My First Grilling Experience + Simple Gnocchi Meal Idea

I want to begin this post by saying that I am no longer afraid of the grill. It no longer makes me squirm in fear (well, sort of) and I will no longer make Chuck have grill duty every time I want grilled food (well, maybe). What I'm trying to say is that I have always been terrified of operating a gas grill. What if when I turn the gas on, there is an explosion and I blow up? What if I press the ignite button and the flames swallow my face? What if I lift the lid when checking on my chicken and I burn my arm? These questions used to haunt me, but not anymore!

 

I had one lonely piece of chicken that needed to be cooked, so I decided to attempt to grill it. To my surprise, the chicken turned out really well. Grilling is actually super easy and I have no clue as to why I was so afraid before. Fear is such a silly thing sometimes. Anyway, I just had to take a photo of my first solo grilling experience...



 

After grilling the lonely chicken breast, I quickly brainstormed to decide what I would make for dinner. Remembering that I had a box of dried gnocchi in the pantry, I decided to cook it, drench it in tomato sauce, and add the chicken to it for extra protein. If you're unfamiliar with gnocchi, it's a thick soft dumpling that can be made from various ingredients; mine was made from potatoes.

 

I began by boiling water for the gnocchi. Once I had a rapid boil, I added the gnocchi and cooked them for about 4 minutes. Gnocchi are so easy to cook; they float to the top of the pan when they are done



I then opened a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and added some sauteed fresh button mushrooms. Garlic salt, pepper, parsley, and Italian seasoning also helped to add some flavor. Making your own pasta sauce this way is so easy and it really allows you to control what goes into your food! Many jarred sauces are full of sodium, preservatives, and sugar. Once the sauce was heated throughout, I added the cooked gnocchi and grilled chicken pieces. It was such a simple meal to prepare and it tasted great!

Have you ever had gnocchi? If so, what's your favorite way to eat it?
I used to really love Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi soup.