OMG CHICKEN!

Chicken is easy to make, but it gets boring quickly.  I have a ton of chicken recipes pinned on Pinterest and several packs of chicken sitting in my freezer, so I need to start actually making these recipes!  Some pinner called this "OMG chicken," but it's just a much healthier version of Hellman's Parmesan crusted chicken, using fat free plain Greek yogurt instead of the mayo.  While the chicken cooked, I made a quick veggie stir-fry with mushrooms, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, and grape tomatoes.  Yum!

Did you know that a serving of chicken is about the size of a deck of cards and weighs 3-4oz?  I usually cut chicken breasts in half (butterflying them like this, but cutting the whole way through to make 2 pieces).  I'm still left with more than a serving of chicken (4-6oz depending on the size), but it's a lot more manageable and cooks more evenly.


Here's the easy recipe for "OMG Chicken"!

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each butterflied in half
1/2 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Sprinkle of Italian breadcrumbs

Mix the yogurt and cheese together and slather the mixture over the chicken.  Sprinkle some breadcrumbs over the top and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  How easy was that?

Refrigerator Oatmeal

I like to sleep.  I'm one of those people who rolls out of bed with JUST enough time to get ready and run out the door.  It was great last year when it took me a whopping 5 minutes to walk to my first class, but now that I have to walk a couple blocks and wait for the bus to take me to school, so I find myself having to wake up over an hour before class starts (I know, I know...the horror!!).  Since I try to maximize on sleep, I would always just grab a breakfast bar and run out the door, only to be starving an hour later.  I needed a filling meal that I could grab and go!

Over the summer I discovered this refrigerator oatmeal (also called summer porridge, muesli) from the blog The Yummy Life.  It's AMAZING.  The author concocted recipes using different fruits, and the results are nutritious, delicious, and more than enough to get me from 8am to lunch.

The author just came out with 8 new recipes, so I went out to buy some ingredients to make the "Cherry Garcia" oatmeal.  It did not disappoint!

All the fixings for a delicious and nutritious breakfast!!

 What you need:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt (the black cherry works perfectly with this one!)
• 1/3 cup fat free milk
• 1-1/2 tsp dried chia seed (or flax seed)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Lots of cherries, quartered
• Dark chocolate - use as much as you desire, I used half a serving of Hershey's Special Dark (about 1/6 of a big bar) and it was more than enough chocolate!

Look at all those cherries!

 Throw everything but the cherries into a mason jar or other sealable, portable container.  Mix with a spoon, then add the cherries.  I like to stuff it with fruit so it almost fills up the whole jar.

All mixed, ready for the fridge!

Once it's all mixed, put it in the fridge and let it sit at least overnight so the oatmeal and chia seeds can soften.  It will be ready by morning, and you'll be enjoying Cherry Garcia for breakfast!  Once I'm out of cherries, I'll experiment with the other recipes.  I'm looking forward to the mocha and the pineapple coconut.  Out of the old flavors, I have made the Mango, Banana Chocolate, and Raspberry Vanilla, and I recommend them all!

A note about the chia seeds - they're not a necessity (I made my first batch of oatmeal without them) but I think they add a nice texture, plus they're nutritious.  You can apparently use flax seeds as an alternative, or leave them out.  If you do leave them out, be sure to use less liquid, as the chia seeds absorb some of the liquid.

Enjoy!