Honey Dijon Chicken Thighs

 

I hate cooking chicken.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind eating it.

I just hate touching it when it's raw.

or chopping it or really even looking at it.

This is really one of the main reasons 

I cook so much chicken in my slow cooker.

I dump it in there and don't have to touch it again 

until its ready to eat.

If you have been following along with me 

you know I was pregnant until recently

and now I need to be extra diligent

with my diet to try and get my waist back.

 

Mr. Jones and I are starting a new round of 

Beach Body 21 Day Fix and trying to get

back to a full on clean eating diet

(yes...we slipped up the past few weeks...)

So we have a menu and our meals planned

for the week. It includes lots of chicken

less carbs than my cravings would like

and lots of veggies.

Here is one of my new chicken recipes

for you to try:

Honey Dijon Chicken Thighs

(but you can totally do it with breast also, 

my grocery budget just preferred the thighs this month)

What you need:

1 pound chicken (thighs or breast)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup Spicy brown mustard

1 Tbsp EVOO

1 Onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic minced 

Salt 

Black pepper

Thyme

Rosemary

 

In a small bowl mix together the oil

mustard and honey.

Add a generous sprinkle of Rosemary and Thyme.

 

Chop the onion and place 

the onion and garlic in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken and 

then place it on top of the onions

in your slow cooker.

Pour the sauce evenly over the top of the chicken.

 

Close it up,

Plug it in and

turn it on low 6-8 hours or until the 

temp of the thigh reaches 175 degrees.

Pull that yumminess out and serve 

We like ours over brown rice or 

alongside some quinoa or 

mashed cauliflower.

 

I hope your family digs this as much as mine does!

~eat well, be well

Patty

Valentine's Breakfast

I know you have all seen the hundreds of variations of Valentine's day pancakes.

Heart shaped pancakes.

red velvet pancakes,

pancakes covered in whipped cream and strawberries,

cute animals holding hearts shaped pancakes.

And then there are the muffins-

Man, who knew there were so many varieties of

red berry filled muffins?!?!

Not a morning person?

Don't want to wake up an hour early 

just so your spouse or kids don't feel deprived 

of a pinterest worthy breakfast?

Have I got a cheat meal for you!

Best part- it takes about 5 minutes!

 

First, put a piece of toast

in the toaster.

Next,

Grab a plate and a plastic cookie cutter

put a few drops of olive oil on a paper towel and 

rub it on the inside of the cutter

and on a microwave safe plate.

Put the cookie cutter in the center of the plate,

Break the egg into the cutter

(if you like the yolk whole be careful here

but if you prefer scrambled 

just take a fork to it and carefully

mix it up inside the cutter)

pour just enough water on top of the egg

to slightly cover it,

place it in the microwave for about 45 seconds

(longer or shorter depending on how you like your yolk

I did 45 and the yolk was cooked through)

If a bit of egg has seeped under the edge of the cutter just scrape it away

Now your toast should have popped up.

Use the same cutter or a different one

to cut it into a valentine worthy  shape,

then put a touch of red preserves on it for a pop of color.

Slide a knife under the egg

(the oil should make this easy)

and place on a plate with your 

super fancy toast cut out

and serve.

It's a total cheat but it 

tastes great and is a super fast easy and healthy way 

to tell that special someone how much you care

without having to lose any precious sleep or make a zillion extra dishes....

Happy Valentine's Day.

~Eat well, be well

Patty

Digging out of my Hole

I was looking back at my posts since this blog started

and I am a bit disappointed with myself.

My intent was to be super structured about posting 2 -3 times per week 

and with those posts include 1 to 2 recipes per week.

What I was not banking on was finding out I was pregnant at the end of June

and being super sick all summer

and having cravings for all things sweet and full of carbs.

I'm not joking here, the smell of lettuce made 

me physically sick until at LEAST late October!

Now if that did not throw enough of a wrench in 

my plans I had placenta previa, limiting my physical exercise

and then an abdominal hernia so I was really just

trying to stay afoot with my job at the gym and 

my two little rugrats and this crazy puking that would not quit.

But life happens right?!?

I kept telling myself after the baby came I would jump right back in full swing.

What I was absolutely NOT prepared for 

was for this baby not to come.

Three weeks ago about 33 weeks into my pregnancy

I went to the OB and said that I was concerned that 

fetal movements were slowing down.

I was not totally freaking out because I was still feeling large movements 

just not the constant crazy kicks and punches

you expect in the third trimester.

They hooked me up to check on my sweet Morgan and 

could not find a heartbeat.

At that moment I felt as though time stopped.

She must have been mistaken.

Didn't she know she was supposed to tell me 

I was just being a worry wart and everything was fine?

I don't think I will ever forget the look on the doctors face

when I asked her to please tell me what was wrong.

The next few days are a bit of a blur of wretched and painful emotions.

I had to undergo a c-section and then my husband and I were blessed to have a few special

moments with our little angel. But it was not enough. 

I am happy I got to hold her in my arms but there is so much more 

that I will never get, so many things about her I will never know.

There really are no words to describe the hurt and sadness of it.

I do not want to go too far into this as I am still struggling to find my way

through the grief but now I find myself home,

healing from the surgery, loving on my two other children,

walking blindly through this tragedy with my husband 

and trying to grab onto things that I can control and pull myself

back into reality and start focusing on looking forward.

Easier said than done of course.

But I still have baby weight to lose, 

I still want to be healthy and 

I still want help my kids learn to be healthy.

So even though most days I feel like burying myself in a vat of ice cream,

I am battling back. 

My husband and I are recommitting to our healthy eating habits,

focusing on keeping artificial ingredients and flavors out of the house and 

meal planning our menus, loading the fridge and pantry with real food ingredients and

paying more attention to portion sizes and protein/veggie/carb ratio's.

So while I recommit to this I am really going to try and diligently be honest with 

all of you. Sharing both the things we do right and the mistakes we make.

So join us in our journey to a healthy family and a healthy kitchen!