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Poppyseed Chicken with Rice Recipe

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice Recipe is a family favorite made healthier with some of our favorite “healthy tricks”! Here’s how I reduced fat and calories from the original recipe of Poppyseed Chicken and Rice to “skinny” it down so it’s healthier. Let’s get to it. . . I used light sour cream instead of regular sour cream, whole wheat ritz crackers instead of the normal ritz crackers, and fat free cream of chicken soup instead of the full-fat cream of chicken soup. The original recipe also called for 1 cup of butter in the sour cream cream of chicken mixture but I took that out completely. In the ritz cracker mixture, it called for another 1/2 cup butter which I reduced to 1/4 cup. I love our “skinnied” version of Poppyseed Chicken with Rice tastes amazing and you can’t even tell that any changes were ever made!

It’s Fit Friday!!  As y’all know today’s the day Miss Nichole from Pure Clean Fitness comes to hang out with us! We’re so excited to share this Poppyseed Chicken with Rice and a Kick-butt CORE workout with y’all today!! 

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice is a family favorite made healthier! www.cookingwithruthie.com

Healthy Cooking Tips:

The main rule of thumb for healthy cooking is to avoid cooking methods that require excessive fat.  Remember to eat a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, and drink plenty of water too. I try to incorporate healthy cooking techniques and use healthy oils, in moderate amounts, in all of my cooking… I call it “health-i-fying” recipes!

  • Baking: dry heat, below 400 degrees for meat and fish, roasts, and vegetables.
  • Braising: browning the ingredients first and then covering with broth or water and slowly cooking.
  • Poaching: gently simmer ingredients in water or broth, using minimal amounts of liquid.
  • Steaming: quickly cooking foods above a small amount of water,  allows food to retain most of the nutrients. AND when you smell it, it’s done!
  • Broiling: uses intense, direct heat.  Broiling can be done under the broiler in an oven, or over the coals of a BBQ grill.  High temperatures browns and crisps the outside while sealing in the juices.
  • Grilling: use leaner cuts and marinade meat to reduce to the HA formation which may cause colon cancer.  Gas grills are better than charcoal for reducing HA.
  • Sauteing: quickly cooks relatively small or thin pieces of food.
  • Roasting: like baking, but at higher temperatures- using a rack underneath meat so excess fat can drip below.
  • Stir-frying:  quickly cooks small pieces of food while rapidly stirring in a small amount of oil that’s almost to the smoking point.

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice is a family favorite made healthier! www.cookingwithruthie.com

Now, here’s Miss Nichole and her kick-butt CORE workout. . .

I teach an awesome boot camp class twice a week. One of the reasons I love this class is because the people that come are dedicated and always up for a challenge. So that is what we do, we take on new challenges every 30 days, a fitness and a nutrition challenge.  We talk about ideas and get a feel for what people are needing, especially for the nutrition challenge.

One of my favorite ways to take on the fitness challenge is 30 days of different exercises. These aren’t overly challenging moves, but they force everyone to think about moving everyday. Getting in exercise doesn’t need to be overly challenging and complicated, but it does need to be consistent and often (more days than not).

Here is one of my favorite challenges so far. Thirty days of core.

30 situps
3×30 sec. planks
30 bicycles (each leg)
30 leg drops
30 v-ups
30 russian twists
15 situps
15 pushups
30 sec side planks each side
30 weighted situps
30 single leg drops
15 v-ups
15 bicycles each leg
30 plank with jacks
30 straight leg situps
30 windmill situps
30 russian twists
3×30 sec planks
30 situps
15 v-ups
15 plank jacks
30 single leg drops
30 weighted situps
30 v-ups
30 pushups
30 russian twists
30 straightleg situps
30 windmill situps
30 leg drops
30 v-ups
30 bicycles each leg
30 plank with jacks
10 v-ups
10 pushups
10 v-ups
Thirty days of consistently doing something for your core. Not just for that awesome flat-toned belly but in order to make sure your power house is ready for any future challenge you want to take on.

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice is a family favorite made healthier! www.cookingwithruthie.com

Yield: 6

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice is a family favorite made healthier! www.cookingwithruthie.com
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4-5 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless
  • 1 16ounce container of light sour cream
  • 1 22.6 ounce can of fat free cream of chicken soup
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 sleeves of whole wheat Ritz crackers
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon poppy-seeds
  • 6 servings brown rice, prepared according to directions

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Brown and cook chicken in a frying pan.
  3. Once chicken is cooked all the way through, cut into small cubes or shred.
  4. Meanwhile combine sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and salt in a mixing bowl; mix to combine.
  5. Put the 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers, butter, and poppy-seeds into a gallon zip top plastic bag.
  6. Seal the bag and crush the Ritz crackers.
  7. Place chicken in the bottom of 9x13 baking pan.
  8. Add the sour cream and cream of chicken mixture.
  9. Top with the Ritz cracker mixture.
  10. Do not cover and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the edges are bubbly and the top is golden brown.
  11. Serve over brown rice.
  12. Enjoy!

Poppyseed Chicken with Rice is healthy, quick and easy meal with only 6 simple ingredients!

We love to hear about your magical cooking moments. . . if you get a chance to make our recipes then leave us a comment or tag us on Instagram @cookingwithruthie , pin us on Pinterest , or follow along with us on Facebook so we can share in the joy of cooking with you! Please reach out if you have questions or comments via our email: ruthie@cookingwithruthie.com. We’re excited to see you again soon!  

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Thanks for sharing in the CWR blog-love!

Love Always,

Ruthie & Madeliene

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