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Quick Cook

I love to cook.  I biologically inherited a need to feed anyone and everyone.  I enjoy all kinds of cooking, from simple to complex, from grilling to baking.  A lot of people I talk to right now are most interested in the really fast yet still tasty and healthy weeknight meal kinds of recipes and I have been asked by a few people how I do some of what I do, so I think that I will start sharing some of my faster meal options for those of you looking to jazz up your dinner menu.  Because this idea just came to me yesterday, I have no pictures of these first "recipes."  Can you call things you toss together recipes?  I guess so.

Apricot Chipotle Chicken and Veggies

You will need:
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies
enough boneless skinless chicken breasts to feed your herd (2-4 works well with 1 bag of veggies)  For this recipe I like the ones that are not insanely giant or I cut them in half
1 jar Bronco Bob's Apricot Chiptole Sauce (or preferred flaver.  Bronco Bob happens to have all natural ingredients, all of which I can pronounce.  No corn syrup either)
Grain(s) of choice.  I use brown rice and quinoa.  To make this quickly, use Minute Brown Rice.  Red Quinoa as more fiber than yellow, but either is a complete protien and very good for you.  (Try to skip the while rice.  Protien and fiber make for a much more filling meal)

If making traditional brown rice, follow package directions and start this first, if using minute hold off.

Preheat oven to 350

Defrost chicken breasts in the microwave.  Open veggies and run warm water over them a minute.  When chicken is done, microwave the veggies for about a minute. (you want them to be mostly un-frozen, maybe even a little towards warn)

Spray baking dish of choice with cooking spray.  Make sure veggies are well drained and dump them in to the baking dish, spreading them out evenly.  Line up chicken breasts across the top of the veggies.  Pour about 1/4 cup of sauce over chicken and smear around.  Flip chicken breasts over and repeat with another 1/4 cup of sauce.  (no, I did not measure the sauce and you don't have to either.  1/4 cup is about what I eyeballed.  This sauce does have some kick, so keep your intended victims in mind when saucing) Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and place it in the oven.  Set the timer for 15 minutes. 

Go do some sit ups or bicep curls.

Come back and re-set the timer for 10 minutes.  Measure out and cook grains.  Minute rice, Quinoa, and Couscous all require boiling, letting sit for about 5 minutes, then fluffing with a fork.  Easy peasy.  I cook the rice and the quinoa seperately then mix them in a larger bowl once they are done cooking. 

Now everything should be done at about the same time.  Cut open a chicken breast to check, just in case yours are thicker than mine.  Serve with extra sauce if desired.  I like to put down my grains, then pile my chicken and veggies on top.

Let me know if you try it!

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