Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Mystery author Jacqueline Seewald offers "Chicken to Die for Made Easy" recipe


Multiple-award winning author Jacqueline Seewald has taught creative, expository and technical writing at the university level as well as high school and middle school English. She also worked as an academic librarian and an educational media specialist/school librarian. Thirteen of her books of fiction have been published. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of publications and anthologies. Her mystery novels in the Kim Reynolds librarian sleuth series, published in hardcover, large print, paperback and e-book formats, include THE INFERNO COLLECTION, THE DROWNING POOL, and THE TRUTH SLEUTH.

The Inferno Collection and The Truth Sleuth are now available from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery in paperback editions.

The Inferno Collection and The Drowning Pool are available in all ebook formats from L&L Dreamspell.

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I eat most of my meals at home. This is because I have high cholesterol and am trying to control the problem with a healthy diet and exercise. The cholesterol is a family thing. My two female first cousins are slender and also watch their weight because they have the same problem.

Our dinners often consist of fish as a main course with either a salad or vegetables. We also eat a lot of chicken. Here’s a typical dinner at our house which I will call Chicken to Die for Made Easy.

Chicken to Die for Made Easy

Start with a one pound package of thin sliced chicken breasts

Shake ground ginger lightly over chicken

Do the same with ground cilantro

Bake in an open pan for approximately 20 minutes

Turn chicken over, draining any fat

Shake a little more ginger and cilantro over the chicken

(optional) cut up some mushrooms and arrange in baking pan

Bake in oven for 20 more minutes

For more flavorful taste, after ten minutes, pour some cranberry and/or orange juice over the chicken and then allow to bake for the remaining ten minutes.

Serve with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables and/or salad. My preference is for small, red potatoes or Idahoes.

Note: I use nonfat yogurt on the baked potatoes since it’s healthier than sour cream or butter. I don’t use salt but my husband adds pepper for himself.

I realize this may seem like a bland meal for some people, but it works well for us. And there’s never any heartburn.

For dessert, I serve grapefruit, grapes, pineapple, watermelon—whatever healthy fruits are in season.

22 comments:

  1. Thanks, Karen! The best part, it's easy to do. Writers like us
    spend so much time writing, we need to look for healthy meals that don't demand too much attention.

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  2. Sounds good to me, too, Jacquie! This might sound weird, but ever since my most elderly wiener dog began eating nothing but white-meat chicken, I eat a lot of chicken, too, and this sounds like a great change-of-pace meal. I swear, ever since Heidi got sick, I've never eaten so much chicken in my life!

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    1. I think white meat chicken is pretty healthy, especially if we use lots of vegetables with it. I do a lot of combining of chickens breasts with brown rice, bulgar wheat or whole grain pastas. It's amazing how much variety is possible without a lot of calories.

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  3. I never thought of ginger sprinkled over chicken, but I will try it. Your diet and exercise routine are the best for lowering cholesterol without meds. Thanks for sharing, Jacquie.

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    1. It all helps to keep me at a healthy weight which is really important. Ginger is really great for the digestion. But just in limited amounts.

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  4. Sounds good! I'm not much of a cook, but I think I could manage it!

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  5. D'Ann,

    These days, I like to cook simple, easy to digest meals. Nothing fancy, just healthy.

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  6. My mouth is watering even though I'm a vegetarian:) Have to try the recipe for my family.
    What a fun post!
    FYI, check out my blog, I have a whole eating and cooking theme going on right now. A new article with lots of good resources to be posted in the coming days. Thanks!
    www.authenitcparent.org

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  7. I'm not a vegetarian but I do believe in limiting protein and going with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Supposedly, that helps us live longer and better. Thanks for dropping by. I really love your website!

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  8. Mouth watering, Jacquie. I'll try it, for I have high cholesterol, too, and don't want to use a statin.

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    1. Nancy,

      I had problems with a statin and decided to just use common sense and control the cholesterol the best way I could without drugs.

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  9. I will definitely try this recipe. It sounds like a yummy change from the same old, same old baked chicken.

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    1. Hi, Irene,

      It's still baked chicken but with a bit of a zest. Supposedly, ginger is good for digestion and cilantro is a cancer fighter. I hope it's true!

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  10. I prefer bland, myself! It was hard to get, all those years we lived in Texas. I can't take cholesterol-lowering drugs so I have to control it myself. Fish oil and niacin are good aids, if the diet and exercise aren't enough. Sounds like you're doing well, though. Good for you!

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    1. My cholesterol will always be high, but I use fish oil too.

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  11. Jacquie, here's an alternative to baked potatoes. Scrub potatoes, quarter them the long way, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with ground pepper. Bake on a sheet at 400 degrees for about a half hour. Turn, moisten with lemon juice, and bake until the outside is crisp. This was inspired by a wonderful dish we had in a Greek restaurant not too long ago. As you can see, no cholesterol.

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    1. Sounds good, Anita! My husband would particularly like it. Think I'll try it tomorrow.

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  12. Sounds good, Jacquie. Also, your hat is wonderful -- Kentucky Derby here we come!

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  13. Glad you like the recipe--and the hat! I couldn't resist buy it. Hope it's not too pretentious.

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  14. Your chicken sounds delicious, Jacquie. I tend toward grilled/broiled meat, veggies, and fruits as well. Just feels right, you know?

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  15. Hi, Maggie,

    Thanks for dropping by. We have much in common.

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