Health, Fitness, & Nutrition

It’s Monday . . . and Day 4

nutivaI don’t know if it’s the Clean Eating or if I’m just getting stronger, but I noticed after yesterday’s cycle class and this morning’s yoga that I definitely have way more energy during my workouts and am feeling much more energetic after the classes. Other than that, I’m not noticing a whole lot else. I’m really hoping this new routine helps with sleep, too, but I’m afraid that may just be a function of my age (I just had yet another birthday!) and not tied to how I’m fueling my body.

Just to report in on yesterday’s meals, the Chipotle Bowl was absolutely delicious, and the stir-fry was yummy, too! Emma wound up adding some grilled chicken to the stir-fry at my request. I was starting to feel a bit sluggish and thought a healthy serving of chicken protein would perk me up. It definitely did the trick. Keep checking the Queen of the Kitchen Instagram feed (see below) for photos of all our meals.

Emma and I have been doing an informal taste-test of a variety of protein powders to use in our morning smoothie. She normally uses Naturade Pea Protein, Vanilla Flavor, but, since I really dislike vanilla flavoring we needed to find an alternative. Here are our findings:

Garden of Life Raw Fit Unflavored – no flavor which we loved, Emma found it chalky and gritty (“generally unpleasant”) but I didn’t. Flavor: 8, Texture: 3

Vega Nutritional Shake, Natural Flavor – not as good a flavor as the first one though not bad. The texture was definitely better, though. Flavor: 5, Texture: 7

Garden of Life Raw Fit, Marley Coffee Flavor – the powder smells like matzo – so weird! Emma’s exact thoughts: “I don’t know how something coffee-flavored can taste so distinctly of matzo.” The texture was pretty good. Flavor: Passover (and not the good part like charoset), Texture: 7

Nutiva Hemp Protein, unflavored – Ding Ding Ding! This one is our winner! The flavor wasn’t completely non-existent, but it didn’t make much of a statement when blended with the rest of the smoothie ingredients. And the texture wasn’t noticeable which is a good thing. Flavor: 7, Texture: 9

Day 4 Menu

Pre-Breakfast: 8-12 ounces of water plus 8-12 ounces of Green Juice

Breakfast: Smoothie (for my husband: gluten-free toast spread with fresh almond butter & sliced apple)

Mid-morning snack: Jicama sticks

Pre-Lunch: 4-6 ounces of Green Juice

Lunch: Leftover Chicken-Veggie Stir Fry with brown rice

Afternoon snack: Cucumber slices with hummus

Pre-Dinner: 4-6 ounces of Green Juice

Dinner: Chipotle Bowl with Grilled Chicken

Recipes

Chef V’s Chipotle Bowl with Grilled Chicken (Serves 2)

Ingredients:
2 cups organic mixed greens (arugula, spinach, red leaf, kale, chard, green leaf, or romaine, etc.)
1 cup cooked organic quinoa or brown rice, cooled
¾ cup organic black beans, cooked and cooled
½ mango skinned and cubed
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ small red onion diced
1 small lime, juiced
½ avocado, skinned, cubed
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Cumin
1 pkg boneless, skinless organic chicken breast tenders

Directions:
Mix together the chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin in a small bowl. Add the chicken tenders and marinate anywhere from 20 minutes to overnight. When ready to prepare the meal, grill the tenders until done (we used a stove-top grill pan) and chop into bite-sized pieces. Fix two bowls with lettuce on the bottom. Top with plain quinoa (or rice) and beans. Mix mango, onion, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl. Add mango mixture to top of salad. Top with avocado and serve. Bon Appétit!

Helpful Links
Click here for Chef V’s website
Click here for the Queen of the Kitchen website
Click here for a Google list of Green Juice recipes

Workout of the Day
C2 at Core Power Yoga

Queen of the Kitchen Show Instagram Feed
[instashow source=”@queenofthekitchenshow”]

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