Baked Lemon Chicken
Taste of Home Cookbooks Copyright 2006
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
Directions: In a shallow dish, combine the butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Place bread crumbs in another dish. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then coat with crumbs. Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Drizzle with remaining butter mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until juices run clear.
Yield: 4 servings.
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This is a slight variation on your standard breaded, baked chicken. In the past, I've used a similar 'glue' to hold the breadcrumbs onto the chicken but the lemon is new for me. It's nice to have that bit of tang. I liked the flavor but it didn't get as crispy as I would have liked it to. My chicken breasts were so thin, I probably should have used a higher temperature. If I had cooked them long enough to get crispy at 350 degrees, the meat would have been too dry.
Well, it looks like I'll make it through another week. Monday we had the grilled meat loaf, that I made on Sunday evening. I also cooked some whole wheat egg noodles on Sunday evening. Monday I just grilled the meat loaf, nuked the noodles and heated up some canned green beans.
Tuesday I was going to make a beef stir-fry which morphed into beef fried rice. Totally free-styled and totally delicious. I cut up the vegetables (just carrots, celery and green onions), cooked the rice and sliced and marinated the meat the night before. I also boiled some potstickers. When I got home from work, I pan-fried the potstickers while I made the fried rice.
Wednesday we had an old-favorite, from my pre-blogging days. A free-styled Mexican lasagne of sorts - taco meat mixed with corn layered with cheese and a drizzle of taco sauce between flour tortillas. I made it the night before and we just nuked it and had salad with it. I used my homemade taco seasoning.
Last night we had this chicken and a free-styled pasta salad.
Tonight we're having pizza but I'm not making the dough. I bought prebaked rectangular pizza shells they sell in the refrigerated section of my grocery store (2 1-lb shells for $2.99). I used to use them a lot before I started making my own pizza dough. It's a compromise. I'm tired and I really want take-out but our bill for 2 personal subs (for son and I), a foot-long sub (for hubby), a medium pizza (for all of us and for leftovers) and 6 chicken wings (the full wings - for hubby) was $32 last week! Now, we didn't really need the medium pizza I guess but my son has just started asking for a sub and I wasn't sure if he would eat it (he did). You used to be able to eat a nice meal in a casual sit-down restaurant for $32 (and that included beverages!) I'll be able to make two large pizzas (with pepperoni) for less than $10.
So basically I come home and heat up dinner, eat, hang out with the baby, then clean up and make dinner for the next night after the baby goes to sleep. If I just came home and cooked dinner, we would all be weak with hunger by the time it hit the table and when I was finally done, the baby would be asleep.
I'm trying to do more on the weekend. I made a bunch of meatballs when I cooked the meat loaf on Sunday and stuck them in the freezer. I bought some disposable casserole trays with lids from the Amish store and I hope to fill those with something I could freeze. If I was smart I would have made two meat loaves this week and two Mexican lasagnes.
Question of the Day: Have you been eating out/getting take-out less often?
7 comments:
i have been eating out and getting takeout less often. some of that has to do with saving money, but i think the biggest noticeable difference comes from living with my boyfriend now rather than going to restaurants all the time while dating. plus, we love to cook together. =)
I've definitely been eating out/getting takeout less often. It's partially money, but I'm also trying to be more health-conscious. Plus, half the time I feel icky and overstuffed when I get takeout or restaurant food. I always eat more than if I cooked it myself.
Ooo I can make this recipe at school. Gotta love ToH :)
I usually make most of my meals at my apartment, but since this is my last year at school, I've also been trying to eat more often at the local places because who knows when/if I'll be back.
We eat out once a week, usually on the weekend. I make a menu plan and try to only put things on the menu that don't involve a ton of prep/cook time. Then, I do a lot of my chopping, etc. the night before so that I can come home from work and have dinner done asap.
We don't eat out often, usually just once on the weekend.
It's partially (okay MOSTLY!) due to economics, two growing kids to feed/clothe/entertain, but also due to the fact that most restaurant food just isn't that good. So much of the emphasis is on fast and big portions rather than really good tasting food.
I just started a new job so I ate takeout for lunch all week and am already tired of it. I am excited for Sunday when I plan to make some meals for the weeknights, do some freezer cooking, and get some ingredients to pack lunch. Takeout is just too expensive.
We've been trying to eat out less and eat junk food less. More health than financial but we do think twice before going to some place expensive because of the current economy.
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