with a yellow container. 1 serving is a half of a cup and is counted as 1 yellow, 1/2 a blue and 1 tsp. 

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Recipes

21 Day Fix Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken

Who doesn’t LOVE honey mustard?! 😉 This recipe was a hit for us! Healthy grilled chicken that was sweet and tangy with a sauce! Perfect for summertime!

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 thin chicken breast fillets (You can use regular chicken breasts too, we liked the thin ones for this recipe!)

  • 1/2 cup of dijon mustard

  • 1/3 cup of honey

  • 1/2 tbsp of tamari or soy sauce

  • 2 tsp lemon juice

  • 2 tbsp of plain non-fat greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Mix together mustard, honey, tamari and lemon juice.

  2. In a freezer bag, add chicken, 3 tbsp of marinade and allow to marinate minimum of 2 hours. We let ours marinate overnight.

  3. Add greek yogurt to remaining marinade mixture and set aside.

  4. Preheat barbecue to medium and grill the chicken for 4 minutes per side, or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

  5. Drizzle chicken with the greek yogurt honey mustard sauce.

  6. Enjoy!

If you are following the 21 day fix, one thin chicken breast fillet is equal to approximately 1 red (each chicken breast varies in size, mine are equal to one red). Use 1 orange container to measure your greek yogurt honey mustard sauce to drizzle over your chicken. Count meal as 1 red and 1 orange.

 

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Main Dish

Enchilada Tostadas with Avocado Cream Sauce

I think it is no secret that I love Mexican food! I have been in the mood for enchiladas, but wanted a meal with less cheese – which is how I came up with these Enchilada Tostadas! I cooked and prepped the chicken in advance during my meal prep and then assembled and enjoyed the tostadas during the week. I am all for meals that I can prep in advance!

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut in cubes

  • 1 can of red enchilada sauce (I used Las Palmas 19 ounce can because the ingredients were good)

  • 2 avocados

  • 1/2 cup of fat free plain greek yogurt

  • 1/2 tbsp garlic salt

  • Cheddar cheese, grated

  • Corn Tortillas

  • Pam Cooking Spray

  • Romaine Lettuce, shredded

  • Tomatoes, chopped

DIRECTIONS

  1. Marinate chicken breast cubes in enchilada sauce for minimum of two hours. I marinated mine overnight.

  2. Once the chicken is done marinating, place the chicken and the sauce in a pan over medium heat and cover, stir every couple of minutes. Cook chicken for 8 minutes, or until no longer pink inside.

  3. Allow chicken to cool and shred chicken in the remaining enchilada sauce. This allows the pieces to be fully covered in the sauce, and then drain the remaining sauce.

  4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

  5. In a small frying pan over medium high heat, coat both sides of your corn tortillas with cooking spray (I used Pam) and toast each side until golden brown.

  6. On a cookie sheet, place your corn tortillas and top with your shredded chicken and cheddar cheese.

  7. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted.

  8. Top your tostadas with shredded romaine lettuce, tomatoes and avocado cream sauce!

  9. Enjoy!

Avocado Sauce:

  1. Place 2 avocados, 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt, 3 tbsp of water and 1/2 tbsp of garlic salt in a blender. If you would like yours thinner, add more water.

  2. Use a blue container to measure your portion if you are following the 21 Day Fix.

  3. I put my sauce in a ziploc baggie and cut a hole in the corner to drizzle on top of my tostadas!

21 Day Fix Counts:

  • 1 corn tortilla = 1/2 yellow

  • 1 red of the chicken mixture

  • 1 green of romaine and tomato

  • 1/2 blue of cheddar cheese

  • 1/2 blue of avocado cream sauce

  • Total count for 1 = 1/2 yellow, 1 red, 1 green and 1 blue

Hope you enjoy!

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Main Dish

Spicy Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

These are the perfect summer time dinner! I love cooking on the grill and I love kabobs. I decided to spice up my kabobs with a little kick of spice and some pineapple! These were amazing and will definitely become a regular dinner for us!

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes

  • 1 red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces

  • 1 orange pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

  • 1 yellow pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

  • 1/2 a pineapple, cut into 1 inch pieces

  • 6 tbsp honey

  • 2 tbsp liquid aminos (this is a healthy gluten free substitute for soy sauce)

  • 2.5 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 tbsp sriracha

  • 1.2 tsp ginger

  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

  • 2 tbsp vinegar

  • 3/4 cup pineapple juice

  • 8 wooden skewers, soak 30 minutes

DIRECTIONS

  1. Thread chicken, onion, peppers and pineapple onto each wooden skewer, alternating ingredients. Mine made 8 skewers. Depending on the size of your chicken and veggies, yours may make slightly more or less.

  2. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

  3. Once boiling, turn the head down slightly and stir occasionally. Keep the sauce over the heat for about 10 minutes, or until sauce thickens up and then set aside.

  4. Grill your kabobs for 3 minutes on each side, or until chicken is no longer pink.

  5. Remove your kabobs from the grill and brush with spicy pineapple sauce.

  6. Enjoy!

I counted each skewer as 1 red, 1 green, .5 purple and 1 tsp. These were great served over brown rice!

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Health and Fitness

Hammer and Chisel Round 2

If you saw my latest blog post, then you will know – I successfully completed Hammer and Chisel. I loved it so much that I decided I wanted to do another round…which starts today!

I had incredible results my first round – countless inches and 13.7 lbs lost which helped me hit my goal weight that I set three years ago at the beginning of my journey. I have a feeling round two is going to be a bit more challenging considering we will be moving into our dream house this week and I have a very sick little boy at home! We are living out of boxes right now and Ben has been sick for about a week now. To say I am stressed is a massive understatement right now. But I am reminding myself that this is called a LIFEstyle for a reason. If we only worked out and ate healthy when we felt good, we probably would rarely do it because let’s face it – life for most of us is crazy and hectic.  

For this round, my goal is not weight loss, although I do still plan to follow the Lean Out meal plan. My goal is to continue to build muscle and lean out.

We close on our dream home tomorrow and this week will be spent working and then working on our house to prepare to move this weekend. We won’t be home much in the evenings which can make dinner time and meal planning tough. I did my best to think ahead and get a plan together.

Here is my meal plan for this week (following the 1,200-1,400 plan):

Before workout: energize preworkout (free)

Post workout: recover post workout shake (free)

Breakfast: two eggs, banana oat waffles with peanut butter and black coffee (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 purple, 2 tsps)

Mid Morning: fruit (1 purple)

Lunch: mixed green salad with grilled chicken and sweet onion citrus vinaigrette (2 greens, 1 red, 1 orange)

Afternoon: Café Latte shakeology and water (1 red)

Dinner: hasselback chicken (adding in cheese to get 1 full blue) with broccoli and brown rice (1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 yellow)

Water intake goal: 128 ounces

My meal prep this weekend consisted of:

–          Making a double batch of the batter for my waffles (Ben eats these too!)

–          Grilling 5 servings of chicken for my salads

–          Cooking the brown rice for my dinners

–          Prepping and cooking 6 servings of my hasselback chicken

–          Cooking my husband 10 servings of his own version of burrito bowls (I bulk his up with more chicken and rice and cook it on the stove)

Since our food is almost all cooked for the week, I am hoping it will make it easier for us to stay on track this week while we are on the go!

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Health and Fitness

Hammer and Chisel Results

No matter how often I post progress pictures, I always get so nervous!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE….. wink emoticon

Here are my official Hammer and Chisel results! I am down 13.7 lbs in the 60 days (+ 1 week of vacation in there). 

Of all my progress pictures, I think these are my favorite ones. Yep – I don’t have a six pack or anything like that, but gosh, I am REALLY proud of this body I have worked so hard for.I made a promise to myself when I had my son that I would get to 140 lbs before trying for another baby. I started my last pregnancy at 165 lbs and I really wanted to be at my ultimate goal weight that I set three years ago before having another baby. I know the scale is just a number, but it was a really important milestone for me. I wanted to finally be able to say “I hit my ultimate goal”. When I was 215 lbs three years ago, I set a goal to be 140 lbs and if I am honest – I never actually thought I would achieve it. 

But….I did it. I FREAKING DID IT!!!!!!!

The last two months have been TOUGH. During this time frame I had 4 Christmas celebrations, New Year’s Eve, a week long vacation in Jamaica and we bought a house. Lots of events and stressful situations that I could have used as excuses. Did I struggle? Yes. Did I have cheats? Yep!….but I didn’t quit. I may have had a few cheats at the end of this program, but I NEVER MISSED A WORKOUT. And I gave those workouts everything I had. 

Want to know the best part? 

I was able to do this AT HOME. I didn’t need to pay for a personal trainer or a gym, I didn’t have to pack up and go to the gym after work, I didn’t have to sacrifice time from my family to workout – I was able to fit this into my already jam packed schedule.

These results are from:

– 60 days of Hammer and Chisel
– Drinking Shakeology daily
– Using Energize preworkout before each workouts
– Drinking the Recover postworkout shake after each workout
– Following the portion controlled meal plan

When I was overweight – I had every excuse in the book of why I couldn’t be as successful as the people I followed online. I was fatter, I was busier, I was more tired, I worked more, etc. If you are one of those people, looking at my progress, watching me hit my ultimate goal weight – just know, I was in your shoes too. Sitting at home, scrolling Facebook, WISHING I could have the success others saw. If that is you – just know that you can do this too. The only difference between me and you is that I did something about it. I stopped WISHING and I started DOING. I didn’t wish for my goal weight – I WORKED for it. There is nothing stopping you from working for it too – except you. You are the only person standing in your way of getting to your ultimate goal.

You owe it to YOURSELF to hit your goals. You owe it to yourself to feel happy, confident and healthy. Don’t you deserve that?

Getting healthy changed my entire life and all the sweat and tears – they have been WORTH it, because I AM WORTH IT.

My passion is helping women learn to love themselves and find the same results I have – in the comfort of their own homes. If you want help, please reach out! I would love to help you reach your goals —> mrsdukesfitspo@gmail.com

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Main Dish

21 Day Fix Taco Salad

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If you have looked at the recipes on my site, you probably can tell that I really love Mexican food. Before I had my son, every single Friday night was date night at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Chips, salad and a big fat margarita – with dinner of course! That was how I chose to spend my weekly cheat meal. I have found, the more I give into my weekly cheat meals, the harder time I have getting back on track and staying there. Finding healthy meals that I can eat on my meal plan that satisfy those cravings have been my key to staying on track.

If you follow me on my Facebook page, Putting My Best Foot Forward, then you will know, I like to keep things simple. When cooking for two, it is easy to waste a ton of food with left overs. One of our favorite meals is turkey tacos. Instead of having tacos all week, I have found some simple ways to turn that turkey meat into other meals like nachos, tostadas and now, a taco salad!

INGREDIENTS

  • 99% fat free ground turkey

  • Your favorite taco seasoning (I use 1 packet of Kroger’s Taco Seasoning)

  • Corn Tortillas

  • Shredded lettuce

  • Tomatoes, chopped

  • Avocado

  • Garlic salt

  • Cooking spray

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a frying pan over medium high heat, cook turkey until no longer pink. Add in taco seasoning packet and 1/4 cup of water. If you have leftover turkey meat from tacos, that will work just fine too! Once cooked, set aside.

  2. In the meantime, slice up corn tortillas into thin strips. If you are following the 21 Day Fix, two corn tortillas count as one serving. Lightly coat with cooking spray. I use Pam Coconut Oil spray.

  3. In a separate frying pan over medium high heat, cook corn tortilla strips and toss every 45 seconds or so. Cook until golden brown and crisp, then remove from heat and set aside.

  4. In a bowl, combine avocado and a tsp of garlic salt. Mash together.

  5. To prepare the salad in a bowl, add lettuce, tomatoes, ground turkey and top with avocado and the crisp corn tortilla strips.

If you are following the 21 Day Fix meal plan:

  • 1.5 green of lettuce

  • .5 green of chopped tomatoes

  • 1 red of ground turkey

  • 1 blue of mashed avocado

  • 2 corn tortillas for 1 yellow

Total container count for this salad is 2 green, 1 red, 1 blue and 1 yellow!

Enjoy!

Jess

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