It’s going to be a good week.
I kicked it off by looonnngggg overdo catching up with some of my dear friends with lengthy phone calls on Sunday night. I have several fun events to attend this week and I’m heading to Chicago on Friday for a girl’s weekend. I’ve also got lots of good stuff planned for the blog including…
– Yoga headstand video tutorial
– Paleo banana bread recipe
– Flourless oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe
– Weekend workout challenge
Backing up a bit…
My Sunday was really nice. It was the most relaxed day that I’ve had in months. I started it by teaching my Sunday morning hot class at the studio. Then I had a a nice lunch with some friends at Whole Foods before coming home to tackle some baking projects. I was determined to perfect the Paleo banana bread and I succeeded! I also made a batch of oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.
I took a 90-minute hot class later in the afternoon with my favorite teacher. It felt so good to be in the room with her amazing energy and to sweat everything out. I don’t think I’ve sweat that much in a practice in a very long time. I came home from class and immediately showered and made a refreshing mocktail. I was dreaming of what I’d put in this about 45 minutes into class! My mocktail was a mix of Cran Raspberry La Croix seltzer water, pomegranate juice and grapefruit juice with a lime.
I made a really great dinner using what I had in the fridge. I started by sautéing zucchini and red and green peppers in a skillet with olive oil. I seasoned the veggies with a sprinkle of salt, cumin and jerk seasoning. I seasoned the chicken with a dry rub of cumin, salt and jerk seasoning and then seared it in a separate skillet on both sides. (I could have done this all in one big skillet for simplification but I had two smaller on hand so that’s what I used.) While the chicken and veggies were sauteing, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I placed the veggies in the bottom of a glass baking dish (I didn’t quite cook them all the way in the pan) and then placed the browned chicken on top. I baked it all for about 10-15 minutes until the chicken was done in the center.
I served the chicken and veggies with leftover black beans and rice. I wasn’t expecting too much from this dinner but it was awesome! If you struggle with cooking whole chicken breasts I cannot recommend the skillet sear + oven finish method enough. My chicken turns out juicy and perfectly cooked every time. It works so much better than trying to cook the breast exclusively in the skillet. Unless I pound the breasts thin I always find that the outside gets overly brown and tough before the inside gets fully cooked, despite what temperature I cook them at. This method also frees me up to either finish up my side dishes or clean up the kitchen while it finishes in the oven. One last little chicken cooking tip…instant read thermometers are very useful for texting doneness of chicken (and all meats). You want your chicken breasts at 160 degrees.
One last meal to share with you. Today I had a turkey sandwich on sourdough for lunch along with some strawberries and a steamed artichoke. I LOVE artichokes and they were beautiful at the store last week. I steamed this one on Sunday and placed it in the fridge to enjoy this week. I dipped the leaves in a strange combo of light mayo, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice that my mom introduced me to when I was a child. I’ve been eating them that way ever since!
Chicken breasts…what’s your favorite way to prepare them?
Artichokes…love ’em or leave ’em? What’s your favorite dipping sauce?
