Easy Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo | Foodie

Talk about comfort food!

Alfredo is one of my most favorite pasta dishes from any given Italian style restaurant. I personally love our local, Amici's' Alfredo.

So. Good. 

As good as it is, have you seen the breakdown of the macros for this dish?

​Its unbelievably heart breaking how much fat and carbohydrates this dish has. 

Over the years of trying to take my favorite dishes and make them healthier, I think I have finally learned how to make this dish, healthy and easy.

Which is exactly what I need in my life! 

You with me?

My Secrets for a Healthier Alfredo!

1. RAO'S HOMEMADE.
​We love anything by Rao's, spaghetti sauce, basil pesto, and this Alfredo, is no different! It is a tad bit more pricey than other brands, but those other brands do not compare. Those other brands also have way more calories, carbohydrates and sugars in them! 

Rao's Alfredo has 100 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of sugars, and  3 grams of protein. Most creamy sauces contain at least double the fat, double the sugar, and can have double the carbs, too.

2. Spaghetti Squash or Protein Pasta 
Pasta is my downfall. Its my comfort food, for sure! When I can afford the extra carbs, I will use a protein pasta. Most of the time, I need more veggies than I do carbs, so in comes the spaghetti squash, it is super versatile, and can be used in many dishes, this one included, and my favorite, Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowls! 

A spaghetti squash is super easy to cook, cut it in half long ways, drizzle a little olive oil over the insides, salt and pepper, turn face down onto a baking sheet and bake on three hundred and fifty degrees for around forty five minutes. Allow to cool before scraping the insides out with a fork. Oh, and make sure you remove all the seeds before you cook it!

3. Saute the chicken in light oil.
This is one of the easiest ways we mess our weightloss meal plans up. We use fatty cooking oils. I like to use extra light olive oil, or I might use an avocado based oil. While the avocado based oil is not light, it is a 'good' fat based oil. I don't use it on every meal, or even every day, just every once in a while. 

4. Add another veggie!
I add either broccoli, sweet peas or cut up asparagus. Yes, sweet peas. My kids eat all three, but sweet peas are one of their favorites, and it is another way to get more veggies in their foods! Win. 
5. Don't Mix all the Ingredients together.
Let me explain. When we mix all the ingredients to a pasta dish together while we are trying to eat healthy, we get lost on how much we are actually eating. Serve each part of this meal as its own side; portion out your pasta or squash, then the meat, then the veggie, then the sauce. 
​

How It All Pulls Together

1. Saute three, diced up, chicken breasts in a frying pan, with garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper- to taste.
2. Boil the broccoli.
3. Boil pasta or shred pre-cooked spaghetti squash. 
4. Portion out your bowls with each component of the dish
5. Mix and serve. 

That is it. How easy? 

The Kent Krew's Spaghetti Squash Alfredo Macro Breakdown

Calories: 279   Fat:  12.2g    Carbs:  19.8g    Sugar:  7.8g     Protein:    29
*Spaghetti squash instead of pasta

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