Crunchy Garlic Chicken

Well, since Christmas I have had a new found determination to eat healthier and lose weight. Everyone has something that works best for them and I have definitely found what works for me. Its called Calorie Count! It is a website that helps you decide how much you should lose and sets goals with you to lose it in a certain amount of time. You enter your calories that you have eaten in a day and also the calories you have burned in a day. It is really nice because it has almost every food imaginable already in its system so if you have no idea how many calories are in something you can just type it in and figure it out!

This site has helped me so much because I never realized how many calories I take in in one day! I snack way too much and eat way too many useless calories. It has really made me aware of what I am putting in my mouth and I make a conscious effort to eat foods that are low in calories and also filling. I eat 1500 calories in a day (which when I first started I thought that I would be starving all day long) and I am shocked that at the end of the day I quite often have 200-500 calories left that I use to have a snack. I don't know about you, but if I tell myself I can't have any treats or snacks that is all I think about all day long :) I love Calorie Count because I can still have my snack if I am wise during the day with my calories. I am proud to say that I have lost ten pounds since Dec. 26th!! Wahoo! :) If you are interested the website is caloriecount.about.com.

So, since I started this I have been on a search for healthy, low calorie, and still yummy foods. I found this Cruncy Garlic Chicken in a Betty Crocker cookbook and it was a hit! I made it for Rick, Daci, Sophie and I (Fred and Penny were out of town) and everyone loved it! The chicken is only 205 calories and I made green beans and mashed potatoes as a side. Now, the potatoes are SCRUMPTIOUS (it is the BYU catering recipe) but definitely NOT healthy :) I thought that it would be okay to have them since the chicken is so low-calorie. I will post the potato recipe below but just keep in mind that they probably shouldn't be on this "healthy blog" :) I will definitely be making the chicken again, everyone liked it :)

Crunchy Garlic Chicken:
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 cups cornflakes cereal, crushed into one cup
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp paprika
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (* I only had enough "juice" for 5 breasts)
2 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Heat oven to 425
2. Mix 2 Tbsp butter, the milk, 1 tbsp parsley, salt and garlic powder. Mix cornflakes, 3 tbsp parsley and paprika. Dip chicken into milk mixture, then coat lightly and evenly with cornflakes mixture. Place in pan and drizzle with 2 tbsp butter
3. Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes

1 serving is 205 calories

Fabulous Mashed Potatoes (BYU recipe)
4 large potatoes
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
up to 1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

I calculated that one heaping serving is around 250 calories

Enjoy!