Nobody Does it Better, Makes me Sad for the Rest

We are still eating with major food restrictions this month but I was determined to eat something slightly kicked up in the taste department.  I'm all for living healthier and even more in favor of losing unwanted back fat, muffin tops, double chins and arm flubber.  But a foodie's gotta live! 

I started with browned chicken tenders, a little whole wheat flour sprinkled into a bit of canola oil, then added in onions, chicken stock, whole tomatoes, garlic, fresh oregano, thyme, black & green  olives, mushrooms, green peppers and frozen broccoli for good measure.

I put this in the oven for about 45 minutes and it was full of flavor and surprisingly rich.  All the veggies still burst with their individual flavors and the herbs added the life.  You don't miss the wine at all to be honest.  The missing chicken fat, not an issue. 

 

When my blog grows up I want it to be like the Pioneer Woman.com.  She has lovely step by step pictures and then a nice tidy full recipe on the bottom of each post.  Each ingredient listed with precise measurements. I like her graphics and I like the way she cooks.  I never actually wanted to do a 'teaching' blog because I myself am really just learning and have no craft or skillset to pass along, so mostly I just 'share'.  But when you see a blog done so well and the food so inspiring, I really just feel like such an amateur, no talent, lame ass.  Sigh, moan, wimper.....

Fat Free Chicken Scallopini

If you have a fat chicken breast, you could probably feed a family of six on that thing if you pounded it out right. 

Makes me get the idea right now of pounding it out to the size of a pizza crust and topping it with marinara sauce and making a little stove-top no bread pizza. hmmmm.

Inspiration came from the recipe on thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/chicken-scallopine/.  She does it all so well, makes me wonder why the hell I bother.  I made the sauce without the butter and replaced with a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and chicken stock.  I added the herbs and a bit of Greek yogurt in the end to make it feel a little creamy.  I first dipped the flattened breasts in seasoned whole wheat flour. 

Reflections of, The Way Life Used to Be

This was my sister R's birthday! Even though she was hundreds of miles away, just the thought of it gave me cause for celebration. Last year I was getting ready to go visit her for the first time in Colorado. Today I had a chance to sit and remember all the fun things we did. Finally look at the pictures again too without noticing how fat my cheeks look and seeing how great it was to be with my sister.

I mentioned a while back that she turned me back on to the joys of pinto beans on that trip so tonight I made a very rich tasty pinto bean soup and garnished with yogurt, cilantro and avocados. The best! And for a dipper I made a great skillet corn bread recipe from the Pioneer Woman website. And as a personal genuflection to our childhood when we made mud pies in the backyard decorated with our mom's flower garden petals and berries from the bushes, I added fresh cilantro leaves and chopped 'penos to the cornbread batter and it baked in so pretty on the top!