Tag Archives: dinner

(Healthy) Chicken Fingers!

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6

Day 1 of Marathon Training is complete…. only 17 weeks and 6 days to go! Oh dear.

Today’s Workout?

Cross-training!

Mat Pilates + 45 minutes Elliptical (Resistance 9, Incline 20) 

I am now 97% of the way through Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe and cannot recommend it enough. It is fantastic!

Post-gym, I stopped by the grocery store to get some essentials for dinner tonight, did 4 loads of laundry (worth $20 in quarters apparently) and watched the most frustrating Giants game in history. (I’m sorry I just can’t watch the Bachelorette and see Ashley whine and ooze insecurity for 1-2 hours a week. I just can’t. Drunk Jillian is a totally different story.)

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I wanted to make something easy for dinner that’s always a hit in our household so I went with an old favorite:

Courtney’s Baked Parmesan Chicken Tenders!

 

 

 

 

Fun Fact: Long ago these were actually the first recipe I had ever made from a blog, and Courtney’s blog was the first blog I’d ever read… and all it took was a google search for healthy baked chicken!

Ingredients

  • Boneless chicken tenders
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/4 cup skim milk
  • 1 tsp minced garlic (omitted the garlic this time)
  • 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (it was more of a parmesan/romano blend but delicious!)
  • 1/2 tbsp dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the egg white, milk, and garlic. In another bowl, mix together both breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, basil, salt, and thyme.

Dip chicken tenders into wet bowl first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the well-coated tenders in a single layer on a cooling rack placed on top of baking sheet. (Imperative to get the crunchiness!)

Bake tenders for 20 minutes. Then, turn oven up to broil and broil tenders 5 minutes longer, until nice and crispy.

Beyond tasty. One of my all-time favorite (and easy!) recipes.

We enjoyed ours with BBQ Sauce and Dijon Mustard on the side, as well as a fresh fruit “salad” of strawberries and blueberries.

For some more sustenance, I mixed up goat cheese, a bit of balsamic vinegar and left over quinoa for boyfriend.

 

I definitely recommend making these – they’re fast, easy, healthy and delicious! (Although we devoured every last one so no leftovers this time!) 

Time to relax and get into bed – I’m exhausted!

 

What did you have for dinner tonight?

Do you like Mondays or dread them?

Keen-Wah Anyone?

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9

Quinoa.

Ahhh the beloved whole grain of the moment.

Me? I’ve been a brown rice fan for quite a while.

Then I heard about Quinoa (say keeen-wah) – a whole grain with 5g of protein and 3 f of fiber a serving?

 

 

I’m sold. :-)

Truth be told, I really like quinoa. I like it along side chicken, fish, and steak. I like it mixed with herbs, veggies, chicken broth, and lemon juice. I like it baked, I like it cooked over a stove-top like oatmeal.

But I’ve never attempted to make it myself.

Why? I’m not actually sure. I envisioned this terribly complicated cooking technique (maybe because of the name alone?) and always chose to instead microwave instant brown rice, or  order it at restaurants, at the Whole Foods hot bar, or just eat quinoa when my mom would make it and I was at my parents house for dinner.

Tonight my friends, that all changed.

Boyfriend had a late basketball game. We had a Rotisserie Chicken, but nothing to eat as a side.

There it was, that lone box of quinoa staring at me from the pantry.

Go ahead, make my day.

Honestly, what is wrong with me?

It was probably the easiest side I’ve ever made.

  • 2 parts water
  • 1 part quinoa
(Next time I’m definitely subbing water for chicken broth and more flavor!)
I doubled the serving (4 cups of water, 2 cups of quinoa) so that we’d have some leftover (and I’m really curious to try an “overnight quinoa” esque recipe for breakfast!), brought it to a boil, then covered and simmered for about 15 minutes, until all of the water was absorbed and the quinoa turned soft, translucent and a ring was visible around the grain.
Voila.
Boyfriend added some Tuna to his quinoa while I chopped up some rotisserie chicken and mixed that together in a bowl with goat cheese.
Dee-lish.
Such an easy dinner! And chock full of protein and whole grains. There’s seriously endless recipes you can make with this bad boy!
Off to relax.. have a great night!
Do you make quinoa regularly? Ever?
What’s your favorite way to cook it?