September 15 - Garlic Ranch Chicken

I had 2 chicken breasts left in my freezer and by the time I defrosted them, I had an hour for dinner - not quite enough time to marinade and I was in no mood to grill. I checked around my cupboards and found all the stuff for garlic ranch chicken, and knowing it's one of the boy's favorites, figured it would be eaten by all with no complaint. And honestly, after listening to the kids scream and fight all day, I couldn't handle any bitching or moaning about what was being served up!

I had been craving some sweet potatoes lately, so I picked up a couple at the store and mashed those up with a little butter and brown sugar. The kiddos devoured them (Linds actually stole the last few bites off of Luke's plate), and I got my sweet potato fix. I also picked up some salad mix and served that, too, knowing the boy wouldn't eat the veggies and would need something more than just chicken.

I also cut up the chicken into smaller nugget-size pieces figuring I might be able to mask them as "new" chicken nuggets to the kids. It worked for the most part (well that and the bribe of going to the park post-dinner if all the chicken was eaten off their plates).

Garlic Ranch Chicken
Ingredients
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 T ranch salad dressing mix
1/8 tsp pepper
1 T olive oil
1 T butter

Directions

1. Flatten chicken slightly; set aside. 
2. In a shallow bowl, combine milk and garlic. In another shallow bowl, combine the flour, salad dressing mix and pepper. 
3. Dip chicken in milk mixture, then coat with flour mixture. 
4. In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil and butter over medium heat for 6-8 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. 

Yield: 4 servings. 1 chicken breast is 264 calories and 12 g fat. This is a great "quick" dinner - under 30 minutes for prep and cook.