Diet ~ Exercise ~ Diet ~ Exercise !!!

[Marilyn]

Diana, thank you for the recipe. I made it tonight and it was a HIT!!! Like many of you, I also work full time with a 40 minute commute, so here's how it worked. We had chicken breasts in the freezer so got them out this morning and my oldest daughter made sure they thawed safely. At lunch picked up the other ingredients. Instead of rice I cooked whole wheat angel hair pasta. So we had your dish, the pasta and a salad. Hubby really liked it. I put it in the oven before leaving for the gym. When I got home, just had to toss on the stuffing and let it finish while I cooked the pasta (had boiled the water while getting ready for the gym, so just had to reheat to boiling) and made the salad. (BTW, I'm giving this detail to help others with ideas, not to show how together I am. We usually eat cereal for supper, eat out or just fend for yourself from whatever is available in the frig or pantry.)

It cooked a little longer than your recipe said, but it turned out fine. I cooked it in a Pampered Chef stoneware rectangular baking dish which helps hold in the moisture.

By the way, Mexican food lovers, go for the Chicken Chalupas or a fish dish when you are in a Mexican restaurant. Many of the restaurants around here offer Chicken & Spinach with grilled veggies, Mexican rice & guacamole. I eat the chicken, veggies and gaucamole and just a little bit of the rice. It's not super low cal, but much better than enchiladas, refried beans and rice. If you order something with refried beans on the plate, they will often substitute charro beans which are much lower in fat. You still get Mexican flavor without as many of the calories. There is a reason that San Antonio, TX is one of the fattest cities in the nation. It was #1 a couple of years ago.

BTW, I'm not a nutritionist by any means, just fairly well read on the subject. My genetic background is soooo bad. No diabetes (except one uncle), but lots of heart disease, cancer, strokes & alzheimers in the family tree, so I really try to keep up with what is heathy. I was around 12 when my father had his first heart attack, so Mother cooked the same food for all of us, and we were on what was considered heart healthy at the time.

I really want a cardio workup done to find out how I'm doing, but when I mentioned it to my doctor, he laughed at me and ask if I was afraid of a heart attack. I said yes, and he patted my shoulder. I know I don't look like someone who is headed for one, but neither did my father. The doctors were very surprized when he had his. I probably should change doctors.