Chicken Piccata & Roasted Broccoli

Hi Everyone!

We made it to Friday!  This Friday I have a dreaded Physical.  3 things I’m not looking forward to, BIG #1 I have to fast for 12 hours, my appointment isn’t till 10:45am, then I have to have the blood drawn afterwards.  OMG!  Poor little Jenny has to deal with me with no coffee or food, thats not a good thing!  I’m going to be cranky and I mean cranky!!

#2 the scale, Eck!!  I am terrified to see what the scale says.  I know I gained about 5lbs since November, and I’m afraid the scale will be higher then what I think.  I work so hard to keep my weight down and I shouldn’t let a number tell me any different, but it controls me.  I still weigh myself twice a day.  I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help it.  So scared.

#3 giving blood and praying that my appointment ends before the place closes for lunch, otherwise I have to wait till 2pm to get blood drawn.  Can you imagine my mood then?  No Coffee!!!

But on a positive note, I made a healthy dinner with a lot of flavor and I over stuffed myself with my Caprese Quick bread, so hopefully I’ll stay full longer.  Who am I kidding?  I always wake up hungry with one thing on my mind, no two things, coffee and breakfast!!

I made this wonderful Chicken Piccata for dinner.  It was so easy and fast, took about 20 minutes to make.  I cooked the chicken in butter, yup butter, set aside and made a wonderful lemon and caper sauce.  I sided my dinner with roasted broccoli with garlic and lemon.  This was a GOOD dinner!!!  One serving of each is just around 200 calories.  Nice!  I would of done well if I didn’t have 3 helpings of bread.  I guess that explains the scale going up.

The Caprese Bread was a loaf I posted the other day.  I ate one loaf and froze the other.  What I did, is pop it in the microwave for about 3 minutes, until it gets soft.  I wrapped it in foil and placed in the oven with the broccoli for about 10 minutes, until soft.  It tasted as if I just made it!  I always freeze bread.  I do the same for banana breads, ect…  For those kind of breads I just place on the counter at night and in the morning it’s nice and soft.

I got the Chicken recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens eat well Lose Weight magazine.  It’s on the cover and I had to make, it just kept staring at me.  I’m glad I did.  this was the first time I ever had capers, there really good, though I am not sure what a caper is, but I like them.  I will definitely use them more in my cooking.  Do you like Capers?  What are they?  Some reason I think there some form of olives, but not sure, I’ll have to google it.

The Broccoli is pretty easy, I make it like I do most vegetables, olive oil, pepper, salt, garlic and I added lemon juice.  I never had roasted broccoli, and I am glad I did, it was good, lots of flavor.  Shockingly enough little Jenny loved it!  I’m truly shocked!!  My husband said he didn’t care for the lemon, but he likes his foods bland.  I love spice and flavor!!

Chicken Piccata – Adapted from BHG

Ingredients:

2 – 8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut horizontally

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 low sodium chicken broth

1 medium lemon (I used lemon juice)

2 Tbsp. capers

Directions:

Place each chicken breast portion between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using flat side of a meat mallet or rolling pin, pound chicken lightly until about 1/4″ thick. Remove plastic wrap. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 6 – 8 minutes until browned and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken from skillet, set aside.

Add garlic to the hot skillet, cook for 30 seconds to 1 minutes or until lightly browned. Add chicken broth to skillet, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Bring to a boil.

Add lemon slices and capers to skillet. Cover, reduce heat to low. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until lemon slices are soften and release there juice. Return chicken to skillet and heat through.

To serve, spoon caper mixture over chicken.

makes 4 – 4 oz servings

Calories per serving:  154,  Fat:  5,  Cholesterol:  72,  Sodium:  285,  Carbs:  3,  Fiber:  1.3,  Sugar:  0,  Protein:  26

You should really give this chicken recipe a try.  I love how quick it.  You can have it all together and on the table in under 30 minutes.  That’s nice!!

Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic

Ingredients:

5 Cups Organic Broccoli Florets

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

In a large bowl, add broccoli florets, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Spread the broccoli out in an even layer on a baking sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until broccoli is tender enough to pierce the stems with a fork, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove and place in a bowl, toss with lemon juice.

Serve and Enjoy!

Makes 4 – 1 1/2 servings

Calories per serving:  46.6,  Fat:  2.3,  Sodium:  25,  Potassium:  5.4,  Carbs:  4,  Fiber:  2,  Sugar:  .01,  Protein:  3.1

If your watching your carbs, this is a great dish to make!  One serving of each only has 7 carbs total.  That’s great for a dinner!!  Amazing! Definitely a maker again!

Well my friends, I am going to get going.  Have to finish laundry, do the dishes and drink down my last cup of Decaf.  No coffee in the morning!  Ugh….

Have a great Friday!!!