Every Sunday we have a ritual here in the King house. We cook our chicken for the week. Yes, you CAN get sick of chicken, but I will say that if you are creative with your spices and change it up every couple of days you will learn to love chicken. THINK PROTEIN… It is is the key to weight loss for sure!
For my Go-To lunch, We keep all kinds of lettuce in our fridge at all times. We use a lot of fresh spinach, romaine, red leaf lettuce or arugula. To change up the taste of your salad, mix it up and try different greens! The seasonings we rely on most are Mrs. Dash brand seasonings.
The rule of thumb with chicken is that you need to eat at least 8 ounces since it is such a lean meat. That is A LOT of chicken, so be warned- it is a big salad! To eyeball what 8 ounces looks like, picture two decks of cards or the surface of your palms. I used to measure my chicken out (you need to measure when raw- so this is a bit challenging). I would cut it up and cook it in a little aluminum foil packet (each packet seasoning differently) and then stick each aluminum packet in a separate ziploc bag and label it so I would know what seasoning was in each one. This makes grabbing it to go really simple! Sometimes when cooking for more than one person, it may be a little harder to do. That is why I learned that as long as you are CLOSE to 8 ounces, it all comes out in the wash. I would measure for the first couple of weeks so that you get used to what a true serving size is. Once you have it down- just eyeball it and you will be fine.
Southwest Chipotle Chicken Salad:
As you can see in the photo (on the right), the southwest chipotle seasoning will give you that spicy kick and will make your salad have lots of flavor and spice. When eating the southwest salad- we will use Bolthouse Farms dressing and will usually make a homemade salsa (diced tomatoes, cilantro, red onion & diced jalepeno) and top the salad with it. Add some tomato slices, red and green pepper slices and some green onions and wallah- YUMMY spicy salad that has all the nutrition you need to get you through the day! Don’t forget to add a little Morton’s lite salt so that you can get your potassium in as well!
This recipe is also REALLY good with seasoned bison meat or seasoned steak as an alternative to the chicken when you want to change it up. It tastes like a taco salad and you will never miss the fat! Bison is also very lean, so it is considered an unlimited food so you can eat 8 ounces of it as well. Remember that as you use higher fat meat (hamburger or steak) you will lower the number of ounces you get to eat. Typical serving size for grilled steak is about 5 ounces (a little over one palm or deck of cards). You can add a couple of slices of avacado, but count that as your fat serving for the day and do not eat butter or any other fat that day. Avacados are great for you, but they do have fat.
Herb & Garlic chicken:
I usually use spinach, sliced roma tomatoes, cucumbers and chopped fuji apples in this one. I like the Bolthouse ranch or Bolthouse blue cheese dressing with this one. I love the way the fuji apples add a sweetness to the salad. The great thing with this one is that you knock out a fruit serving, a protein and two vegetables in one salad.
Lemon Pepper chicken:
I usually use arugula or romaine with this one but the toppings are pretty much the same as with the Herb & Garlic. You can add orange slices or strawberries instead of the apples and they will change the flavor of the salad. I always keep the cut tomato in a little ziploc bag and I mix it all up just before eating. I like my chicken hot so I usually microwave it on a plate for about one minute before eating. My husband likes his cold and he does not care if the tomatoes are mixed with the lettuce so whatever works for you is good!
Rosemary Chicken:
For this one I add rosemary, black pepper and Morton’s light salt to the chicken. Same toppings but you can be creative with your fruit and you can add cucumber or sliced peppers to give you more veggies.
We pack everything up in ziploc bags or containers and that way you can just grab and go all week. The key to healthy eating is preparation, so if you keep it simple and easy it will make staying on plan really easy for you! Always make sure you have all your food and snacks with you each and every day and you’ll leave nothing to chance! Remember, food is fuel! You need to eat enough and eat the right things to get your body to respond.
Hope you enjoy this one and let me know what new creative ways you find to change it up! I would love your ideas as well!
Stacie