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Make This: Buffalo Chicken Deliciousness

July 5, 2011 in Featured, Recipes with 0 Comments

I’m a huge fan of buffalo chicken, so I was happy to find this recipe in a recent issue of Men’s Health Magazine.

I gave it a shot except I used a thin bun and Greek yogurt for the blue cheese dressing (it has more protein than regular plain yogurt—but it is an acquired taste). It’s delicious!

I like things on the extra hot side so I also used ground red pepper with the chili powder to season the chicken. That’s the great thing about this recipe—you can make it as mild or hot as you like.

After I made the sandwich I realized this idea could be used in many ways, so I started experimenting, so here’s an easy idea you can try at home with this same concept.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Saturday nights are normally pizza and movie night with the family. The majority of the time we make our own pizza which is slightly healthier than carry out but any pizza with sausage and pepperoni (our favorites) adds a lot of extra fat, so I usually wasted a cheat night on the pizza.

One night after I tried this sandwich recipe I thought I’d try my hand at a buffalo chicken pizza—and I’m sure glad I did. Again, like the sandwich recipe this can be customized as much as you like, but the end result is a healthy, delicious individual sized pizza (which two of our boys loved by the way).

The recipe below is for two pizzas, but is very easy to re-size.

What you’ll need

  • 2 whole-wheat tortillas (you could also experiment with actual pizza crust if you wanted it a little more pizza-ish).
  • 1 can (10oz) canned chicken breast (we buy ours at Sam’s which is actually 13oz I think which will work just as well).
  • 1/2 Tbsp chili powder (you can use as much or as little as you like).
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground red pepper (optional, gives it an extra kick).
  • 2 Tbsp Louisiana hot sauce (we use Frank’s as does the Men’s Health recipe).
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter (we use Smart Balance).
  • 1 cup blue cheese crumbles (we buy a big tub at Sam’s for around $8).
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (you can use plain but Greek adds a little tanginess to the dressing—you should try it)
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon (we just used lemon juice, which ends up being around 2oz but you can play with the amount a little to get it to the consistency you like).
  • Salt & pepper (to taste).
  • 1 red onion sliced (vidalia onions work too).

So basically the above recipe is the same as the Men’s Health recipe except I’ve substituted canned chicken breast for the whole chicken breasts (which of course you could cut them up) and added a few extra blue cheese crumbles.

How to do it

  • Pre-heat the oven to 425º.
  • IMPORTANT: to cut out the sodium if using canned chicken, rinse it twice in a strainer with cold water (this cuts out over 1/2 of the sodium—you should also do the same for beans and tuna by the way).
  • In a skillet on medium heat, add the chicken and season with the chili powder and red pepper. Cook it for a couple minutes to get the chicken good and seasoned.
  • Place the two tortillas on the baking stone or cookie sheet (or cover a pizza pan with the crust if you’re going that route)
  • Divide the chicken between the two tortillas. Make sure the tortillas are covered as much as possible.
  • Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the blue cheese crumbles on top of the chicken.
  • Add the red onions.
  • Stick the cooking stone/cookie sheet/pizza pan in the oven and cook for 8-10 minutes. You basically want to cook it long enough to get the tortillas crispy. Blue cheese will not melt or brown like mozzarella so don’t go by that to judge whether it’s done or not. I then douse them with more hot sauce, but that’s totally up to you.
  • While they’re cooking, combine the rest of the blue cheese crumbles, the Greek yogurt, salt & pepper (I actually don’t use any salt, only pepper), and lemon juice in a bowl and stir until it’s the consistency of a dressing. Remember, blue cheese dressing is pretty thick. You may need to add more lemon juice to get it to taste how you like.
  • Take them out of the oven and serve with the blue cheese dressing. Don’t over do it on the dressing, it won’t take much.
  • ENJOY!

Prep time: approx 10 minutes
Cook time: 10-12 minutes
Serves 2

If you try it, leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Spinning Plates

May 5, 2011 in Family, Featured, General, Marriage, Parenting, Spiritual Matters with 4 Comments

Spinning Plates Photo

Ever feel like this?

Like your life’s sole purpose is to keep all those plates spinning?

You give one a few flips of the wrist to keep one plate going only to find another teetering on the brink of falling.

You rush to that plate and give it a few whirls only to notice another wobbling.

Your attention quickly turns to that plate but yet another plate has almost stopped completely and ready to abandon its post.

About the time you save that one the first one you spun is slowing down.

And so it goes, on and on. Spinning plate after plate. Never making progress.

You’re tempted to let one plate fall but something is stopping you.

You give it one more spin. One’s not enough though.

You’ve spent so much time and energy keeping that one going you just can’t let it go.

Just one more spin turns into another that turns into another.

Round and round they go.

Have you been there?

Are you there now?

I am.

I follow Christ. That’s a plate.

I am a husband. That’s another plate.

I’m a dad. There’s plate number three.

I am a web developer. Plate four.

I volunteer at church. Number five.

We’re trying to dig our way out of debt, so we’re trying to figure out different ways to make more money and spend less. Plate six.

We are new homeowners. There are a lot of projects that need done. Seven

I’m writing a book. There’s eight.

I’m developing an iPhone/iPad app. That’s plate nine.

I’m trying to get back in shape. Ten.

I’m a blogger (well at least I try to be). Number eleven.

I’m a Beachbody Coach. Plate number twelve.

These are just the plates I can think of off the top of my head.

That’s a lot of spinning. I’m not sure the ideal number of plates but I’m sure the smaller the better.

There are a few main plates that I will keep spinning no matter the cost.

However, figuring out which ones to let fall is the difficult decision.

How about you? How many plates to you have going right now? How do you decide which plates to let go?

 

The Great Pacifier Incident

January 24, 2011 in Featured, Fun with 3 Comments

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The following true and un-exaggerated story will forever go down in Dyer family lore (assuming there is a Dyer family lore).

A couple days ago our family (m inus Josh who was on a youth group outing) went to Target to do a little shopping.

I can’t remember the exact circumstance, but for whatever reason I went in before everyone else. As I was walking in I noticed a pacifier laying on the floor in the entry way. At first I started to walk by it but then I remembered that it wasn’t too long ago that I had babies and if I would have taken one of my boys into a store without a pacifier things would not have worked out so well.

While I was reminiscing, I noticed in the dollar section a woman was pushing a cart—and she had a baby in the cart. So I did what I thought was the nice thing to do, I went back, picked up the pacifier (by the handle of course) and approached the woman.

“Excuse me,” I said.

As soon as I said “excuse me” I noticed the baby in the cart had a pacifier in her mouth. I thought ok, maybe there was a spare (you should always have a spare pacifier in case, well, you drop one in the entry way of Target).

“I found this right outside the door. Is this yours?” I said in my deep, heroic voice.

She looked through her stuff. Then she replied, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Oh, ok.” I said in my dejected, girl-I-asked-to-the-prom-said-no sheepish voice.

I stood there for a second looking at the pacifier. Then I started pacing, right there inside the entrance of Target, trying to figure out what I was going to do with the pacifier.

“I could just put it back on the floor where I found it,” I thought, “then someone else could deal with it.”

I continued my thought process, “Or I could turn it in at the customer service desk.” But then I reasoned (I really hope I was thinking this stuff and not actually muttering it to myself as I paced), “What are they going to do with it! Someone isn’t going to come up to the service desk and ask if they had a pacifier turned in to the lost and founf. I mean what kind of person would even think of turning a pacifier in at the service desk. Oh wait. Nevermind.”

I looked at the pacifier and looked up one last time. Not having to come up with a brilliant idea, I decided to stick it my pocket and if I saw someone with a baby I’d see if it was theirs.

Now this was on a Saturday night around eight or so. Target, at least in Springfield, isn’t usually too busy on Saturday nights.

Anyway, I went on with my business and headed back to the video games. Right when I got back there I saw a guy, about my age, walking around the toy and electronics departments talking on his phone chasing a toddler around.

“This guy obviously has no clue what’s going on, talking on his phone while his toddler runs through the store. This pacifier has to be his.” I reasoned.

But since he was on the phone I didn’t want to interrupt him. So I did what any lunatic would do.

I stalked him.

Every time I heard him get close to hanging up, I thought, “Finally!” but he was one of those people who it takes four or fives times leading up to hanging up to actually end the conversation. So every time the conversation was re-instigated I rolled my eyes and continued following around.

Finally he got off the phone. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to him and said, “Hey, this wouldn’t be your pacifier would it?” Trying to act as cool as possible.

At first he kind of looked at his daughter, felt around in his pocket and said, “I don’t think I’m missing one, what’s it look like?” I pulled it out to show him. “Nope, not mine he said.”

“Seriously!” I thought.

That night I swear every single person in the store other than us had a baby.

I ended up asking five or six people and not a single one of them claimed the pacifier.

We paid for our stuff and starting walking out the door.

I reached into my pocked, grabbed the pacifier and threw it away, and I still feel guilty about it.

So to you, person in Springfield who has had a screaming kid for the past two days, from the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry!

Get Ready For Summer With the 3-Day Shakeology® Cleanse

May 18, 2010 in Featured, Nutrition with 0 Comments

  • Looking for a great way to shed some pounds quickly and safely?
  • Did you just realize summer is just around the corner and the thought of having to wear a swimsuit frightens you?
  • Do you want to get back to (or start) eating healthy and need a little kick start?

If the answer is “yes” to any of the above, then the Shakeology® 3-Day Cleanse is for you! Continue Reading…

On-the-Go Breakfast Recipes

April 28, 2010 in Featured, Nutrition with 0 Comments

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The very first question I ask when someone tells me they are struggling with their weight is, “Do you eat breakfast every morning?” Ninety percent of the time the answer is “No.” Then I usually hear this

“I don’t have time to eat breakfast.”

Believe me, I understand the time crunch in the mornings. I have a love affair with my snooze button. I wait until the very last minute possible to get out of bed. However, I still make breakfast a priority. You need to do the same. Even if you don’t need to lose weight you need to eat breakfast. If you want to know why you can take a look at Weight Loss Guideline #2: Eat More. Continue Reading…

Beanie Babies and Fad Diets

April 22, 2010 in Featured, Nutrition with 0 Comments

Stay away from both!

For a time back in the last century (the 1990′s, remember them?) Beanie Babies were all the rage. People would follow delivery trucks from Hallmark store to Hallmark store hoping to score some of these rare creatures. Stores would put a limit on the amount you could buy and people were paying upwards of $100 trying to get their hands on some of the the elusive “special edition” plush gold mines.

Joshua was born in March of 1999 and I can remember us trying to get our hands on the special edition St. Patrick’s Day green bear. After battling the elements and crowded stores we finally landed one…and we got a steal: $25 along with a plastic case to store our beloved trophy in. All this hype for animals that were made from factory leftovers and retailed for $5.

Today, over 10 years later that $25 Beanie Baby is now worth about $.25. A lousy quarter! Months of effort for basically nothing. Fads are like that.

Besides Beanie Babies, remember:

  • Bell bottoms?
  • Disco?
  • 8-Tracks?
  • Parachute pants?
  • The “Don Johnson look”?
  • VCRs?
  • CDs?
  • And the list goes on, and on, and on…

Fads are like that. One day that’s all anyone talks about. Shortly thereafter they are forgotten, covered with dust (either literally or metaphorically) stuck away in someone’s closet waiting for the next garage sale.

Fad diets are the same way!

When I was my FFS (Former Fat Self) I tried the Mayo Clinic Diet (which was never even actually endorsed by the Mayo Clinic). Basically it was similar to a low-carb diet except for every meal you were required to drink unsweetened grapefruit juice. Needless to say this gold real old real fast. I felt miserable when I was on the diet (even if I was losing weight) and I felt even worse if I slacked off and “cheated” on a meal. I didn’t last very long on it.

When I finally made the lifestyle changes and set out to lose weight once and for all, one of my vows was to never, ever do a fad diet. No Atkins. No South Beach. No cabbage soup!

Why?

Because I knew that when I lost the weight I would go off the diet and then chances are the weight would come back on. Because that’s what happens with fad diets. You can only cut out carbs for so long and if you eat the same thing over and over again you will get tired of it. Then you will go back to your old habits and the weight (probably even more) will go right back on.

The way to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle is to make permanent lifestyle changes. Fad diets cannot be maintained forever. Making better food choices for each meal, however, can be maintained. This gives you a much better chance of being healthy for the rest of your life.

So please, stay away from these diets!

Weight Loss Guideline #6: Reward Yourself

March 23, 2010 in Featured with 0 Comments

Today completes the Weight Loss Guideline Series. You can find guidelines 1-5 here:

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Last week I talked about the importance of setting goals. Today’s guideline deals with what happens when you achieve your goals. Not if you achieve them…when you achieve them (remember, stay positive). When you reach your goals you need something to look forward to. The best way to do this is set up a reward system.

Setting up rewards for your goals helps you focus on the end result rather than the process. They give you something to look forward to and helps you push forward.

The reward system you set up for your goals needs to be customized to you. Make a list for yourself of possible rewards by asking yourself these questions:

  • What is something you like to do but don’t get to do very often?
  • Where is somewhere you’ve always wanted to go?
  • What is something you have been embarrassed to do because of your weight that you will be able to do when you lose weight?
  • Is there an article of clothing that you never have been able to fit into? (see My Weight Loss Story for battle with Levi’s)
  • Is there an activity you have wanted to do (roller skating, swimming, etc) but you haven’t felt comfortable doing because of your weight?
  • Would you like a massage, manicure, pedicure, a trip to a day-spa, etc?
  • Anything else?

A word of caution!

Notice anything missing from the list of questions above? If you said food you are correct. Before I go any further I want to you to know this is one thing both I and my family struggle with. I will provide more on this in a later post, but let me say this: be careful using food as a reward! Over the years we have bound food with emotions. This can be dangerous for your waistline and overall health!

Try not to do it. If you do, limit it! Again, I didn’t do a very good job of this when I was losing weight. My first major goal in 2002 was to lose 50lbs. My reward for this goal was to have a Springfield, IL original: a horseshoe! And on the day I hit 50lbs I had not one, but two—one for lunch and one for supper. Now if you’re not familiar with a horseshoe, I won’t go into the details, but suffice it to say it may be the single-most worst food you could possibly eat. I’m serious! It’s terrible for you. So I splurged that day and did the same when I hit the 100lb mark. Again, I shouldn’t have done this. I would have been better off to plan on having a horseshoe for a cheat meal (more on this later).

Let me say this: if you insist on using food as a reward, attach it to a big goal. Don’t use it for a weekly or even monthly goal. Just be careful!

Set your goals

Whatever they are, make sure you have your rewards firmly in mind and focus on them. There will be times when you get discouraged. When those times happen, focus on the reward and press on!

So, what are some rewards you are going to use to motivate you?

My Weight Loss Story

February 19, 2010 in Featured, Nutrition with 5 Comments

In June of 2002 I weighed 285lbs and had a 42” waist.

In March of 2003 I weight 175lbs and had a 32”waist.

I have never looked back since.

This is my weight loss story

Ever since my sixth grade year I was chubby. I can remember when Levis 501 Blues came out and I begged my mom to get me some, so that summer we went to our local Sears catalog store (do they still have those?) and she ordered me two pair of button-fly 501s. The two-week wait began.

I vividly remember picking those jeans up at the store. It was during the time of the Cass County Fair and we were going to the demolition derby that night. This, of course, was the perfect time to break out the new jeans. I rushed home, ripped open the package and started to put them on. “What the heck!” I thought to myself, “What’s the deal?” They didn’t fit. It was like trying to put on wet spandex (don’t ask). They were so tight around my thighs and butt that I could barely breathe. I fought them like the women in those old Special K commercials fought their jeans, but to no avail. They just didn’t fit. In case you didn’t know this fact, Levis 501 jeans are slim fitting, they didn’t have relaxed, boot cut jeans back then and 501s were especially slim-fitting.

It was that day my battle with my weight began. For the longest time I blamed the heads at Levis but finally realized it wasn’t them, it was me. I used the excuse that I was just “large framed” and that I could never wear pants like that. I lived that way for a long time.

My weight issues continued through high school and into college. I played JV basketball in high school but quit because 1) I was too lazy to get my butt out of bed to practice on those mornings when we didn’t have school, and 2) more importantly, I was too embarrassed of the way I looked in those short, tight uniforms (this was the 80s/early 90s). This is a decision I deeply regret because, despite my size, I was a decent athlete. I didn’t play basketball in college for the same reason.

I did suffer through baseball in high school and college, but my weight and self-consciousness definitely hindered my progress.

My wife Amy and I met in college my freshman year. We fell in love. She was a beautiful blonde (with a lot of hair…remember, it was the early 90s). I have no idea to this day why she loved me. It definitely wasn’t for my looks! Looking back I think my weight issue did cause some strain on our relationship, because of the way I was embarrassed of my looks.

We were married my junior year of college. I did manage to drop a few pounds for our wedding, but I was till not happy.

Our first son Joshua (Josh) was born in 1999, almost four years after our wedding. Nathaniel (Nate) came soon thereafter (2000) and in 2002 our third son Andrew (Drew) was born. We had three little boys all under the age of 4. Needless to say with my health and weight issue I really had a hard time keeping up.

In June of that same year (2002) the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back happened.

Through all these years it wasn’t that I didn’t want to lose the weight, look better and improve my health. It was that every time I tried something got in the way. What happened that summer of 2002 changed everything.

I am a lifelong Stl Cardinals fan. I follow them closely. I can remember that day in June like it was yesterday. The Cardinals were set to play the Cubs. I turned on the TV to watch the game and saw Joe Girardi standing on home plate in Wrigley Field with a microphone in his hand. He then preceded to announce that a starting pitcher for the Cards, Daryl Kile had passed away that morning and the game would be cancelled. It sounds a little strange, I know, but that day something inside me broke and I realized it was time to change.

I started to think about my family, my wife and three young boys and how they needed me. They needed me to stick around as long as I could. So that day I changed my lifestyle. Just like that. Nine months later I was in the best shape of my life, down to 175lbs and a size 32” waist. I was full of energy. I felt great.

People often ask me how I did it. I will provide more details in future posts but here were some general guidelines I adhered to.

  • No more regular soda. I only drank non caloric drinks, including diet soda.
  • I ate six smaller meals a day rather than two big ones (I didn’t usually eat breakfast).
  • I exercised 5 days a week. I did some cardio, some basic weight training and played a lot of basketball.
  • I rewarded myself. When I hit 50lbs I treated myself to a Springfield original horseshoe. I did the same at the 100lb mark.
  • I cut back on portion sizes, especially at restaurants. When I was done with 1 plate at dinner I got up and started cleaning up. No sitting around having seconds or eating what the boys didn’t eat. At restaurants I would immediately cut whatever I was getting in half and put it in a to go container.
  • I did not completely cut out sweets. I limited them to reasonable portions. If I wanted Oreos I had two rather than 10, if I wanted ice cream, I used a small bowl rather than a big one.
  • I did not eliminate any one type of food. Each food group is important. I just made better choices. I ate carbs but stuck to whole grains. I ate fat but tried to stick to the healthy fats.
  • I stayed positive. I hear so many people talk about their “diets” in a negative way. “Oh, I can’t eat that. I’m on a diet.” I never, ever used the word diet. It’s so negative. Diets make you focus on things you can’t eat, not the things that you can eat.

In future posts I will take each one of these suggestions and provide more details. In the meantime, if you are struggling with your weight, make a commitment today to change…and stay positive!