THINGS I LOVE V7 - SKILLET SAUCES

I love to cook, cooking is something that soothes my soul. I especially love cooking for other people, which is why when I decided to go back to eating meat after going vegetarian it was really hard on me. You see, my husband still doesn't eat meat. This made eating meals together a lot more complicated. We tried various ways, I would only eat meat when he wasn't around, but eventually it ended up where we were eating two separate meals. Not that I would have minded making a separate meal for him, but it even got to where he would just make something quick, and I kind of lost sight of making the food I enjoyed.

So I resigned myself to eating pretty much the same meal 4 - 5 times a week, chicken breast, usually in the slow cooker, shredded on a bun. It became SO boring. In an effort to spice things up I saw these little marinade pouches at our local Harmons and I grabbed a few. I had all intentions of just throwing it in the crockpot and forgetting about it.

LET ME TELL YOU! By the second pouch, I was butterfly-ing my chicken breasts, covering them in the marinade, baking them with a side of vegetables and having a full meal in forty minutes. With minimal effort.

My husband could tell I was getting all caught up. The packets even come in vegetable marinades and some of the chicken marinades are vegetarian (check the label!) I was able to cook a meal for both of us (one with meat and one without) in forty minutes and it was incredible.

It isn't that I think cooking is hard, but having a couple of these packets in your pantry, combined with veggies (fresh or frozen) and maybe some chicken and you have a fantastic meal. We served ours with couscous, but I've made it with rice and it is just as good.

So if you're in a dinner time rut, or if you just want to try something new, I recommend these!

I will say that I've tried several different brands and the above picture just shows the ones I have in my cabinet and I can say that there have been a few flavors that aren't exactly my taste, but I just keep trying different ones. So go forth, and try new things!