Italian Chicken…..this was a good one!

So, I’ve realized during my “Four Week Chicken Challenge”, that I really haven’t been cooking very much lately, and I don’t really seem to have a lot of chicken recipes in my cookbook! I have been cooking, but I have been making simple things, and the same things. I like to throw a bunch of veggies in a skillet with some Olive Oil, salt and pepper, and then toss in some cooked meat of some sort. I like to throw something simple on the grill and eat a salad with it. It’s not really cooking. I mean, I guess it is. It’s just not a big variety, and it’s far from fancy, and there really is never a recipe involved.

I have been trying to eat more fresh food and less processed foods. I try to keep my fruits and veggies to fresh or frozen and avoid the canned goods. I should eat a low sodium diet anyhow, so this has been really good for me. I do still keep the pantry stocked with canned goods and sauces, but I just use them less and I try to buy the low sodium, or salt free, then season my food myself. I have been eating very little bread, tortillas, chips, pizza and potatoes. When asked by my “coach” about the Chicken Challenge, I didn’t think it would be that difficult to come up with 20 different ways to prepare chicken, and really, that isn’t my challenge. My challenge, I am discovering, is coming up with 20 different ways to prepare chicken that are…..

1. Easy.

2. Quick.

3. Include Fresh Ingredients

4. Little or No Carbs (I realize some are fine, I just don’t want a potato dish or a pizza all the time)

I’m no good at creating recipes. But I am pretty good at following directions, so I can follow a recipe pretty well. I really can’t even boil eggs without looking up how you’re supposed to cook them. I can never remember if you are supposed to boil water, then add the eggs? Or put the eggs in cold water, then bring them to a boil? Do you leave them on the heat, or remove them? Yeah, I know. You ALL probably know this. Today, I put the eggs in cold water, brought the water to a boil, covered them, then removed them from the heat, let them sit for 12 minutes. Perfect. That’s how I did it today, but I KNOW I have boiled them ON the heat before. Oh well. I’m sure it works a few different ways. I’ll look it up every time anyhow.

Needless to say, I have been really busy on Pinterest and the Internet trying to find recipes that include chicken, appear to be easy, are fairly quick and include fresh ingredients….oh, and don’t include a lot of carbs. And you know what? It’s kinda hard!

I found this one a few days ago, Italian Chicken, and I was really looking forward to making this for dinner. It does have a small jar of artichoke hearts in it, but mostly, it’s fresh ingredients, and the pictures looked AMAZING!! Click HERE for the recipe! I’m excited to make other recipes from this site too!

I used (4) 6 oz. Chicken Breast, making this recipe 4 servings.

1 Serving = 10 PPV

I bought some Basil Garlic Pasta at the Farmer’s Market this weekend, and I thought Mike would really enjoy it with his Italian Chicken.

I decided I would give Quinoa another try. I have tried it several times, prepared several different ways….side dishes, breakfast bars and alone. Mike always seems to like it, I just haven’t been crazy about it. A few friends had suggested that I cook it in chicken broth for a side dish recipe instead of water, so I decided to give that a go. Uh….HUGE difference! After cooking it, I topped it with just a little bit of Garlic Olive Oil and sprinkled just a tad of Kosher Salt on it. I really liked it!

I totally forgot to take a picture of my tasty Quinoa. I hope you know what it looks like!

Mike had his Italian Chicken over pasta, and I had mine over Quinoa. We tasted each others, and agreed, we both preferred the Quinoa!!

As I was cleaning up the kitchen, Mike was finishing off a small second helping, with the Quinoa. This is what I heard….

“Mmmmmmm, that was really good!”

So……. I’m all smiles!!

Life was back to normal Tuesday and I feel all healthy and back to myself. I even made it to the trainer! It was tough because I hadn’t exercised at ALL since last Wednesday!!!!

The days eats…..