SUYL & Favorites

This week at Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life is about sharing a main dish recipe. I thought for a long time about something that would be different, but would also be healthy, as that is how we usually eat (despite the two casserole dishes full of chocolate sheet cake that is sitting in my kitchen!). One of our favorite recipes comes from one of our "go to" healthy cookbooks,

Weight Watcher's New Complete Cookbook . It is Chicken with Apples and Cider. I know there are some that don't like fruit with their meat, but the cider balances it out. It's also a good meal to serve to other people because it can be pretty on a plate.

Chicken with Apples and Cider

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced

1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

4 (4 oz) skinless boneless chicken breasts

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 medium onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

1/2 cup apple cider

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 cups hot cooked wide egg noodles

1. In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Saute the apple until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the brown sugar; cook, stirring frequently, until tender, 3-5 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate.

2. On a sheet of wax paper, sprinkle the chicken with the cinnamon, salt, and pepper. In the skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Saute the chicken until browned 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer to another plate.

3. In the skillet, cook the onion, covered, until tender, 6-8 minutes; stir in the cider and vinegar. Reduce the heat and simmer 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet; simmer, spooning the sauce over the chicken, until chicken is cooked through and liquid is reduced by half, 4-5 minutes.

4. Return the apples to the skillet; cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Arrange the noodles on a platter; top with the chicken mixture, pouring any remaining juices over chicken.

PER Serving (1 chicken breast, 1/2 cup noodles, and 1/4 cup sauce): 352 calories,

11 g fat, 1 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat, 89 mg chol, 273 mg sod,

36 g carb, 2 g fib, 27 g prot, 35 mg calc.

Points value: 8

Yum. Trust me, you won't regret trying this! Now, since Connor is 14 months old now, I usually just feed him some of what we are eating. It's hard enough to cook one meal with a busy toddler, I refuse to make two! With that said, I do have some recipes that are good frozen. So, if we are eating something that isn't healthy or something that is hard for him to chew without molars, I'll grab something out of the freezer. One of his favorites is out of this cookbook

Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers . It is:

Chicken and Apple Bites

1 apple, peeled, cored, and grated

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
scant 1 cup fresh whole bread crumbs
1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock
whole wheat flour, for coating
corn or sunflower-seed oil, for pan frying

1. Spread the apple out on a clean dish towel or paper towels and press out all the excess moisture.

2. Put the chicken, apple, onion, parsley, bread crumbs, and stock in a food processor and pulse briefly until well combined.

3. Spread the flour out on a plate. Divide the mixture into 20 or more mini portions, shape each portion into a ball and roll in the flour.

4. Heat a little oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the balls for 5- 8 minutes, or until golden brown all over and cooked through. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve hot or cold.

Now I have also just skipped the coating with flour and frying and just put them in the oven. He didn't like them as much, because let's be honest. Everything tastes better fried! ha. I will also say the onion and parsley is a little strong, and you could even leave that out all together. It's whatever you think your child would like! I just freeze whatever he doesn't eat that first night and that way I can just take them out and pop them in the microwave whenever I need to.

Since Libby also does a link up for "favorites" on Fridays and SUYL was about food, I thought I would make them correlate and do my favorites in the kitchen!




My absolutely, without a doubt, FAVORITE thing in my kitchen is my Kitchen Aid mixer.
I seriously couldn't live without it. I use it almost every single time I bake. If you don't have one you need one. I promise. Of course, when I got mine there weren't many color options and since I had black in my kitchen, I got black. I think if mine ever dies I am going to get brown next time. Or ivory.

I love our Keurig. So easy to make coffee on the go or if you are holding a toddler in the morning that needs his momma time :)

These canisters from Dillards that I got for Christmas a few years back. This is ultimately what I want to style my kitchen around one day (hence the change of color in the Kitchenaid mixer). I love the Tuscan feel.

I would definitely like to change our plates one day as well. After a quick 5 minute browsing on Dillard's website, I found these: I think they would go nicely with the canisters!

Now, while I am changing a few things, let's just go ahead and change the kitchen ;)

This one is my absolute favorite out of the following. Except the rooster. I would give it to my friend, Lana, who loves them! :)

This one uses more warm tones, which I like as well. Once again, Lana, you would earn yourself another rooster!!!

I would change everything that is black and make it brown. And probably make the cabinets cream.**all images courtesy of the wonderful google

Oh, I already love to cook, but I would REALLY love to cook in one of those!!!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday! Hopefully, I'll get a chance to talk about Lance's gradution this weekend, but if not, have a great weekend as well!!!