Chicken. Roasted Broccoli (if you haven’t had Roasted Broccoli before you need to. Soon.). Goat Cheese. Red and Green Peppers. Garlic. Olive Oil. That’s the stuff dinner is made of.

This is another recipe from Perry’s Plate. I am loving her blog, and really want to make everything she blogs about.

A few things I would change about this recipe. First, next time I am going to double it. If I didn’t have any self-control, which sometimes I don’t, I probably would have eaten the whole bowl myself.

Second, next time maybe a little less goat cheese. I think the called for 3-4 ounces was just a little bit too much for us. Although, I really did love the melty, tangy goat cheese, so I suppose we’ll see. I might even try feta cheese next time. Mmm…

If you love broccoli, chicken, peppers, garlic, goat cheese (or another type if goat isn’t your thing!), you need to try this. It was so delicious, and so light. Perfect for a summertime meal (except for having to turn the oven on to 500 degrees.)

Chicken and Roasted Broccoli with Goat Cheese

recipe from Perry’s Plate

Ingredients:

For the roasted broccoli and peppers:

• 1 large head of broccoli, (almost 2 lbs), cut into 1-2 inch florets
• 1/2 green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 red pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

For the rest:

• 4 T olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• couple pinches of crushed red pepper flakes
• pinch of dried oregano
• juice from half a lemon
• 2 cups chicken, cooked, and shredded
• 3-4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (next time I’m going to try half that)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, and place a baking sheet on the lowest rack.
2. Place broccoli and peppers in a large bowl and toss with olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper.
3. Remove baking sheet from oven, spread the broccoli and peppers on the sheet in an even layer. Bake 7-10 minutes or until the broccoli is cooked through and some are caramelized. Watch them carefully because you don’t want them to burn.
4. While the broccoli is roasting, in a medium-sized pan, put 2 T of olive oil, and your pepper flakes and garlic cloves. On medium-low heat, cook garlic and pepper flakes for 5-7 minutes or until garlic is golden brown. Add your chicken and cook another 3 minutes or until chicken is heated through. Remove from heat and add in lemon and oregano.
5. In a large bowl, mix your broccoli, peppers, and chicken with 2 T of olive oil, and the goat cheese. Serve immediately.
6. Enjoy!

– the Jilb

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This dinner was the by far one of the best things I’ve made lately. And it’s so easy to make, which is a huge plus when you have four little kids running around wanting your attention.

You throw some frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot. Then you season it with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. After that’s cooked you make a little honey lime sauce and let the chicken cook in it for awhile. Then you make up your rice, bake it for an hour, and dinner is served! Did I mention how easy this recipe is?

I know I’ll be making this chicken weekly. In fact, I really want it now. Right. Now.

The cayenne gives the chicken a little heat, and the honey gives the chicken just the littlest bit of sweetness. And the lime. Oh, the lime. I love lime! The cilantro is the icing on the cake. Seriously.

Honey Lime Chicken with Baked Brown Rice

recipe adapted from The Enchanted Cook and Food Network

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts (mine were medium-sized)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 T honey
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1 & 1/2 cups brown rice
• 1 cup water
• 1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth (you could do all water or all chicken broth too if you wanted)
• 1 T butter
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Season your chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook on low in a crock pot until done 6-8 hours (I did the crock pot method because it’s easiest for me. But you also could marinate your chicken the night before in the salt, pepper, cayenne, honey, lime, and some olive oil and then throw it on the grill. I can’t wait to try it this way!)
2. When your chicken is done mix your honey, lime juice, and zest in a small bowl. Mix that in with your chicken, and then I like to leave that in the crockpot on low or warm for a half hour or so to let the chicken marinate.
3. To start your rice, preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and pour your rice in an 8-inch glass dish.
4. Bring water, chicken broth, butter, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Once boiling, pour the chicken broth mixture over the rice, stir to combine, and cover baking dish with aluminum foil.
5. Bake for one hour. Then remove foil and fluff rice.
6. Mix your chicken in with your rice, and sprinkle the cilantro on top.
7. Enjoy!!

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Reinman and I have been on a bit of a health binge lately, and it’s been going pretty well. Hence the lack of sweet recipes, and the arrival of more healthy recipes than what is typically seen on Reini Days.

This salad is my new favorite go-to salad. The tartness of the apples mixed with the chicken, lime juice, and cilantro is pretty much out of this world. Especially for a salad.

Add in a lite mayo dressing and you really have yourself something here. If you want something light for lunch, or dinner, this is perfect. And our kids loved it too, which is always a huge plus in this house.

Chicken, Apple, and Walnut Salad

recipe slightly adapted from Allyou.com

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or you can even do a rotisserie chicken)
• 3 medium Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 T. fresh lime juice
• 2 T. red onion, finely chopped (I omitted this just because I don’t like onion)
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 T. finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• salt, to taste
• 8 cups mixed salad greens
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Toss apples with 1 tablespoon lime juice in a large bowl. Add chicken and red onion.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together mayo, cilantro, red pepper, 1/2 tsp. salt, and remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice. Stir dressing into chicken mixture to coat. Season with salt.
3. Throw salad greens in a large bowl and toss with chicken salad. Top with walnuts.
4. Enjoy!

– the Jilb

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This pizza can be super easy (read store bought items), or a little complicated, but worth the extra effort.

You pick.

Either way you can’t lose.

I’ve included at the end of this post the homemade pizza crust that I make on a weekly basis because it’s that awesome, and the homemade pizza sauce that I make on a weekly basis because, once again, it’s that awesome. And they are so easy to make. You really should try it.

I saw this pizza recipe from Plain Chicken (another food site that I love, by the way!), and seeing how easy it was, it had to go on my to-make food list (which is getting longer, and longer, and longer. I don’t think I’ll have a problem with blogging about food. Ever.). I tweaked the recipe a bit, using my homemade stuff and was very pleased. So, was Reinman. This will definitely become a staple in our house.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

recipe adapted from Plain Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 premade store bought pizza crust (like Boboli) or homemade pizza crust (1/4 of the recipe at the end of this post)
• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 4 oz. store bought prepared pesto
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce (recipe at the end of this post)
• 1 & 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Throw your frozen chicken breasts and pesto in a crockpot with the setting on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken is completely cooked. (Or you could buy already cooked chicken and mix it with your pesto. I found, though, that leaving my chicken on low in the crock pot all day with the pesto sauce really made the chicken tender and oh, so tasty.)
2. If you have store bought ingredients you can preheat your oven to 450 degrees now. If not, make sure you make your pizza crust a day ahead and chill it in the fridge.
3. Put your store bought dough or homemade dough on a pizza pan, or a pizza stone if you happen to have one. If you’re using the homemade dough, you’ll have to use some extra flour and roll that baby out to the size of your pan or about 12 inches. Spread your sauce on top of dough. Add your mozzarella cheese and then top with chicken. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.
4. I should add also that I ended up having extra chicken leftover after I made this pizza but didn’t mind. If you don’t want any leftover chicken, you can half it.
5. Enjoy!

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Homemade Olive Oil Pizza Dough

recipe from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

• 2 & 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 & 1/2 T granulated yeast (2 packages)
• 1 & 1/2 T Kosher salt
• 1 T sugar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix your yeast, salt, sugar, and oil with the water.
2. Next mix in the flour without kneading. Right now is where a stand mixer comes in handy, but if you don’t have one you can wet your hands in order to incorporate all the flour into the rest of the mix.
3. Transfer dough to a large bowl or lidded food container. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temp until dough rises and collapses, about 2 hours.
4. You can use the dough immediately or store in the fridge for up to 12 days. I find that the dough is easier to use if it’s chilled.
5. This recipe makes 4-1 lb loafs (or 4- 12 inch pizzas)
6. Enjoy!

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Homemade Pizza Sauce

recipe from Handle the Heat

Ingredients:

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 T tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seed (I leave this out, only because we don’t have it)
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (I also leave this out. See above reason)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp. sugar
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pizza
• 1/8 tsp. all spice

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
2. This pizza sauce will make your kitchen smell AWESOME!
3. For me, this sauce is enough for 2 pizzas, so adjust accordingly.
4. Enjoy!

– the Jilb

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Chicken Parmesan Bake. My new favorite chicken recipe. Okay. Honestly, my new favorite dinner. Ever.

I love that you hardly dirty any dishes making this. Seriously. Easiest, tastiest thing ever! You must make this now. This guy is a genius. If you visit his blog, he even has a video on how to make the chicken parmesan bake (not that you need it. This recipe is so, so easy!!)

The croutons give you that crunch without having to fry your chicken (no dredging in breadcrumbs and eggs in this recipe either!). And, of course, you have all that cheesy goodness. And then the fresh basil. Lovely.

Chicken Parmesan Bake

recipe from Chef John at Food Wishes

Ingredients:

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• hot red pepper flakes, to taste (I left these out, but I’m sure adding them gives a little extra zing!)
• 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 oz. parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 (5-oz.) package garlic croutons

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grab a baking dish (I used a 9×13), and pour you olive oil in the bottom. Then add your garlic and red pepper flakes.
3. Next layer your chicken on top of the garlic oil.
4. Then spread your marinara sauce over the chicken.
5. On top of your chicken, add your chopped basil.
6. Sprinkle 4 oz. of the mozzarella cheese, and 2 oz. of the parmesan cheese on top of the basil.
7. Then toss the croutons on top of the cheese.
8. Then cover the croutons with the rest of the cheese.
9. Bake from anywhere from 35 to an hour depending on the size of your chicken breasts. The chicken will read 155 degrees on a meat thermometer when done. (I baked mine for 45 minutes, and they were perfect.)
10. Let your chicken parmesan bake rest for 10 minutes before serving. (If you sneak a crouton, I won’t tell anybody.)
11. Enjoy!!

– the Jilb

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With this cold weather, I figured it was time to get out the crock pot. And I’m glad I did! Last night I made Brown Sugar Chicken. I got the recipe from the blog Crockpot 365, which has a ton crock pot recipes. If you like using a crock pot, I would highly recommend checking out that blog.

Anyways, this recipe was awesome. Sugary, chickeny, goodness. Yum. A recipe I will definitely make again.

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Chicken

recipe slightly adapted from Crockpot 365

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts (I used frozen)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup diet coke
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

1. Put your chicken in your crock pot.
2. Cover with brown sugar, pepper, garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the coke. Yum!
3. Cover, and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or high from 4-5.
4. Serve over a bowl of white rice with some of that yummy broth.

On a side note, don’t do what I did. I gave our two-year-old twins rice. And, of course, they just dumped the rice EVERYWHERE. So, please, don’t give young children rice. It just isn’t right.

– the Jilb

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Let me introduce you to one of our family favorites: Thai Noodle Salad!

It was introduced to us by BeckyMom a few years ago. We had been using the website Sparkpeople, which is great by the way, to track our calorie intake and exercise and all that jazz, and that’s where this baby was found.

Sparkpeople has a ton of really great recipes, our favorite being the Thai Noodle Salad. It’s something that I had never eaten before, and honestly, something I probably wouldn’t have thought to try, but thank goodness we had it at Reinman’s parents’ house a few years ago. We make it a lot now, the kids love it, and it’s something that I would highly recommend you try. Mmmm…

Thai Noodle Salad

recipe from our friends at Sparkpeople

Ingredients:

• 6 oz dried vermicelli
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 T peanut butter
• 1 T fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (we leave this out)
• 1 & 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
• 3 green onions, cut diagonally into 1/2 inch strips
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook vermicelli according to directions, drain, and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine soy sauce, chicken broth, peanut butter, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper. Cook over low-medium heat until peanut butter is melted.
3. Add pasta and toss to coat evenly.
4. Stir in cooked chicken, red pepper, onions, and cilantro.
5. Garnish with lime wedges, and enjoy!

This recipe is so yummy. I hope ya’ll will give it a try!

– the Jilb

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