Fried Rice, Braised Chicken and Irish Soda Bread

I love planning meals for the week. It doesn’t always run smoothly being the busy mom that I am, but I like having an idea of what the weeks meals are going to be. My father always told me “if you fail to prepare… prepare to fail!”. I’ve applied that to so many things in life, both big and small. Last weeks meals were great as usual. Here are the new things I’ve made that fit well into my healthy lifestyle.

When I was younger, being the oldest child and the GIRL, I sometimes had to make a quick meal for my 2 brothers when my parents were running late from work. I used to make fried rice using leftover rice, hot dogs and scrambled eggs (It was good too!). Boy have I come a long way! I have witnesses! I decided to make a new version of fried rice. I gratered zucchini and carrots into the fried rice before adding scrambled eggs and chicken. Not too shabby!

I absolutely loved this – Braised Chicken in Butternut Squash Sauce. The original recipe called for Red Bell Peppers for the sauce, which I tried a few weeks ago but I wasn’t doing cartwheels over it. But I liked the consistency and the process. So I tried it again but with Butternut Squash instead. The texture was wonderful and I enjoyed it with spaghetti.

I came across a lot of recipes for this past St. Patrick’s Day, and although I wasn’t up for baking with beer for the occasion – I was curious to know what Soda Bread was. So I decided to give it a try. You know… to pay homage to my Irish lineage 🙂 I will in the near future, try baking with Guinness just to say I did. My curiosity often gets the better of me. The Soda Bread was great – tasted just like raisin bread made with love.

That’s all for this week. I’m still watching my weight while watching my figure. Stay focused and happy eating!

Ciao