Clean Eating Honey Balsamic Chicken and Asian Style Sesame Ginger Asparagus

I am slowly getting into this clean eating thing. (That just means my diet consists of all natural food...mainly fruits and vegetables with protein thrown in there.) The food is pretty good...just more work to plan and prepare. It is a tough transition, but my family is being very patient with me as I try new things out. :) Earlier this week, I made Honey Balsamic Chicken with Asian Style Sesame Ginger Asparagus. It was pretty yummy!

Here are the recipes if you're interested in trying them out for yourself.

Clean Eating Asian Style Sesame Ginger Asparagus

I got this recipe from http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/. This website is neat because each recipe usually has a section called "Munchkin Helpers" where she tells you how little ones can help you cook each dish. I love that!

This was very easy and tasted good. I have at least one thing I may tweak next time I make this. I'll add my notes into the recipe so you'll know what I would do differently.

Notice they don't give measurements on how much of each ingredient you need? I'm fairly new to cooking with a lot of spices so I just guessed on how much looked good and it worked out okay.

Ingredients:

*Fresh Asparagus, cleaned

*Olive or Sesame Oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

*Garlic Powder

*Sesame Seeds

*Ginger

Directions:

1) On a parchment lined cookie sheet, spread out the asparagus in a single layer.

2) Sprinkle all of the seasonings, one at a time, over the top of the asparagus...

starting with oil and then the rest.

(Note: The next time I make this, I am going to use more extra virgin olive oil so the asparagus is all sitting in it. I may even flip them halfway though cooking because the tops were a little hard when it was finished while the bottoms were soft from sitting in the oil. We like ours softer.)

3) Bake at 350* for 30-45 minutes or until cooked the way you like it. (I baked mine for 35 minutes.)

Clean Eating Honey Balsamic Chicken

I got this recipe off http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/. I love this website because they also include the nutrition facts! That makes calorie counting so much easier!

This recipe was delicious!!!! I will be making this a regular main dish to my menu. Dan ate 2 pieces and was talking about going back for a 3rd. He said it was like eating at a restaurant!

It only took about 20 minutes to make too!

Ingredients:

*1 1/2 tsp of dried Thyme

*1/2 tsp Salt

*1/4 tsp Black Pepper

*1 tsp Olive Oil (I used Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

*1 lb Chicken Breast (I used 3 chicken breasts, halved)

*2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

*2 Tbsp Honey

Directions:

1) Combine Thyme, Salt and Pepper. Sprinkle over both sides of the chicken.

2) Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done.

3) Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

4) Reduce heat to medium-low and add vinegar and honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens, stir constantly.

5) Pour glaze over chicken.

Nutrition Facts:

4 Servings

Calories - 173.3

Fat - 2.6g

Carbohydrates - 10.1

Protein - 26.3

I hope you can use these recipes for your family. They are healthy and tasty! Please let me know if you try them and what your thoughts are on it.