Hey guys! Glad you’re jazzed for the 40 Day Movement Challenge! I created a page on the site to track my progress. Let me know if you’re tracking yours, and I’ll add your website to the page! I’m optimistic and a little scared, but know that I WILL get through this challenge. Plus, it’s got a higher purpose, so I feel like I must succeed. The good news is that Day 1 = DONE!

Oh ps, I can feel the soreness creeping in from that brutal total body circuit this morning. Jenna knows how to work it! Just knowing that I did 90 pushups* kind of blows my mind. *Yes, they were “modified” pushups, on my knees, but still – I’m a big fan of giving yourself credit when credit is due!

At any rate – tonight I whipped up a feast: Lemon Chicken Piccata!

The base was this Smart Taste Ronzoni Pasta that the company sent me to test out. It’s fortified with calcium, vitamin D and fiber. Nice!

Big fan of the nutritional stats on this box – 7g of fiber and 6g of protein? Love.

I based the rest of the dish off of this recipe, which had me sauté some lightly floured chicken tenders in savory butter & olive oil. How bad could it be?!

I mixed the flour with some garlic salt and pepper so the chicken would be EXTRA flavorful. It sure did the trick!

After the chicken was cooked through, I transferred the tenders to a plate and covered with foil while I finished the rest of the dish.

Which included these fab ingredients: spinach and capers,

chicken broth, lemon juice and seasonings. So simple!

I sautéed some baby spinach in the leftover butter/olive oil and when it was wilted, I added some chicken broth, lemon juice, capers, dried parsley, red pepper flakes, garlic salt and pepper.

Let everything reduce for a couple minutes until the sauce gets a little thick. At this point I tasted the sauce and decided it needed a little somethin’ somethin’. 

Some Bisignano’s Italian Dressing totally saved the day. LOVE THIS STUFF! Sadly, I think it’s only available locally, but any olive oil based vinaigrette probably would have done.

Mix the spinach/sauce mixture with the pasta, then top with chicken and some diced roma tomatoes. You’re ready to chow, my friend – 20 minutes start to finish!

I just loved the crispiness that the olive oil and butter gave the chicken tenders. Nice and crunchy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside.

And those capers are a MUST in this dish. They lend such a unique flavor that I just adore!

I’m sad, Ben nabbed the leftovers for his lunch tomorrow. Pssht, whatevs. I’ll find something just as good…

I’m currently crunching on some candies that Ben swiped while out at happy hour a couple weeks ago. They’re like mini jolly ranchers and well, I can’t stop eating them. It’s ok, they’re smaller than a dime. So cute!

I’m trying to think of what I have to do tonight, and I’m drawing a blank! Oh yes, I have to pay some bills, but other than that I’m freeeeee! Gosh, whatever shall I do? I’m not good with free time. I usually don’t know what to do with it… We’ll see what I come up with.

Have a good night!

ps can you believe tomorrow’s already Thursday? Yes!

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How often do you use recipes?

I’ve used recipes for every dinner this week so far! Usually though, I just use them as a base and then add my own little spin. I like that better than following a recipe to the T. Know what I mean?