Clean Eating Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs

Life gets busy but eating well is still important to our family. The way I plan and prepare meals has had to change over the past few months since we welcomed our son and I started back to work part-time.  We want to continue to live a healthy lifestyle as we transition into parenthood.  It is something that requires better planning and organization than ever before!

One method I use is menu planning.  It helps to make one grocery store trip a week with a firm list of ingredients.  That way I know that when I get home the kitchen will be stocked for healthy dinners.

Coming home from work and preparing dinner was my way of unwinding from the day.  I miss that because now when I get home from work, I need to feed our munchkin and get him to bed.  If I waited to prepare dinner after that, well my husband and I wouldn't eat until 9pm.  That probably won't fly in my house.  So now I have shifted my routine to preparing dinner during my son's nap. This has forced me to change the types of dishes I'm making but challenged me to continue to prepare healthy food for my family.

Clean Eating's Mustard Chicken Thighs is a dish I've already made at least 3 times in the past few months.  We love it and I can quickly finish it in the oven while I'm feeding our son. 

The honey mustard sauce ties everything together and I love the almond topping!  The best part is that I can do 90% of the dish ahead of time and finish it off in the evening before dinner.

Honey Mustard Thighs

adapted from Cleaning Eating Magazine

12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 2 lbs total)

4 TBS of whole grain mustard

2 TBS of honey

1/4 tsp of black pepper

1/2 tsp of dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp of ground cayenne pepper

olive oil

4 bell peppers (mixture of green and red), sliced in half and seeded

2 TBS of toasted almonds, chopped



2 TBS of fresh parsley, chopped

Combine the mustard, honey, pepper, cayenne, thyme and garlic.  Pour half over the chicken and set the rest aside.  Preheat the broiler with the rack positioned 6-8" away.  Place the pepper halves on a baking sheet and brush with a couple TBS of olive oil.  Place under the broiler for 12-15 minutes and rotate halfway through.  When the skins are mostly dark remove from the broiler and set aside to cool. once cool, peel and slice the peppers.  Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  place the thighs in a single layer on the baking sheet.  place under the broiler for 5-7 minutes on each side, looking for charred marks along the edges. 

In a 9"x13" baking dish, spread the pepper slices out evenly and then top with the chicken.  Pour the reserved mustard sauce over the top.  *At this point, I cover the dish and refrigerate until I'm ready to bake and serve dinner.  I do let the dish sit at room temperate for 15-30 minutes before cooking.

Combine the almonds and parsley.  Sprinkle over top the chicken.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes until warm and bubbly.  Serve immediately and enjoy!