I'm Hummmm .... gry

Hmmmm... 

The task of deciding what's for dinner never fails to be challenging.  I think it gets tougher whenever you ask yourself "what sounds good tonight".  I usually ask that to Mark and last night his response was

"Anything!"

That sounds easy enough right? Well it just comes down to the fact that he's easier to please than me.

I've been using four websites for recipes lately:

Eating Well

Real Simple

Simply Recipes

Big Oven

These all have great recipes that are usually pretty healthy and they always have a few 30 minute meal options or budget friendly meals. There's also this fun app for iPizzle called the dinner spinner. I usually use that as my last resort because it typically brings up lots of recipes that overdose on butter and cheese. Don't get me wrong, I love butter and cheese but we just can't eat it every night.

Bingo! Just had an idea, Sweet and Sour Chicken it is problem solved.  This is great because Mark will get his rice and I will use our soon to be rotting pineapple that is sitting so prettily on the table. 

I've kinda created my own version that requires no frying of the chicken (to make it a tad bit healthier).

 

Pucker Punch Chicken 

(a lot less calories than your typical take out)
Makes 9-10 servings

• Preheat your oven to 375 F

Get out that long jelly roll sheet pan and put some parchment paper on there; then lightly oil it.

• 5 Chicken breasts - cut into nibblets about 1" or so

• Beat 2 eggs in a separate bowl 

In a large plastic ziplock baggy mix:

• 1.5 Cups all purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 3 Tblsp Corn Starch + 1/2 tsp Salt

          + 1 Tblsp pepper

Coat handfuls of chicken with the egg and then place in baggy.  Seal bag with air and shake till everybody inside has a nice jacket of flour. Little by little place nibblets on the baking sheet with as little excess flour as possible.

• 1/8 C. Olive Oil and a pastry brush to give those little guys a brushing before they take their naps in the oven.

Turn the heat up to 425F and bake for 15 minutes, then turn them about with a spatula and back the temperature down to 375F to bake for another 20 minutes or until golden like a goose egg.

While they're baking chop the following into 1-2" chunks:

• 2 bell peppers

• 2 onions

• 2 carrots 

• 1 pineapple sides cut off and cored

• 2 heads of broccoli; chopped and set aside if you like it to have a crisp crunch, otherwise you CAN throw it in there, but I don't recommend it.

Sautee all those chopped up beauties in 2 Tblsp olive oil, salt and pepper to bring out their FLAY vors.
(I wonder if Bobby Flay from the Food Network plays a lot with that word. If not I should get credit for producing catchy advertising for him. :)

In a separate Sauce pan mix:
1.5 Cups Water with 1 chicken bouillon cube (Or 14 oz of chicken broth)
1/2 C. Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 C. Sugar
3 Tblsp Honey
Bring these to a boil then turn off the heat
Whisk 1/4 C. Cornstarch with 1/4 C. cool water in a small bowl then add slowly while stirring to the sauce. Return the heat to low and just stir enough not to let it stick to the pan. It should thicken after 10 minutes.  Cook until it is almost as thick as maple syrup.

After all the veggies are caramelizing nicely then add the broccoli (I put a lid on it to sort of steam them for 7 minutes).

GRAND FINALE!
You might need a bigger bowl or pot but nevertheless throw the sauce over the veggies and add the chicken nibblets VOILA! DINNER. And it's a ton healthier than the take out kind. 
Like the restaurant bell sound when a dish is done.

Yesterday was a no exercise day. Everybody needs a day off and mine just felt like it needed to fall on a Tuesday.
Can't wait till Friday! We're leaving for Decatur Illinois! WOOT!

Byyyyyy Doggies!

Byyyy Doggies is the expression that my Grandpa always says when he's excited. For right now I've been scouting dog adoption websites and that's what I'm saying!

I've been nagging Mark about getting a puppy for, oh let's see, EVER, since we moved back to the states. I love all dogs big ones, small ones they're all great and I'm not too picky about which one we'll try to get but I do think that with our tiny apartment we need a pup who isn't going to grow to be too large. SO Mark's favorite dogs are pugs! I even sport a shirt that has a pugster on it so I think we're probably going to end up with one of those guys.  BUT in the mean time I found this little gem ...

LEXIE the TINY (I'm going to change her name to Lexie the Great!)

She's as cute as a button and I'm in love! It's a lot to decide though whether to get a dog right now. We certainly have enough people to take care of her with JJ living with us so that's not an issue. The question is do we get a puppy and train him or do we get an older short haired friend that is more set in his/her ways?
Bonus is Lexie here is old enough so that we wouldn't have to train her.  :) AHHHhhhh I want Lexie the Great so bad! (PLEASE nobody snatch her just yet until I talk to Mark about whether we can get a pup right now or not...pretty please!)

Are you a cat person or dog person?  I'm actually both but I just have bad allergies to cats but so far haven't had any problems with pups.

Dill Dill-y-ogurt!

This is the recipe I was talking about that is way better than any Ranch dressing on the market and it will leave you feeling satisfied and guilt free!

Get your chopping board out and a large bowl
1 peeled cucumber chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 red onion diced
4 sprigs of dill leaves chopped
Place all the above in your bowl and  then squeeze
1 lemon
Drop
2 cups of Low Fat Yogurt in
then mix everything and
Salt and Pepper to taste

We put this over seared salmon the first night and then I used it on salad the whole week.  Also a great dip for veggies and crackers.  I got the idea from the sauce I make for Gyro's where all the ingredients are the same but instead I use cilantro.

ENJOY!