Garlic Chicken and Potatoes {Cooking Time}

A couple days ago I joined Brittany over at Life Changes for her Do Something New monthly link-up. This month I challenged myself (and my mom) to try cooking some healthy recipes. :)  So here is the first recipe I found. I found it on the Food Network website. Please excuse my lack of pictures, I think I was too excited to eat it and how amazing our kitchen smelled. 
Garlic Chicken and Potatoes

photo courtesy of the Food Network 

//Ingredients// 2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes, quartered 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
 salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 lemon (1/2 juiced, 1/2 cut into wedges)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
//Directions//

• Cut the potatoes in small slices or quartered depending on the potatoes' size
• Position the oven rack on the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degree F.
• Toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of olive oil,  3/4 tablespoon salt and pepper to taste. Spread them over a large baking dish and put them to roast in the oven until potatoes begin to brown (~ 20-25 mins)
• While potatoes are roasting, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and add the finely chopped garlic, stirring occasionally until nice and golden. 
• Remove the skillet from the heat and add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, half a 1/2 juice and red pepper flakes. 
• When potatoes finish roasting, remove the baking dish from the oven and push the potatoes to the sides. Add the chicken breasts on the middle of the dish. Season the chicken with salt and drizzle with the garlic mixture. 
• Return the dish to the oven until the chicken is cooked, and the potatoes are nice and tender. (~ 30-35 mins) 
• When the chicken is finished, slice it and serve with some potatoes!! Enjoy!!!!

//Extra Tips//

Our chicken was not browning like in the picture. 

So we left the chicken in the oven a little longer and it came out a little dry. 

I read on the recipe reviews that they cooked the chicken on a skillet for a bit before putting it in the oven.

 I think that is a great idea. We will try it next time. :) 

Also we think our chicken breasts were a bit bigger than in the ingredient list, so I think they needed more of the garlic mixture.

Other than that I think it was delish, definitely something different. 

My Go-To Meal {The Girl Between The Lines}

I just, like now, found about this wonderful link up hosted over at A Beautiful Exchange and The Albrechts Blog called The Girl Between the Lines. It's a pretty amazing link-up, where we get to know each other a little bit better. Each week the ladies have a different topic. 

This Week: What is Your Go-To Meal? I'm such a foodie and I love so many dishes. But I think my go-to meal would be Chicken Salad, or as my family calls it "Ensalada de Navidad" aka "Christmas Salad." (perfect timing right?)

It's probably one of the easiest thing to make.  Chicken Salad Ingredients:  Chicken Mayonaise (about 4 spoonsful, or desired) Sour Cream (about 1 spoonful) Mixed Vegetables (fresh or canned)  Salt (to taste)
Directions: - Boil your chicken until nice and tender - Shred your chicken and mix in your mixed vegetables.  - Add the mayo and sour cream and mix everything together. 
See the easiest thing ever. I also used to add cooked pasta, also very yummy. So people add olives, tomatoes, and other vegetables, which I think would be delish as well. 

Here is a little history about this dish. So i mentioned that my family calls it "Christmas Salad." Why, you may ask? Well the first reason is because it apparently looks like Christmas. The mayo and the chicken makes the "snow" and the mixed vegetables with the peas, and corn, and carrots, make up the tree and the ornaments. Uhhhhh.. I don't know, okay? I don't know. (Smh) I think our parents would just tell us this when we were younger so that we will eat it.. hahah. 
The second reason, and I think the one that touched me the most, was just explained last week. When I asked my aunt, why it was called Ensalada de Navidad. She told us that back when they were younger and living in Mexico, they didn't have much money, and a delicacy like chicken and even mayo was not affordable. But when Christmas time rolled around, they would eat this yummy Chicken Salad, so the name Ensalada de Navidad stuck. 
When I was away at college. I remember me and my roomies would always make this salad, because it was so fast. We would add the pasta so that it could last us longer. And believe me we survived off one batch of Chicken Salad for a little bit more than a week.