GARLIC CHICKEN like you would not believe!

A couple months ago, I wrote this post...Hi - My name is Dave, I am a food blogger and I am overweight. It chronicled my weight gain from the past 25 years. Since I wrote that, I have dropped a few more lbs., despite a couple of vacations and despite reading all your incredible dessert recipes (I swear, sometimes I gain a pound just reading about what you all are doing). The next 7 weeks (Thanksgiving, attending Holiday parties, hosting Holiday parties, Christmas and New years) are a horrible time for anyone trying to drop a few. So, a daily little "get off my ass" session is planned, as well as low cal breakfast and lunches for me. Try to limit my self to a respectful sampling only when I see all those holiday goodies, and understanding that even on the "bad" days, weight loss is a journey, and not a single meal.

But, in addition to those goals, I will be trying out a few main course dishes on those night it is just Jackie and I for dinner. Save up those calories for the inevitable. And having set all these goals, low and behold, this last Tuesday, over at OUR KRAZY KITCHEN, Pam from SCREAMING MIMI made a great posting... GARLIC SAUCE CHICKEN ~ DIETER'S DELIGHT. So, with my goals and plans in mind, off I went to try to duplicate her recipe.

Here's what I did...

Assembling the ingredients was easy, here's MiMi's ingredient list...

6 skinless boneless chicken breasts

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth

1 cup whole peeled garlic

I only had 5 breasts, but that was OK, it was just Jackie and me, so I was making leftovers anyway out of three of these.

I did not have any Rice Vinegar, but I did have some excellent Zinfandel Vinegar from O OLIVE OIL that I used instead.

I didn't have any chicken broth, but a few weeks ago, when I pasted... Stuffed Turkey Breast with CHAMPAGNE VINEGAR BROWN SUGAR SAUCE and a CONTEST!, I made some Turkey stock (keep that in mind when you make your Thanksgiving Turkey, the bones make a great stock). I froze the stock in Ziploc bags, 2 cups per bag, for just such a recipe.

But I did have plenty of GARLIC!!!

Here are Mimi's instructions...

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Brown chicken in a nonstick skillet.
• Remove chicken and add rice vinegar and chicken broth to pan. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes.
• Put the garlic cloves into a 11 x 13 baking dish. Place the chicken on top and pour sauce on chicken.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Mash the garlic into the sauce and pour over chicken.

Serves 6

Calories - 171

Fat - 3 grams

And here's what I did...

Browned the meat...

I chopped the garlic a little coarse, instead of mincing. I put half mixed in with the stock, and rested the chicken on the top, the stock covered about half of the chicken. I added the remaining garlic on the top. I love garlic, and I love roasted garlic even more. By chopping coarsely, I was able to get whole pieces of roasted garlic in the taste...

I dribbled some of the O OLIVE OIL Zinfandel Vinegar on top of the breasts. I was a little unclear about whether I should mix the vinegar with the stock, or do it this way. I figured, since I was using so few ingredients, I wanted the za za zing taste added right to the meat, instead of having it absorbed slowly. This way, I got maximum taste from the minimum amount of the flavored vinegar (trying to save as much of this stuff as possible, it is great!)

I baked at 400 degrees, for 30 minutes. EVERYTHING CAME TOGETHER PERFECT. Such a simple recipe, but oh lordy was it ever tender,moist and FILLED with flavor. Brag all you want about eating low cal meals, if it tastes like cardboard, eventually you will feel unsatisfied and binge on a whole deep dish pizza, served a'la mode with caramel sauce. This is incredible, guilt free and satisfying in every way. the garlic had a little crunch, and filled the chicken with each bite. The chicken was so moist, and the Garlic taste was so infused into the meat, I did not add any of the sauce over the top.

This would also make a great recipe for your Turkey left overs. Last time I made a turkey, I carved up just one breast, and had the other to (foodie) fondle. Just imagine this recipe fondling that breast!

I had two side dishes, I took a cup of frozen corn and za za zingged it up a bit. In the past, I would add half a stick of butter to the pan and of course it was good. Well, I have always heard that Olive Oil was Italian butter, so I figured, why not...

I added just a small amount, maybe a teaspoon, of O OLIVE OIL Blood Orange simultaneously pressed Olive Oil. It added moisture (frozen corn is so dry), a little extra zing (frozen corn is so tasteless), and just made it a little more interesting. I also added just a bit of pepper.


And finally, I didn't take any individual shots, but I made some fresh hash browns. Just take one potato, run it through your grate blade in your food processor (or add a little of your own blood to taste when you hand grate it). Add a bit of diced onion and red pepper to taste. Fry em up in just a bit of canola oil. I don't count calories, and I don't have a way to calculate them, but I am guessing everything combined could not possibly be fattening. But I didn't skimp one bit to get this tasty "diet" food.

I did add a tablespoon of my new find, STU's PENNSYVANIA GOLD BBQ sauce to the taters. It is a sweet vinegar based sauce that has a lot of zip to it. MUCH better than ketchup as an accent to the taters. Stu advertises this as fat free/glutten free.

The next 7 weeks will be filled with fat ass dangers. If I keep finding recipes like this, I will at least have a fighting chance to break even...

So today, I am pleased to pass on my very own award to PAM from OUR KRAZY KITCHEN and SCREAMING MIMI (the blogger so nice, she blogs twice)! Her original post looked and sounded so good that I was inspired to step out of my comfort zone, add a new skill to my expanding abilities, and I want to honor her commitment to maintaining her wonderful blog...

So.. (THA TA TATA), I present my newly created award...


To this wonderful blogger, and remind her of the simple rules...
1) Take inspiration from or outright steal a recipe from a fellow blogger
2) Actually make the item, or make a close copy of the item
3) Blog about your efforts, giving proper credit and links to the inspiree
4)If you receive the award, be honored, as there is no greater feeling than having your efforts not just recognized, but duplicated! That is the only real rule, is to feel honored. BUT, feel free to post this in your side bar and to pass it on to one of your favorite bloggers which you have made one of their recipes.

And one last BTW, after many weeks of effort, after this meal, I was able to get into one size smaller jeans than what I have been wearing... a tiny bit tight, but they do make my butt look good.