Cut the carbs, not the f lavor

by Sara Czerwinski

It's the new year, the time when most people pledge to eat healthier, my family included. I would like to share our journey here and maybe that will be enough motivation to keep us going.

I am the world's worst meal planner; we're lucky if I give dinner a second thought before my husband starts to get a little hangry. At this point I wander into the kitchen, check all the cupboards, the fridge and the freezer, several times over, looking for inspiration to avoid our back-up plan – frozen pizza.

We have two young children that will both suddenly demand all my attention as soon as my hands are into a bit of raw meat, so quick and easy are paramount at our house. We are also attempting to go low carb, which takes a little extra planning if you don't want to starve until you finally give in to your cravings and binge eat your daughter's animal crackers.

We were going through our evening dinner ritual recently when I came across a few jars of alfredo sauce. I love fettuccini alfredo, but pasta isn't exactly low carb so I continued my search. In our back freezer we had some broccoli and it clicked – what a great substitute for pasta! And, bonus, it's a meal all on its own. Broccoli chicken alfredo is now one of our favorite dishes, even the kids love it, so I thought I'd share the recipe. It's simple, inexpensive and fast.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo

You'll need:

2 large chicken breasts

15 oz. jar alfredo sauce

1 lb bag frozen broccoli

Cook chicken – I usually cube it and cook it on the stove in oil and season it with garlic salt or the one dollar fajita seasoning you can get in aisle four at Harvest Foods. Other times I throw it in a baking dish, stick it in the oven and forget about it until my thermometer alarm goes off at 165 degrees. Do what works for you! While your chicken cooks, bring a pot of water to boil, carefully add your frozen broccoli and let it cook, until you can pick it out of the water with a fork. When the broccoli is cooked, drain the water, dump the broccoli onto a cutting board and chop it into bite sized pieces. Return the broccoli to the pot, add your cooked chicken and alfredo sauce and you're ready to eat.

You might also try putting the finished product in a baking dish, topping in with shredded parmesan and broiling until the cheese is a little crispy.

This recipe makes dinner for my husband, 2-year-old and me with enough leftovers for lunch the next day.