Today's Lunch and Dinner

Rotisserie Chicken with Rosemary Steamed mixed veggies Tossed Salad Homemade No Sugar Vinaigrette So my husband has decided he wants to do the South Beach diet. I am not a dieter myself, but I want to be supportive of my husband whilst still preparing foods my kids enjoy and need. For instance in the first phase of the South Beach diet (hence known as SB) you aren't supposed to eat ant fruit, which would be terrible for children. Frankly I am not convinced it is awesome for adults either, but like I said, I want to be supportive. For example, today for lunch I made chicken breast tenderloins, dusted with BBQ rub and cooked in a TB of olive oil, in the same pan I cooked the chicken I wilted some baby spinach and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I served that with a big mixed green side salad and hubby had 2 TB of a sugar free vinaigrette while I had Raspberry vinaigrette (yum!) and the kids had strawberries and grapes. So he gets to diet and we get to eat and hopefully everyone will be happy. Tonight's dinner according to the SB plan is supposed to be Salmon with Rosemary. We don't have any salmon and frankly for what it costs down here, especially if you insist on wild caught salmon as I do, we're eating chicken and are glad to do so. Take a whole chicken and rub it all over with a mixture of 2 TB olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper and half a teaspoon crushed rosemary. I usually place a half an onion, a bay leaf, a fresh rosemary sprig or two and a half carrot in the cavity of the chicken before I rotisserie or oven roast the chicken for added flavor. You could also use a pierced whole lemon, some celery or even a medley of fresh herbs such as sage, thyme and parsley. It usually takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and 20 minutes to rotisserie a chicken depending on how big it is of course, just make sure you cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Hope you have a lovely dinner tonight too!

Tonight's Menu: Sauteed Chicken breasts, Whole Wheat Penne, Tomatoes and Green Peppers

Happy First Day of March!

Here was tonight's quick simple dinner with step by step instructions.

For the pasta you will need:

* 1/2 of a box (13.25 oz) of whole wheat penne pasta (I used Barilla)
* 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
* 1 green pepper sliced into strips, strips cut in half
* 1 clove of garlic, chopped
* 1 TB of olive oil or canola oil
* 2-3 TB of fresh grated parmesan
*2 tsp of dried Italian Seasoning
* Salt

For the chicken you will need:

* 6-8 thinly sliced chicken breast pieces
* 1/4 cup of flour
* TB of butter
* TB of oil
* Salt and Pepper to taste

Start large pot of water to boil, adding salt to the water, when water boils add the half box of pasta and stir. Place oil in a skillet over medium high heat. To this add the chopped garlic and cook until fragrant, but not burnt. Add chopped green peppers and cook for 4-5 minutes. Then add chopped tomatoes and a generous pinch of kosher salt. When tomatoes begin to break down you can add the Italian seasoning. Cook the vegetables until the pasta is done about 9 minutes. Drain pasta and toss back into cooking pot with sauteed veggies and the grated parmesan. Taste and season if desired. Cover with lid and place on the back of the stove, off the heat.

While veggies are cooking, quickly salt and pepper some thinly sliced chicken breasts and dredge in a handful of flour. The chicken breasts I used tonight had been sliced in half horizontally so they cook incredibly quickly. One could also use chicken tenderloins or regular chicken breasts that had been pounded very, very flat. Cook the breasts in a mixture of oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. The sliced breasts will cook in less than 5 minutes per side.

To serve place a chicken piece on a plate with a generous amount of pasta and a small green salad or sliced pears.

Tuesday: The Quick and the Fed

Last night's dinner revolved around a store bought rotisserie chicken, heat and eat mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. When you're home all day with two sick, lethargic kids making a big production out of dinner just won't cut it. In fact immediately after finishing her dinner (with 2 helpings of everything) the baby fell asleep on the floor of the living room and had to be transported fully clothed to her bed. The older child only lasted through a quick shower and into PJ's before she was also out like a light.

I love a rotisserie chicken! There are so many things you can do with the leftovers. Here's a list of my favorites.

*Chicken Salad (mix leftover meat with mayo, chopped celery, salt, white pepper, finely minced onion and a dash of dill.)
*Chicken Tacos (mix leftovers with seasoned black beans for a yummy taco filling.)
*Chicken and Rice Casserole (chicken meat, mixed with cooked rice, chopped spinach, cheese and mushroom soup, then bake.)
*Chicken Quesadillas (toasted tortillas filled with cheese and chicken)
*Chicken Soup (pull all the meat from the bones and use the carcass to make your soup base. Save the meat for the finished soup.)
*Chicken and Rice (make your favorite rice and load it with vegetables, carrots, tomato, onion what have you, in the last few minutes of rice cooking add your chicken meat, stir and serve as a hearty one dish meal.)
*Chicken Alfredo (add chicken to Alfredo sauce and pour over hot pasta, serve with a side of steamed veggies)
*Chicken Stir-Fry (Stir-fry all veggies, add chicken and mix, serve over cooked brown rice.)
*Chicken Fajitas (cook and season all veggies, onions, peppers, mushrooms, carrots strips, add chicken and serve in flour tortillas.)

If you are making a roast or rotisserie chicken at home here are some great flavoring ideas.

*Insert in the cavity of the chicken a quartered lemon and some rosemary sprigs.
*Rub chicken all over, especially under the skin and over the breast, with compound butter.
*Brush chicken liberally with mojo marinade before baking.
*Place chicken in roasting pan, resting on top of thick slices of onion, it will also flavor your pan drippings for an excellent gravy or reduction sauce.
*Brine chicken overnight before roasting in a large bowl or bucket filled with water, salt, sugar and bay leaves. Your chicken will be amazingly moist and flavorful.
*Cook and baste chicken in orange juice, the sugar in the juice will caramelize and make a gorgeous sort of glaze.

Thursday's Dinner: stove top citrus chicken, stuffing muffins, green beans, roasted fingerling potatoes

You know, I am tempted to create a Thirsty Thursday segment and feature a different drink every Thursday. Not necessarily an alcoholic drink mind you, but something different and refreshing. Can you tell it is fully Summer here already? My favorite summer drink is an Arnold Palmer, simply take 1/2 freshly brewed iced tea and mix it with 1/2 freshly squeezed lemonade and serve over lots and lots of ice, also delicious with mint garnish! YUM!!!

I bought these multi-colored fingerling potatoes a few weeks ago. God bless potatoes because they are A) super versatile and B) keep forever if you store them in a cool, dark, place away from apples. Anyhow, these were the last of the fingerlings, some bright red, some white and some a deep purple color. I cut them into thirds and drizzled them with olive oil and sea salt and put them on a rimmed baking dish and let them bake for 40 minutes or so while I cleaned the kitchen and got the rest of dinner ready.

To make the stuffing muffins I chopped up 1 carrot, 1 rib of celery, 1 small onion and 2 cloves of garlic and sauteed them in olive oil on the stove top. Then I added most of my leftover chicken broth from last night and let that simmer. Next I took some whole wheat bread and corn bread from the freezer and broke those up into chunks and put them in a medium sized mixing bowl. I then added the hot broth and vegetables to my bread mix and stirred to combine. I packed them into greased full-sized muffin cups and baked them with the potatoes for the last 15-20 minutes of cooking time.

Stove top chicken was simply chicken breasts seasoned with adobo seasoning, cooked 7 minutes on each side and deglazing the pan with apple and lemon juice. YUM! So easy.

I took some frozen green beans (I buy bulk organic frozen green beans from Costco) and put them in a covered glass dish with butter and adobo and microwaved them for 5 minutes as the chicken finished.

I also made an onion mushroom sauce for the chicken to use up some leftover mushrooms. I chopped the 'shrooms (about half of an 8 oz package), half of a small onion and sauteed them in olive oil and butter, then I added about a TB of flour to the veggies and stirred and let it all cook for a minute or two. I then added the last of my chicken broth, some salt and pepper, and let it all cook down at a slow boil for several minutes while I was setting the table and plating food. Very nice quick sauce, would have been better with some fresh parsley.

I changed my mind about making pot roast and carrots and onions because I forgot that we are leaving tomorrow for my hometown and I am trying to not create any leftovers since we will be gone until Monday night. I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day. I plan on visiting the graves of all my relatives (not just the veterans) since I will be home. I am just Southern enough that visiting their graves feels a bit like just... visiting. I mean you go with your family, you talk, you reminisce and tell funny stories, you bring your loved ones flowers. All in all a nice thing. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and if I make something particularly awesome over the weekend I promise to blog about it.