Hawaiian Chicken

If you’re looking to change your body composition, i.e. lose fat and gain muscle (otherwise known as getting “toned”) then protein is your new best friend! Eat some at every meal and most snacks as well.  Why? Protein helps us feel satiated and it’s also the building block of muscle. There are lots of great lean protein possibilities: chicken breast, tukey, ground turkey, fish, eggs, lean cuts of grass-fed beef such as sirloin and flank steak, and lean ground grass-fed beef. The key is to prepare the protein in a way that keeps it on target for your body composition goals and is delicious at the same time. So adding any kind of sauce that is cream based or filled with sugar wouldnt be ideal. Staying away from any prepackaged sauce is the best way to go in my opinion. They are usually filled with sugar, chemicals and calories. Using herbs and spices, or making easy homemade sauces (again not cream or sugar based) is my prefered way of preparing protein. To make things super easy on myself, every week I grill, bake, or crockpot a big batch of one protein for a dinner and then use the rest for my lunches for the week, My very favorite chicken recipe is Hawaiian Chicken. I adapted this recipe from 2x Figure Olympia Champion Erin Stern’s Hawaiian Chicken recipe. I usually make it on the grill, but I’ve also just thrown all of the ingredients in a crockpot and it was delicious that way too! One 4oz piece has 188 calories, 32g protein, 6g carbs, 3g fat and 1.4g sugar.

Hawaiian Chicken
1/4 cup pinapple juice
2 Tablespoons reduced sugar ketchup
2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered ginger
2 teaspoons garlic paste or 2 minced garlic cloves
6 (4 oz) chicken breasts
Combine all ingredients except for chicken in a Ziploc bag. Mix well. Add chicken. Marinate in refrigerator 4-6 hours. Grill 6 minutes per side or until juices run clear. If you like your chicken with sauce on it, reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade before you place the chicken in the baggie and pour it on top of the grilled chicken breast.

Totally delicious and nourishing as well. Hope you love it! And if you do please pass it along to others in your life who may like it as well!