When You should Go Running

ALWAYS. When you are sad, lonely, upset, frustrated, happy, calm, fired up, tired, weak, strong....You get the point right? ALWAYS.

Coconut Chicken Salad, YUM!!!

Happy Spring everyone!!

I know I have been MIA but I thought this post would make up for my absence ;) ha

Anyway, I wanted to make something really fresh, healthy and light to kick of the springtime because the world is blooming and moods start lightening up and you just always feel better as spring and summer start setting in so I found a recipe that is absolutely delightful. Definitely a new favorite of mine and my room mate's!! I found it here , but I will also put the recipe down below for your connivence!! But seriously, Skinnytaste is my new best friend when it comes to meals that are fabulously healthy so you should check out their whole website too!

Okay here is the recipe:

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes 
Servings: 3 • Serving Size: salad with 2 chicken tenders • Points: 8 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 397.6 • Fat: 11.0 g • Protein: 26.8 g • Carb: 32.5 g • Fiber: 4.4 g • Sugar:10 

• 6 (about 12 oz) chicken tenderloins
• 6 tbsp shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp crushed cornflake crumbs
• 1/3 cup egg substitute or egg whites
• pinch salt
• olive oil spray

• 6 cups mixed baby greens
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1 large tomato, sliced
• 1 small cucumber, sliced

Vinaigrette

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp white vinegar (balsamic would work too)
• 2 tsp dijon mustard

Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients; set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine coconut flakes, bread crumbs, cornflake crumbs and salt in a bowl. Put egg whites or egg beaters in another bowl.

Lightly season chicken with salt. Dip the chicken in the egg, then in the coconut crumb mixture. Place chicken on a cookie sheet lined with parchment for easy cleanup. Lightly spray with olive oil spray and bake for 30 minutes turning halfway, or until chicken is cooked through.

Place 2 cups baby greens on each plate. Divide carrots, cucumber, tomato evenly between each plate. When chicken is ready slice on the diagonal and place on top of greens. Heat dressing in the microwave a few seconds and divide equally between each salad; a little over 1 tbsp each.

Wait.....It's Coming!!

So I know that not much has been happening on this blog for a couple of months. Yes, I know I made it and then basically ditched it but you have to understand, I am super busy right now and being back at home I haven't had to cook a lot so I promise that I won't leave this blog sitting here much later but there is FANTASTIC stuff coming soon so you just need to be patient a little bit longer:) I promise. So stay tuned, you're going to LOVE what is coming your way!!

Quinoa Winter Salad

So I have been on a search for recipes that use Quinoa because It is my runner up for favorite grain right after Brown Rice. And being vegetarian, I am on the look out for filling and very nutrient rich meals and this salad is one that will make your tummy smile. It is really easy and takes about 15 min to make. It is a new favorite recipe of mine.

I was so excited that when it was done I taste-tested it and I couldn't stop eating it!! I ate it all before I could snap a pic, but luckily the site I found the recipe I found it on had one!! Doesn't it look spectacular??

Also, it was so good I just had to share the recipe with all my family, friends, and fans :) So here it is:

Quinoa Winter salad

1. Toast almonds 4 to 5 minutes in dry skillet or toaster oven, or until pale brown and fragrant, stirring often.
2. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in medium saucepan. Add quinoa and salt, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes, or until tender and almost all water is absorbed. Drain, then transfer to large bowl. Toss with apricots and raisins.
3. Whisk together orange juice, shallot, parsley, cilantro, mint, orange zest, cumin, and coriander. Whisk in oil. Pour dressing over quinoa, and toss to coat. Garnish with orange slices and toasted almonds.

ingredient list

Serves 4

• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup dried apricots, diced into small pieces
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 shallot, finely chopped (2 Tbs.)
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 Tbs. chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
• 1 Tbs. grated orange zest
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 oranges, peels sliced off and sections cut out

A Sweet Healthy Treat!

I am so excited to have a blog all about my discovery with food and I thought I would start with a treat in celebration of the birth of this blog!

Now I have a confession, I had an undeniable craving for ice cream, and when trying to turn my eating habits around, it was quite the struggle with that craving lurking around every corner. So, I did some digging and some how walked upon a new delicious treat that is extremely healthy with no sugar, fat, or any other naughty ingredient that was in my old favorite treat. My discovery was in a food that I use 2-3 times a day! Secret food? Bananas!

You read right! Bananas is my new love! But not just any ordinary banana. No, this treat is in frozen bananas! Apparently, if you slice up a bunch of bananas and freeze them until solid you can blend them in a magic bullet like I have or in a regular blender or food processor and it becomes a cool, smooth, naturally sweet treat! And trust me, I no longer crave ice cream after i tried this! The best part is that you know exactly what you are putting into your body and you will feel much better about eating this than you ever will with ice cream, frozen yogurt, custard or any other frozen treat.

Here is the end product!

Also, you can add peanut butter/almond butter (if you want to be slightly naughty) or honey/agave. All flavors I have tried and they are all really good but I LOVE bananas so I like the plain the best.

Hope you try it out and experiment with all different flavors and add-ins and let me know what your favorite flavor is!

~Healthy eating~

Welcome!

Welcome to part II of my blog system! This part is devoted to my ever growing love for healthy food! My journey to this point in time, where i realized that I needed two blogs to sort out my life, and one where I could share my documented love for food was actually a pretty long and windy road and this is the story condensed:

As long as I can remember my parents have always taught me and my siblings that it is important to be healthy and to be wise with what we eat. But, as a kid I didn't take their lessons very seriously and as I grew up I didn't have a solid grasp on health. Also, I wasn't all that great at sports and everyone around me knew it too and so I was very discouraged from every kind of sport including running, aerobic exercise, etc. because I thought I was bad and couldn't do it. Know I realize that the perspective I had then was totally and completely WRONG! So now I am reversing and revising those thoughts and, eating healthy is one of the first acts I started in my transformation.

So, I wanted to start a blog, that would help show people that were just like me, that eating healthy can be easy, fun, and that they can do it too! When I first started looking for healthier ways of living, it was difficult to know exactly what I was doing, hence The Food Scientist Blog! This blog is to help those in need of guidance when they don't know where to turn, just like me when I first started out. But it is also for those who have been healthy for their entire life. My goal in this is to help inform as well as share recipes and photos of the food that I make and love. I wish that with every viewer, they come away wanting to come back!

Happy Food Journey to Us All!

--The crazy-excited-food-scientist Alyssa!!