Friday, August 9, 2019

Healthy Chicken Alfredo (Gluten and Dairy Free)


Does anyone else ever get stuck in a dinner rut? You're making the same thing every week and want to try something new but don't know what?! That was us. Coming up with something healthy and different every night can be hard. Thankfully my hubs isn't a picky eater, but he did have his doubts about healthy chicken alfredo, he bought a jar of alfredo sauce on his way home from work, but it turned out great and he's already been requested it be added to our rotation of meals. 

From start to finish I'd say this recipe took me about half an hour. There was definite multi-tasking involved with cooking the noodles, chicken, and sauce all at once, but it wasn't bad. I cooked the chicken on our indoor George Foreman grill and everything else was on the stovetop. You're going to get nervous about the sauce not thickening up. IT.TAKES.TIME. I promise it will thicken, be patient. We got four meals out of this, so be prepared for leftovers 😊 

Healthy Chicken Alfredo
  • 16 oz. gluten free fettuccine noodles
  • 2 Tablespoons dairy free butter (we use coconut oil based, but regular butter works)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced dried garlic, you can also use freshly minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup gluten free flour
  • 2 cups Almond milk (we used unsweetened vanilla but non flavored works too)
  • 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup dairy free parmesan cheese (regular parm works too)
  • 1/2 black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 package frozen broccoli, cooked (we threw ours in the microwave to cook)
  • 1 pound of chicken breasts, cooked and diced

In a pot start cooking noodles according to package instructions, once done set aside.

While the noodles are cooking start the sauce. 

Set a pan to medium heat, place butter in it until it melts. Add in garlic and stir until fragrant. 

Whisk in flour- this will get very chunky and clumpy but don't worry.

Next, add almond milk and chicken broth in. Whisk for 1-2 minutes to combine. Cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens- this will take some time so be patient (I'd say it says 10-12 minutes). 

Once the sauce starts to thicken add in salt, pepper, nutmeg and whisk before adding in parmesan cheese. Give the parmesan cheese plenty of time to melt- if you're using dairy free parmesan it will take a bit longer for this to happen. 

Once the sauce is thickened and the parmesan cheese has melted add in broccoli and chicken. Stir to combine then serve it up! 

If you make this recipe share and tag me on instagram! Happy cooking!

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Healthy Pasta and Keeping Quiet: Thinking Out Loud #120

Happy Thursday and Happy August! Thank you so much for all the sweet emails, comments, and messages about our wedding post, I've loved reading them all! We just got our wedding video and we've watched it about a million times already 😊There's been a lot happening these past two weeks, but things are finally calming down, and now my parents are in town for a long weekend, so I'm sure we'll be hitting up a few fun spots in Lincoln! Anyway before I start blabbing away here is this weeks thinking out loud


1. After a week of violence and hate my heart has been so heavy with hurt and grief. I cannot begin to understand the tragedy that two communities in the U.S. are facing. As a reporter it's imperative to remain bias, but in these situations it's hard. We're human after all. Yesterday morning I woke to the most stunning sunrise and double rainbow I have ever seen. It looked like the sky was on fire. I sat there in awe, soaking it in and the truth of God's promise. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Not in good times, not in times of tragedy. 


2. Those who know me know that sleeping is a massive struggle for me. It sounds ridiculous, but insomnia is a huge part of lupus. Many nights I'm lucky to snag a few hours of sleep, and usually it's pretty broken sleep. The past few weeks have been really rough and there's been a lot of nights I haven't slept at all. My hubs is a saint and will lay awake with me for hours doing anything and everything trying to get me to sleep. Monday night into Tuesday was a night of no sleep. I was so exhausted, it was a rough day at work, but I came home to the sweetest surprise from my hubs. Bubbl'r is my FAVORITE drink (caffeine but no caffeine crash 🙌) and I'm a sucker for sour patch kids. I wish every girl could know that there is a man out there who will genuinely care for YOU. He'll surprise you with flowers and junk food on rough days and lay awake with you at night when you can't sleep. Don't ever settle for less. 


3. Since we got married our weekends have slowed down a LOT! It's been wonderful to have time to just hang out together without having to do something for the wedding. It's given me a chance to be a tourist in our city too because it's the first time I've had weekends off that we're able to go explore. While walking around the Haymarket last weekend we found 402 Creamery. It's a locally owned ice cream shop that makes handmade small batches of ice cream. The best part is the have gluten and dairy free ice cream 🍦 The staff was super friendly, the ice cream was delicious, it's a must if you stop in Lincoln!


4. The biggest victory for this week has been making a not so healthy food healthy and the husband LOVED it! I made Alfredo sauce with almond milk and chicken broth (and a few other things) and it was so good. I have a post with the recipe that I will share tomorrow! The hubs asked to have it again next week so I'll take that as a victory!


5. Maybe I'm a little biased but I happen to think my hubby is the best 😊 I was gifted one of those letter boards and now he leaves me the sweetest messages on it. We've also left some funny and some not so PG messages on it but it's been a fun way to surprise one another when we get home. It also goes perfectly in the guest bathroom so now it looks like I have one room of the house decorated, it just so happens to be the bathroom 😂


6. Anyone else working on keeping their pie hole closed more often? 🙋‍♀️ Lordy knows I sure do need to keep mine closed more often. Half the time something comes out before I have time to think about it. I've been keeping this verse on my phone this week as a reminder to keep my trap shut. 

Ginger is demanding pets and food so I'll leave it at that, have a great weekend 🎉