Today In Jennifer's Kitchen: Baked Popcorn Chicken, Roasted Green Beans & Vanilla Strawberries

I'm working really hard to minimize our family intake of frozen meals, food-to-go, and eating out, in an effort to increase a more organic lifestyle. The eating-out part shouldn't be too difficult since we usually eat out no more than once a week but those "easy-fixes", like evil frozen pizzas, keep making their way to my (microwave)oven (Can I use being tired and pregnant as an excuse?).

For dinner tonight I'm making some homemade popcorn chicken, roasted green beans, and some yummy vanilla strawberries.

Garlic Chicken Bites (these make for a great salad topping)

40 min | 30 min prep

SERVES 4

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Place chicken in shallow dish.
2. In small bowl, mix olive oil, garlic, and black pepper.
3. Pour over chicken.
4. Cover and marinate 30 minutes.
5. Drain.
6. Preheat oven to 475°F.
7. Mix bread crumbs and cayenne.
8. Coat chicken.
9. Arrange in a single layer on cookie sheet.
10. Bake 10 minutes or until brown.

Roasted Green Beans

25 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 4 -6

• 2 lbs green beans
• 1-2 tablespoon olive oil (or just enough to lightly coat beans)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste, may substitute with Mrs. Dash if desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or to taste, omit if using Mrs. Dash)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Wash, dry well, and trim green beans.
3. Put green beans on a jelly roll pan.
4. Drizzle with olive oil.
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste (I like them salty so I use about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and about 8-10 grinds of the pepper mill). *Mrs. Dash may be substituted for salt and pepper as desired.
6. Use your hands to be sure all the beans are evenly coated and spread them out into 1 layer.
7. Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, until beans are fairly brown in spots and somewhat shriveled.
8. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Vanilla Strawberries

• 1 pint stawberries
• 1 pack instant vanilla pudding mix.

1. Wash and slice strawberries in halves, place in medium bowl
   
2. Add instant vanilla pudding mix to strawberries in bowl.
3. Set in fridge for 1 hour
4. Serve chilled.