Family Favorite Friday

I came up with this concoction the other night when I hadn’t planned dinner and was just using what I had readily available. It was one of those rare occurrences when Lily handed me her empty plate after eating what I served her, and saying, “Moooore” in the drawn-out cute way that she does. I was beaming with pride and happiness. She gobbled up the second helping and Paul took the leftovers to work. Success! I made it with the olive oil the first time then the coconut oil the second time and it came out great each time. Some nice add-ins would be peas and/or potatoes, although I haven’t tried either. This is the perfect dish for picky eaters, especially if the carrots are fresh and sweet.

Chicken, Carrot and Rice Skillet

Serves 4-6

½ lb chicken breasts, tenders or cutlets

1 cup brown basmati rice

2 cups chopped carrot

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

Juice of half a lemon

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

Lightly season the chicken with the salt, pepper and garlic. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat (I’ve tried it with olive and coconut, both tasted great so whichever you have available/prefer) and brown the chicken on both sides, but do not fully cook. Set aside on a plate covered with a paper towel or other cover. Cook the rice in the broth in the same skillet for 5 minutes, then add the chopped carrot; I simply layered the carrots on top of the rice, as in the picture below.

Cover and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the chicken on top of the carrots; sprinkle the lemon juice and paprika on top of the chicken before covering. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and chicken and carrots are nice and tender. It should all be nice and fragrant from the paprika and lemon when you open the lid! Serve as is, with a light salad if you like.

Babies can have the rice and carrots mashed up with some milk or formula, and younger babies can just have the carrots with milk or formula and cereal. Lily loves carrots!

Carrots are a good thing to love! We are all too familiar with the benefits of carrots in relation to vision; the vitamin A content in them is over 600%! They also have a fair share of vitamins C and K, and are anti-cancerous as well as very cleansing and detoxifying, especially when juiced. If you have a juicer, or even just a blender with a liquefy option, give juicing carrots a try! A glass of pure carrot juice everyday will better your skin, your vision, your immune system, your cardiovascular system, and so much more! Just keep in mind that there is also a very high amount of sugar in carrot juice, so little ones should only drink about 4 ounces a day. That little “rush” you may feel after drinking a glass is normal. In fact, the sugars found in carrots have been found to be beneficial to diabetics due to their carotenoid content, which actually helps to lower blood sugar, although some studies still show risks ifdiabetics drink too much carrot juice due to its high carb rates.

Carrots are also considered safe to eat conventionally as opposed to organically, although I’d recommend always going organic if you can. The conventionally grown ones contain less pesticide residues then some produce since they grow in the ground. The soil they grow in can contain toxins from pesticides however, and if you want non-GMO foods, then going organic is a must. If you want to try and grow your own carrots, it’s pretty simple, here’s a link that explains how.