Healthy, Tasty, Easy: Pita Chicken

Guest Blog by: Damien Riley

Recently my wife and I set out to improve our eating habits. Into my late 30’s now fun stuff like high blood pressure keeping the old waistline trim are unwittingly important issues. Though we know we need to eat healthy, busy work schedules and three kids can often lead us in the opposite direction. Plus, a big big big concern for me regarding food is this: “does it taste good?” I don’t know how most of you are, but for me taste is so important.

As a result of our family’s health quest, my lovely wife Sarah is always on the lookout for great tasting recipes that are easy to make. The one we are writing about today is called Chicken Pitas and we enjoy it often. The best things is: it is 100% free from guilt. And of course, yes, it tastes VERY good.

My wife created this recipe one day and it has made it into our permanent recipe box. Iis quick, healthy, and delicious. It is perfect for a lunch or dinner. Best of all, your heart and your waistline will thank you!

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Pita Pocket
4oz Boneless,
Skinless Chicken Breast
1/4 Sliced Bell Pepper
1/2 Large sliced Jalapeno
1 Large Clove of Garlic, diced
1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbls. Onion Flakes
1 Tbls. Olive Oil (optional)
Seasoning of your choice (sprinkled on chicken for flavor)

Directions:

1. Cut your chicken into strips, cook in a non-stick pan sprinkled with a seasoning of your choice (I used the Creole Seasoning seen in the photo which is a bit spicy).
2. In a separate pan heat the olive oil (optional) add diced garlic, sliced bell pepper, sliced jalapeno, and onion flakes. In this case I eliminated the oil. Since I like my vegetables well cooked I placed a lid over this with a touch of water, and lowered the heat allowing the vegetables to simmer and soften up.
3. Once the chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables are cooked to your liking, remove them from the heat and stir together.
4. Meanwhile, place your pita (sliced in half) in the microwave for a couple of seconds to soften it up; 5 seconds should be plenty. Add the reduced fat cheese to both halves, then equally split your chicken/ vegetable mix between the two halves.

Serve with fruit and you have a balanced meal your wife, kids (and your husband) will agree is the tastiest chicken pita ever!

This whole serving (without the olive oil or fruit) has 350 calories/8g of fat/ 39g of protein/ and 3 grams of fiber.
My wife and I hope you try this recipe. Please leave a comment for us.

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I’m a dad, teacher, author in Southern California. I keep an eye on pop culture, psychology, and inspiration all around us. I have an MA in English with an emphasis in language, writing and rhetoric. I live with my three children and lovely wife.

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Over and Over and …

I hope everyone’s Easter was great.  We had a nice gathering where everyone managed to gain more weight in one day than they had gained or lost in the last week.  That was just from the aroma.

We had the Sweet and Tangy Ham again.  It has become something of a hit with the family.  I know they will eventually tire of it but I am pleased with the response it has received.

Stuck in a rut you say, well if it’s not broken why fix it.  Don’t despair, even I, with my limited expertise in and around the kitchen will have more new recipes to share.  For now, I just want to relax and enjoy what was a nice successful meal and gathering.

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The Promise

Today is the day that we celebrate the delivered promise. It’s the day we see that death can be defeated. It is the day we see who He was.

The powers of the world threw their worst at Jesus and thought they had defeated Him. It is on this day, that we celebrate their error. We celebrate the victory of life over death, good over evil, God over Satan. We observing this battle, can now know we are redeemed and victory has been won for us.

With that perspective, even if the weather does not cooperate, it is still a beautiful day. I hope yours is and that your gatherings are full of warmth and the wonderful aromas of a family gathering.

Happy Easter!

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Sweet and Tangy

It was commented by Seriouswriter (a contributor here), sometime ago, that I should try coating a ham with a 50/50 mixture of brown sugar and mustard. Being distracted by all life has had to offer, it has taken all this time to give it try.

Last night we had some family over for dinner and I thought about this recipe idea. I made a few adjustments and whipped up the glaze (also called a mop) just before putting the ham on the BBQ. The initial review of the sauces smell and flavor was a bit lackluster by my wife, who thought the experiment should wait for a dinner without company. I, however being as stubborn as any mule within sight, went forward with the plan. I thought the sauce was perfect and loved the aroma.

The ham was a Butt half ham weighing about 9 pounds. I laid the ham on the BBQ with the cut side pointing to the side. A person could put the cut side down but I thought that would dry the ham out more. All of the other sides have been through the smoking process already and are able to withstand the heat without as much moisture running out into the flames. Since this is a fairly large piece of meat, I used an indirect cooking method. My BBQ has two burners, so I placed the ham over one burner and used the other to provide the heat. If you don’t have that option make sure you turn the meat two or three times during cooking (Not a bad idea anyway). If you are using briquettes, try to keep the pile to one side and the meat on the other. The downside of cooking such a large piece of meat is that the bottom gets the most heat through the whole cooking process. It could be a bit overdone on one side if you don’t have some way to shield it.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1/4 cup water ( just enough to dissolve to dry ingredients)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Mustard (I used a spicy deli variety)
• 1/4 tsp Cloves (ground)
• 2 Tbs Honey (optional)
• 1 tsp Garlic powder or 1/2 clove of Garlic (optional)
• 1 tsp Horseradish (optional)

In a small sauce pan bring the water to a boil and add the brown sugar and spices. After stirring these in and bringing it back to a boil add the mustard. Give it a few minutes to simmer and the mop or sauce is done. Take it and the ham to the preheated grill. Place the ham on the grill and mop down the ham with the sauce. Use a basting brush or your hand to apply the sauce (have a towel handy). Close down the lid and let it cook. Your target cooking temperature is 325 or so, although mine was more like 375 for most of the cooking time. I use a meat thermometer to gauge its progress. The internal temp should be 160 plus and on the 9 pound-er I cooked, this took 4 1/2 hours. The ham should also be mopped with sauce at least 3 times during the cooking process to keep the outside moist.

Our ham turned out very good, even my wife liked the finished product. I kept some of the mop so that it could be used as a sauce on the ham at the table. The outside does dry out a bit but the inside was juicy and tender as could be. It was a big hit. Thanks to Seriouswriter for pointing me in the right direction. It worked great.

Good luck with your next ham dinner. Let me know how you adjusted this recipe for your tastes.

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