Saturday, August 28, 2010

Moroccan and Chicken and Almond Couscous...Oh My!

I have a correction to make. I made a comment the other day on my Almond Milk post that I found out was wrong. I had said 1lb of almonds made 2 batches of almond milk. I misspoke. I found out yesterday that it will in fact make 3 batches of almond milk. Which makes making my own almond milk even more cheap than buying it. Yay. And it so easy and fun to do.

After dropping 3ft off at school yesterday, I came home and changed clothes and Mr. Grumpybutt and I went for my "run". I don't know, but those three minute sprints seem harder. I'm wondering now if it's because I'm pushing weight instead of just running on my own. Mr. Grumpybutt's stroller is heavy and he's no slouch himself. My legs feel more worked out and I struggled more than I had before.

Moroccan Chicken and Almond Couscous w/ zucchini


I toyed around with a Moroccan Chicken and Almond Couscous recipe yesterday. It gave me something else to use my almond meal in. And it turned out really good! Even my picky eater husband (yeah, 3ft comes by it naturally) liked it. Except for he had his with green beans because both the boys don't have the sense to love delicious zucchini like I do.

I got the base recipe off of Cooking Light but I didn't have some of the ingredients and I don't like the flavor of some of the others. So I toyed around with it and came up with something that had less calories and tasted wonderful.

Ingredients

Moroccan Chicken

1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 chicken breasts cut into halves
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cups and 2 TBS fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon basil

Almond Couscous


3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice Seasoning
3/4 cup uncooked couscous
2 tablespoon ground almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare chicken, combine first 9 ingredients in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour mixture. Reserve remaining flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on one side. Turn chicken; remove skillet from heat. Combine reserved flour mixture and chopped onions; add to skillet. Stir in broth.

Pour skillet into a baking dish and bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

Remove chicken from baking dish and pour the rest into a skillet skillet. Place skillet over medium heat; stir in basil and cook 5 minutes. Return chicken to pan. Cover; remove pan from heat.

To prepare couscous, combine 3/4 cup broth, water, 1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice Seasoning in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in almonds. Serve with chicken breast and sauce.

Number of Servings: 4

Calories - 270
Fat - 5
Carbs - 22
Fiber - 2
Protein - 31.6

--Previous Day Tracking --

Exercise - C25K and walking.

Healthy Lifestyle - Day 81

Only Water - Day 76

Total Pounds Lost - 31

Meals:
Breakfast - bowl of FiberOne Honey Clusters w/ homemade Almond Milk and Banana Almond Muffin
Lunch - Cajun Chicken Sandwich w/ avocado and a pickle spear
Mid-Afternoon Snack - FiberOne Granola Bar and 1/2 peanut butter banana sandwich
Dinner - Moroccan Chicken and Almond Couscous

Total Day Calories - 1163

1 comment:

Heather said...

Sounds delicious! And now, I must go hunt to find your almond milk post!