Sunday, February 19, 2012

A Recipe-less Post

I'm well aware it's been a while since my last post. I've had some flops in the kitchen lately. Do not try store-bought raspberry-chipotle marinade. It's gross. Of course, it could taste gross from me absolutely charring it to death on the grill. Then there were the Cajun red beans and rice. The bag said they would take 2-3 hours. No big deal. Nine hours later, the beans still weren't done. And once they finally were, I left them out on the counter overnight. Good thing Hubs is less fearful of the Temperature Danger Zone than I am so the beans didn't go completely to waste. What can I say? Once food safety certified, always food safety certified.

Of course, I've also had some fun recently too which kept me busy. My great friends from college came to visit and Mrs. Nutritious left some of her healthy eating habits behind. Hey, when you're trying out food carts and BBQ joints in Austin it's ok to stray a little! Here's a few pics I stole from Patrick.

Eating at Scholz Garten...open since 1866 and great place for pre-UT game festivities....


























Which is exactly what we did next.




























Luckily, I have had some cooking success since my friends left and will be posting about a delicious salmon recipe next! Check back soon... I promise it won't be as long this time!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Apricot-Lemon Chicken

I've been trying to plan all our meals for the week on Sundays when I do my grocery shopping. This way I don't waste 30 minutes when I get home just on deciding what we're going to eat. But last week I fell into a funk. Nothing sounded good, especially when trying to guess what I'd be in the mood for in 4 days. Luckily my good friend Amber pointed me toward this simple recipe for Apricot-Lemon Chicken. And it was....soooooo....good!

The best part is there are only 4 ingredients. (I don't count water, salt, or pepper.) And none of these ingredients add significant calories. Even better! Take a look.








I'm well aware that's an odd looking chicken breast. That's because I bought "young chicken" breasts, mostly because they're thin and easier to cook in a skillet. I paired it with roasted red skin potatoes and green beans. Amber paired it with squash and salad. Cooking Light peared paired it with Sweet Lemon-Mint Pear Salad. The choice is yours!

Apricot-Lemon Chicken
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1/3 cup apricot spread (I used Smuckers Simply Fruit)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
2 tsp grated lemon rind (don't really think you need this)

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Rub mixture on chicken.
2. Place large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Cook chicken 6 minutes on each side or until done (likely longer than 6 minutes). Remove chicken from pan, and keep warm.
3. Add apricot spread, lemon juice, and 2 tbsp water to pan, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat about 1 minute. Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with lemon rind.