Recipe Spotlight: Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Carrot Packets

 
Summer is just around the corner! Have a plan for weeknight dinners even when you have a busy schedule.  Find quick, easy dinner ideas that don’t take a lot of time to prepare and cook, so that you can enjoy the warm weather and the extra daylight with your kids.  A quick dinner meal at home gives you more time to go outside and play in the evenings!  Try our Chicken, Sweet Potato and Carrot Packets for dinner one night this week.  Kids will love this healthy meal and it’s quick and easy – with little clean up!    

Chicken, Sweet Potato and Carrot Packets
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts, each cut in half to make 4 pieces
2 sweet potatoes, washed, peeled and cut in thick slices
4 carrots, washed, peeled and cut in thick slices
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Cooking oil spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Spray 4 large pieces of foil with cooking oil spray.
3. Place 1 cup of vegetables on each foil piece and top with 1 piece of chicken.
4. Sprinkle seasoning on each piece of chicken. 
5. Fold foil to make a packet. Place on baking sheet and bake in oven for 30-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 

Gather all of your ingredients.

Wash the sweet potatoes and carrots. 

Peel the sweet potatoes and carrots.

Once the potatoes and carrots are peeled, cut them up.

Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray.

Add 1 cup of vegetables on each piece of foil.

Top vegetables with one piece of chicken.

Sprinkle Italian seasoning on each piece of chicken.

Fold foil to make a packet.  Place on a baking sheet and bake in the
oven for 30-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Remove from foil packet and serve!

Favorite Fall harvest Fruits and Veggies

Fall is known as the harvest season because many of our best loved foods are available at farmers' markets and grocery stores at their peak of freshness.  The beautiful orange and yellow colors that we see in the fall are reflected in our favorite foods of the fall season.

Below are some of our most popular fall foods, and ways we like to enjoy them.  Enjoy the fruits and veggies of this season!

Apples: whether you love the sweetness of a Gala, the sweet tart of a Gingergold, or the tartness of a  Granny Smith, apples should all taste amazing this time of year because they are fresh from the tree!  Try them sliced in Apple Cranberry Salad, topped with nut butter and raisins in Apple Bark, or cooked in Baked Apples and Sweet Potatoes.

Broccoli:  a favorite in grocery stores all year long, broccoli is most flavorful in the fall.  This all-purpose veggie is perfect for dipping in hummus, like in our favorite Garden on a Plate recipe.  It tastes delicious broiled with a little low-sodium soy sauce, added to stir fries, and in Broccoli and Potato Soup.

Cabbage:  an often overlooked vegetable, cabbage is a main ingredient in coleslaw mixes and traditional sauerkraut.  Try it shredded in Simple Fish Tacos or cooked in Garden Vegetable Soup, a perfect meal for chilly fall nights.

Cauliflower:  related to both broccoli and cabbage, cauliflower is available in markets in the familiar white variety, as well as orange and purple types,  It can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, added to stir fries, and cooked and mashed to resemble potatoes.  Roasted Cauliflower is one of our favorite -- and easy -- ways to enjoy this delicious vegetable.

Sweet potatoes:  loved by kids and adults, the sweet potato is a rich and creamy orange vegetable that has a natural sweetness.  Sweet potatoes can be baked or boiled, mashed on their own in Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, or added to stews and chili, and even burritos and quesadillas.  Try our easy Sweet Potato Fries recipe tonight.  It's sure to become a family favorite!

Squash: truly a hallmark of fall, different squash varieties are a  feast for your eyes and for your belly.  Markets this time of year will have acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and delicata squash in abundance, along with orange and even blue pumpkins!  Cooking these squash requires a little muscle to cut them in half, however, you can pierce the skin and microwave on high for a few minutes to soften them and make them easier to cut.  There are many different ways to prepare squash.  Enjoy a twist to regular spaghetti squash and meat sauce by using this Spaghetti Squash recipe instead.  Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash is a great way to use more than one fall veggie and apples go great with squash!