Clean Eats-Oven Baked Fajitas

So, I am finally in the place where I am ready to commit to 80% clean eating. I know 80% sounds like I am short changing myself, but come on! I am human and I still love food: sweets, chips, even McDonald's. And really, if you think about it, cheating only 20% of the time isn't very much.

Anyway, last week I started an AMAZING game-changing program: The 21 Day Fix. What it is is a 21 day plan with 30 minute workouts everyday, and an easy to follow eating plan. And when I say easy to follow, I mean it.

A little background on me: I am not good at dieting. I've tried counting calories, I've tried weight watchers, I've tried eliminating sugar completely out of my diet, basically I've tried all the healthy ways to lose weight and I could stick to none of them. With My Fitness Pal, inputting food wasn't working to count calories. It overwhelmed me and I would cheat far too often. Weight Watchers, same thing. Trying to look up the calorie content or points of a food wasn't easy in my brain, so I failed. I know so many people that have had success on these programs so I am not AT ALL saying they are wrong and my way is the only way. I am just saying they didn't work for me.

But the 21 Day Fix Plan does. There are color coded containers (green, red, purple, yellow, blue, and orange) and you have foods you can eat from those categories. Depending on your weight depends on how much you need to consume. I don't have to count my calories, I just have to pay attention to my portions and how much I get and its EASY!! I feel satisfied with the foods I am eating.

Anyway, to get to the point of my blog, I made the best 21 Day Fix approved dinner tonight: Oven Baked Fajitas!! I LOVE fajitas and this was easy, clean, and delicious. So, without further ado, here it is.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless chicken; cut into strips
• 2 Tbs EVOO (Sam made fun of me when I had to look up what on earth this was! For those of you like me, its extra virgin olive oil! :) )
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 4 diced plum tomatoes
• 6 oz canned diced tomatoes - no salt added
• 1 small can of diced green chilies
• 1 medium onion; sliced
• 1 large bell pepper (red, green, yellow)
• Mexican Blend Cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the veggies and chicken in strips.
3. Place chicken strips in a greased 13x9 baking dish.
4. In a small bowl, combine oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.
5. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.
6. Mix tomatoes and green chilies in a bowl. 
7. Add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.
8. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. (Cheese can be added within the last several minutes of cooking)

I omitted the cheese since I don't typically eat cheese with my fajitas and added some avocado as well! Seriously, I had to hold back from eating too much!! Also, as you can see, I had flour tortillas, which aren't 21 Day Fix approved, but lets face it. I hate wheat tortillas and as the cool teens say, YOLO right? I still stuck within my allotted carbs for the day. So this meal for me was 1 red (protein) 1 green (veggies) 2 yellow (carbs) and 1 blue (healthy fats.)

You won't regret this meal. Try it and let me know what you think!!

Madalyn Marie: 18 Months

Last month, (our month from Hell) Madalyn turned a year and a half. I never got around to blogging about it because of said month from Hell. (more on that later...) But better late than never right?

• Madalyn has one cute personality. She loves to give kisses. She will try her hardest to aim at the mouth. Its adorable. She also gives the best tightest hugs. She loves to laugh and cuddle She also has one fiery temper. She often throws herself down on the ground in anger. She has also been known to wag her finger at you and yell if you make her mad, and by make her mad I mean things like accidentally bumping her over or taking something away from her she shouldn't have.
  
• She broke her arm on February 6th by climbing on my bed and falling off. Worst. Thing. Ever. But, she adjusted well and was the cutest cast-wearing baby in the world!! (And she got it off yesterday, March 11)
• She loves to sing The Little Mermaid, and it is one of the sweetest sounds in the world. 
  
• We are weaning her off the binky. We still give it to her at nap/bed time (or when she does something scary like get a cast on/off) but every time she wakes up, she says "bye bye" to it (actually, she doesn't say bye bye, she waives at it, but you get the point) and drops it in her crib. However, she will often sneak it out of her crib and come out of her room with a huge binky grin on her face. Needless to say, I now put it in the drawer when its not sleep time. 
• Madalyn can't talk much, but she is great at communicating with me what she wants. She can sign "more" and "milk", she points at herself and then points at something she wants, she nods yes or shakes her head no when I ask her if she wants something, or she will bring me a book or something else she wants to play with and I know I need to help her with it.
  
• Words she can say: "Uh-mmm" (Uh-oh) "Yaaaa!!!" (like when she gets super excited) "Baa!" (bye) "duuu" (done) "eh-eh" (woof woof) "mama" "dada" and she whispers "saaa" for soft. But if I ever try to get her to say these words, she will shake her head no. Things need to be on her own terms!!
  
• Things she loves: having daddy jump her high on the bed, playing with her sisters magic clip dolls...or really anything Abby is playing with, walking around holding Abbys hand, singing, dancing, (mostly twirls and jumps) playing dress up, her care bears, being rocked to sleep, books, watching Curious George, playing outside whether its at the park or in our front yard, and bath time, until it comes time to wash her hair. 
  

Oh my Madalyn Marie!! I love you and your spunky, stubborn, adorable attitude. You make mommy, daddy, and sister all very happy. I love you my little human!!