Baked Basil Chicken: Something the husband can make...that doesn't come from a box.


One of the challenges that have faced me since getting married has been trying to make healthy meals for myself and my husband. Because a lot of the core of my work is done in the evenings, it leaves little time to give some good thought to making nutritious and delicious meals that we will both eat.  You see, my husband is somewhat of a finicky eater… and it is hard to put a finger on what he will and will not eat!  For instance,he won’t eat soups or stews, but he will eat beef and noodles and mushrooms.  He won’t eat cheese on his hamburger, but he will eat pizza… And the big one that all of his friends and family like to give him a hard time about… he will not pour milk over his cereal.  He has a glass of milk beside his dry Cheerios.  I tell you this not to make my husband feel bad about his weird eating preferences (He could survive a week on ham sandwiches, chicken patties and frozen pizza) but to give you an idea of what I am dealing with.  Trying to get him to eat healthy can be difficult. I will say, however, that he will eat a salad-  If I put cucumbers, celery, strawberries and mandarin oranges.  No dressing, of course.  He also won’t eat beans… which knocks out a lot of yummy dishes I could make.

So what is a girl who wants her family to eat healthy, but is not always home at the dinner-making hour to do?  Well, of course there are crock pot meals (but many of these involve foods that he will not eat.)  I have also been able to prepare things such as lasagna (yes, he eats that but only because I only use mozzarella cheese- no ricotta.)  And I can also prepare a pork roast and give him the baking instructions. Tonight, I prepared some chicken breasts and instructed him on the baking.  This is something he could actually do all by himself if he had to. If you or someone you know is a beginner at cooking, this one’s for you.  Here’s the instructions:

Baked Basil Chicken
Preheat oven to 350.
Split chicken breasts.
Put salt and pepper on the breasts, place ugly side down in a cooking pan with a little olive or cooking oil in the bottom.
Cover with dried basil.
Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until no longer pink in the middle- or you can use a meat thermometer.

While baking, you might want to add a little water to the pan so that the chicken doesn’t get too dry.

This is a great easy, basic chicken that doesn’t take long to prepare, and you can do other stuff while it’s cooking… and the husband can put it in the oven!

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