Feta Chicken with Vegetables

The other day I was scrolling through my Fitness & Feta facebook page‘s news feed, when a link from Self Magazine caught my eye:  “A SELF facebook fan asked us to suggest some healthy chicken recipes. Here are some of our favorites!”  Self then shared this link.

Tim and I decided to give one of these recipes a go for a post-bootcamp dinner last night.  Naturally, I wanted to try the Feta Chicken with Vegetables.  While we were preparing dinner, I enjoyed a glass of Black Swan Riesling.  Much needed after my busy week!  And I “accidentally” ate half of an apple cider donut, whoops.  Tim had a Shipyard Pumpkin and sampled one of Slesh’s margaritas, the next drink she plans on writing about in A Twist and a Shake.

But back to the feta chicken.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and peeled <–I’m not really sure what peeling asparagus entails?  Can anyone tell me?  We just trimmed them like we normally do
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 whole bone-in, skinless chicken breasts (about 12 oz each), split crosswise
• 1 medium Spanish onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 8 plum tomatoes, quartered <— We substituted regular tomatoes
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup crumbled lowfat feta
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 4 whole-wheat pitas, warmed

Can you see Slesh blogging away in the corner amongst our mess?

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°.
2. Blanch asparagus in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain stalks and plunge in a bowl of ice water. Drain again and pat dry; set aside.
3. Heat oil in a 6 to 8 qt heavy-bottomed ovenproof pot over medium-high heat.
4. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pot. Cover and cook, turning once, until slightly brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
5. Stir in onion and garlic; replace lid and cook until soft, 4 minutes.
6. Stir in tomatoes and eggplant. Replace lid, place pot in oven and cook until eggplant is tender, about 18 minutes.
7. Remove pot from oven and stir in asparagus and spinach; sprinkle with feta. Replace lid and let rest 15 minutes.
8. Stir in oregano and season with salt and pepper. Serve with pitas.

One thing I need to get better at is planning my recipes ahead of time and preparing the ingredients ahead of time.  Last night after bootcamp ended at 7, I still had to go to the grocery store for some of these ingredients, and chop them all up.  By the time we ate dinner it was late!  So I think that will be a goal of mine over the next couple of weeks.

This dinner was worth it though!  Tasted so good.  All that juice from cooking the veggies in the oven gave everything so much flavor.

This recipe served 4, so I’m pumped because I have a ton of chicken and veggies left over for today.

Some nutritional information from the website:  497 calories per serving, 7.9 g fat (1.3 g saturated), 67.5 g carbs, 16.1 g fiber, 47.1 g protein.

Yum!!

Question of the Day:  Do you have any tips or advice on how to plan ahead for meals?  What works for you?

Bootcamp: Session 3, Class 7

Last night was the last bootcamp of this session!  I’m a little sad about it because this was my favorite session yet, but also secretly a little excited because now:

• I get my Mondays and Thursdays back.  2 freed up nights in my week is HUGE!
• It’s starting to get COLD!
• It’s also starting to get dark so early now.  Probably not too safe to be conducting class in pitch blackness!

I’ll miss it in the winter though 😦

Here’s the last class workout, which is a little bit of everything.  I tried to squeeze in everything possible that I didn’t do in any of the previous weeks into the last class.

Warmup

• 30 seconds mountain climbers
• 30 seconds jumping jacks
• 30 seconds high knees
• 30 seconds side to side lunges
• 1 jogging lap around the “square” (four cones I set up)
• Stretch upper body
• Repeat whole set through, and then stretch lower body

Combination 1

• Traveling squats from one cone to the other.  Squat, stepping to the side, then bring the other foot in and do a little jump in between as you go right into the next squat.
• At the end, hold the squat until everyone back, then pulse 10 times.
• Repeat back to the starting side.

Combination 2

• Jumping jacks, into alternating jack & jab punches
• Hold the jabs on one side, 30 seconds
• Shuffle across field, still jabbing
• Repeat jack & jab combo
• Hold the jabs on the other side, 30 seconds
• Shuffle back across the field, still jabbing

Combination 3

• Alternating front kicks – 1 minute
• Traveling alternating front kicks across the field
• Hold the alternating front kicks – 1 minute
• Traveling alternating front kicks back across the field
• Roundhouse kick on the right – 1 minute
• Roundhouse kick on the left – 1 minute

Cardio
We tried Tabata Intervals last night!!  Tabata intervals consist of 20 seconds of work/high intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest/low intensity, typically performed in sets of 8 intervals (4 minutes). These are a killer, high intensity workout great for cranking your routine up a bit!  We did 20 seconds of all out sprinting, followed by 10 seconds of a light jog.  I also gave the option if it got too tough to do a 20 second run followed by 10 second walk.

Combination 4

• 1 minute of alternating walking lunges
• 30 seconds of right side lunges
• 30 seconds of left side lunges
• 30 seconds of jump rope
• 10 tuck jumps
• Standing Abs:  Lean to the left, lean to the right, lean front, lean back
• Standing Abs:  Twist side to side – 1 minute

Cardio
A second Tabata Interval.  We did 20 seconds of high knees fast, followed by 10 seconds of the lower impact version of knee raises.

Combination 5

• Bicep Curls.  10 regular curls, 10 pulses.  10 curls with palms out to the side, 10 pulses.  10 hammer curls with palms facing in to the body, 10 pulses.
• Plank walks:  Starting in a plank position, bring right forearm down to the ground, then left, then back up to the right hand, then back up to the left.  Repeat starting with the left forearm.  We did these for 1 minute.
• Mountain Climbers:  This time with a double knee, so the right knee comes in for a double pulse, then the left.  Did these for 1 minute.

Cardio
Lap around the field

Combination 6

• Throw arms down (temper tantrum move) then pull the knee back in.  For 1 minute.
• 10 pushups
• 10 hand taps, starting in a plank
• 100 pilates hand pulses
• Reverse bridge march
• Side Plank twist into regular plank – 8 on each side
• Finish with regular plank, lifting each leg for ten seconds, rolling front and back for ten seconds, and finishing for the last ten seconds

Cooldown/Stretch

Question of the Day:  For those bootcampers — what was your favorite drill or exercise we ever did this session?  For those who didn’t take class, what sounded interesting to you from my posts?  Any suggestions (anyone) for things to do next time around?

Great season guys!!