Thanks to all of you who sent me messages, checking to see if all was well. I ended up taking a little break from blogging. If you remember my husband recently retired from a long military career and although we knew the change was coming it was a little harder to transition than I thought. Biggest impact was the lack of a direct deposit. We prepared and have a good savings, but when nothing new is coming into the bank, it is a little scary. I prefer to see the balance go up instead of down. 😀
Being concerned over money can consume your every thought and action. It is stressful! Combine that with all the other changes in our lives and it was difficult to sit down to update my blog. I seriously could not think of a single word to type. I tried many times and continued to struggle. So, that led to a couple of weeks and then a month of nothing. Thankfully, we are getting use to the adjustments made to our budget and changes that have happened.
I really appreciate all the support you have given me. 😀
Even though I was struck with writers block one thing I could still do is cook. Here is this deliciously simple dinner that I recently prepared. It is a healthy combination of chicken breast, broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and pasta.
I start by browning the chicken. This gives the chicken a nice color while adding flavor. This also helps to build a sauce for the dish.
Garlic and onions are sautéed to bring out their flavors. These are two of my favorite ingredients to add to any dish. Garlic particularly has great health benefits. The sulfides in garlic, when in the blood stream, can help control blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels. It can also help lower your total cholesterol levels. Garlic is also a good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, selenium, and manganese.
After the garlic and onions are cooked, I add pasta cover with broth and a little oregano. Once the pasta is nearly done, I add in the broccoli and sun-dried tomatoes. I use the steam of the pasta cooking to gently cook the broccoli.
Finish the dish by tossing everything together. This coats all these ingredients in this deliciously light sauce. I love the bright fresh flavors of this dish. The broccoli has a nice bite to it, the chicken is tender, and the sun-dried tomatoes are the perfect savory compliment to this dish.
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- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 8 oz penne pasta
- 2 cups water
- 2 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 3 cup fresh broccoli
- In a large skillet over medium heat brown chicken in olive oil.
- Remove chicken, cover with foil to keep warm. Add onions and garlic, sauté until garlic is fragrant.
- Add pasta to the skillet. Cover with water and chicken broth.
- Sprinkle in oregano.
- Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium low. Cook until pasta is nearly al dente, about 9 minutes.
- Return chicken to pan and stir into pasta. Top with sun dried tomatoes and broccoli.
- Cover and cook until broccoli turns bright green, about 1-2 minutes.