BBQ Grilled Chicken, Grilled Asparagus and Couscous

So, this is not a dinner that I would brag about, but I did say that I was going to try to blog about ALL of my dinners, not just the good ones. Here's what I did....

Chicken: I had 3 medium sized chicken breasts that I filleted in two, making them thin sliced. I then put them in a large ziploc bag and added some Honey Mustard Dinosaur BBQ sauce that I had in my pantry (thanks Arlene!!) to them and let them sit in the fridge for a couple hours. My hubby grilled them on our grill. I think having them thin sliced, and marinating helps b/c they don't sit on the grill as long and get dried out. It takes some of the guess work out of using larger chicken breasts.

Aparagus: I the good old ziploc steamer bag for about 15 seconds less than the instructions on the side directed, and then Dan gave them a sear on the grill. I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder prior to steaming.

Couscous: My mother in law gave me some tomato couscous awhile back that is AWESOME, but it didn't come with directions. So...I'm pretty sure I've made it different each time. This time I sauteed 1/2 an onion and a clove of garlic, and then added 3 cups of vegetable broth (used Better than Bouillion) and brought it to a boil. When the broth was boiling, I added 2 cups of couscous, turned off the heat, and let it sit for 5 mins. Fluff with a fork and serve. 2 cups of dry couscous yields A LOT of couscous, so I'd suggest making half of this. I only made so much b/c my husband loves couscous.

So...apparently the consequence of me blogging about the boring meals means me blabbering on about them. I was happy b/c both of my kids ate all of the food. I think my 9 month old will eat just about anything I put on his tray. He chewed that chicken like a champ with his two teeth and gums!

Pasta with Chicken and Asparagus

This is a jazzed up version of a recipe I found on Allrecipes. It's become a staple meal in our house, and I love it!!! I love that it's the entire meal in one dish. I\
Ingredients:

• 8-16 oz any dry pasta (elbows, rotini, penne, whatever) I give the range, depending on how noodley you want it to be.
  
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided (you can easily use less to reduce the fat)
  
• 2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into cubes
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• 3/4cup low-sodium chicken broth (increase broth if you use 16 oz of noodles)
  
• 1 bunch slender asparagus spears, trimmed, cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, and divided (2 for the chicken, 1 for asparagus)
• 1/2 cup diced onion
  
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain, and set aside.
2. Warm 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken, 2 cloves of garlic, and onion and season with salt, pepperr. Cook until chicken is cooked through and browned, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and cover.
3. Pour chicken broth into the skillet. Then stir in asparagus, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover, and steam until the asparagus is just tender, about 7 mins. Return chicken to the skillet, and warm through.
4. Stir chicken mixture into pasta, and mix well. Let sit about 5 minutes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, stir again, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.