Candied Carrots!

I have never been a fan of cooked carrots. But eating them raw and with a side of Hidden Valley Ranch is one of my favorite snacks in the world! Granted, I could do without the ranch, or the ingredients of candied carrots, but I still like to believe that I'm getting some type of nutritional value by eating carrots. This is something that goes well with almost any dish. When cooked properly, they add a sweet, but not overbearing, flavor to your plate. These carrots compliment chicken, fish and beef dishes wonderfully. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of mini peeled carrots
• evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
• brown sugar
• nutmeg
• vanilla extract
• water

Let's get started!

In a saucepan, add 3/4cup of water. Once boiling, add your carrots, 2tbsp of evoo, 3tbsp of brown sugar, 1tspn of vanilla extract, and 2 tspn of nutmeg. Stir all of your ingredients and keep on a high boil. Once the water begins to become sticky, reduce heat to medium and cook until the water turns into a glaze. Add to your meal and enjoy! Also, if you have leftovers, I enjoy these carrots cold as well. Enjoy!

                     

Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken & Potatoes!

Well known fact about me: I LOVE CHICKEN! You can fry it, grill it, BBQ it, bake it...whatever! With that being said, I could easily eat chicken everyday. Since that could easily get boring, I try to come up with creative ways to serve chicken. While talking with my Granny recently, I started talking about honey mustard and chicken; two of my favorite things, especially together! I thought, "hmm...what would chicken, potatoes, red onions and honey mustard taste like altogether?" Now, for some, this may seem like a lot going into one dish, but it was really good! 

Ingredients:

• skinless chicken breasts
• medium red potatoes
• mushrooms
• red onion
• fresh garlic
• evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
• honey mustard

Let's get started! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. After cleaning your chicken breasts, place them on a cutting board and pat them dry with a paper towel. After cutting your chicken and red potatoes into 1/2 inch chunks, place both in a mixing bowl. Add 1tbsp of freshly chopped garlic, 2tbsp of evoo, 2/3cup of chopped red onion, and 1cup of sliced mushrooms. Season accordingly with black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Use your hands and thoroughly mix all ingredients in your bowl. Once evenly seasoned, add 1.5cups of honey mustard. Feel free to buy a store brand, or use the recipe I posted here. In a small to medium sized baking dish, lightly grease the bottom with cooking spray and pour in all of your ingredients. Bake covered for 30 min. Uncover your dish, stir and allow it to finish roasting at 375 degrees for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from the stove and serve with your favorite veggies. I try to have a nice proportion of veggies with every dinner. So we had a side of roasted peppers & onions and candied carrots :) I hope you enjoy it :)