evil treadmill

Treadmills really are evil. I came to this conclusion at 4:50 am this morning. They are evil, horrible, dangerous things! I knew last night when I jumped into bed that I didn’t push the treadmill back far enough into the corner. Sure enough I climbed out of bed this morning and ran my whole right foot right into the damn thing. I dropped to the floor seeing stars and profanity flowing from my mouth. My poor husband jumped out of bed from a dead sleep thinking I broke a hip or was having a hearth attack. It took me a few minutes before I could even find the strength the get up and crawl back into bed. I swear. You would have thought it was Monday morning, not Friday morning. Wearing socks to work today, just socks, hurts to badly to put any shoes on. LOL!

I would have to say yesterday was a B+ day. I got in a 30 minute walk at lunch and then another 45 minutes walking with my husband after work. Ate great until I started cooking dinner and then a little too much snacking on the mini chocolate rice cakes and almond butter. Normally I am good by just making a serving size plate so I know how much I am eating, but not yesterday. Naughty, naughty Kate.

Back to dinner. This is one of my family’s favorite meals and so easy to make! Almond Crusted Chicken Fingers. They taste just like fried chicken but, only better!

From EatingWell: August/September 2005, The EatingWell Healthy in a Hurry Cookbook (2006)
Makes 4 servings Active Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes


Ingredients
• Canola oil cooking spray
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 pound chicken tenders

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 475°F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Set a wire rack on the baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.
2. Place almonds, flour, paprika, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt and pepper in a food processor; process until the almonds are finely chopped and the paprika is mixed throughout, about 1 minute. With the motor running, drizzle in oil; process until combined. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish.
3. Whisk egg whites in a second shallow dish. Add chicken tenders and turn to coat. Transfer each tender to the almond mixture; turn to coat evenly. (Discard any remaining egg white and almond mixture.) Place the tenders on the prepared rack and coat with cooking spray; turn and spray the other side.
4. Bake the chicken fingers until golden brown, crispy and no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.

Nutrition
Per serving : 174 Calories; 4 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 66 mg Cholesterol; 4 g Carbohydrates; 27 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 254 mg Sodium; 76 mg Potassium

I am hoping that my foot is feeling well enough to hop on the treadmill today after work. My husband and I also talked about going out for a 6-7 mile walk tomorrow morning. Looking forward to the weekend. My goal right now is just to stay healthy and keep working out before going on vacation during spring break. Really need to fit into my shorts that week!! Also thinking about hitting the farmers market and Trader Joe’s to do some shopping. I have been a little lazy with my lunches at work the last two weeks and have been eating a lot of Amy’s soups and I’m not crazy about all of that sodium. Maybe I can come up with some new fresh ideas. I have been eating lots of veggie salads, but need to pump them up a little bit I think.

Have a healthy weekend!