Monday, May 17, 2010

menu planning monday: P90X recipes

I may have mentioned that hubby and I are doing P90X this summer. Today is Day 8. Loving it. 

In addition to the torturous extreme exercises that it involves, P90X comes with a structured nutrition guide with meal plans, portion plans, and recipes. Last week I followed the Phase 1 Week 1 meal plan almost to a T, and this week I plan to do the same.

Instead of sharing the menu, I'd like to share some of the recipes that we have already tried. Because, yall, they're DELICIOUS, healthy, and easy. AND they're not much different than the meals I was preparing in the first place. That makes me very happy!

Here are some of the P90X recipes that we have enjoyed so far, with my modifications as noted...


Pear & Granola Muffins this is actually a Level 2 recipe but I wanted to make muffins for the kids and I like how healthy and filling these are.

3/4 cup pear nectar
2 egg whites
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup low-fat granola (I used Special K Strawberry cereal)
1 Tbns baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4c chopped pear (I only used 1/2c)

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir flours and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in granola, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add pear and toss to coat. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture until blended. Pour into muffin cups - makes approx 10. I sprinkled brown sugar over the top of each muffin. Bake about 20 minutes or until tester inserted comes out clean. One serving is one muffin because they are about 230 calories each, 5g protein, 43g carbs, and 5g total fat. Moist, light, but filling, and not too sweet. Perfect!



Lemon Garlic Chicken
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs molasses
2 tsp Worcesterschire sauce
4 garlic cloves chopped
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
lemon wedges
parsley sprigs

Combine first 4 ingredients in a nonreactive dish and add chicken. Cover and marinate at least an hour. Preheat oven to 425. Remove chicken from dish, reserving marinade, and arrange in shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray (I used parchment paper). Pour reserved marinade over chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes at 425, basting occassionally with marinade. Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with parsley if desired. 6 ounces of this chicken has only 150 calories but 21g of protein and 4g total fat. And it was tasty!



Italian Meatloaf you know I have a favorite meatloaf recipe that we love love love (Max's Famous, recipe here.) But I had to try the P90X meatloaf to see if it could even compare. I was pleasantly surprised!

1/2 c onions diced
2 Tb fat-free low sodium chicken broth
2 Tbs minced garlic
1.5lbs ground turkey breast
1/2 c sourdough breadcrumbs (I used whole grain bread crumbs)
1/2 c + 2 Tbs low sodium low fat marinara sauce (like Ragu)
2 Tbs fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbs parsley chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Saute the onions in the chicken broth until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl combine the onion mixture with the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup marinara sauce, basil and parsley. Put mixture into an ungreased loaf pan. Brush with the remaining marinara sauce and bake 30-45mins. Drain off fat and cool before cutting into slices. Should make approx 8 3-oz slices and one serving is 2 slices. Each serving has about 300 calories, 45g of protein, and 3g total fat. Delicious!


I'm sure as the weeks progress I will find even more yummy recipes in the P90X Nutrition Guide, and I promise to share them when I do.

BRING IT!