Munchie Monday: Roasted Broccoli

The sky has darkened, at least, four shades since I got into the shower, and came out of the shower, which means, we should be getting a thunderstorm, I LOVE SUMMER THUNDERSTORMS.

Anyhow, moving on with my recipe posting.

And as I typed that sentence, it started pouring, which is good, it's been dry in Tejas lately.

Today's recipe is a side dish. Again, my fiance has the tastes of a five year old... actually I think five year olds probably eat more vegetable then him. He basically only likes broccoli and carrots... and mashed potatoes, which hardly counts as a vegetable. 

I used to make broccoli au gratin, which was really good, but when you cover vegetables in cheese, it sort of takes the nutrients out of the vegetables and adds about a hundred or so calories... Therefore, I began to look for a broccoli recipe that I thought Justin would eat, that wasn't covered in cheese, and I found this recipe for roasted broccoli, which only has maybe 65 calories per serving, IF THAT. 

Ingredients:

* 1-2 heads of broccoli 

[or more if you want, just double or triple the ingredients...]

[Note: I buy organic broccoli, but regular broccoli works too]

* 2-3 Cloves Garlic

[Note: I just buy minced garlic from the supermarket, it's usually by the vegetables in the product section.  1/2 a teaspoon equals one clove of garlic.]

* 3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil [EVOO]

* 1 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees

1. Drizzle the EVOO over broccoli, add garlic, salt, and pepper. Then hand-toss it to coat all the broccoli with the mixture.

2. Transfer the broccoli to a baking dish. ***OPTIONAL: I sprinkle either Garlic Powder or a Garlic and Herb mixture over the broccoli before I put it into the oven***** and transfer it to the oven.

3. Roast for 20 minutes.

There you go, EASY PEASEY LEMON SQUEEZY [as my first graders would have said] roasted broccoli that's simple to cook, and delicious.

Just those three steps, and you have a delicious, and fiance approved veggie side dish. 

Justin likes this dish so much that he requests it all the time, and it really is delicious... Something about broccoli and garlic JUST MAKES SENSE.

Enjoy :)

Tasty Tuesday: Basalmic Chicken

I've decided to expand this blog. Since, my district doesn't seem like it wants to pay me anytime soon, therefore, my subscription box addiction will have to be put on hold until probably... July?

 Then there's my Pokemon addiction, and my quest to get all Eeveeloutions, but I beat Pokemon X, months ago [with a team of all Eevees], and Pokemon's remake of sapphire and ruby aren't going to come out until probably fall... THOUGH I AM EXCITED about that, since ruby/sapphire are two I haven't played... I HAD ruby, but the game cartridge was fucked up and wouldn't save my game, so that never went anymore... Plus, if you're hankering for a pokemon fix, there's always Twitch Plays Pokemon, they're on black and white now.

So what can I blog about?

Let's see...  my new-found interests include cooking recipes my fiance will actually eat that are reasonably healthy for you, therefore  I've decided to post random recipes.

My fiance has the tastes of a five year old. He doesn't like healthy foods or vegetables, and his favorite meals include burgers, grilled cheese, and milkshakes. We used to live entirely on a diet of frozen lean pockets and lean cuisines, but in the past few months, we've decided to venture down the path to cooking, in hopes of eating healthier, especially since we have a wedding in... 270 days!

My goals... to find decently healthy, and EASY recipes that my fiance will eat, and I won't go crazy cooking since I lack talent in the kitchen department. 

So all these recipes are fiance tested and fiance approved.

The first recipe I'm going to post is EASY balsamic chicken, each piece of chicken has 170 calories.

Note: I DID NOT INVENT THIS RECIPE, I don't know where I found it, I literally transfer any recipes I like into a word document entitled: FOODS JUSTIN WILL EAT.  It was from a google search, but I don't know the exact website. 

These are the ingredients needed:

2-3 Skinless and Boneless Chicken Breasts

 [Note: I ONLY buy organic hormone free meat because when I got cancer, the doctor told me to stay away from hormones, and since a lot of meat is hormone-treated, I prefer to buy free range hormone free organic chicken and beef, this is a personal preference though]

1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

[Note: I tend to buy organic EVOO, which is extra virgin olive oil, a lot of recipes call for EVOO, though I don't know what the difference between VOO and EVOO is.]

1 and 1/2 teaspoon Italian Spice 

[Note: You can probably use whatever spice you prefer... like oregano or basil, etc, I just use Italian since it mixes everything together]

2 garlic cloves minced

[Note: I just buy minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon is equivalent to 1 clove of garlic. I think it tastes better, and it's less effort than me mincing garlic myself. You can usually find it by the fruits/veggies in a  supermarket. I USE THIS IN EVERYTHING.]

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

cooking spray

[just to spray the pan before you stick it in the oven]

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, put vinegar, oil, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and paper, mix it until it all combines.

2. Put chicken in a Ziploc bag. Pour the vinegar mixture in bag with chicken, seal bag,and spread marinade all over the chicken.

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to Overnight.

[Note: I find that the longer you refrigerate it for, the stronger the taste it. I have refrigerated it for 30 minutes, 24 hours, and 8ish hours, and I thought the taste was better when it was refrigerated for the longer periods of time, although it is still good after 30 minutes, just the flavor is weaker.]

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the baking dish and pour the marinade all over the chicken. Cover the chicken [I usually don't cover it, I haven't had any issues]. Bake for 35-40 minutes [I tend to go for 40 since it's chicken].

5. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then serve it.

There you go... EASY TO BAKE, Balsamic chicken breast.  It's really delicious, and really simple to make. 

Enjoy.

And, whenever I cook, Gandalf the Gray watches me.