What if I told you that your daily actions affect your overall health? Foods consumed, exercise, and stress all play roles in your overall health. Staying healthy has many different components, and one of those includes eating “healthy fats”.
So, let’s dig into what type of fat is healthy for you: “Healthy fats” are also called monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. We want to increase these fats in the daily diet. “Bad Fats” or Saturated fat should be limited. (Think french fries, donuts, cakes, ice cream). The goal is to reduce “Bad fats” and replace them with “good fats”.
Here’s some examples of heart healthy (good) fats:
- Olive oil
- Ground flax seed
- Sunflower Seeds
- Pumpkin Seeds
Here are examples of unhealthy fats:
- Popcorn with butter
- Whole milk
Try to take 1 new step each day to replace the bad fats with good fats. For example, instead of cooking your foods in butter or lard, try olive oil instead! Substitute potato chips with a handful of almonds/walnuts–they offer the same crunch and are much healthier!
The recipe below uses avocados, which are a great source of fat that is healthy for you. It also adds a sense of creaminess to recipe, instead of having to add a lot of extra cheese. The chicken is also cooked in olive oil, which is a healthy fat.
Easy Chicken Tostados
A quick, healthy alternative to nachos or tacos.
Ingredients-1 pound chicken breast, raw
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp onion powder
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-Juice from 1 lime
-3 roma tomatoes, diced
-1 avocado, diced
-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-8 corn tortillas
- Combine olive oil, cumin, chili powder and onion powder in small mixing bowl. Squeeze in the juice from 1 lime.
- Add chicken breasts to the olive oil mixture. Cover completely. Let set for 20 minutes.
- Place chicken in sauce pan over medium heat. I used this pan to create grill lines. (Added bonus: it’s dishwasher safe! )
- Flip periodically. Cook until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear (Chicken should reach 165 degrees with a thermometer).
- Remove from stove. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Set aside.
- Arrange corn tortillas on a sheet so that they do not overlap.
- Bake in oven for 3-4 or until crispy (Watch carefully as they burn easily).
- Assemble tostada by adding chicken, diced tomato, avocado and cheese to each tortilla.
For 2 Tostados: Calories = 290 Total Fat=9g/Sat fat=1g/Polyunsaturated fat=1 g/ Monounsaturated fat=3g Sodium=123mg Total Carb=25g Sugars=5g Protein=24g