yummy

Back from my little blog vacation!  Last week was my first week back with students, hence my absence.  Boy, was I TIRED!  But I wasn't too tired to cook up some yummies.  First, we made spinach, chicken and cheese calzones...

They look a little funny, but they sure tasted delish!

And on the inside...

Just one close up...

Tasty looking, huh?  It's my mom's recipe - how she got us to eat spinach as kids =)  All you do is cook some chopped chicken breast in cream of chicken soup with some white onion, add in some chopped cooked spinach, and roll it into rosemary olive oil dough.  Bake 25 mins at 375 and - voila!  I'll share the next recipe (and some long overdue project updates!) later this week.  Hope you're having a happy Monday, friends!

Roasted Chicken with Thyme and Goat Cheese

Let the above picture whet your appetite for the tastiest chicken recipe I've made in AGES. I made this on Biggest Loser night last night (yes, my friends and I are nerds, we know - but reality TV is so ADDICTING!) primarily because one serving has only 325 calories!! What?! Yes, it's true. Also, I am IN LOVE with goat cheese, flavored, plain, as a garnish or straight (don't judge!), in a box, or with a fox... I'll eat it any way it comes. The original recipe comes from Cooks.com, but of course, I changed it all up to the way I like things. =)


Ingredients:

5oz. Goat Cheese
20 Pearl Onions
1 tbsp dried Thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 can Artichoke Bottoms in water
5 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
Olive Oil for drizzling

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Slice artichoke bottoms into 6 pieces and remove skins from the whole pearl onions. Scatter in bottom of small roasting pan.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper on artichokes and pearl onions. Lay chicken breast on top, salt and pepper (can you ever have enough Salt-n-Peppa? Ooooh baby baby!)
4. Sprinkle thyme over chicken
5. Crumble 1 oz of goat cheese over each chicken breast
6. Drizzle everything lightly in olive oil
7. Pour broth into the bottom of the roasting pan
8. Roast for 50 minutes or until no longer pink in center

Holy wow, we were in taste-bud heaven here tonight. This was light, flavorful, and perfectly filling. I'd suggest serving this with a brown rice pilaf and fruit salad... Mmmmmmm! And friends, that's what was on our kitchen table for two last night!