Italian Style Chicken Strips

Healthy weeknight dinner: Italian-style baked chicken strips

Growing up, my mom made the best Sunday night dinners. I know this can be a cliche for a lot of neighborhoods, but these were truly the kind of meals that brought the neighbors over. As I got older and started dancing, I would go off in my room and eat a yogurt to avoid the deliciousness coming from the kitchen; back then dieting meant food avoidance and lots of Diet Coke.

As you get older, things obviously change; the concept of starving and living on Diet Coke is no longer in vogue. For me, after losing my first 45 pounds, I can say I have learned what works for my body: healthy eating and nothing too extreme. I ear carbohydrates, I just do not eat them at every meal and the majority of my meals are completely clean and healthy. I am learning moderation and self-control.

Sunday I decided to experiment in the kitchen. I cooked what I had on hand, and I came up with what my husband James called a home run. I made chicken with tomatoes, onions and garlic in the oven and served it with my take on healthy mashed potatoes and vegetables.

For dessert I made clean eating oatmeal banana chocolate cookies with no sugar.

Here’s a picture of the main dish:

Rose Bruno Bailey Italian Style Chicken Strips

Here’s how you do it.

Italian Style Baked Chicken Strips
One bag all white meat chicken strips (pre-cooked); I bought mine from Costco
2 cans of diced tomatoes in garlic
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion diced
7 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried basil
Place the chicken in a large baking pan, and mix in the diced onions and garlic. Add two cans of canned tomatoes and two tablespoons olive oil. Mix all ingredients and season with salt, pepper, basil and parsley and mix once again. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
For the mashed potatoes all I did was boil 10 red potatoes until they were soft, and after the chicken was cooked I drained some of the tomato juice into the potatoes and added 1 tablespoon of light butter and one tablespoon of Greek yogurt and mashed them manually. Salt and Pepper and garlic salt. End result tomato flavored mashed potatoes — so healthy and super simple.
This meal reminded me of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but without the guilt and high caloric count that comes with the comfort food I grew up with.
I hope you have a wonderful day and realize that the process of cooking and eating healthy is simpler than we all realize — sometimes it can be just what we have on hand.
Love and light to all.

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