Workin' the Cooktop

Yay!  It was the day I’ve been waiting for!  I got to break in our brand new cooktop.  Cooktops may not excite everyone, but things were getting pretty rough in the kitchen.  We were down to two working burners and it was time for an upgrade.  Since I do most of the cooking for the fam, this was like a present for me – thank you, Mom and Dad!

I decided to make one of their favorites to christen the cooktop:  Chicken Stir Fry. It’s simple, flavorful and healthy.

Cooking the chicken.

Colorful veggies.

Here’s how it all came together:

1. Cube desired amount of chicken breast.
2. Cut up red, green and yellow peppers, and one large yellow onion.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet and add chicken.  Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ginger.
4. Allow chicken to brown and cook through, then remove and set aside in a bowl.
5. Add vegetables to the same pan and stir fry until they soften.
6. Combine chicken and vegetables.
7. Top everything with your favorite sauce.  Tonight, I used Kikkoman Low Sodium Teriyaki Sauce.

I put my serving of the chicken stir fry onto a bed of brown rice.

Dinner.

This was a delicious meal.  It marks the first time I’ve eaten type of meat since 2/17.  My mom bought all-natural, hormone free chicken, a responsible choice.  I do not feel guilty about eating the meat and enjoyed this dinner with the family.

A Sunday dinner is not complete without dessert.  I had plenty of farmer’s market apples just looking for a recipe…when I stumbled upon Anne’s recipe for Baked Apple Cinnamon Oat Bars.  I’m such a junkie for dessert and couldn’t wait to test this out.

Chop the apples.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Mix in the wet ingredients.

I poured the batter into a baking dish coated in non-stick spray.  It baked for ~30 minutes @ 350*and it was perfectly done.  I’d recommend the “clean-toothpick” trick, just to be sure!

Cooling off.

The bars weren’t quite cool when I dug in.  I think all apple cinnamon desserts are best eaten warm, a la mode….so that’s exactly how I ate it!

Sweet Sunday.

These bars were delish!  They were dense and cake-like with big chunks of apples, raisins, and walnuts.  They made a sweet dessert, but this recipe also makes perfect on-the-go snack bars.  They did’t contain any oil or butter, but were nice and moist.  I’m thinking I’ll have to stash some away for weekday snacks!

It’s been such a lovely day – time to curl up for the Oscars! I know the the celebrity/fashion world does not always portray health and positive body image, but, I admit, I love to see all of the glitz and glam of awards shows…especially when Joan Rivers is at the helm!  This is gonna be fun!