One Pan Garlic Butter Chicken Bites and Asparagus

This is our last weekend before we get Jace back and let me tell you, it's gonna be weird to have him back. We have gone 4 1/2 weeks without him while he was in Arizona and Texas. In the 4 1/2 weeks he was gone,  Kevin and I went to lunch together several times, we went to Chili's for dinner before they closed up here, we went to a comedy show and the casino, and to the park to watch fireworks for the 4th of July. We were able to get on the same page with a lot of things, I bought Jace tickets to his first concert, we decided birthday and Christmas gift ideas for Jace, and finalized some plans when my family is here in a few weeks. 

I am at my lowest weight since starting Noom (down 6 pounds) and looking forward to the future. I actually made this recipe a week or two ago but we've been pretty busy so I'm just now getting to it. This one is for a one pan garlic butter chicken bites and asparagus. I had this in the cast iron skillet. The original recipe is from Eat Well 101 and can be found HERE. If you make this recipe, let me know below what you think. 

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
One bunch of asparagus, cut and trimmed
1/2 cup butter (we used Unsalted butter from Trader Joes)
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder (in place of minced garlic)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp onion powder

Directions:
Slice chicken breasts into bite size pieces and season with pepper and onion powder. Let sit while you prepare the asparagus. 

Wash and trim the asparagus. Melt half the butter (1/4 cup) with olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. 

Stir fry the chicken bites until golden brown. 

Lower the temperature, add one tsp of garlic powder and Italian Seasoning. Stir and cook the chicken bites for one more minute. 

Remove the chicken bites from the skillet and set aside on a plate. 

In the same skillet over medium high, add one tsp of garlic powder and then deglaze with the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and reduce to half the volume. Add remaining 1/4 cup butter, lemon juice and parsley. Stir to combine. Add the asparagus and cook for two minutes. Push the asparagus to the side and add the chicken bites back to the pan to reheat for another minute or two. 

Serve with rice and enjoy immediately!