Chicken + a cast iron grill pan = a fabulous dinner

I am trying to change the way I eat because I know it's what I need to do to be healthy. I have a sweet tooth but I don't indulge it every day. I don't snack between meals and I don't eat a bag of potato chips in one sitting. But I do have a problem with carbs.

So I've been looking for meals that are healthy, interesting and delicious. Watching "The Kitchen" on Food Network this weekend, I saw the hosts giving tips for grilling chicken breasts. That's what we did for dinner tonight. I didn't look at a recipe, but just cooked it like they suggested.

We pounded out the chicken breasts. I did two and the boy did two. He said it would be great therapy for anyone who had a bad day. And I'll be honest. He did a much better job on pounding them out than I did. They really did cook more evenly since we made them flat. All we used was Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and garlic powder. A little Canola oil brushed on the grill and that was it.

There are chives and parsley in the yard that survived the winter, so we chopped some of them to add to some spring mix greens. All we added was a little olive oil and balsamic for a quick and light dressing. I topped the chicken breasts with the salad and a pinch of salt. I also made some roasted purple potatoes -- just a few pieces for everyone. That's a much better choice than making enough mashed potatoes for six people when we are only three, right?

I thought it looked great, and the proof was in the pudding. Or actually, the empty plates. Everyone loved it. You're probably wondering if my plate really has snowflakes on it. Yes, it does. Don't judge. I forgot to run the dishwasher and this is what was clean. I think Jeffrey got the random flower plate.

On a side note, we did have one small mishap. Jeffrey somehow flung balsamic vinegar into his eye. Naturally, the boy and I laughed. And then I got Jeff a damp towel. Apparently healthy food can be dangerous for some people, but we'll keep trying meals that are good for us anyway.

Farmer Lisa....sort of

When John was in elementary school, his class planted a vegetable garden one year. He came home all excited about growing carrots and other vegetables, so we decided it would be fun to plant our own. Over the years, we have grown bell peppers, jalapenos, carrots, green beans, okra and tomatoes. My Italian heritage mandates that I grow peppers and tomatoes at least. We also grow our own herbs and we even had a small corn field in the front yard one year.

We are so ready to get this year's garden growing. This winter has been grey and gloomy and we are ready for Spring. We did our part to encourage it along by buying our seeds a week or so ago. Yesterday it was in the 40's and we had a cold rain all day, so I guess that didn't work out so well.

We'll have all the basics -- chives,

oregano, basil, rosemary and parsley (some parsley actually survived the winter in one of our beds). Fresh herbs add so much to home-cooked meals and they are really easy to grow. We have a bunch of pots on the back porch and we started a raised bed last year too. Having them so accessible helps us use them more often. In the garden, we will also have red bell peppers, Roma tomatoes (we don't have luck with larger tomatoes), carrots and green onions. We're also going to try fennel, which I just started cooking with about a year ago. It has a strong licorice flavor that really mellows out nicely when it's roasted.

I don't really eat a lot of jalapenos, but that is the plant we always have the most success with. I am still fascinated by seeing things we can eat flourishing in our yard, so we always have jalapeno plants. And this year we will try planting on a staggered schedule so that we'll have vegetables and herbs maturing more often. That's the theory anyway.

Hopefully it will be time for sowing seeds soon -- what will you be planting?