Chicken Knuckle Soup

Sorry, Laura...had to say it! Thanks to my friend AOB for that lovely recipe name. I figured that this fateful recipe would be a good way to get back into the blogging groove after my amazing trip to San Francisco. If you were following me on Twitter for the past several days, you probably had a chance to check out what delicious foods I was eating. If you didn't get a chance to check that out...ahem, Laura :) I will be posting about my trip for the next couple of days.

Anyway, back to homemade chicken noodle soup a la Paula Deen. The dish by name seems so simple...just chicken noodle and stock. Well Paula's original recipe was not so simple. You have to chop and then simmer FOREVER and then add the rest of the chopped ingredients. All in all it takes almost one and a half hours! As y'all may well know, Laura and I HATE time consuming recipes. Not only does the soup take forever but I had an unfortunate accident that cost me a few extra hours :(

So it begins...with several ingredients. Paula's recipe calls for a whole chicken in the soup base, but I definitely preferred to just use chicken tenders. I also substituted salt free chicken broth base instead of bouillon. Bouillon typically has a lot of salt some of which comes from MSG.

The ingredients for the stock:

The ingredients for the rest of the soup:

Me rocking my onion goggles after my run, but prior to "The Accident":

What the stock looks like (if only we could have scratch and sniff computers!):

At this point I started cutting the carrots...insert gruesome story here and trip to the ER. I left the stock sitting on the stove (burner off of course) hoping to get back to it. Luckily, WE were able to finish the recipe.

I enlisted my hubby for the rest of the chopping and I working on pouring and stirring.

He did a great job!

After all of the craziness that was Sunday, we were able to sit down to a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It was very hearty, delicious and not too salty. The saltiness of a typical Campbell's CNS is a bit too much for me. I only wish CNS wasn't something I only wanted when I don't feel well. When you are sick, who has one and a half hours to make soup?!

The nutrition facts speak for themselves. A great hearty bowl of soup for decent calories, low fat and low sodium!!! What else could a girl ask for?? Okay, maybe better cutting skills, but either way, I was able to end the night on a delicious note!

I did cut my recipe in half, for fear of having a million servings of soup in the fridge while I was out of town. The recipe below is exactly what I used.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Stock Ingredients:
1 ¼ lbs chicken breast
7 cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
½ tsp Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Bay leaves
1 packet salt free chicken broth
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp salt substitute

Soup:
1 ½ cups carrots, sliced (carefully!)
1 cup sliced celery
1 ¼ cup egg noodles, uncooked
1 cup sliced Portobello mushrooms
1 ½ tbsp chopped parsley
2 oz cooking sherry
½ cup Parmesan
¼ cup fat free half-and-half

In a large pot, combine all of the ingredients for the stock and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot and tear or cut into large chunks, set aside. Remove bay leaves.

Bring the stock to a boil and add carrots, cooking for about 3-5 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook for another 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients including chicken. Cook for another 2-4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Sesame Chicken

This Monday, I decided to make Paula's Sesame Chicken Strip recipe. I thought it would be something pretty easy to put together while I was waiting for my hubby to return from South Texas. I wasn't wrong about the recipe being pretty easy, I just don't know how delicious it really was.

Meet my sous chef!

It all starts out with a "marinade" of sorts. You basically mix together the sour cream and other seasonings, stirring in the chicken strips (see bowl on right).

I assumed that a lot of the sour cream mixture would be left in the bowl for me to wash out when the chicken had finished marinating. I was wrong!!! The marinade had almost completely soaked into the chicken! At least I knew that the meat would be moist :)

After my chicken soaked while I was hard at work, mind you it was Labor Day :(, I rolled the little strips in my Panko-Pita-Sesame mixture. Paula's recipe calls for simple bread crumbs. When I think of sesame chicken, I think of a more Asian flare. Though I have never used Panko bread crumbs, I have always wanted an excuse to give them a try. This was the perfect recipe!

Instead of pouring melted butter on my coated strips, I used Smart Balance. I think the lack of "real" fat had something to do with the lack of crispness. I really wanted these strips to be somewhat crunchy on the outside. Even though I broiled the strips at the end, they still weren't brown and crispy. I think next time I will spray them with Canola oil and broil them a little bit longer.

As far as taste, they weren't too bad. I think I was so disappointed with the crust that the flavor was already doomed in my mind. I had them reheated for lunch, and re-evaluated the taste. I was a little more pleased with my second test.

With a little "un-fried rice"...

Here are the stats:

I left Paula's the way she had it set. If she used 6 chicken breasts you would get about 3 oz of meat for 8 servings. That is the same amount of meat you would get for my recipe for three servings....which I am now realizing I put 2...it should be three, but the same nutrition info...oops!

Sesame Chicken
2 large skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
¼ cup light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp garlic pepper
4 tbsp Panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp whole wheat pita crumbs
2 tbsp Sesame seeds
1 tbsp Smart Balance, melted

Mix chicken with sour cream, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic pepper in a medium bowl. Cover and let soak for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with canola spray.

In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs with sesame seeds. Roll each chicken strip in the breading mixture and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until all strips are coated. Evenly pour the melted Smart Balance over the breaded strips. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, broil the chicken for at least 5 minutes, or until they are slightly browned. Enjoy!

***By the way, come back after lunch for an INCREDIBLE breakfast sandwich recipe!!!!!

Chicken Salad Makes an Unexpected Appearance

Hello, my friends! I feel like it's been so long since I've posted anything! It's good to be back. I know we were MIA for the last two days, but Kat and I have been cooking up some super exciting FNF stuff that we hope to roll out in the future and it took more (wo)man hours than we thought. We'll keep you updated!

On to the food! I tried to remake Paula Deen's Chicken Divan into a lighter dish this weekend. I've never had this dish, but it looked very casserole-y and I like casseroles so I was ready to go!

I used some chicken breasts that I had already cooked and chopped. I used light mayo instead of regular, swapped nonfat Greek Yogurt for sour cream, used reduced fat cheddar and used the lower sodium version of cream of mushroom soup. I omitted the curry because I just don't like curry and used chicken broth in place of white wine because I didn't have any on hand.

I mixed up all my goodies and put them in my dish and covered it with grated parm and Panko bread crumbs. I've never cooked with them and wanted to test them out. They really maintained their crispiness. I'll have to remember this stuff the next time I make some Fried Ravioli!

What have you made with Panko Breadcrumbs??

The dish on it's way in . . .

. . . looks a lot like how it looked on it's way out.

It was pretty goopy. Must be all that mayo (Paula's "favo," according to Kat)!


It reminded me of the Hot Mess Chicken Salad I did last month, except with broccoli. It wasn't bad, but I'm a little tired of so many chicken salads! I think this is my fifth run with chicken salad.

Nutritionally, it looks bad, even the lightened version. But I think it all has to do with the listed serving sizes (I know Kat and I have both had tirades about that before). The original recipe says it serves 6 to 8, so I entered in my ingredients and based it on making 6 servings. I cut the recipe in half and made it in an 8 inch square pan and could easily get 6 servings from it. Go figure.

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 848	Calories: 531
Fat: 59 g	Fat: 24 g
Sodium: 1315 mg	Sodium: 1244 mg
Fiber: 3.4 g	Fiber: 4 g

I probably won't try this recipe again, only because I think I've had my fill of chicken salad for the year. But if you like it, I'd recommend cutting the mayo and yogurt sauce down by at least a third.

Sneaky Chicken Salad
2 (10 oz) packages frozen broccoli, chopped
6 c shredded chicken from boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 c light mayo
1 c fat free plain Greek Yogurt
1 c reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c Panko bread crumbs
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Thaw the broccoli and put into a casserole dish. Add the shredded chicken

In a separate bowl, combine the soup, light mayo, Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese, lemon juice, and chicken broth. Whisk together and pour over the broccoli and chicken.

Sprinkle the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese over the top and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

How is this really a salad?

I am not exactly sure why Paula calls this a salad. I understand we have tuna/chicken salad, but typically that involves cold meats, mixed in a cold mayo sauce of some sort. Paula's Fettuccine Chicken Salad is served sort of warm with noodles....not very salad like :)


Well, at 6am my blogger photo uploader stopped working!!! So today we have no pictures, but if I can get them to load this afternoon I will try to update this post.


One of the changes I decided to make with this recipe was avoiding the use of seasoning salt. I often find myself educating my patients about salt free seasonings. I decided to make my own salt free Lawry's Seasoning "No Salt" for this recipe. I basically added equal parts of onion powder, salt substitute, turmeric, and paprika together. It smelled just right and I think the flavor was pretty much there. Making your own seasonings is a great way to cut sodium from your diet.


Insert pic of ingredients here:


Kroger was out of basil yesterday, but I found a great basil herb "puree" if you will that was a great substitute (and cut back on my chopping).


Insert picture of chicken with thermometer here:


I wanted to remind everyone that chicken should be cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 5 seconds. Having a thermometer on hand helps you determine if your meats have reached a safe temperature and can help prevent overcooking...ahem...Laura :)


This recipe turned out okay. I think it would have been great if there were less fresh green seasonings in the sauce. I may have just needed to better chop them. I kept biting into parsley or basil which was a little off putting.


Since the "label" is also a picture I wasn't able to upload the nutrition information. In a nutshell, I cut the calories by 295! The sodium was cut more than in half and the fiber was more than doubled! Even with all of the great changes, this is not a low calorie or low fat dish. It is your entire dinner, minus some veggies, so spending the calories may still be okay for you. Here is the breakdown:

1 serving (1 cup pasta, 3 chicken strips)

Calories: 365 (was 695!)
Fat: 12.8g (was 46.9)
Sodium: 287mg (was 968)
Fiber: 6.3g (was 2.3)



Garden Chicken Fettuccine
2 skinless chicken breast halves
Olive oil spray
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
8 oz dry fettuccine
1 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley leaves
2 tbsp freshly chopped basil leaves
1/4 tsp FNF Seasoning
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp homemade season “un-salt”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice chicken breasts into one inch wide strips. Lay strips on a baking sheet, sprayed with non stick spray. Season chicken with thyme and spray light coat of olive oil across the strips. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until internal temp is 165 degrees.

While chicken is cooking, cook past according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all other ingredients, including chicken juice from the baking sheet and mix well. Pour pasta into large bowl and stir to coat. Serve pasta with sliced chicken on top. Enjoy!

Fried Chicken, Volume I...of too many

Laura and I were talking yesterday about the make up of Paula's Top 100. Not only do we not understand how they came up with this magical list, but were are also disappointed with the mix of recipes. The majority of recipes are shrimp and chicken with a few salmon and beef. Of the chicken recipes, there are at least 5 fried chicken recipes!!! As a dietitian, fried chicken is not a common occurrence in our house, but with the spirit of Foodies Not Fatties, I made Paula's fried chicken anyway.




I certainly was not going to batter and deep fry these little guys, so I had to come up with different ingredients to make them healthier. Two big changes were using skinless chicken legs and Fiber One Cereal.




I have been able to purchase skinless drumsticks before, but lately I haven't been able to find them. One tip I find helpful is using a dishcloth to help remove the skin. The skin tends to be very slimy and hard to pull off. If you use a dry cloth it will grab the skin and you can pull it off with no problem.



Instead of deep frying the chicken I baked it in the oven. Just spray the pan with Olive or Canola oil and then spray the chicken. Having the oil on the coating will hep it crisp up.



One thing that surprised me about this recipe, was that it actually looked like fried chicken. The dark color of the Fiber One cereal gave it a nice "fried" color. I might actually broil the chicken a bit longer to give it the "fried" texture.



Overall the chicken tasted okay. I wasn't thrilled or disgusted. I am looking forward to trying some of the other fried chicken recipes. I have lots of new ideas to test out!




I am having some technical difficulty with my label so all I have are the new nutrition facts. I will try to update this once I get things working.

1 drumstick
Calories: 141
Fat: 5.3 g
Sodium: 114 mg
Fiber: 5.3 g




Fried Chicken Numero Uno
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt substitute
2 tsp Canola oil
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Fiber One cereal, finely ground
2 lbs skinless drumsticks


Heat oven to 350 degrees.


Mix eggs and water in shallow dish. Mix all flour, cereal and seasonings in another shallow dish. Dip drumsticks in egg mix then roll in flour mixture. Place on baking sheet. Spray with Canola oil.


Bake until chicken reaches 165 degrees (about 45 minutes) flipping chicken halfway through. For a crispier texture, broil for the last 5 minutes.

Another Winner!

I feel really bad for Laura...I think I ended up getting all of the good recipes!! Tonight's recipe was a delicious empanada recipe. If you aren't from Texas, these are regulars on every Tex Mex menu. Typically they are deep fried and super greasy! I was really surprised when Paula's recipe didn't call for deep frying.

When buying all of the ingredients, I decided to be a little lazy and pick up canned chicken. I feel a little hypocritical simply because I talk to my patients about choosing fresh or frozen items over canned. I think the biggest issue with salt intake is that we often look for the easiest option. What isn't easy about pre-cooked, chopped chicken? Good news is that we didn't add anymore salt to the recipe.

Once everything was all mixed together I started filling and folding the empanadas. This is really where the recipe gets to be a little time consuming. You put a tablespoon sized dollop of chicken mixture in the middle of the pie crust circle. Before you start to fold, I recommend rubbing the pie crust with a little water and then pressing your finger down around the chicken mixture. This helps spread out the crust so it will fold a little better. I decided to also close the empanadas with a fork. Most of the empanadas I have seen have those neat little fork marks and mine were no exception!

These little pockets turned out just right. One thing you could try, would be brushing the tops with a little egg white and turning the oven to broil for a few minutes to give them that crispy brown look.

I decided to put my empanadas on a bed of shredded lettuce and topped them with some fresh diced tomatoes. After I started eating I ended up adding a little low fat ranch. I know that may sounds weird to some of you ... ahem Laura ... but there is a great restaurant, Chuy's, that has a jalapeno ranch dip that is delicious on everything Mexican.

That stats are a little confusing. If you read Paula's original recipe, she makes 16 - 2" circles and only fills them with 1 tsp of meat. Even though I added an extra 1/2 cup of veggies, I had a ton of mixture left over. I made about 18 circles and filled them with 1 tbsp of chicken. I had about half leftover. Not sure where Paula gets her portions from but my calculations are based on her original recipe and serving sizes.

Baked Empanadas (amounts for 16-18 Empanadas w/ 1tbsp filling)

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 cup low fat Mexican blend cheese,
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, sauteed
1/4 medium onion, sauteed
2 ounces fat free cream cheese, softened
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped, optional (aka I didn't use this)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt substitute
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
Water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 8 ingredients. Unroll 1 pie crust onto wax paper. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining pie crusts, making 16-18 circles total. Arrange 1 round on the baking sheet. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 tbsp of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Bacon Loves Chicken

How does Paula Deen improve chicken? She either fries it in oil, smothers in with mayo and/or sour cream or she wraps in with bacon and dunks it in sugar! This recipe for Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps looks as decadent as her Fried Mac & Cheese, sans the frying. I was willing to try it because I like chicken. And from the pic it looks like bacon likes chicken, too, because it's giving each nugget a big ol' hug!



Since the recipe only has 4 ingredients, it was easy to simplify. I swapped turkey bacon for the regular bacon and wanted to try Splenda's Brown Sugar Blend. I've tried one other lower sugar brown sugar creation and wasn't too thrilled with it, but I though this would be fun to try. It's just a blend of brown sugar and Splenda.

Prep was super easy. It took less than 10 minutes. And here's the final product (sorry about the boring preparation, I was sooo excited to taste them, I was eating as I was plating!):


I think they were pretty good. I've never loved the whole sweet-and-salty combination, but I really liked this one. I think it makes a good appetizer, but I don't think I would serve it as my entree.

Do you like sweet and salty foods together??

Here's the nutritional stats. There wasn't too much of a difference. The lighter version is only 20 calories less on only lower in fat by ~1 gram. And it's actually higher in sodium.

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 12	Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 203	Calories: 181
Fat: 7 g	Fat: 5.8 g
Sodium: 254 mg	Sodium: 393 mg
Fiber: 0.4 g	Fiber: 0.4 g

Taste: Seconds, Please! Even Cody said he liked them!

Waist: May Need to Unbutton My Pants; the lightened version wasn't that much of an improvement (only 20 calories!), although it was tasty. I think if I make this again, I'll still use the brown sugar blend because I have a ton of it left, but I'll probably just use real bacon and save this recipe for special occasions and enjoy it in moderation.

Bacon + Chicken 4-eva (aka Bacon Wrapped Chicken)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb turkey bacon
5 tbsp + 1 tsp Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 tbsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes. Cut each turkey bacon slice into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with bacon and secure with a toothpick. Stir together the brown sugar blend and chili powder. Dredge wrapped chicken in mixture. Coat a rack and broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken wraps on rack in broiler pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until done.

Finally....

After last week's disasters (think Racoon Repellent and some inedible chowder), I was ready for a winner. These recipe modifications are fun and and exciting to test out, but they're actually a little bit of work. We review each recipe, figure our modifications and the type in the recipes and get calculations for both. Then we have to actually make the recipe, remember to take pictures and whip out some witty commentary about our adventures. Not to mention a lot of her recipes include lots of chopping and dish-dirty-ing. Usually the whole process is super fun, but when you knock out two duds in a row, it's discouraging.

I approached Paula Deen's recipe for Gumbo with mediocre enthusiasm, but got to work, because this recipe had several steps and involved a lot of sitting and simmering.

I used cooking spray instead of oil and turkey sausage instead of regular sausage to cut out some fat and calories.

I made my roux with Smart Balance Light and Whole Wheat flour.

I didn't make any exceptions to the veggies, but did omit the salt and used dried parsley. I wish they sold frozen chopped celery. Is it just me or does it take forever to chop??

I was looking for some low sodium beef bullion or something similar and there just wasn't much. There was low sodium beef broth, but no bullion. I did find this stuff, though.



I don't know too much about broths and bullions and bases, but this beef base was lower in salt than all of the bullion cubes by ~200 mg. It's not much, but making a recipe healthier is all about finding a balance of health and taste, so I decided to give it a try.

Once all that was cooking, I added the pre-cooked chicken and turkey sausage to the roux and veggie mix and let it do its thing in the pot. After 45 minutes of simmering, I added the frozen okra and tomatoes.



I actually forgot to add the green onion and I omitted the shrimp (I know it's part of the recipe, but I just couldn't do it!! I needed a winner!! I did include it in the recipe and nutritional breakdown, though).


I served it with some frozen corn muffins I made to go with my failed chowder last week and YUM!! It was so good. I just ate, but I think I could eat some more. I would imagine adding shrimp wouldn't hurt, if you like shrimp, but I thought it was absolutely delicious as it was! Finally!

Here's the stats, still high in sodium, mostly in part to not using low sodium canned tomatoes and the turkey sausage.

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 8	Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 511	Calories: 330
Fat: 30.9 g	Fat: 10.3 g
Sodium: 1678 mg	Sodium: 1412 mg
Fiber: 2.8 g	Fiber: 3.4 g

And here's the winning recipe!

Some Good Gumbo
3 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves, chopped
1 pound turkey smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
5 tablespoons Smart Balance light margarine
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
5 tsp Better Than Bullion Paste
1 (14-ounce can) stewed tomatoes with juice
2 cups frozen sliced okra
4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts
1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked

Spray a large pot with cooking spray and cook the chicken until browned on both sides and remove. Add the turkey sausage and cook until browned, then remove. Sprinkle the flour over the remaining juices, add 2 tablespoons of margarine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until brown, about 10 minutes. Let the roux cool.

Return the Dutch oven to low heat and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons margarine. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, pepper, to taste and the 1/4 bunch parsley. Cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add 4 cups hot water and bouillon paste, whisking constantly. Add the chicken and turkey sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add tomatoes and okra. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Just before serving add the green onions, shrimp and chopped parsley.

I'm Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!!

After last weekends Salmon Mousse disaster, I was ready for something a little less . . . mousse-y. So I was psyched to try Paula Deen's recipe for Poblano Chicken Chowder. It looked much more appetizing!

I pre-chopped all of the veggies before I left for South Carolina so they wouldn't get all soft and limpy and it ended up being a huge time saver! I also decided to use cornstach because the whole butter and flour roux looked like too much work and would dirty another dish. I subbed fat free half and half for the heavy cream and omitted the salt.

The original recipe called for 3 quarts of chicken broth. Even though I normally cut the recipes in half, that still seemed like a ton of fluid, so I cut it back to just one quart. I usually like my soups thicker and less runny.

And here's the final product:


Looks good, doesn't it?! It was SUPER HOT! I couldn't even eat it and I eat just about everything! I ended up baking a potato in the microwave the next night and added it hoping it would reduce the spice and it helped a little bit. But still hot enough to declare this a failure. Argh!!!

How do you bust out of a recipe rut of failures??

Here's the stats. I know normally Kat and I complain that the original recipes underestimate serving sizes, I think this one actually overestimates with 12 servings! I double checked the ingredients in our recipe calculator because ~100 calories seemed kind of low, so I think the serving size is just super small (so keep that in mind if you decide to try this recipe).

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 12	Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 278	Calories: 103
Fat: 21 g	Fat: 5 g
Sodium: 1238 mg	Sodium: 386 mg
Fiber: 1.6 g	Fiber: 2 g

And here's the recipe, if you like things HOT!!

Chicken, Potato and Poblano Chowder

1/4 c olive oil
3 large carrots, diced
2 large onions, diced
5 stalks celery, diced
1/8 c garlic, minced
2 to 3 poblano peppers
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chicken bullion granules
1 quart low sodium, fat free chicken broth
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, minced
3 c diced chicken2 tbsp cornstarch
1 c fat free half and half
1 medium Russet potato, baked

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic, poblano peppers, white pepper, cumin and thyme. Saute for 7 to 8 minutes or until the veggies begin to soften. Stir in the chicken bullion, chicken broth, cilantro and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the chicken and cook until the chowder is thick and the chicken is heated through.

In a separate bowl, mix ~1 c broth from the soup mix with the corn starch until smooth. Add to the large pot and mix.

Remove the pot from the heat and add the half and half. If it's too hot, chop up the baked potato and gently mix in.

Chicken Party!

My college roommate/one of my best friends and her husband were coming to Houston for a night out on the town with us. I thought this kabob recipe would be a crowd pleaser that would be easy to prep ahead of time. I was right!

What is your go-to dish when you have a group over?

The original recipe called for an original marinade. The marinade had a lot of oil in it so I thought I might switch things up Texas style.

The magic ingredient isn’t pictured because it was a game time addition! I thought a good Texas light beer would add flavor and lighten things up a bit.

Paula’s recipe calls to marinate the meat and veggies for 4-6 hours. After reading several of the reviews for the recipe, I decided to only marinate the meat for about 1 hour. Most of the reviews commented on the fact that the meat was too tenderized. Pineapple is a natural tenderizer, breaking the meat down as you marinate it. It is a great thing to add to a marinade for tough meat, but too much time and your meat may be mush.

The final product wasn’t too bad!

We paired it with Penny’s Twice Baked Potatoes (not so healthy)…

and some great company!




The results:

Taste: I guess I'll Eat It ( Good flavor but not the most amazing thing I've eaten)

Waist: Tighten Your Belt A Notch (Paired with a grilled veggie and a lighter starch and you have a dinner for ~400 calories)

Drunk Chicken and Shrimp Kabobs

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Canola oil
3 limes, juiced
½ cup light beer
1 tbsp Splenda
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 red bell peppers, cut into one inch pieces
1 onion, cut into one inch pieces
2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 large chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces
½ pound shrimp, de-veined and peeled

If using wooden skewers, soak in water before grilling.

In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lime juice, beer, Splenda, red pepper. Pour mixture over thawed chicken and shrimp and cover. Let marinate for at least 1 hour.

Heat grill to 350 to 400 degrees.

Using skewers, thread 1 piece of chicken, 1 piece of pepper, 1 piece of onion, and one piece of pineapple, alternating to fill the entire skewer. Do the same using the shrimp.

Place the chicken kabobs on the grill, cover with grill lid, and cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked to 165 degrees.

Place shrimp kabobs on the grill and cook for 6-8 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

Remove from grill and enjoy!

Can't Get Enough

I know, I know, did I just make Chicken Salad?? But this one by Paula Deen looked pretty easy and I already had a lot of the ingredients on hand, so I just went for it.



Obviously missing from this picture is the chicken, but I started cooking before I realized this was a blog recipe and scrambled to get all of my ingredients arranged. I didn't use the mayo/white bean mixture that I used last time, only because I was lazy and didn't want to clean up my food processor.

Prep work was super simple and before I knew it, the pan was in the oven and I had to figure out what I wanted to do with this hot mess when it was done.

The final product was tasty, but a tad messy and goopy. Next time (yes, I will definitely be making this again!), I'll reduce the amount of light mayo by 1/4 cup. I loved the crunchy top!

Here's the stats:

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 8	Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 384	Calories: 267
Fat: 31 g	Fat: 16.5 g
Sodium: 467 mg	Sodium: 412 mg
Fiber: 1.4 g	Fiber: 1.6 g

My rating:

Taste: I guess I'll eat it (I'm sure it'll be perfect when I reduce the amount of may next time

Waist: May need to unbutton my pants (the lightened version is an improvement, but any kind of mayo-based sandwich meat is going to be higher in calories and fat)

What food can you eat more than once in a week?

Here's the recipe!

A Hot Mess Chicken Salad

2 c cooked chicken breast meat, cubed
1 c diced celery
1/2 c slivered almonds
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 c grated reduced fat cheddar cheese
2/3 crushed light potato chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients except for the chips and pour mixture into a greased baking dish. Spread the crushed chips over the top. Cook for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

Tastes Like Chicken

I have a love/hate relationship with meat salads (like chicken salad, tuna salad, etc.). I love tuna and chicken salad, but only if it’s not too goopy and the chicken is chopped small enough and there can’t be any grapes in it (I just don’t get that combo!). So adapting Paula Deen’s Almond Chicken Salad would be great because I can control everything that goes in it!



The worst, or rather unhealthiest, part of chicken salad is the mayonnaise. So to lighten up this version, I swapped out ½ cup of regular mayo for a mixture of light mayo and pureed white beans.

White beans, you ask?? I totally wish I could take credit for this trick but I actually got this idea from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Sneaky Chef (check it out below). I got it a couple of years ago with my food processor and I’ve tried tons of recipes from it and fell in love with the concept. Basically, the author uses fruit, veggie and bean purees in place of high fat ingredients. I’ve made chocolate French toast, blueberry muffins and ice cream that all have these “sneaky” purees in them and they’re delicious!

The Sneaky Chef: How to Cheat on Your Man (In the Kitchen!): Hiding Healthy Foods in Hearty Meals Any Guy Will Love


Back to my chicken salad, I combined all the ingredients and I was done! I packed it for my lunch next day to share with Kat. It was good, but the chicken needed to be diced smaller and it needed a tad more mayo/bean mix to make it more cohesive. I made those adjustments and had it again the next day and it was much better!



Nutritionally, the lightened up version has almost 100 calories less than the original and the fat was reduced by 60%!

Nutritional Information	Nutritional Information
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 243	Calories: 165
Fat: 17 g	Fat: 6.7 g
Sodium: 550 mg	Sodium: 149 mg
Fiber: 1 g	Fiber: 1.5 g

What food do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Here’s the recipe!

Fit Chick(en) Salad

2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp light mayo
2 tbsp pureed white beans
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 c celery, diced
1/3 c slivered almonds

Combine all ingredients and chill.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

There is something funny about chicken pot pie. I absolutely love to eat them...but for some reason they make me very queasy. It think it comes from me trying to eat a whole pot pie by myself! Mmmmmmm...

Good news is, this one definitely didn't make me sick! I absolutely LOVED the final product. It all started with Paula's Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie recipe and with a few simple changes turned into one of my favorite recipes.

One of the big changes I made was substituting reduced fat crescent rolls for the biscuit topping. Thought the biscuit would have been thick and fluffy, the crescents did not disappoint! They were flaky and delicious.

On the nutrition side of things, I was able to almost cut the calories in half. The most amazing alteration was the fat content! Almost 30g less than the original! The sodium content was not changed too much, since I still used some canned ingredients. Overall, this dish was very filling, flavorful and a much healthier choice.

Taste: Seconds, Please!

Waist: Tighten Your Belt a Notch!

Crescent Chicken Pot Pie

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
3 hard boiled egg whites, chopped
1 cup very thinly sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1 (10 ¾ oz) 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 cup low fat chicken broth
¼ tsp black pepper
6 refrigerated, reduced fat crescent rolls
Canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with canola spray. Spread the chicken, peas, carrots, and egg whites evenly in the dish. Mix together the soups and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with pepper. Lay the crescent roll dough over the top of the mixture, letting each overlap slightly. Bake until the crescents are golden brown and the mixture is bubbling, approximately 35 minutes.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get into my belly!!!

When I was a little kid my favorite McDonald’s Happy Meal was the chicken nuggets. As a bigger kid, I (on occasion) love to stop by Chick-Fil-A for the adult version of a happy meal. Chick-Fil-A’s 8-pack only weighs in at 270 calories and 12g of fat but McDonald’s 6 pack chicken nuggets are 280 calories and 17g of fat. No matter where you get your nuggets you are getting a lot of fat for eating chicken.

For this recipe, I will take Paula’s classic Chicken Nuggets with a Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and try to cut back on the calories and fat. Hopefully this recipe won’t turn out quite as bad as my meatloaf.

On this shopping trip I had a great time browsing the potato chip aisle. It is not an aisle that I usually frequent, so there were many new products for me to discover! The two I ended up purchasing were the Lightly Salted Lay's (only 90mg of Sodium per serving!!!!!) and the Fat Free Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. Both of these were equally delicious and each had their own redeeming factors.

For the dipping sauce I was able to pick up some local honey at our Farmer's Market. My husband and I have started shopping there more often to cut back on our grocery bills. I love fresh fruits and veggies but my pocketbook, not so much.

Good to know I am not on a losing streak, because these nuggets were nuggets of YUM! Not only were they pretty chicken nuggets but they had good flavor and texture. I paired them with a salad, a soon to be blogged macaroni and cheese recipe as well as a nice Heineken Light.

Something you might try if you decide to make these, is to add either spices like Mrs. Dash to the potato chip mixture or even add hot sauce like Texas Pete to the egg substitute mixture. This would give the nuggets a little extra ZING!

Nutrition Breakdown:

Lower Fat Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients:
½ cup crushed Lays Low Sodium potato chips
1 cup crushed Pringles Light Sour Cream and Onion Chips
¼ cup egg substitute
2 tbsp skim milk
6 chicken breast filets
Olive oil spray
Honey Mustard, see recipe below

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cover each chicken breast loosely with plastic wrap. Pound chicken to uniform thickness, approximately 1 inch. Cut into 1 inch cubes.

Put the crushed potato chips in a shallow dish. Beat the egg substitute and milk in a bowl. Dip the chicken cubes into the egg/milk mixture then dredge them in the potato chips.

Spray a large baking sheet with olive oil spray. Place the coated chicken nuggets on a baking sheet and spray with olive oil spray. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the nuggets reach 165 degrees.

Serving Size: approximately ¾ chicken breast or 5-6 nuggets

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:

½ cup light mayonnaise
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Combine all ingredients except orange juice and stir well. If dip is too thick, use orange juice to thin.

Serving Size: 2 tbsp sauce