Delicious Chicken Baked Sweet Potatoes

Trying new foods is something I have always loved to do. When I first saw a version of this recipe, I was super excited to try it out asap! This is a great mix up with two staples in our household. After making this yummy meal several times, I finally tweaked my recipe enough to finally post it. This meal will have everyone drooling over dinner! 

Chicken Baked Sweet Potatoes 

Makes 6 servings

Total time to make: 1.5 hours

What you need:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts (roughly 2 breasts)

3 medium sweet potatoes

1/4 cup EV olive oil

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (I used 1 drop of Lime essential oil too)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

2 cups (1/2 of 10oz bag) baby spinach

5 oz. colby jack cheese, shredded (you can also use a sharp or mild cheddar)

salt & pepper, to taste

chopped cilantro, for garnish

7 oz. non-fat plain Greek yogurt, for serving

*Optional* (I do NOT add this just to please everyone in my house)

3 whole chipotle peppers, minced

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350° 
2. Wash your sweet potatoes and poke with a fork all over. Place in oven for 50-60 minutes (depending on size of potatoes) or until tender.
3. Place chicken in an oven safe dish and coat with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt & pepper as desired. Put in oven with potatoes and bake for 25 minutes.
4. Once chicken has cooled, shred with a fork, set aside and keep warm.
5. After sweet potatoes are cooked, cut in half and let cool for 6-8 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, olive oil, garlic, lime juice, oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper, set aside. *If using peppers, add them here*
7. Next, heat a skillet to medium heat and wilt the spinach. Once wilted, mix spinach with shredded chicken. Set aside and keep warm.
8. Turn oven up to 400°. Scoop potato out of the peel (leaving just enough to ensure it stands on its own) and place skins on a baking sheet. Brush the skins with the spicy sauce and bake for 5-10 minutes checking occasionally for crispy skins.
9. Meanwhile, mix the chicken and spinach mixture with the remaining spicy sauce and 1/2 of the sweet potato insides. Mix thoroughly.
10. Remove skins from oven and stuff with potato & chicken mixture. Top with shredded cheese. 
11. Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and Greek yogurt, if desired.

Y'all! This meal is perfect if you're looking to add something new to your chicken meals. To make this more kid friendly, I reserve just a little bit of the shredded chicken and spinach mixture before adding the spicy sauce. Take that and mix with some of the remaining sweet potato mixture. My son loves this meal! Depending on how sweet the potato tastes, I might add just a pinch of honey Greek yogurt to give just a little bit of flavor. We love the Greek Gods brand. This will sweeten the potato without having to add brown sugar. Keep in mind what your own children eat. If you know they won't eat Greek yogurt, then I would just add brown sugar. 

I hope your family enjoys this meal as much as ours! Please let me know if you make it and how it turns out!! :)

Essentially,

Andrea 

Food For Days

Over the past few weeks I have been sharing my new love of food with those who follow me on social media. Several of you have asked for recipes I am using and if I was following a meal plan. I do plan to start sharing my recipes. But I wanted to start with what program I'm using. First let me start by saying that I LOVE FOOD. I have no fear when it comes to food and will always try something new if I am afforded the opportunity! I can sit down with a whole container of freshly ground honey roasted peanut butter and a stack of honeycrisp apples and empty the whole container of peanut butter without feeling an ounce of guilt! Second, I have been trying to eat cleaner. It is (almost) always my goal, but an occasional trip back to East Tennessee makes me weak at the knees, or maybe it's the eyes and belly!


For those who know the East TN area, Pal's Sudden Service is a small fast food chain that has the best frenchie fries in all of fast food! Oh, and their sweet tea or even half and half is like tasting a sip of heaven in a cup. Add some Razzie or Peachy flavor and you've just created perfection! I probably gain 5 pounds every trip I make home just because of this place! Plus the fact that they built one in my hometown does not help the addiction! Okay, getting back on track.

I have been following the 21 Day Fix program by Beachbody. It is a great exercise and eating program that gives you seven 30 minute workouts, one for each day. Then you repeat them each week for 21 days. The eating part of the program is vital-and the hardest in my opinion! It teaches you how to have healthy portions of all food groups based on your needs of gaining or losing weight. In my case, I'm not necessarily wanting to lose weight as much as I am needing to tone my muscles. Regardless of the results you want to achieve, there is a portion control container system that helps you measure out your foods. I will admit that I was quite confused and intimidated by this container system at first! Once you figure out how it works, you can make a meal without them in your head!

Below is what my container system looks like. Red=Protein, Purple=Fruits, Green=Veggies, Yellow=Carbs, Blue=Healthy Fats, and Orange=Seeds & Dressings. 

Most of my recipes follow this meal plan structure, but don't feel like this is something you have to do. I use it to help keep myself in line with what my current fitness goals are.  And right now, my fitness goal is "Fit In This Dress for Military Ball!" My husband's unit is having their Military Ball next month, and I want to rock my dress! If you don't want to follow the structure you can still eat these meals without measuring the portions. These recipes are fairly simple to make. Nothing too complex and time consuming, I promise! Cause ain't nobody got time for that! (Insert cheesy laugh).







Here are just a few of my favorite recipes that I've incorporated into my routine. I can admit that I am the world's worst at finding a recipe I like and running it into the ground. When we came back to Texas a few months ago, I made it a goal to not repeat meals over and over. Since then, I have forced myself to venture out and find new recipes and experiment to find new ways to cook foods. If you're unsure of where to get started, then try Pinterest. You can always find plenty of new food recipes there and also Google it! My mother, a nurse, has always told me that if I didn't know how to do something or what something is to look it up. It helps you to learn something you didn't know! I will start with a specific food and search for recipes with this food and go from there. Once I get all the recipes written down and ready, I will be sure to post them!

Essentially,

Andrea