Day 3-Chicken Picata (Lemon Chicken)

This recipe is delicious! It takes a bit of prep, but once you got the chicken in the skillet, dinner is about ready.

Ingredients:

6-8 chicken breast halves, boneless, no skin
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, cut in thin slices

3 tablespoons capers (optional)

Put chicken breasts between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap; pound to flatten to about 1/4-inch. In a shallow bowl, combine flout, salt, pepper. Dredge chicken breasts to coat well.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Saute chicken breasts in batches, about 3 minutes on each side (till light brown on both sides)

Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of fat. Stir in chicken broth, scrapping to loosen browned bits. Add lemon juice and heat through. Return chicken to skillet with lemon slices; heat until sauce thickens. Add capers, if using.

On a side note: I used frozen chicken that comes in a bag and defrosted them until I was able to flatten the chicken. It was a little harder to flatten the "frozen chicken" compared to the fresh chicken that you can find in the meat department at the store. Either kinds of chicken work.

Jimmy's rating: 9/10

Day 2-Easy Peasy Chili

This recipe is great on a cold snowy day. Not necessarily on the nutritious side, but it will surely warm you up in an instant!

What you will need:

1 pack of chili seasoning (name brand or store brand is fine)

1 LB of ground beef (feeds roughly four)

1 can of kidney beans (drained)

16 oz of tomato sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes (drained)

Adding more vegetables like corn, green beans, etc is up to you. I added a can of whole kernel corn (drained).

On a side note, if you are trying to feed more then four people, or have a dinner set aside for a few days, adding pasta is a great way to fill people up faster, and it will help make your dinner last longer.

Get cookin'!:

1. Brown the ground beef, drain fat.

2. Combine chili seasoning and tomato sauce

3. Add vegetables and diced tomatoes together and let simmer for a few minutes until reached desired heat.

4. If you wish to add pasta, combine pasta and chili together in the pot or skillet.

This dish is great if you are on a budget and/or wanting to warm up on a cold day.

My fiance Jimmy rates this meal 8/10 stars.

Day 1- Turkey Burger

This recipe is super easy, super healthy, and super yummy! What could be beter?! This recipe comes out of the book, Cook Yourself Thin.

What you will need:

1 1/3 pounds lean ground turkey

4 ounce can diced green chilies, drained

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2-3 spritzes, canola oil in a mister

To dress the burger:

3 ounces 50%-reduced-fat pepper-jack cheese, cut into 8 thin pieces

4 whole wheat kaiser rolls

Tomaine lettuce leaves

Tomato, sliced

Red Onion, sliced

1/2 avacado, sliced

Get the burger cookin'!

1. In a large bowl, mix the lean ground turkey with the diced chilies and season with salt and pepper. Shape into patties and refrigerate until ready to cook.

2. Heat a large grill pan or nonstick skillet on medium heat and sprtiz with canola oil. Form the meat into pattie shape and cook until brown on eat side (about 4 minutes) eat. Top with cheese and cook for an extra minute.

3. You can toast your rolls if you wish. Dress your burger with the onion, avacado, tomato, and lettuce.

Thats the "offical" recipe. On my burger, i skipped the onion, lettuce, and rolls and ate my burger the "Atkin's way" with avacado, tomato, and provolone cheese.

On a side note, the avacado takes the place of mayo, adds the texture you want/need compared to mayo, and is healthier! :)

My fiance Jimmy rates this 4/10 stars. He didn't care for the chilies in the turkey, the avacado, and he kept complaining about how the the patties wouldn't keep together on the skillet.