May 2022

Chicken is a dinner staple in my household, so finding new and more flavorful chicken recipes is a must. This Chicken Florentine from the Magnolia Table cookbook is one of my new favorites and was instantly added into our dinner rotation. The biggest and best part about this recipe is the sauce. The use of white wine is what really brings it over the top and makes for a great dinner for guests or just for yourself. I used a cheaper dry wine that I found at the grocery store, but this is a dinner that will be enhanced by a better wine. So don’t skimp if at all possible!

One negative that I will say about this Chicken Florentine recipe is that the recommended way of cooking the chicken in this recipe does require quite a bit of time. You could definitely cook the chicken earlier and then heat it before you serve dinner. The sauce itself won’t take you long so I would prepare that right before you are about to eat. We ate the entire thing in one sitting so I’m not sure how it tastes reheated but my guess is it would be just as good if not better so you could make both pieces ahead of time and then combine and heat right before heating. This Chicken Florentine would be great paired with some roasted broccoli, carrots and asparagus to add some veggies into your meal.

Overall Review: 5/5

This Chicken Florentine was a huge hit! My parents and sister were over when I made this, and everyone loved the flavors and how great the dinner tasted! Was definitely worth every spare minute in the kitchen. There are far less pictures of me making this recipe than normal, that would be because I was busy talking to family while making it and we devoured it too quickly to take a lot of photos! If that tells you anything it should tell you that it’s an amazing dish!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe review and if you are interested in more reviews, check out our page here: Recipe Reviews.

xoxo-Kayla

Le’ts start out with the fundamental question, why should you bother learning to cook? There are meal kits that can be sent to you with the easiest of instructions, there are microwave and oven ready meals that require no time, and there’s always take out. So why should you bother to learn how to cook? I would argue it’s because when you learn to cook, you gain more than you would believe. Below are 5 reasons that I believe you should learn to cook; I hope that they encourage you to give it a try!

1. Cooking from Home is Healthier

Let me preface this by saying that of course you can make unhealthy things at home! What I am saying is that by cooking from home, you are more inclined to choose and make healthier foods. When you make your food at home you are aware of what is being put in your food and you will slowly start to lower the number of unhealthy items as you see how much you are actually consuming. A good example of this is baking, shortbread cookies are melt in your mouth good but the reason for this is the insane amount of butter that’s involved. When you make shortbread cookies yourself and see how much butter you have to put in it helps you put in perspective how much you should eat and how often. I’ve lowered the amounts of butter and oils I cook with too as I have learned over time I don’t need as much to still get a great taste! Healthy cooking doesn’t happen overnight but it will happen the more you choose to cook at home.

2. Brings Families Together

Cooking and eating at home has a way of bringing families together. It leads to more family dinners and more quality time spent together. I don’t know if its because someone slaved away cooking the meal and everyone feels obligated to sit together or if its just something about a home cooked meal that brings people together; regardless it’s always done the trick. Home cooked meals bring us together and in my opinion, bond us together in ways we couldn’t have imagined. If you are wanting to find a way to spend more quality time with your loved ones, get out a pan and cook a meal!

3. Saves Money

With todays inflation this may not seem true, but it is in fact still true! You will inevitably save more money by going to the store and buying the ingredients to make dinners at home. That’s because you can use many of the ingredients for several meals, leftovers and more. In general I spend around $100-$120 a week and that covers all our dinners, lunches and breakfasts for the week. When my husband and I go out it’s almost always a minimum of $20 for a meal, for a week that would be well over $140 just for seven meals. That doesn’t include snacks, breakfast or lunch. Yes going out to eat is more convenient and less time consuming, but it is rarely the cheaper option.

4. Creative Outlet for You and Kids

This is one of my favorite parts of cooking and baking, trying new recipes and putting your own twist on the recipe. The more I cook the more confident I am changing ingredients or trying a recipe in a new way. I am also thrilled to introduce my daughter to cooking as I hope it’s a great way for her to express herself as well as learn a lifelong skill. You can incorporate your kids by letting them decorate, help measure or stir ingredients together. It bonds you together as a family and also let’s your kid learn new skills that they will always take with them. Get creative with your ingredients and make cooking and eating a fun experience!

5. Stress Reliever

This is one of the main reasons I started to get into cooking, it was an outlet for me to relive my stress. I naturally have a lot of stress and anxiety and cooking helps me to detach and relax. There’s also a long of banging, mixing, and other things that you can do when cooking that are helpful stress relievers. I also love that’s it’s a hobby that you get immediate rewards from. As soon as your item is done cooking, you get to try it! You get a stress reliever and a treat all in one go. I’ve tried so many crafts and other hobbies and lost interest immediately. Cooking is the one thing I have continued to do and enjoy and it’s one of my go-to stress relievers.

Learning to cook takes time and can be challenging, but its worth taking the time to learn. It’s a skill that will always come in handy.

If your interested in some recipes I’ve reviewed and love, head to my Recipe Review page here: RECIPE REVIEWS.

For recipes I love and food videos I’ve done, check out my Pinterest page here: Cultivate Confidence Pinterest