Clean Eating Chicken Pot Pie

     I found this recipe a while back in the Clean Eating magazine. I have always loved chicken pot pie and it's a great comfort food, so I loved finding a clean eating version. I was skeptical about it having that 'comfort food' taste, but it was delicious and family approved!

     I modified it somewhat to make it even cleaner that it was, but you can change it up to whatever you use (almond milk, grapeseed oil...).

Ingredients:

. olive oil
. 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour plus 1 tbsp. for kneading, divided
. 1  1/4 tsp. baking powder
. 1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt plus additional, to taste
. 3 tsp. grapeseed oil
. 2 carrots, halved lengthwise (if thick) and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
. 1/2 white onion, chopped
. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
. 8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
. 1  1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-inch chunks
. 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
. 1 cup organic low sodium chicken broth
. 1  1/2 cups almond milk
. 1 cup frozen baby or petite peas
. 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
. 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
. fresh ground black pepper, to taste
. 3 tbsp. cold unsalted organic butter

Instructions:

One: Preheat oven to 400* and rub a 2 qt. baking dish with olive oil. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Two: In a large skillet on medium-high, heat 1 tsp. oil. Add carrots and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender-crisp and onion is translucent, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Mist skillet with cooking spray and return to medium-high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Add to bowl.

Three: In same skillet, heat remaining 2 tsp. oil on medium-high. Add chicken and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center, about 8 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet and stir to combine. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup flour and stir until chicken and vegetables are thoroughly coated and flour is no longer white, about 2 minutes. Add broth and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low and stir until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in peas and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup parsley and lemon juice. Season with additional salt and pepper and transfer to baking dish.

Four: Cut butter into 1/4- to 1/2- inch cubes and add to reserved flour mixture. With pastry blender, a fork or your fingers, incorporate butter into flour until mixture is shaggy with bits of butter the size of small peas. Add remaining 1/2 cup milk and stir until flour is just moistened. Lightly flour a work surface with remaining 1 tbsp. flour and briefly knead the dough into a ball with floured hands. Divide into 6 equal pieces and lightly pat each into a disk about 2  1/2 inches wide and scant 1/2 inch thick. Place disks on top of chicken mixture, evenly spaced about 1  1/2 inches apart. Bake until liquid is bubbling and biscuits are lightly browned and cooked through, 23 to 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp. parsley.

Tip: Wait until the very last moment (after the chicken mixture is finished and ready to bake) before adding the cold organic butter to the flour mixture and finishing the biscuits. This ensures a better rise and fluffier texture.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

How Sweet Are You?

Hi, my name is tori and I'm an addict....a sugar addict. I can go long periods of time without sugar and not have a problem with it. But, when special occasions roll around and pies and cakes are everywhere then I eat a piece, that sweet tooth comes back and I have a hard time getting it under control again. After a few days in a row of eating sugar, my face breaks out, I get headaches, and I start feeling really tired during the day. So, what exactly are the dangers of sugar? I don't think that we fully understand the impact that eating an excess of sugar does (and most Americans do eat an excess of sugar and don't even realize it). But, here are a few things that do we know.

  -Sugar and carbs(which turn into sugar) contribute more to heart disease than fats do.
  -Sugar feeds tumors and can make cancer worse.
  -Excess consumption of sugar has clearly been linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, among other diseases.
  -Sugar activates reward centers in your brain similar to drugs like cocaine, thereby making sugar addictive (which explains my crazy sugar cravings after eating a piece of cake!)

   Your body processes all sugars differently, but that would be a whole other post! They cause your blood sugar levels to rapidly spike and then fall.
                                         

  High corn fructose corn syrup is processed even differently than refined table sugar. Your body actually can't digest HFCS because it doesn't know how to process it, so it's more rapidly absorbed into your bloodstream. The fructose then goes straight to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol). This is why it's the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called "fatty liver" which affects 70 million people.
   The rapidly absorbed glucose triggers big spikes in insulin- our body's major fat storage hormone. Both these features of HFCS lead to increased metabolic disturbances that drive increases in appetite, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more.

  High doses of these free fructose have been proven to literally punch holes in the intestinal lining, allowing nasty bi-products of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is the root of obesity, cancer, heart disease, dementia and accelerated aging.

  So, what are your alternatives to processed sugar and high fructose corn syrup? And, no, I'm not talking about sugar substitutes, like splenda! Those are worse than sugar! I mean the healthier alternatives.

                                                                          Honey

 

Agave Nectar

 

 

Coconut Palm Sugar

 

 

Maple Syrup

 

 

Date Sugar

 

Xylitol

 

 

 

If you would like help with cutting sugar out of your diet, or more information about the alternatives- email me at rodriguez_tori@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Info in HFCS- DrHyman.com.

 

The Healthiest Meal of the Day

Do you have lack of energy, having trouble losing weight and fighting cravings? I have been replacing one meal per day with Shakeology for a little over a month now, and the difference in my energy level is amazing. It has also tamed my sweet tooth. When you crave foods, whether they be good or bad, it is your body's way of telling you that it needs something that it's lacking. Because Shakeology has all the nutrients your body needs for the entire day, it no longer craves them. It is also the perfect fast food for a little over $4 per day. Where else are you going to find lunch for that price?

http://www.beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/ToriR78?bctid=73854917001

Succeeding in Fitness

   I think we've all made New Year's resolutions that involves exercising, which starts with a bang and fizzles out by the end of January. No? Well, maybe I'm the only one:)
 
   I have learned there are three keys to success when it comes to succeeding with fitness.

        1. finding a fitness program that you love and connect with
        2. doing it at a time that is convenient for you every day
        3. having support, accountability, and encouragement from someone else

   With these three things, anyone can reach their goal and even go beyond.

    Wanting to better yourself must first start with loving yourself and being happy with the way you are right now. Do not ever wish that you looked like someone else or that you were someone else.

    You are the only you and no one else can bring to the world what you bring. You have your own talents and ability to touch others' lives the way that no one else can. Ask yourself what you can do to be a better YOU and be better at what YOU do. We all have room to grow and develop in every area of our lives, and should never stop moving forward. If we are not moving forward, we are going backward.

    What are you doing right now to move forward with your fitness goals? It is not only to feel better about yourself and be more confident, but also to feel better and be healthier.

   This is where my passion comes in. I love helping others find a program that they enjoy and help push them forward and watch them succeed and celebrate with them when they reach one goal at a time!

   The difference in your body from this week to next week is what you do with the next seven days!

Why I Chose Clean Eating

    Clean eating is basically whole, natural foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It means staying away from the typical Standard American Diet of 'junk', such as man-made sugar, bad fats, preservatives and white bread. The easiest way to describe it is, if it's man-made, stay away from it. I know, it sounds restricting, but trust me, there are clean eating alternatives to everything that you enjoy on the Standard American Diet.

Clean eating is not actually a 'diet', it is a lifestyle. Diets cause your weight and health to yo-yo, which causes more harm to your body than never going on them at all. When you yo-yo diet, you are losing muscle and gaining back fat in return.

    You cannot achieve your fitness and health goals without first cleaning up your diet. That doesn't mean that you can't enjoy the occasional treat, but moderation is the key. You can exercise your behind off and still not lose the weight that you want, all because your body is not releasing the build up of junk that it's holding on to. When you start to eat clean, you will watch the weight drop off.

    It is difficult to break the habit of our 'traditional' cooking, especially if your were raised on Southern and Cajun cooking, like I was:) I love food just as much as the next person! It took a while for me to completely change the way that I had been cooking for so long, but over time it became easier and easier. In fact, it would be strange for me to try to cook the way I used to now.

   The key to clean eating and sticking to it, is planning and preparation. And, also enjoying the occasional treat:)

    I will be blogging more about each type of food that we should stay away from individually and what kind of harm they actually cause in our body. Also, the alternative healthier substitutes we can use in their place.

  You might think that you will have to give up something when you eat healthy, but I want to show you that does not have to be the case. In fact, the only thing you will be giving up is a life plagued by the common diseases caused by the foods we eat (i.e. diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.), aches and pains, and just plain lack of energy.

   With a little practice and determination, you can clean up your diet, while still enjoying food!