Erin Sluka - Parenting Healthy

Garlic Butter Chicken & Broccoli Pasta - Recipe

As we try to cut carbs my dinners are a lot of meat and veggies. There are nights my son will look at me with a dreaded look of food boredom. Then I always struggle on being creative. One day I found a recipe for a Butter Chicken & Broccoli Recipe but wanted to make it more enticing for the boys. So, I added the garlic, pasta and hot sauce.

I used boneless chicken thighs because I love stir fry chicken with thighs, but this recipe works great with chicken breast cut to bite size pieces.

My pasta of choice is Ancient Harvest’s Protein-Packed POW! Pasta. I used the Chickpea Elbow for this recipe. I like to sneak in the extra protein where I can especially with a tween in sports. This pasta has up to 25 g of protein per 3.5 oz serving, twice as much as traditional wheat pasta!

Just a little plug – did you know that Ancient Harvest makes protein-packed mac and cheese? My son’s favorite and it comes in mild cheddar, white cheddar or sharp cheddar (our favorite).

Now for the Garlic Butter Chicken & Broccoli Pasta recipe…finally!

Erin Sluka

Garlic Butter Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

A great tasting, protein-packed dinner!

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Servings: 6

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

2 lbs Boneless Chicken (breast or thighs) cut into bite size pieces
2 Cups Broccoli (cooked to almost done)
1/2 Cup butter, softened and divided
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning or fresh Italian herbs
2 tsp Franks hot sauce optional
2/3 Cup chicken broth
1 tsp lemon juice or fresh squeezed
1 tsp fresh parsley
2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper
1 box cooked Ancient Grains POW! Protein pasta Elbow or penne work great

Method

Cut chicken into small pieces and prepare broccoli to cook to (almost) done. Season the chicken in season with salt, pepper, and onion powder.
Heat oil and 1/4 C of the butter in large pan or walk and cook chicken until browned and cooked through
Lower the heat, add 1 teaspoon minced garlic and Italian seasoning and stir and cook with chicken bites
Remove cooked chicken from pan and set it and cooked broccoli aside
In the same skillet turn up to medium-high, add the garlic and deglaze with chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce to half the volume. Add remaining 1/4 cup butter, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley. stir.
Add the (almost) cooked broccoli and stir about 2 minutes until soft
Add the sauteed chicken bites back to the pan and stir for another minute to reheat. Garnish the chicken and asparagus with more parsley, and toppings of choice.
Serve over cooked protein-pasta!

Name 5 and Everybody Knows! – 2 Games from Endless Games

November 6, 2019December 8, 2019 Erin Sluka

Comment: I was sent product. Opinions are 100% my own

Name 5 and Everybody Knows! - 2 Games from Endless Games

Name 5 sports in the Winter Olympics – Go! You have 30 seconds. 30 seconds is not a long time when the answers don’t just come to you. Don’t get tongue tied because that will cost you time. Name 5 is a fun, rapid card game that is great for travel, camping or fun game nights when you don’t want to drag out a bunch of game pieces.

Name 5 has 108 Name 5 Cards (540 New Challenges!) and Instructions. That’s it! It is ready to play right from the box and just keep the card if you win to keep track of rounds. You can play as many rounds as you like. We have fun playing without keeping track of a winner so we can use the rest of the cards categories for the game. This is new from Endless Games and available on Amazon.

Wait! Did you actually want a board game? Name 5 has a board game too! My Amazon link above gets you both versions.

Don’t be such a know-it-all! In Everybody Knows! you may know it all, but know 10 questions in 60 seconds? That’s the challenge. This is another rapid game where you have to answer as many random questions in a row – how many can you get without answering wrong? That number is your score.

CONTENTS

500 Playing Cards
1 Sand Timer
1 Dry Erase Marker
1 Scorecard
Instructions

Play as a point system or as an all or nothing score. You can choose how to play this game. Either way it is serious brain exercise! Everybody Knows! is also available on Amazon. Visit Endless Games for more great gift ideas!

Beauty

Bodycology Cherry Blossom Bath and Body Products – Feature

November 6, 2019November 6, 2019 Erin Sluka

When I am finding a lotion or body wash for myself, the scent as well as effectiveness are equally important. One scent I have always loved is the gentle fragrance of Cherry Blossom. When I use my Bodycology Cherry Blossom 2 in 1 Body Wash & Bubble Bath, I get my few moments of relaxation in the tub so long as my son will allow me.

As a Mom of boys I sometimes forget to just feel pretty. I muscle through a day of sports and messes behind ponytails and comfy shirts. When I do get some time alone I tend to want to relax and just feel better. Whether we can relax by curling up with a good book or in a bath covered in our favorite scents with skin that is left so soft and moisturized, Bodycology wants us to feel good at an affordable price.

I always end my morning routing with a dollop of Bodycology Cherry Blossom body cream especially in this winter weather that has my skin so dry. This lotion has a butter complex with Shea, Cocoa and Jojoba butters. My skin drinks this up and stays so soft!

Bodycology products are Paraben & Phthalate Free and are not tested on animals. If Cherry Blossom isn’t your fragrance of choice, you will find one that you like best. Bodycology even has kids bath and body products. Visit Bodycology to get your lotions and body creams for the dry winter weather!

Comment: I was sent product for this feature. All opinions are my own

2019 Holidays, Travel

Cori Traveller – Modular Memory Foam Pillow

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019 Erin Sluka

When you travel often you begin to stack up on travel stories. One of my uncomfortable moments was my Seattle to NYC flight and for over 6 hours I was in a middle seat with my young son on one side of me and on the aisle seat was a women that as soon as she boarded, grabbed a blanket and curled up-feet on seat and knees in my space and slept. I lost any ability to face or lean on my left side so I had to sit straight or find comfort on my right side which is my sore knee and hip. It was a long and (bottom) numbing flight. I had no neck pillow! I bought one in NYC for my trip back!

I had found a standard neck pillow and on my flight home and could not get it to stay supportive. It had these beans in it that kept sinking and shifting and would not hold my neck as it would slowly flatten. It helped, but I realized I need a better one before next trip. Amazon had some with great reviews and I bought a memory foam standard pillow. It was great until I wanted to lean my head one side or the other then it was too firm. Finally, I was introduced to the Cori Travelerr.

My Cori Travelerr Modular Memory Foam Pillow is a genius neck/head support pillow every traveler should own. It did take a few moments to play with positioning, but once I found that right combination I had no discomfort.

Actually, I lied. I did have some discomfort because my son wanted to sleep on our recent flight to Los Angeles so he stole my Cori pillow. He set it up for a back/neck rest and watched a movie the rest of the flight.

The cushions are so soft and comfy and you get to arrange them how you want. It all folds up inside the included travel pouch. It comes in many colors and covers remove for washing.

I highly recommend you travel with the Cori Travelerr for better sleep and head support. Also available on Amazon.

Author: Erin Sluka

Garlic Butter Chicken & Broccoli Pasta – Recipe