Mexican Chicken Bake

I love a good one dish kind of meal. The kind that you throw together, cook and the house fills with comforing, delicious aromas. The kind that is healthy and with minimal clean up yet everyone loves it!

I made this in winter and only just got around to writing this out… I dont know why since its so simple.

500g diced chicken breast

Mexican Seasoning

Put the chicken in a large baking dish and massage the seasoning into it. Refrigerate for an hour up to a day if you have the time.

Now add in whatever chopped vegetables you like. I love it with zucchinni, mushrooms, beans (kidney or black), capsicum, corn. You can use anything though, carrots, sweet potato, broccolli, asparagus, tomato, cauliflower. Dont be afraid to fill the baking dish!

Pour over a tin of diced tomatoes, these are about 400g, and mix to evenly distribute the tomatoes, chicken and vegetables.

Put some grated cheese on top if you like, or use nutritional yeast (loving this stuff), cottage cheese or EGGS!

Bake until chicken is cooked and the cheese is melted and golden.

This could be 20 mins to an hour depending on how large you cut everything up.

Serve on its own, with a salad and/or some brown or wild rice.

I hope you love this! Dont forget and of my recipes, if you post a photo on Facebook or Instagram to include #thesecretlifeofness I would be so overjoyed to see you all enjoying my ideas!

Butter Chicken

Especially in winter… We need something warming, comforting and delicious for dinner.

Butter chicken is a favourite of mine! But I had never made it before, until now. This is super easy and I think you could do it in the slow cooker too.

The first thing is to make your spice mix;

1/8 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp garlic
1/8 tsp chilli (or to taste as this will be hot)
Use all dried spices and mix together.

You will also need;

150g chicken breast (diced)
50g coconut yogurt
100ml tomato passata

Mix the yogurt and spice mix, coat the chicken with this and put in the fridge to marinate for minimum 2 hours or overnight if possible.

Mix this coated chicken with the passata and put in a baking dish with a lid.

Put in the oven for about 30 mins on 160 degrees. Take the lid off and turn up heat to 200 for 5-10 mins to thicken the sauce. These times are approximate and will depend on the size of the chicken pieces, your oven and the dish you use. Basically cook on a low to medium heat until chicken is done then a high heat to thicken sauce.

Serve with a baked sweet potato and broccoli like I did or with cauliflower rice or mashed parsnips.

324 cals
36.5 protein
10.5 carbs
12.5 fat

Easy Chicken Dinner

Want something quick to whip up after a long day working and training?

100g chicken breast (diced/sliced)
1/3 cup mushrooms
1/3 cup broccoli
3 cherry tomatoes
10g almonds
1 boiled egg (or two egg whites if you want to cut out some fat and calories)

All you need to do is fry the chicken on medium in a non stick pan with your favorite seasonings, I like to use oregano, parsley and cayenne pepper.
Once the chicken is browned off add the mushrooms and broccoli to the pan, put on a lid and turn onto low. Leave for a few minutes, long enough to steam the veggies.

All you need to do is put the chicken and veg in a bowl, add in some halved cherry tomatoes, almonds and boiled egg!

You can add in some sweet potato, or wholemeal pasta for extra carbs if you need it too.

Below is the nutritional information but it will vary depending on exact amounts, and ingredients used.

Enjoy!

Credits to Christina Halkiopoulos as this as an adaptation of her recipe.

Nutty Banana Bread

3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put these ingredients into the food processor on high, it will go a bit fluffy and will be smooth.

Add in 1 cup of cooked quinoa and blitz to mix it in, followed by 1/4 cup vegetable oil.

In a large bowl combine;

1 cup almond meal
2/3 cup sugar substitute (Splenda/Equal/Natvia)
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Make a well in the middle and pour in wet ingredients from the food processor.

Fold together and then pour into a greased and lined loaf tin.

Put this in the oven on 170 degrees for approximately one hour.

One a skewer comes out clean when tested in the centre take it out of the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the tin.

Turn out onto a wire cooling rack and let it cool.

Slice with a serrated bread knife about 1cm thick slices and then serve with cottage cheese and sugar free maple syrup. You could even add some sliced banana or dust some extra cinnamon on top.

If you whip up one of these then you will have breakfast for a few days all sorted, it’s got good everything you need, fats, carbs and protein.