Maple-Mustard Glazed Chicken
Recipe courtesy of Lucky13Fitness member Caroline F.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.
Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat.
Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Add chicken to pan; sauté 2 minutes on each side or until browned.
Remove chicken from pan. Add broth, syrup, thyme, and garlic to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.
Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add vinegar and mustard; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Return chicken to pan, and spoon mustard mixture over chicken.
Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until the chicken is done.
Remove chicken from pan; let stand 5 minutes.
Place pan over medium heat; cook mustard mixture 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy, stirring frequently. Serve with chicken.

*For the roasted veggies pictured:
Cut parsnips and carrots, sprinkle with a little olive oil, garlic, and pepper, and put them at 425 until they are nice and roasted. You can also add brussel sprouts and broccoli.



Michelle Densmore, CPT, LCSW is the owner of Lucky13Fitness, a personal training and fitness coaching company.  Michelle uses her education and expertise in both the physical and mental health fields to help her clients reach their goals through behavior change.  Michelle believes that "Training the Brain" is the key to change in any aspect of life.  When she’s not training clients, running Bootcamp or teaching a TRX class, Michelle can be found training herself for a road race or triathlon.  She loves to run, lift heavy things, travel, and spend time with her family.  Michelle can be contacted at: [email protected].

​Egg Muffins: The Simple & Delicious “anytime” food!

I talk with clients all the time about the importance of eating breakfast.  It quite literally gets your body out of “sleep mode” and revs your metabolism.  In other words: you start burning more fat and calories when you eat something healthy right after waking up!!!

Eggs are one of my favorite breakfast foods, and Egg Muffins are a great way to prepare a whole week’s worth of breakfast ahead of time.  
They’re also super easy to transport, if you are on the go.  

Lastly, because of their portability, they don't need to be limited to a breakfast item.  You can enjoy them anytime of day!

Here’s the quick and easy recipe:

STEP 1:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 1 muffin tray with muffin liners.

STEP 2:
Mix 1 dozen eggs in a bowl with your choice of mix-ins.  This is where you can get creative, use what’s leftover in your fridge, or be specific for those picky eaters out there!  

In this recipe I used: chopped onion & baby spinach…both raw.

*If you want to add meat [sausage, turkey, etc] , be sure to finely chop it and cook ahead of time.

Add salt/pepper to taste

STEP 3:
Pour egg mixture into each muffin tin.  Do not fill more than 2/3, as these will expand.

STEP 4:
Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven!   

To keep a whole dozen of these fresh, I let them cool & then freeze them.  I remove 2 per day, as needed!

Middle Eastern Delight: Baba Ghanouj


Ingredients
-      2 medium size eggplants
-      2 Tbsp sesame tahini
-      juice of 1-2 lemons
-      2 Tbsp olive oil [I use the stuff straight from Lebanon!]
-      3-5 cloves garlic, minced [use more or less depending on preference]
-      pinch of salt



Preparation
-      Poke holes in eggplants with a fork
-     Cut eggplants lengthwise, and coat flat side with olive oil & place flat side down on a                  baking sheet covered in tin foil
-      Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 35 mins
       *Alternative is to place whole eggplants coated in olive oil onto a very hot grill and rotate regularly. Cook for about 30 mins. The grill adds                     an extra layer of smoky flavor
-      Remove from oven & scrape insides out with a fork & place in large bowl [some people remove the seeds, I keep everything]
-      Add tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, and salt
-      Mash with a fork (old fashioned way) OR pulse in a blender (quicker)
-      Put into a serving bowl and let cool to room temperature.  Add lemon juice, olive oil and/or salt to taste.

Enjoy with pita bread, crudités, crackers, or a spoon!

Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate “Buttercream” Frostingaka AMAZINGNESSOn Valentine’s Day I came home to my sweet fiancée in the kitchen, doing what she does best: amazing food creation!!!! She was baking me Paleo Cupcakes, and I could hardly wait until they came out of the oven to try one!

I posted a #dontbejealous picture on Instagram (follow me on IG: Lucky13Fitness) of the gooey, chocolatey, yummy treats.  A few people asked for the recipe, and so here it is!    We must give full credit to www.almostsupermom.com, as that’s where Jen found the recipe.  The recipe below, however, has some Lucky13 modifications in it, so it’s our own version of the original.

Hope you enjoy (with a glass of almond milk)!

Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes 
2 cups almond flour OR sunflower seed flour (we used almond)
2 Tbsp coconut flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine dry ingredients.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. (L13F note: we do NOT have an electric mixer… we hand mixed the batter and it turned out just fine… plus, its a built-in arm workout!)  Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers and fill 3/4 of the way with batter.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Almond Butter Frosting
1 cup sunflower seed butter  (you can use almond butter, but if you dig peanut butter, sunflower seed butter has the best resemblance in taste)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey
splash of almond milk, to give proper consistency

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. (L13F note: as I mentioned above, we don’t have a hand mixer.  Here, we used our mini Ninja food processor, and it turned out perfectly.)

A client recently asked me if I could give her suggestions for pre-workout snacks that didn’t rely on animal protein, dairy, or protein powders.  She was looking for a mix of protein and carbs for energy.  I thought I’d share my response with you!  Please feel free to comment below and add your favorite pre-workout snack.

For pre-workout snacks, I like to keep it a carb/protein mix… a “snack” should be about 200-250 calories… something easy to digest (and thats where it becomes subjective, depending on what your belly is like).
You have to get creative when you want protein but aren’t using animal or dairy sources… but nothing is impossible!  This leaves you with more nut, legume and soy options, so just be aware of how your body responds to digesting them.
I tend to gravitate toward lean animal protein sources, and avoid dairy and legumes, as to follow my “Paleoesque” diet.  The list below includes both animal and non-animal sources.  Choose what works best for you!
Lucky13Fitness’ Top 10 Pre-Workout Snack Foods

• 1. banana with almond butter (2tbsp)
• 2. apple with handful of nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios, etc)
• 3. handful of a high quality fruit/nut mix… by this i mean, no added sugars and no crazy oils.  I actually just make a mix of my own.
• 4. 1/4 avocado with mini carrots or celery sticks
• 5. Hummus with carrots or celery, or peppers
• 6. 1 tbsp almond butter, 1tbsp local honey, mixed up and eaten with a spoon. A-MAAAA-ZINGGGG!
• 7. 2 hard boiled eggs and a handful of raspberries
• 8. 2 oz. chicken with 2-3 sweet potato wedges
• 9. green apple with 1 serving of goat cheese*
• 10. Newman’s Own Organic Fig Newmans*

* these last two were Jen’s suggestions.  While we both avoid eating grains, several of Jen’s clients have enjoyed Fig Newmans as a pre-endurance workout snack.

Here's a quick and easy recipe for cooking autumn veggies, especially root vegetables. Roasted autumn veggies are full of taste, nutrients, and this recipe uses only a few ingredients!


1. Wash and chop your favourite Autumn veggies.  I used sweet potato, eggplant, baby carrots, parsnips, delicata squash, broccoli & red onion.

2. Put on baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt

3. Roast in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes

4. Enjoy with lean protein [fish, chicken, turkey, steak] or as a snack!