Healthy Helper: Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips

Making healthy, protein packed meals is a priority for me but sometimes despite all my planning and to-do lists the day gets away or something (or someone) throws me a curveball and starting a healthy meal completely from scratch isn't an option. This is when many will go the grease-laden drive-thru fast food route, or eat carby, snacky type foods that fill the void or skip meals causing your body to start to hold on to dear life to fat stores fearing it's not going to get it's needed fuel, not good.

Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips are a great option in these situations. The low fat, skinless, boneless chicken strips are fully cooked and ready to eat as is or add them to salads, stir-fry, fajitas, endless possibilities. They come in three delicious flavors: Grilled, Southwestern and Honey Roasted. Look for them in the refrigerated meat department of your supermarket. I recently was given an opportunity to try all three flavors and share my thoughts. I made 3 variations of Lettuce Wrap Tacos, using Romaine Lettuce as my low carb "wrap or taco" shell.

My Greek Wrap: Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips, thinly sliced red onion, cucumber, black olives, feta cheese and a dollop of Dill Greek Yogurt Dip (plain Greek yogurt, squeeze of lemon, dried dill, salt, pepper to taste)

My Southwestern Wrap: Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips Southwestern Seasoned, leftover black beans and corn, and a dollop of Avocado Yogurt Dip (equal parts plain Greek yogurt and guacamole mixed together)

My Indian Curry Wrap: Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips Honey Roasted, cashews, dehydrated apple, celery, and a dollop of Curry Yogurt Dip (plain Greek yogurt, yellow curry powder to taste, salt)

I'm still debating which one I loved more. I think the Indian Curry was especially delicious, the spice of the curry with the honey roasted grilled chicken and all the crunchy toppings. It will be on dinner rotation again early next week. These Foster Farms Refrigerated Grilled Chicken Breast Strips are a super convenient, delicious, healthy helper. I love products that help you keep your health a priority even on days "life happens".

This post is sponsored by Foster Farms. For the purposes of this post Foster Farms provided me with products used. Thanks for the yummy chicken. Want to learn more about Foster Farms products LIKE their Facebook page and tell them The World According to Eggface told you to stop by.

More Eggface Healthy Summer Salads & Cold Eats

Friday Five

A weekly round-up of tidbits, tips, products, ideas, news articles, random cool things from the weight, health, nutrition, food, fitness, weight loss surgery world...

1. Everywhere you turn lately people are chatting up cold brew coffee. Cold brewing is a no-heat brewing process. It's basically coarsely ground coffee (any you like, fully leaded, decaf, flavored, whatever) that steeps for about 20 hours in cool water. The result is a low acid (so better for those that suffer from GERD acid reflux or have stomach issues when they drink coffee) and a smoother, sweeter taste (no heat = no bitterness.) Starbucks is making it now, you can buy a bottle at Trader Joe's. A few other companies make it but it's pretty pricey. Trader Joe's bottle is $7.99, I've seen some for $12 a bottle. I am loving this 6-cup Toddy Cold Brew Coffee System.

I make a pitcher of cold brew coffee overnight, it lasts 2 weeks in the fridge, and I can make almost 20 iced coffee drinks per batch. I've already saved the price of the machine in fewer coffee shop visits. I pour about 2-3 oz of cold brew coffee over ice cubes, add milk of my choice and a few pumps of sugar free coffee flavoring (SF Torani, Davinci, those SF flavored Creamers) and... slurp.

If you don't have a Toddy system you could Google search making it home (involves cheesecloth, strainers, canning jars, not hard but not as convenient or easy to clean up.) Not a coffee lover (who are you people?! LOL) it also makes great tea. Anyway if you are looking for another low calorie drink option to stay hydrated and cool down in the summer heat, check it out.

2. Have you made these Quest Protein Bar Cookies yet? I must admit I am obsessed, because... well I just HAVE to try all the bar flavors turned into cookies. So far Strawberry Cheesecake turned cookie is my favorite with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough coming in a close second. Next up Vanilla Almond and S'mores.

I need more mouths to share them with. Oooh it would be fun to have a few support group members each make a batch to bring to a meeting and you can have a Quest Bar Cookie Swap. Everyone gets a sample of each flavor... though some (chocolate chip type ones) taste best warm and gooey from the oven. Hmmm I think the TSA might have issues if I started to travel with a toaster oven.

3. A few articles that crossed my radar this week that are worth a read...

How to Talk About Obesity
Being “fat” is the most common reason children are bullied
Great resource that shows State-specific Essential Health Benefits (EHB) and what specific obesity-related services and treatments are covered by each benchmark plan.
This article has a brief overview of some of the current FDA approved obesity treatments.

And exciting... 2 of the fitness instructors at next month's #YWM2015 Your Weight Matters National Convention are in the news: Robanne Robin who teaches our Hip Hop class was featured in a UK publication and Abby Lentz who will be sharing Yoga for Every Size and Ability is one of the cover stories in this month's Prevention magazine.

4. Advocacy made easy. The Obesity Action Coalition is asking for support on 2 important topics: Access to Care (Treat & Reduce Obesity Act TROA) and Weight Bias & Fat-Shaming (Ban the F Word Campaign) with just a couple of clicks of your mouse you can help.

5. Heads up: I've got a couple of giveaways starting soon! Both here on the blog and if you are an instagram follower of mine always be on the lookout for my Pop-Up Giveaways. They are sort of mini versions of my blog giveaways and can happen at anytime. I had a migraine that lasted almost 4 days... so you'll see a lot more posts the next few weeks as I catch up a bit. Lots of fun stuff. Check back!

New Product Alert: Foster Farms® Organic and Simply Raised Chicken

I had the opportunity to try Foster Farms® new Organic and Simply Raised fresh chicken, a new generation of products from a company that has been putting delicious chicken on our tables (and in our belly nomnomnom) since 1939.

Look for a trio of new products including: Foster Farms® Fresh & Natural, Foster Farms® Simply Raised (without antibiotics) and Foster Farms® Organic.

This new generation of fresh chicken is answering the call for antibiotic-free, organic and locally raised poultry. Based in California's Central Valley, Foster Farms operates ranches throughout California and works with more than 32 family farmers in the Pacific Northwest making them the leading producer of organic and antibiotic-free poultry on the West Coast.

I picked up a package of Foster Farms® Simply Raised Breast Fillets at my local Albertsons. There's a slightly different package look and logo...

Here's key some info from the package:

• No Antibiotics are administered, ever
• 100% vegetarian feed
• American Humane Certified
• 100% natural (minimally processed, no additives or preservatives, steroids or hormones)
• Produced with no added sodium
• Simply Raised is locally grown throughout CA, OR, and WA

But how does it taste...

These Foster Farms® Simply Raised Breast Fillets are delicious, very flavorful and juicy. I made a simple marinade (just 1/4 cup of Italian salad dressing and 1/2 lemon sliced), placed that and the chicken breasts in a gallon zipper bag and put in the fridge for at least 4 hours (up to a day.)

When you are ready to start grilling, remove the chicken breasts from the bag and discard any leftover marinade. Place the breasts on the grill and cook for about 15 minutes, flipping once. Chicken is done when juices run clear when pierced with a fork (internal temp of 165.) Remove from grill and foil for about 15 minutes before slicing.

One of the breast fillets I sliced up and turned into this great Bruschetta Chicken and Bean Salad, a perfect dinner to take with you to those 4th of July parades and firework displays or concerts in the park. That's exactly where I took mine, a free summer concert in my neighborhood park. I packed the salad up in to-go boxes, tossed a couple of bottles of water and an ice pack in my cooler bag and we got to the park just in time to watch the sunset.

This is the perfect dinner on a hot summer night, no heating up the kitchen, quick, just open a few cans and mix together.

Shelly's Bruschetta Chicken and Bean Salad

1 Foster Farms Simply Raised Chicken Breast, Grilled, Sliced
1/2 cup White Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Green Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Fresh Mozzarella Balls, halved
1/2 cup Grape Tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup Marinated Artichoke Hearts, chopped
1/2 cup Bruschetta Sauce (find it near fresh pasta in the supermarket)
1 teaspoon Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice the grilled chicken into strips. Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate till you are ready to head out.

This post is sponsored by Foster Farms, the opinions expressed are my own. For the purposes of this post and recipe development Foster Farms provided me with products used. Thanks for the yummy chicken. Want to learn more about Foster Farms LIKE their Facebook page and tell them The World According to Eggface told you to stop by.

Hope you enjoy the salad on your next outing.

Healthy Snacks: Quest Protein Bar Cookies

A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand ;) Want cookies but still want to stick to your health and weight goals... here's some cookies for you. 8 of them. I have 2 when I want a little something sweet because sometimes you just want an ooey, gooey, warm cookie straight from the oven...

1 Quest Bar cut into 8 pieces.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 325 for 3 minutes. Flatten slightly with a spatula (if you want to add a nut now is the time just press one on top) and bake for 3 more minutes.

Nom nom nom in 6 minutes you have crispy edged, warm, chewy, gooey cookies. Want the nutritional stats for each cookie: Divide Quest bar wrapper stats into 8. Way better portion control then eating the bars as is.

Now this is a fun recipe but you know if cookies were your pre weight loss surgery demon (a food trigger or something you didn't have control over) you might want to take a pass on this one. I eat a hunk of a protein bar when I want a little something sweet, so this works for me and it's a great way to breathe life back into a Quest Bar that has been hanging around the house too long. I often have a partial bar that once opened becomes sort of rock-like... this a great way to save it from the trash bin.

If you hang at a coffee shop with a pal and chit chat and the bakery case calls to you this is a great alternative to have in your pocketbook. After they cool drop a couple in a snack size baggie and you'll always have a little something sweet in your bag of tricks.

Here's an online source (all the flavors) for the bars if you can't find them in your 'hood. Any flavor will work so far my favorites have been Cookies & Cream, S'mores, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Vanilla Almond.