So I don't know about you but after a holiday or a big meal I always go directly into a healthy eating/exercise craze. I know that binge eating for one day probably can't derail your entire year of hard work however it never fails that psychologically the Cooking Light cookbook always comes out the day after a big meal. So this weekend is not any different. Yesterday I ran 9 miles and today I went to spinning.

Growing up whenever we decorated for Xmas we had crab with melted butter for dinner. But after growing up with fresh Dungeness crab straight out of the ocean finding seafood that compares to that for decorating tradition sake is really pretty challenging. So after 6 years of living in So Cal I have given up that tradition and have just settled for a really good meal to celebrate the Xmas tree/decoration day.

I also normally go for the biggest/fattest real tree I can find, however this year I even mixed that up a bit. Ok no I did not go with a fake tree although I will admit I looked, however you just stare at that fake tree and it doesn't smell and it doesn't look real and it comes complete with lights attached...sorry just cant do it. So I went to Underwood Farms and amazingly the first tree I walked up to was the perfect 5' fattest most perfect tree I have ever seen...so "put it on the Volvo" was the next phrase out of my mouth. Normally I go for taller but this one just truly wanted to come home with me...so here it sits!!! This tree would definitely make my Mom proud as she always taught me that trees should be fat, without any spaces and should pretty much stand-up and sing "Oh Christmas Tree," as soon as its in the house. I also had to redo the lights twice because I wasn't thrilled with the first set so the tree now has white lights with red/silver balls and a "lucky owl" ornament in the middle that one of my co-workers gave me a few years ago.

I don't know about you but I love buffalo chicken wings, however they are fattening, messy and hard to eat. And if you are going to eat them it has to be with a really big, cold, frosty beer. Which just doesn't work for the day after Thanksgiving, I am trying to eat healthy thing. So while I was looking through Cooking Light trying to find a "festive feeling Xmas tree decorating recipe" that sounded good and healthy I came across a recipe for chicken stuffed with blue cheese and covered in a red pepper sauce. Yum! I decided this was the perfect meal to celebrate my fat tree.



So you take thick chicken breasts and stuff them with a mixture of blue cheese, sour cream, lemon juice and pepper. The stuffing is easy as you just cut a pocket in the chicken and stuff them. Then bread the chicken starting with flour, egg and water mixture and panko bread crumbs. Cook the chicken in a pan for approximately 4 minutes and then place the pan in the oven. The recipe does say to cook the chicken for 20 minutes however I found that since the chicken was so thick 40 minutes was closer to the truth...however I will admit that I am chicken undercooked paranoid so the increased time could have been a result of this paranoia.

The red pepper sauce is also easy as you utilize butter, roasted red peppers and seasoning. I did find however that I craved the spice of buffalo chicken sauce so I did add some Franks Buffalo Chicken Sauce. The sauce is low in fat and calories and added the additional spice that I was craving.

I know I serve everything with asparagus but yet again I made sauteed asparagus and it was perfect with the chicken. So I will admit that I still miss the crab memories of my childhood but sometimes in life we all just have to make traditions of our own....hmm buffalo chicken? No I don't think that will be it but its still a good recipe. Cheers!