It's been awhile since I posted anything... I need to get better about that.

But we tried a recipe tonight that was so easy and so tasty... I have to share. :)

It's a chicken, beans, and taters meal, minutes to prep, an hour to bake, and so yummy!

There are a number of different blogs that give the recipe, but they all end up with basically a pound of chicken breasts, green beans, and red potatoes chopped up into inch-sized pieces, skin on or off dependent on your tastes.

We're trying to find new ways to eat the same old things. My food texture sensitivities mean that there are a lot of foods I simply can't eat. I bite into them and my throat closes up. It's not anaphylactic or anything... it's just that the texture makes me gag and I have a very hard time eating those things. Like leafy greens... I can't eat a salad. Not only do I not like the taste of lettuce, but I simply can't eat it unless I'm in starvation mode and it's the only thing available. I found that out in the Marines. ;) Add in my fatty liver and now the gall bladder that I need to get removed, and I have to be very careful with what I eat, or prepared for the pain and intestinal nastiness that follows. :P

So we are limited to chicken, pork, ground pork, turkey, and fish. I can eat potatoes, corn, peas, lima beans, green beans, and carrots only if they're stewed pretty much to mush. And don't taste like carrots. My husband can eat a lot more than I can, but unless we completely split our menus, which we've done before, there's not a huge crossover. Fortunately, he's kitchen friendly and has, in fact, been doing most of the cooking since my back/hip got so bad that I can barely stand for more than five minutes at a time.

That's why we're looking for recipes that we can both enjoy, but we've been in a rut of shake-and-bake style meals, with either noodles/rice/taters and veggies of some sort on the side. We're both bored to tears over it. It doesn't help that, because of the food sensitivity, I have trouble embracing new things.

But I did tonight, and I'm very glad. It's a very simple recipe... took less than five minutes to prep and then an hour to bake, and it was very tasty. I did a few things different from the other recipes, but since it worked out well, I'll add those. :)

Chicken Veggie Ranch Bake

1 pound of chicken breasts
1 can of green beans, drained
1 can of diced potatoes, drained
1 packet of ranch dressing dry mix
half a stick of butter
9"x13" pan
aluminum foil

I used some extra softened butter to 'grease' the pan so things wouldn't stick. Once it was rubbed all over the pan, I sprinkled the bottom of the pan with a bit of the ranch dressing mix. Then I laid the chicken breast pieces down the middle of the pan. I drained both the beans and taters and then dumped them on either side of the chicken. I sliced pats of butter, about 1/4" each, and placed them down each of the ingredients, then sprinkled the rest of the ranch mix over the whole thing.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350* for an hour.

Note: next time I make this, I will double the veggies... either use only two piece of the chicken (we portion ours out into 4oz pieces and freeze, when we go shopping) and one can each of the veggies, or two cans each if we're using four pieces.

Tonight, we went ahead and portioned out four servings, putting two of those into tupperware bowls for lunches tomorrow. The remaining portions were rather small, but we've been eating far too much lately, and need to cut back. However, eating more green beans can't be that bad for us, and it's better to fill the tummy with veggies than snacks. ;)

I'm thinking that we might end up making up several of these to freeze, though making them the day of isn't a huge inconvenience... it really doesn't take much at all to put together. But I'm going to get some 9"x13" disposable pans and make a few of these ahead of time, see how they come out when thawed and cooked later.

OR.... other options are to make them with the original amounts and add some rolls or dessert to make it a full meal for us. ;) I gotta whittle down the portion sizes, but if I do that overnight, it'll be hell to live with either of us for awhile. lol Dieting is not our forte. :P

Here are before and after pics, just because I have that technology. ;)