CHICKEN RANCH NACHOS

I found this recipe here on Recipezaar quite awhile ago.  I was not sure I would like it, but I've found with a few adaptions, it is one of our favorites.   First, let me say that I make my own taco seasonings.  I have all the ingredients readily available in my cabinet, and I do not add any preservatives or salt, so it is healthier and tastier.   I also make my own ranch dressing, which I also found of Recipezaar.  You can find that here.
I turned them into more of a nacho recipe rather than tacos just because I don't like biting into tacos-they crumble and break and end up as nachos anyway, so why not save the trouble and start off with chips.

I

I would like to show off some of my pottery.  This is a triple server made by a great friend of mine, Marie.   I originally put this on my pottery wish list many years ago because I thought it was cute - I just love the handle.  I had no idea how often I would really use this. It is great for "Mexican nights" and is great for serving different kinds of salad dressings, or even for your salad toppings. 

This is a bowl of my homemade salsa - or I should say the Pioneer Woman's salsa - sorry.  I make it so often I sort of think of it as my own.  You can find that simple easy recipe here.  

Ole' 

OVEN FRIED CHICKEN TENDERS

I had to share this recipe with you.  It is one of those "I can't believe that's what in this. . ." moments.  The "mystery" ingredient. . . . . Fiber One cereal - the stuff that looks like pieces of twigs and is really not very tasty as a cereal, in my opinion.

I subscribe to Hungry Girl emails.  They have great tips, recipes, and showcase new products for those health-conscience, trying-to-lose weight gals.  I have the Hungry Girl cookbooks on my wish list too, but they give out so many great recipes via their emails, I just keep them all together and try the ones I really like.  They use the Fiber One cereal in a lot of their recipes.  I was skeptical at first, but since I've tried it and had success, I am a believer.  Even my boys could not tell I used fiber cereal instead of bread crumbs and flour.  The great bonus - practically no calories (points) and extra fiber!  1/2 cup of this cereal is barely 1 point.

So, I took a WW recipe for chicken tenders and instead of using the crushed up low fat cheese crackers, I used the Fiber One.

Here is the altered recipe:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut up into tenders
 (or just buy the tenders)
3/4 cup buttermilk (or use 3/4 cup low fat milk and add 1 T. vinegar)
1 cup ground up (use a food processor) Fiber One cereal twigs
Seasonings:  thyme, seasoning salt, garlic powder, salt and peppers
Olive oil (preferably in a spritzer bottle)

I cut up the chicken and soaked it in my "buttermilk" mixture for about 1/2 hour.

  I pureed up the cereal and added it with the spices into a ziploc bag.  Drain off the buttermilk and toss your chicken around in the crumbs until it is coated.  Then I placed it in one layer in a pan, then using my Pampered Chef spritz bottle of olive oil, I lightly misted all the pieces. 

  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, turn and bake 10-15 more or until done.

I served this with the rest of my pre-baked potatoes from last week with some cooked broccoli and some cheese sauce. 

BACON-WRAPPED CHICKEN

Just to update you all on my menu-making/grocery-saving strategies - well, it is going well.  I actually look forward to getting the store flyers each week so I can make up my menu according to what's on special.  I see a trend, in that one week, I don't spend as much money on groceries, but seem to make up for it the next week, so I guess it is all balancing out.  However, we are eating very healthy - veggies, more whole-grains, more balanced meals, and I feel more organized because I know ahead of time what I'm making each night and I can enjoy my day (well, as much as can be enjoyed cleaning up after 2 busy toddlers and keeping track of 2 busy teenagers).

This recipe was found in a Taste of  Home magazine a long time ago.  I don't make it a lot, but after the rave reviews I got from the men in my home, I think I'll make it more often.

Here's the recipe:
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-8 oz carton of whipped cream cheese with onion and chives
1 T. butter
6 pcs. bacon

The recipe says to flatten out the breasts using a mallot or frying pan to 1/2 inch thick.  I cut mine in 1/2 length-wise, and still flatten a bit so for each full breast, I get 2 portions.  Then put 3 T. of cream cheese over the breasts.  I put about 1 T. - it is messy - I ended up using my fingers and you all know the aversion I have to touching the raw meat and the messy cream cheese. . .   anyway, I omit the butter (I wish all these cut backs could be seen on the scale, but at least I feel better doing it).  I then cut the bacon in 1/2 and after you roll up the breast, wrap the bacon around it.  My bacon only went over the top (again, think WW).  Lay the breast seam-side down, and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes (now I use a meat thermometer and mine took over an hour).  You can crisp up the bacon with the broiler the last 5 minutes or so.


The bacon keeps the breast meat moist.  Very tasty!
I hope you enjoy.


Another little tip - I made baked potatoes and instead of just cooking 5 potatoes for the 6 of us (Levi and Noah still share), I made double.  I plan to use the rest of the cooked potatoes for lunch or for another side dish later this week and now I won't have to heat the oven up again!


I love using a small baked potato cut up with sauteed mushrooms, onions, and red bell peppers over top with a touch of mozarella melted.  Great lunch!

POPPY SEED CHICKEN CASSEROLE

I've really been on a roll with finding new recipes lately - and, actually, I expect my creativity to crash any day now, but I wanted to share this recipe with you.  It would be a great meal for working women because you can make it the day or night before, and then just heat it up when you get home.  ALL of the men in my house loved it (Levi and Noah are not men yet, so we won't count their votes).   Tyler liked it so much he actually asked me what the recipe was called.  I would love to show you what it looks like when it's cooked, but it was gobbled up before I got a photo of it - sorry!

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
1-8 oz. carton low-fat sour cream
1-10 oz. can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
butter flavored cooking spray
10 reduced fat Ritz crackers

Combine all ingredients, except crackers and spray.  put in your casserole dish and if you need to, cover it and refrigerate up to 24 hours.  
Heat over to 350.
Crush crackers and sprinkle on top of casserole.  Spray top with butter spray.  Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.

4 servings (3/4 cup) = 7 points

STRIP SHOW AND CHIPPERS

Okay, stop thinking dirty thoughts!  Chicken strips and potato chipper fries is on the menu tonight, not sexy dancers! 

I love this chicken.  It is so easy and even the little guys gobble it down.  I start by cutting up boneless skinless breasts into strips.  Season it with salt and pepper, roll it in seasoned bread crumbs, then in beaten egg, then back in the bread crumbs.

  Cook it in a bit of hot olive oil, browning on both sides.

  Then, I transfer it to a baking sheet.  Before it goes into the oven, I brush it with a melted butter and hot sauce combo.  You decide how hot to make it! 

I bake it at 400 degrees for about 5-10 minutes. 

I usually serve it with a side salad with blue cheese dressing.  Tonight I also made fries - shaped like potato chips.  Not because I was being creative or anything, but because all the potatoes I have left  in the bin are fairly small and it was easier to slice them in my new food processor, than to manually cut them into a french fry shape with a knife (or pampered chef garnisher).   I use just a bit of olive oil and some seasonings for the fries and bake them in the oven - you'd be hard pressed to tell this was a weight watchers recipe! (fries, that is)


Easy dinner that everyone loves - you can't beat that!

GREEN CHICKEN

cGreen chicken?   Well, not really.  I have this wonderful recipe I found in a magazine called "Chicken Salsa Verde".  Verde in Spanish means "green"-that is one of the very few words I know in Spanish (even after a 2 week trip to Honduras - sad, I know).    The "green" part comes from the salsa verde used in the recipe.  It is a salsa made from tomatillos, which is sometimes called a green tomato, however, it is not a tomato at all.  It is related to the Cape Gooseberry and is a staple in Mexican cuisine.  Boy, that sounds like I really know what I'm talking about!  Actually, I googled it after Rachael Ray talked about them not actually being tomatoes.  She got me curious, ya know?  Anyway, whatever it is, this is one delic dish!   It has just the right amount of "bite" to it too.

Here's my method (after I tweaked it from the original recipe).

Brown 4 seasoned chicken breasts in a bit of olive oil.  After they are cooked, shred the meat, or cut it up in fine pieces.

Put in a bowl and add:
1 diced onion
1 1/2 jars of salsa verde (one jar would probably be enough)
1 cup sour cream
1 jar drained and rinsed black beans (or kidney beans if you prefer)

Mix it all up.  In a 9x13 dish, crumble up tortilla chips to line the bottom, layer chicken goop on top, throw some shredded cheese on top, layer more chips, goop and cheese until bowl is empty.  Last layer should be crumbed chips.  I usually just do a layer of chips and the goop, then cheese and finish with chips, but whatever.  Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes.   Ole`.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

My hub is a furniture builder.  He has lots of special tools he needs to make his tables, chairs, swings, etc.  There are saws of many kinds, sanders, drills, tape measure. . . you get the idea.   Most people have some kind of tool or gadget that they use to do their various specialized job.

I am just a housewife/stay at home mom.  I know I should not say "just", but really, there is no glamor whatsoever - you don't really even need to shower if you don't want to (although I always do) :-).
It is not that I don't love being home with my kids, but I do miss getting out and talking with people about more than H1N1, potty training, and what's hot on PBS right now.   Yet, even we dull housewives have special tools we use.  I use my vacuum cleaner and steam vac on a regular basis (this works great for sucking up puke).  I even have a special vacuum for sweeping the stairs and oh how I love my micro dust clothes.  See how exciting being a house woman can be???   

But the tools I love are in my kitchen!  I am a huge fan of Pampered Chef products.  Yes, they can be a bit pricey, but they are sooooo worth it.  I have had my cookie sheet, 9x13, 8x8 and pizza stoneware pans for many years.  My cookies and pizzas have improved tremendously since I switched from the airbake to the stones.  Here are some of my other favorite Pampered Chef gadgets/tools.  I am a gadget girl for sure!  I use these ALL the time.  They are:  garlic press, strawberry huller (good for tomatoes too), the julieanner (not spelled correctly, but a great tool for making carrots look great in salads), the citrus peeler (a must), the basting brush (silicon brush), the can opener, and the hamburger-meat-thingy.  It breaks up ground beef into small wonderful sized crumbs when you're browning it.  I have many more PC items I love, but these are a few of my favorites.

Here are some other great tools in my kitchen I use all the time:

I am a HUGE fan of Pine Springs Pottery (made by my BFF and former neighbor, Marie Lewis).  Here is a link to her website:

http://pinespringspottery.com/
I own a lot of her pieces and in fact use the plates and bowls on a daily basis.  I've been collecting a long time and have many serving pieces also, but I love this colander.  It hangs beside my sink and gets used very often.  I think the legs and handles are just so cute.  The gadget holder was a gift from Marie and it sits beside my stove and holds all the wonderful things we homemaker cooks use a lot - wooden spoons, whisks, etc.  The last thing that I love is the cast iron skillet.  I became the step mother to these babies when I married Dan.  He has all sizes of the skillets. At first I hated them, but the more I used them, they more I loved them and aside from being too heavy for me to lift with one hand, they are perfect!

I'll bet you did not think about how many specialized tools you use in a day in your own home.  Think how much easier these things make your life!  What are some of the tools you like to use in your kitchen???  Please share! 

I made the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti tonight.  It is in my PC 9x13 stone and baking as I type this.  Here is a link to that recipe.  I'll let you know if the family gives it their approval or not!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:  We gain courage, strength and confidence with each new experience.