lots of grub, little calories

I live my life in a constant state of “vacation mode”.  Living in different places constantly means new food to try and even when you try to make be good and make healthy choices- you never really know what you’re getting.  “Oh, I’ll have the veggies instead of fries.”  Good job until those veggies come to the table glistening from all the glorious butter they were cooked in.

Needless to say, each time I check off another country on my map I end up moving down another hole on my belt loop.  Not good.

So, with having an apartment we can finally know what we’re putting in our bodies and ensure it won’t make any bigger than when we got here.

We had some yummy braised chicken and cabbage at the B&B in Nelspruit along with a feast of veggies…

Because I’m a creature of habit and can eat the same thing over and over and over and over and…well, you get the point, I decided to take inspiration from the meal.

I loved the chicken with the tangy cabbage, but no way was I deboning a whole bird and I needed to skip the skin to avoid fat/calories.  The veggies served were all delicious, but I wanted to keep it simple and avoid the heavy cream and butter.

I didn’t grow up eating cabbage because my grandmother didn’t like it.  She didn’t’ cook it which meant I never learned to make it or appreciate it for that matter.  I now love it!

I made this recipe up, but it turned out to be pretty good.  I highly recommend doing it in a slow-cooker though to keep the chicken nice and moist.

1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar and salt/pepper to taste a large head of shredded cabbage. I sautéed for a few minutes over medium high heat so I could fit it in my baking dish.

I couldn’t find red at my store, but I think it would be much prettier. 

Brown 4 chicken breast and lay on top of cabbage.  Since I was covering this dish to keep the chicken moist from the cabbage steam I wanted to brown it although this is totally not necessary.  I just don’t like the look of  an all white chicken breast.  Again, if I’d had a crock pot handy I would have totally used it.   I cooked mine for about 45 minutes covered with foil at 375.

For sides I did fresh green beans…

Trim off ends and just throw in a pot of water and boil to your desired consistency.   I added a little chicken stock (I had some leftover from the cabbage) and some garlic for a little flavor.

I also found some sweet corn!!!

Guys, sweet corn is not common.  You leave the U.S. and you’re going to find plenty of corn, but rarely will it be sweet.  Latin America killed me with their huge ears of roasted corn they’d be selling everywhere.  I’d be so excited to get one and each time bite into a mouth of grainy, not sweet grossness.  WTH?!

This corn was so fresh and so sweet you have no need for butter or even salt for that matter.  Oh. so. good.