Tuesday 8.18

Food tip: Frozen Chicken Breasts Don’t Have to Taste Crappy
Moan if you like, I use frozen chicken breasts in a great deal of my food. I know foodies are scowling in disapproval - I am used to that (hence the therapy). But why spend $5 a pound on fresh chicken breasts when you can buy 3lbs for $6? I love to shop at Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck!), but I cannot afford to do so. So let me show you how you can make a frozen chicken breast taste just as good as a fresh one.

Brining:
The secret is to brine the chicken breasts. Brining is kind of like a marinade, but it changes the texture of the chicken by redistributing the juices. This is how to do it.
1. Take home a 3 lb bag of chicken breasts and put in a large Tupperware.
2. Add a cup of vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 tbsp Herbs de Provence or Rosemary, I capful of lemon juice and 1 tsp Black Pepper.
3. Let the chicken defrost in the Tupperware for a day or two.
4. The chicken should become white and not pink. Brining takes the flavorless moisture of a chicken breast and replaces it with the yummy brine you made.
5. Drain the juice and rinse. All of the flavor is in the chicken so you cannot get rid of it now. Pat dry and add to your recipe
No one will know the difference. You could pay more but I can’t understand why if you use this method.

Fitness Tip: Balance!
I don’t mean standing on one leg, although that is a good idea and the thought makes me chuckle. But it is important that you balance both cardio and strength-training in relatively equal amounts in your routine. Strength-training works fast-twitch muscle fibers while you are working out. Cardiovascular work ,like running, works slow-twitch muscle fibers. To get a good balanced physique it is important to incorporate both of these aspects to training. If you do all cardio, you will end up with a good weight-loss, a build-up of slow-twitch muscle fibers, but a saggy physique. If you do only strength-training, your results will plateau because you have never maximized the muscle gains you could make. Furthermore, cardio helps vascular movement which can only help you in recovery times after strength exercises. Therefore, find a balance of both cardio and strength. If you don’t know how to do strength exercises, hire me.
　
Recipe: Pan-seared Chicken, with a Potato -Corn Hash
1 Lb Chicken Breast
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup white wine
1 tbsp Rosemary
2 large Yukon Gold Potatoes (diced) - use them because they are quick to cook!
1/3 cup diced fennel (just use the bulb and dice it up)or red onion if you don’t like fennel.
½ cup frozen corn
1tsp thyme
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Take the chicken breast and place in a plastic bag. ( I reuse the grocery bags because they are good for this and picking up dog poop too.) Add the herbs and flour.
Get a skillet warm with olive oil, enough to cover pan
But chicken in until brown on one side, then flip.
Remove chicken and deglaze the pan with lemon juice and a few splashes of white wine. Deglaze means just put in the pan and stir. Get those flour flakes and all the goodness and mix with white.
Place sauce on chicken breasts and rest on side.
Add a few more tbsp of olive oil. Then place rest of ingredients to pan on a high heat. Stir so potatoes brown evenly. Add a splash of water or chicken stock and cover to steam the ingredients should take about ten minutes tops. The finer you dice, the quicker it will cook.
Then place chicken, sauce over potato-corn hash. Warm accordingly and serve. One pan, less cleanup. Very yummy.