Chicken and Shrimp Drowned in Veggies

I feel like it’s been sooo long since the last post but there’s a good reason for it:  The Sliva clan went to a wedding over the weekend and then celebrated Father’s Day so it was certainly a pretty busy weekend.  The wedding was great – we all had a really good time just all being together.  It’s tough to get ALL the sibs together (and they’re significant others) in one room at any given time!!

Jaxon & Alex

Mr. & Mrs. Bear

The whooole gang... minus Keira Bedeira

Meg (Jimmy’s girl), Jim Bob, Andrew (sister Dan’s man), Jackie, Mom, Dad, Bridgey Boo, Alex & Mike

All the girlies plus lucky Andrew

Yup, a good time was had by all…. between eating (fantastic) food and drinking (yummy/sinful) cocktails, we were in for a good cleanse in the days to come… which brings me to my next recipe: chicken & shrimp covered in veggies with a lil’ whole wheat pasta.

I’m going to give you just a rough idea of what I did because I really didn’t measure anything – just threw it all into a pan and brilliance was made.

Ingredients:

Some chicken, cubed into bite-sized pieces

A good handful of uncooked shrimp

Lots of red/green/yellow bell pepper slices

3 or 4 Asparagus spears, chopped into thirds

Red and white onion slices

A little bitta garlic

A splash of white wine

A squirt or two of lemon juice

A healthy handful of fresh basil, chopped

2 oz cooked whole wheat spaghetti

A sprinkle of Pecorino Romano cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Make the spaghetti according to package directions.

2.  Sautéed the peppers, onions and chicken in the garlic, white wine and lemon juice until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes or so (depending on how big your pieces are).  Add the shrimp and cook until pink.  Add salt and pepper and toss.

3.  Add cooked pasta, toss together and throw it into a nice big bowl.  Add basil and cheese.  Dig.  In.  YUM.

There’s nothing like a big bowl of colorful, crunchy, vegetabely (yup, new word in our book) healthiness to get back on track for the week!  Bon Appétit!

Chicken & Sweet Potato Rainbow Skewers

I have had this dinner planned for tonight since yesterday morning when I went to the grocery store.  It is such a summery meal made of mostly peppers and red onions onions with some chunks of chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce and sweet potato cubes.  Holy healthy!  Let’s get started!

First I preheated my oven to 350.  Then I washed the chicken breasts and cut them into small chunks.  I marinated the chicken with teriyaki sauce for about 30 minutes.  While the chicken was marinating I chopped up a yellow, red and green pepper as well as a whole red onion and put each of them into their own bowls for easy skewing!

I also zapped a small sweet potato in the microwave for about 3 minutes and cubed it.

By then it was time to assemble the skewers and which way I liked.  There was no particular order, just played around for a bit until the skewers were nice and full.

I placed them on a baking rack, little salt, little pepper, and into the oven they went for about 20 minutes.  The finished product was absolutely awesome.  Nice and crunchy peppers and onions, juicy chicken and sweet, sweet, sweet potatoes!  This meal covers just about every desire one could have in a summertime meal.

There are only 2 skewers here on my plate but they were so tasty that I went back for a third!

– Alex

Monday, Funday

Happy Monday, everyone.  Today is a different kind of Monday today than it usually is.  That’s because Jackie and Bridgette slept over my house last night and are spending the wholllle day with me and Keira.  Not such a bad Monday, right?

I kicked off my day with a 5-mile run along with a hot and heavy chest, back & abs workout that left me feeling alive, energized… and hungry.  So I poured myself a cup of joe and made this bad boy: an egg white omelet of peppers and onions between two slices of whole wheat, extra fiber toast with roasted red pepper hummus.

Jackie and I love the mixed peppers and onions from Trader Joe’s.  They are the best tasting ones we’ve found.  They have a “just came off the grill” flavor to them.  Don’t even bother getting a generic brand at the grocery store – you’ll be disappointed.

1/2 cup Egg whites

1/4 cup chopped onions, red, green & yellow peppers

2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted

A lil’ bitta salt & pepper to taste

1 tbsp. roasted red pepper hummus

1.  Heat skillet on medium-low heat and saute up those veggies just until they’re a little warm.

2.  Turn the heat down to low and add the egg whites.  You’ll want to cook this low and slow so you don’t burn the egg whites – nothing tastes worse than that dry and burnt egg taste.. bleh!

3.  Toast up your bread.  Spread 1/2 tbsp. hummus on each slice.  When the egg whites are cooked through, assemble your sandwich and eat up!!

This is a great go-to breakfast that’s packed with protein and good carbs; perfect for an after-workout meal.  The roasted red pepper hummus really kicks this sandwich up a notch.  And now, off to whip up a delicious protini to complete my Monday morning nosh!

– Alex

P.S. Jackie says she’ll be getting “crack a-lackin” with her posts real soon!  She’s currently doing all sorts of nerdy things with her hard drive right now to get started 😉