Another week in the life of Jen. Man, I just can’t believe how quickly this summer has flown by! It seems like just yesterday we had snow, rain, sleet, and sub optimal temperatures, and now, it’s taking every ounce of will power I have in me not to go get an ice cream waffle cone from Mickey’s Twist Dairy in Saline (ice cream is my VICE). The heat is real. But the best kind of heat? The wonderful aromas of my kitchen on a Thursday. Meal prep in the oven/on the stovetop, steam pouring out of the oven when I open it, giving me a mini spa treatment. It’s quite a luxury.
The pups wanted to spend a lot of time outside today, leaving me no choice but to jump in the sprinklers with them, having a ball, and cooling us all off at the same time 🙂 If only a camera could follow me around all day, then everyone would know how I survive without caffeine.
So this week, I needed to keep my prep simple and quick. Girls got a lot to do on her day off, and 1.5 hours is all I had to spare today. So…? Chicken and veggies it is! This is the typical staple meal for meal prep, as it requires little to no prep time, just a few minutes to chop up some veggies, and 20-30 minutes to cook it all up! I was on a roll today, with cleaning, cooking and personal development, I felt accomplished by 3pm. And now here I sit watching Moana, and enjoying a nice glass of room temperature water. Disney movies are my happy place 🙂
Another wonderful thing about this meal? No measuring! Sometimes I go a little off the grid and don’t even venture off into Pinterest world, and just wing it. Today was one of those days. And it was a success!! I even went to the grocery store without a list *gasp!*. I decided to test out my ability to stick with what I know, and not veer off track, and you know what, it’s not easy, but man it was a good test, and I felt AWESOME that I didn’t put nutella and peanut butter in my cart. #winningatlife
Another good reason it’s sometimes good to go off the grid? Sometimes you find some really cool things that are new. For example, this week I was venturing down an aisle I don’t typically go down in Costco, as it had bulk items that I already had purchased a while ago and still have a ton of, but I decided to anyways. And the gem I found this morning was some good ‘ol bone broth. Recently, I have been dealing with some minor GI issues, and after speaking with a dietician, she mentioned that bone broth can sometimes help the gut reset the lining and give your tract a good boost. I thought for sure, I was going to have to slave away in a kitchen and make it myself, but there it was sitting there, waiting for me to just dive right in. Now, I may not know if this is actually legit, or if this is just some glorified chicken stock, but I am willing to give it a shot. So I added a shot of this into every meal, and I let the chicken soak in the broth before baking.
And that’s all she wrote folks. The ingredients list is below, but I say have fun with it. throw some different spices you like in there, and tell me how it turns out 🙂 Go out there and eat.fit.be.fit.
ITALIAN CHICKEN AND VEGGIES
INGREDIENTS
- Chicken
- Bone Broth
- Quinoa
- Peppers (red, orange and yellow)
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Carrots
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Soak chicken breasts in bone broth for at least 1/2 hour. This will help preserve the moisture in the chicken, and also bone broth is awesome.
- Fill a pot with quinoa and water. The ratio is 1:2. 1 cup quinoa for every 2 cups of water. Cook on medium heat until water comes to a boil. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool and soak in water.
- While that is sitting, chop up veggies and mix together well. Add garlic powder, italian seasoning, salt and pepper into the mix with the smallest drop of EVOO to help the dry ingredients mix together with veggies.
- Place veggies on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 until carrots are tender. Place veggies in prep containers.
- Take chicken out of the fridge and place in baking pans. Add bone broth into pan just to the middle of the chicken breasts. Sprinkle chicken with italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Dish out 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, 1 cup of veggies, and 4oz-8oz of chicken breast into your prep containers.
- Go be awesome.
Click here for the video! Italian Chicken and Veggies
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