Garlic and Herb Chicken with Pasta

I apologize for the lapse in posts, we had family in town for two weeks and both Zac and I are working on our masters thesis projects. Also, I am training for a marathon, so the free time has been eaten up by other things and cooking and blogging about cooking fell low on the priority list. However, the other day I made a specialty of mine that I should post. My garlic and herb chicken. It's an easy recipe and best served with pasta; this time I served it with gnocchi (as shown in the picture) which is amazing. I tried to make my own gnocchi a few weeks back and it was a complete disaster! So I just bought this from the store, which was hard to find! We finally did find some at Glondo's, which is a specialty italian sausage store in Cle Elum. Yay! Anyway, here is the chicken recipe:

Garlic and Herb Chicken

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp italian seasoning

1 tbsp Mrs. Dash garlic and herb seasoning (optional, but it's REALLY awesome)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

If desired, chop chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, or cook as a whole breast. Pour olive oil into a large fryinig pan and place on the stove on medium heat. Add chicken to pan. If cooking as a whole breast, cover the chicken in 1/2 of the seasoning, fry for a few moments, then flip the chicken and cover the other side in the final 1/2 of seasoning. If cooking in pieces, add all seasoning, covering chicken thoroughly. Fry chicken in olive oil until cooked thoroughly and to desired brownness.

Notes:

So yummy! Serve over pasta, with sauce, or alone.

Healthy Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

I have been craving oatmeal cookies but wanted to do a healthy version. I found a recipe on Mom's Who Think and made some changes adding dried cranberries and walnuts.

These are not flat, chewy oatmeal cookies, they are fluffy and cakey. They also cut out quite a bit of fat and calories by using Splenda and applesauce instead of sugar and oil.

Healthy Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c Splenda/sugar/sweetener of choice

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 c applesauce

1/4 c skim or low-fat milk

2 c whole wheat flour

2 c quick rolled oats

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 c dried cranberries

1/2 c walnut pieces

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl mix margarine, sugar, egg, applesauce, and milk. Mix with an electric mixer on medium until well blended (2 or 3 minutes.) Add flour, oats, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed for one minute. Add cranberries and walnuts. Fold in with a spoon. Drop teaspoons full on to cookie sheet about 2 inched apart. Bake until lightly browned about 13-15 minutes.