You can cook chicken breasts in the oven without needing to brown them in a skillet first. I like to meal prep so I can just pull leftovers out of the freezer later, but if you want a single serving you can reduce accordingly:

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Rub 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto both sides of 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
3. Season both sides of the chicken with a mixture of 0.5 teaspoons each of garlic powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika.
4. Cook the chicken in a 9×13 casserole dish (a rimmed baking sheet should work too, but it must have a rim) for 20-30 minutes. It’ll depend on the thickness, but you want the internal temperature to reach 165°F.
5. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before eating.

The extra breasts freeze well, so you can simply reheat them with a bag of frozen veggies on nights when you don’t want to bother with the oven. I’ve also done the single servings of Bush’s baked beans as a side.

Growing up, we’d douse cotton balls in peppermint oil and drop them in corners or under furniture to help keep the mice - and some insects - away. It won’t kill them, but they find it very irritating and will avoid the area if they can.

This is not a great idea if you have pets, mostly because they’ll either try to eat the cotton balls or get annoyed by the smell. But as a bonus for you, your house will smell minty fresh!