Kitchen Creativity

When people find out that my husband is a cook in the Coast Guard they assume one of two things;

• He sets out MREs at the station and that is his cooking
• He does all the cooking at home and we eat fantastically

Well, he does not simply put boxes of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) out on the counter for all the men and woman at the station. He prepares whatever is on the menu that day, sometimes having to get a little creative if his FS1 hasn't gone shopping to replenish needed ingredients. Everybody loves him and his food, and he loves what he does.

However, at home the majority of cooking is done by yours truly, and yes, it is pretty fantastic most of the time. I enjoy cooking, and I only have to make meals for the two of us( something that has taken a while to get used to). I have a system and try to switch between meals of chicken, mainly veggies, and ground beef, always making enough to give us a couple days of leftovers. Anything to stretch our meals and avoid unnecessary grocery shopping. 

Occasionally I get creative and decide to play a bit in the kitchen. Last week I had one of those days. I took a chance and damn was it good. My husband stood and watched as I put the meal together without giving him any instructions other than to cut potatoes for me. 

With weigh-ins coming up pretty soon we've been trying to make healthy "skinny" meals. So I have been substituting a lot of my milk and cream use by adding coconut milk instead, which from what I've read seems to have a lot of great health benefits, is creamy, and not quite as "fattening" as regular dairy. 

Below is the recipe I threw together for what I'm calling Herbed Lemon Chicken. Play around with it if you find you need something for dinner, let me know what you think. I'll definitely be making this again. 

Herbed Chicken with coconut milk

Ingredients

• 1large chicken breast (I was only cooking for two so that was all we needed)
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1.5 C. chicken base/broth (personal favorite is Better Than Bouillon) 
• 3 TBS coconut oil (can substitute with butter or Olive oil)
• 2-3TBS coconut or olive oil (to coat chicken with)
• 3-4 TBS flour 
• 2 tsp ground Sage
• 2 tsp Rosemary 
• 2 tsp Parsley
• 1.5 tsp Thyme 
• 1.5 tsp cayenne pepper (if you’re feeling spicy)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 C. of cut green beans (fresh or frozen)
• 1 C. Cauliflower (fresh or frozen) 
• 4 or so Red Potatoes (unpeeled and cut in bite sized cubes)
• 1 whole lemon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large skillet heat 3 TBS coconut oil on Med. heat, adding flour one TBS at a time, whisking to combine.  Continue whisking for a couple minutes until it doesn’t smell like flour. Slowly the coconut milk, whisking constantly. Pour in the chicken base until you reach your desired consistency(I used about a cup). Mix salt and pepper generously, and about half of the herbs and spices into the sauce/gravy, and let simmer on low.  

Chop potatoes into small cubes and stir into skillet along with green beans and cauliflower, continue to simmer. 

Cut chicken (I cut into long, thin strips) and place into a large Ziploc bag. Pour in the 2-3TBS Coconut oil(melted. or olive oil) and the rest of your herbs and spices over the chicken. Seal bag, shake to coat. 

I used a large cast iron skillet and placed the chicken evenly over the surface of the sauce already in the skillet, allowing me to go from stove top to oven and not dirty any more dishes. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, prepare a large casserole dish with cooking spray. Pour your coconut milk mixture into dish and layer evenly with herb coated chicken. 

Slice lemon and distribute over chicken. 

Bake for 35 minutes, covered, and then an additional 25-30minutes, uncovered. 

*Always check your chicken to make sure it meats the proper temperature requirements before serving