green beans and chicken georgia

Christopher tried his first “solid food” this week - green beans!

He got really excited when he saw a bowl and spoon - probably thinking he was getting cereal.

Wait - this isn’t cereal…

 

What WAS that?

    

He did really well and seemed to like green beans!  He would make funny faces after taking a bite - like he didn’t like them - but then he would open up wide again ready for another bite!  He ate half of a (little) jar of them then finished them up the next day.  It’s so fun and exciting to get to try new foods with him.  Stephen has been waiting for months to get to do this.

On a different note… you may notice the big fat ZERO on my “weight lost” ticker.  Um. Yeah.  That’s because I haven’t lost any weight. :(  But I also was not dieting very well AT ALL and only half-heartedly working out a few times a week. Stephen and I started doing a low-carb diet together on Tuesday, and so far we’ve done really good! We are both “carbo-holics” so it’s a tough diet - but we’ve both had success with it and are hoping to “jump start” our weight loss with this diet. I’ve made several yummy things so far (sausage & cheese bites, peanut butter cookies, etc.) but I did try one recipe the other day that we both just LOVED and I know it will be a new favorite - even when we’re not low-carbing it!  It’s called chicken georgia, and it’s actually a Paula Deen recipe that I tweaked a little bit. It’s SUPER EASY and really delicious!

First, I sauteed some mushrooms in a little bit of butter & olive oil. I added 3 cloves of fresh garlic. (I used a zester to get it chopped really fine.) Next, I took two chicken breasts, salted and peppered the top side, and put that side (the seasoned side) down in the skillet with the mushrooms & garlic. I seasoned the other side of them and let them cook until they had a nice carmelization, then flipped them and cooked them on the other side. When the chicken is cooked through, top it off with lots of fresh mozzarella cheese.  The cheese will melt in just a few minutes.  One dish, super easy, and really yummy.

**Just to warn you - make sure your chicken breasts are pretty thin.  I ended up cutting mine after I put them in the pan because they were thicker than I realized and the outside was perfect but the middle was still raw.  Also, Paula used shallots instead of garlic - you could use onions, shallots, garlic, or whatever you prefer. I don’t like onions and I don’t think I would like shallots, but I LOVE garlic.

We ate ours with Stephen’s yummy garlic green beans. He uses lots of garlic and toasted, slivered almonds in them and they are SO GOOD.  The only thing that would have made this meal any better would be a big wedge of garlic toast served along side it.  :) Hahaha.  And yes, I realize that we are a garlic-loving family. It’s good for you! Well…as long as you don’t eat too much of it and start sweating it out of your pores… then you should probably cut back, just for other people’s sake!

Hopefully I can update my ticker SOON saying that I have lost a pound or two!