Lazy Girls Guide to the Kitchen - Paprika Chicken

A long time ago I used to spend every waking moment at my best friend's house. I was the youngest of seven and she was an only child so the draw of a chaos free house was very strong. Plus she was (and still is) pretty cool and her wardrobe was (and still is) exponentially better than mine, so there's that too. I loved eating dinner at their house. Her mom always made really yummy food! Of course my culinary bar was pretty low since Hamburger Helper was regular fare at our house.There was one chicken dish that has always been my favorite from the junior high and high school years. Walking into their house after school and smelling the wonderful smells that emanated from the crockpot was quite heavenly. I thought that the recipe must be incredibly complicated but then again what did I know. I was thirteen and my skills were limited to peanut butter sandwiches and a bowl of cereal. Turns out the recipe is stupid simple and has two ingredients, chicken and Italian dressing. It makes for a ridiculously easy dinner when the only thing you have to do is put the chicken breast in a crockpot (on low for 8 hours) and add Italian dressing. I've also been known to mix it up by marinating the chicken while I'm at work and then throwing it on the grill just before S gets home. It's a tasty, easy recipe that I end up making on a regular basis. We call it Paprika Chicken at our house. In the beginning was Goose was weary of the unknown spice and wanted to know what the red spots (from the dressing) were. Rather than risk his refusal to try the recipe, I lied and said it was paprika. For some unknown reason, he had decided early on that paprika was acceptable. If you're a lazy girl in the kitchen (and even if you're not), I highly recommend this recipe. It's delicious.

Honey Chicken

I hate to use the word resolution, but one thing I want to do more of in the new year is to prepare more meals at home. I'm not big on cooking. It's not that I can't follow a recipe, I'd say I'm lacking in the motivation department. Not only is preparing meals at home less expensive than eating out but it's also healthier. One recipe I've wanted to try for awhile is a honey chicken recipe from Red Star Recipe that I found via Pinterest. Click here for the original recipe on the Red Star website.

I have to say it was pretty good. I didn't follow the recipe in its entirety. I left out the red pepper flakes because I didn't have any in the cupboard and next time I'd leave out the cayenne pepper too. For me the added heat was an odd touch and was an unnecessary ingredient for my palate. The recipe also said to use 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts but there was more than enough for at least a couple more pieces of chicken. I used 2 lbs which equated to 3 very thick pieces of chicken. I wanted a thinner slice so I cut the pieces in half (similar to butterflying).

Yummy! Since I'm watching what I eat, I also did a calorie conversion for anyone that's interested. Six ounces of chicken totaled about 309 calories.