Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been a little while since last week's post. I got sick at the end of last week and finally seemed to have kicked it!! The recipe for this week is SO EASY and yummy! I got this one (yes again) from Sparkpeople.com. The recipe is Pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches - anyone who likes pulled pork sandwiches will LOVE this take on the recipe.
INGREDIENTS
* 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
* A dash of salt and pepper
* 14 Tbsp (about a half bottle) KC Masterpiece Low Calorie Classic Blend BBQ Sauce - I used this KC local brand called FireBug that I got from Nick's uncle's meat shop (A Cut Above Natural Meats) - it's DELISH!
* 6 whole wheat hamburger buns - again with the whole wheat! We had left over regular, white hamburger buns and those worked out just fine
DIRECTIONS
Place chicken breasts, along with salt and pepper to taste, in a large pot of water and boil until fully cooked through. (Time will vary depending on whether you are using fresh or frozen chicken)
Once the chicken is cooked, use a fork to pull the meat apart so it is thickly shredded. (Shredding too finely will cause the sandwich to become mushy once sauce is added) - I put the chicken in a bowl to do the shredding
Add a half bottle (approx. 7 servings worth, or about 14 tbsp.) of BBQ sauce - you can add as much or as little sauce as you want, we only needed maybe 1/4 of a bottle, if that
Toss until chicken is coated
Distribute chicken evenly onto buns
This recipe was FAB! It was so super easy! You could bake some french fries, make baked potatoes, veggies, anything to go along the side. You just let the chicken boil until it's cooked so it's pretty low maintenance. You can also add anything you like to the sandwiches. We love pickles on BBQ so we added some dill pickle chips - but you could add onions, low-fat cheese slices, etc. Any kind of BBQ sauce you like would work, just check the nutrition facts for the calorie/fat content. The Firebug that we used is a locally made sauce and it's a little sweeter than some other sauces. This also kept well as left overs for lunch the next day!
Nutritional info:
Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 285.6
Total Fat: 4.0 g
Cholesterol: 91.7 mg
Sodium: 996.5 mg
Total Carbs: 23.3 g
Dietary Fiber: 5.0 g
Protein: 41.5 g
I've had so many people asking about the low fat chicken enchilada recipe so I PROMISE I'll put that one up next!!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Recipes # 2&3 - Buffalo Chicken Tenders and Cheese Sticks
Hello again! This weekend I had 'the wives' (most of my husband's friends have great taste in women and so all the fiances/wives happen to get along really well so we hang out for girls night and have dubbed ourselves 'the wives') over on Saturday night for a little girl time. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out some low fat appetizer recipes!!
The first is from Chef Rocco Disprito's new cookbook 'Now Eat This'. He's taken 150 of America's 'comfort foods' and has re-created them so they are all under 350 calories! These are sort of like the first recipe I posted, only these were Buffalo Chicken Tenders (not bites) and I have to say, I think I liked these better!
Ingredients:
1 C whole-wheat flour - ok, I didn't have this so I used regular white flour*
2 1/2 C whole-wheat panko breadcrums - I couldn't find whole-wheat so again, I just used regular*
4 Large egg whites
12 Oz chicken tenders - You can find these in the meat section at the store, perfect size!
Salt and Pepper - I HATE black pepper so I didn't use this
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1/2 C Buffalo Sauce
1/2 Reduced Fat blue cheese or Ranch salad dressing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450*. Place a wire rack on a foil-lined baking sheet
Put flour in a shallow dish and panko breadcrumbs in another shallow dish
In medium bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy
Working in batches, dip chicken into the flour and shake off excess
Add chicken to the egg whites and toss to coat completely
Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, to panko and coat completely
Spread coated chicken on a wire rack, season with salt and pepper, and spray chicken with cooking spray (this is AWESOME! I helps make it extra crispy)
Bake tenders until breading is golden and crispy and chicken is cooked thru (about 14 mins)
Remove from oven and using a pastry brush, coat with buffalo sauce
Serve with dressing of choice
Ok, we LOVED these!! The panko breadcrumbs really helped make them light and crispy. That trick of spraying them with nonstick spray was AMAZING! These would also be great for moms with kiddos that like chicken fingers, but want them to be a little healthier. They really didn't take a long time, just a bit of a messy process much like the buffalo bites from Recipe #1.
At first I was a little skeptical because they weren't soaked in the buffalo sauce so I wasn't sure how they would taste. The pastry brush I used gave them a good coating down each side (I flipped them to get them coated all over) but it didn't completely coat them. I'm not sure if it would work, but possibly tossing them in the buffalo sauce might cover them better. I don't know if that would knock the breadcrumbs off, but would be worth a shot if you really like the buffalo flavor. I love it, but these were also kind of nice because they were a little lighter/milder with less sauce. All in all, I would DEFINITELY recommend this recipe!!
Nutrional info (Servings 4):
Calories: 308
Fat: 7.5 g
Protein: 31 g
Carbs: 29 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sodium: 798 g
* I didn't use the 'whole-wheat' flour/breadcrumbs so that may have affected the carbs or calories, but not by much
Recipe #2 came again from Sparkpeople.com - seriously, love this website! These are a low-fat take on fried cheesesticks (which I LOVE).
Ingredients:
4 light string cheese sticks - I used a whole bag since there were 4 of us
1 T flour - you'll need more than this*
1 c panko (Japanese bread crumbs) - more than this too*
1/2 c egg substitute (or 2 egg whites)
1 1/2 T Italian herb blend
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour the flour onto a small plate.
Cut the cheese sticks in half. Roll each cheese stick in the flour.
Place breadcrumbs and Italian herb blend in a small container with a lid or zipper-top bag; set aside.
Pour egg substitute into a shallow dish. Using one hand, roll the floured cheese sticks in the egg mixture.
One at a time, using your other (dry) hand, transfer the cheese sticks to the bread crumb mixture and shake to coat.
Using the dry hand, remove from the crumb mixture and place on the baking pan. Continue until all cheese sticks are breaded.
Spritz each cheese stick with cooking spray.
Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
This recipe tasted much better than I expected! I was a littler nervous when we were making these because we could get some of the sticks fully coated. But they actually turned out really good! I was surprised by how well the cheese melted also. Be careful about leaving them in too long because the cheese will start to melt OUT of the breadcrumbs and spread all over the pan!
I would recommend putting the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl rather than a bag. We noticed by the end of the batch, the bag got wet so it was preventing the breadcrumbs from really sticking to the cheesesticks. I served them with just some Prego marinara/pasta sauce and it was a great treat. Again, the non stick spray helped crisp them up really well!!
* For the flour/breadcrumbs, I start with the recommended amount and just add more as needed
Nutrional info (2 stick serving):
Calories: 151.8
Total Fat: 2.8 g
Cholesterol: 10.6 mg
Sodium: 365.0 mg
Total Carbs: 13.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g
Protein: 15.7 g
I also made shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches this weekend, I'll post that recipe later! I attempted sweet potato fries and burned them, so I'll try again some other time and keep you posted!
The first is from Chef Rocco Disprito's new cookbook 'Now Eat This'. He's taken 150 of America's 'comfort foods' and has re-created them so they are all under 350 calories! These are sort of like the first recipe I posted, only these were Buffalo Chicken Tenders (not bites) and I have to say, I think I liked these better!
Ingredients:
1 C whole-wheat flour - ok, I didn't have this so I used regular white flour*
2 1/2 C whole-wheat panko breadcrums - I couldn't find whole-wheat so again, I just used regular*
4 Large egg whites
12 Oz chicken tenders - You can find these in the meat section at the store, perfect size!
Salt and Pepper - I HATE black pepper so I didn't use this
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1/2 C Buffalo Sauce
1/2 Reduced Fat blue cheese or Ranch salad dressing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450*. Place a wire rack on a foil-lined baking sheet
Put flour in a shallow dish and panko breadcrumbs in another shallow dish
In medium bowl, whip the egg whites until foamy
Working in batches, dip chicken into the flour and shake off excess
Add chicken to the egg whites and toss to coat completely
Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, to panko and coat completely
Spread coated chicken on a wire rack, season with salt and pepper, and spray chicken with cooking spray (this is AWESOME! I helps make it extra crispy)
Bake tenders until breading is golden and crispy and chicken is cooked thru (about 14 mins)
Remove from oven and using a pastry brush, coat with buffalo sauce
Serve with dressing of choice
Ok, we LOVED these!! The panko breadcrumbs really helped make them light and crispy. That trick of spraying them with nonstick spray was AMAZING! These would also be great for moms with kiddos that like chicken fingers, but want them to be a little healthier. They really didn't take a long time, just a bit of a messy process much like the buffalo bites from Recipe #1.
At first I was a little skeptical because they weren't soaked in the buffalo sauce so I wasn't sure how they would taste. The pastry brush I used gave them a good coating down each side (I flipped them to get them coated all over) but it didn't completely coat them. I'm not sure if it would work, but possibly tossing them in the buffalo sauce might cover them better. I don't know if that would knock the breadcrumbs off, but would be worth a shot if you really like the buffalo flavor. I love it, but these were also kind of nice because they were a little lighter/milder with less sauce. All in all, I would DEFINITELY recommend this recipe!!
Nutrional info (Servings 4):
Calories: 308
Fat: 7.5 g
Protein: 31 g
Carbs: 29 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sodium: 798 g
* I didn't use the 'whole-wheat' flour/breadcrumbs so that may have affected the carbs or calories, but not by much
Recipe #2 came again from Sparkpeople.com - seriously, love this website! These are a low-fat take on fried cheesesticks (which I LOVE).
Ingredients:
4 light string cheese sticks - I used a whole bag since there were 4 of us
1 T flour - you'll need more than this*
1 c panko (Japanese bread crumbs) - more than this too*
1/2 c egg substitute (or 2 egg whites)
1 1/2 T Italian herb blend
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour the flour onto a small plate.
Cut the cheese sticks in half. Roll each cheese stick in the flour.
Place breadcrumbs and Italian herb blend in a small container with a lid or zipper-top bag; set aside.
Pour egg substitute into a shallow dish. Using one hand, roll the floured cheese sticks in the egg mixture.
One at a time, using your other (dry) hand, transfer the cheese sticks to the bread crumb mixture and shake to coat.
Using the dry hand, remove from the crumb mixture and place on the baking pan. Continue until all cheese sticks are breaded.
Spritz each cheese stick with cooking spray.
Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and melted.
This recipe tasted much better than I expected! I was a littler nervous when we were making these because we could get some of the sticks fully coated. But they actually turned out really good! I was surprised by how well the cheese melted also. Be careful about leaving them in too long because the cheese will start to melt OUT of the breadcrumbs and spread all over the pan!
I would recommend putting the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl rather than a bag. We noticed by the end of the batch, the bag got wet so it was preventing the breadcrumbs from really sticking to the cheesesticks. I served them with just some Prego marinara/pasta sauce and it was a great treat. Again, the non stick spray helped crisp them up really well!!
* For the flour/breadcrumbs, I start with the recommended amount and just add more as needed
Nutrional info (2 stick serving):
Calories: 151.8
Total Fat: 2.8 g
Cholesterol: 10.6 mg
Sodium: 365.0 mg
Total Carbs: 13.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g
Protein: 15.7 g
I also made shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches this weekend, I'll post that recipe later! I attempted sweet potato fries and burned them, so I'll try again some other time and keep you posted!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Recipe #1 Buffalo Chicken Bites
This recipe came from the website Sparkpeople.com. I use it as an online food diary/workout journal, but I also get daily emails with healthy recipes and new workout moves to try.
INGREDIENTS
1/3 c plain bread crumbs - you'll end up using more than this!
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-size chunks
2 T Tabasco sauce - I used buffalo sauce instead (any kind from the store that has no fat)
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread crumbs in a pie pan. Add seasonings and mix well. Place chicken pieces in a separate dish, and cover and toss with hot sauce. Spray a sheet pan with nonstick spray. Give each chicken piece a shake (so it's not dripping with hot sauce), and then coat it evenly with the crumbs.Use one hand for the wet ingredients and one for the wet ingredients so that the bread crumbs will not clump. Place the nuggets on the sheet pan. Bake 10 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes or until fully cooked. Serve with additional hot sauce, if desired, or bleu cheese dressing. (Nutrition info not included!)
Ok, the 'skinny' on these little puppies - they were DELICIOUS!! Nick and I loved them!! We made them for a basketball game one night and they were the perfect meal! We baked some french fries (I know, not the greatest thing ever) to have with them and it was perfect!! We love to make 'game snacks' as I call them for any game we're watching on TV. Usually any appetizer but they can be really bad for you!
The whole process does take a little while. You've got to let the chicken thaw, then cut it into pieces. I cut them into pieces and put them in a bag or bowl with the buffalo sauce while I worked on everything else to let the sauce soak in a bit. If you have time to cut and soak them long before you are going to bake them, I would encourage that as it'll only increase the flavor!!
Also, it does make a bit of a mess. I have a set of rectangular trays I got from The Pampered Chef just for this kind of thing and it works perfectly! Be prepared to get your hands a little dirty!! Once you get them coated however, the rest goes pretty quickly. Since the chicken is cut up so small, it bakes pretty quickly. Definitely let it bake so they get nice and crispy. They can taste a little dry if the breadcrumbs don't crisp up. I would also recommend getting a good, name brand kind of breadcrumbs. I'm all about saving $$ but sometimes you just gotta spend a little more to get a better quality.
This would also make a great appetizer for a game or party. They taste good hot, but they also taste good cold! We were big fans of this recipe and the best part is below:
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 210.6
Total Fat: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 65.7 mg
Sodium: 295.0 mg
Total Carbs: 16.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.6 g
Protein: 29.3 g
I'm not going to claim they are as good as a fatty, crunchy boneless buffalo nugget, but for 2.7g of fat and only 210 calories, it's definitely a good substitute!! Hope you all enjoy! I'm going to try low fat cheese sticks, another version of these but more buffalo chicken WINGS this weekend so I'll let you all know how that goes next week!!
INGREDIENTS
1/3 c plain bread crumbs - you'll end up using more than this!
8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-size chunks
2 T Tabasco sauce - I used buffalo sauce instead (any kind from the store that has no fat)
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t black pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bread crumbs in a pie pan. Add seasonings and mix well. Place chicken pieces in a separate dish, and cover and toss with hot sauce. Spray a sheet pan with nonstick spray. Give each chicken piece a shake (so it's not dripping with hot sauce), and then coat it evenly with the crumbs.Use one hand for the wet ingredients and one for the wet ingredients so that the bread crumbs will not clump. Place the nuggets on the sheet pan. Bake 10 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes or until fully cooked. Serve with additional hot sauce, if desired, or bleu cheese dressing. (Nutrition info not included!)
Ok, the 'skinny' on these little puppies - they were DELICIOUS!! Nick and I loved them!! We made them for a basketball game one night and they were the perfect meal! We baked some french fries (I know, not the greatest thing ever) to have with them and it was perfect!! We love to make 'game snacks' as I call them for any game we're watching on TV. Usually any appetizer but they can be really bad for you!
The whole process does take a little while. You've got to let the chicken thaw, then cut it into pieces. I cut them into pieces and put them in a bag or bowl with the buffalo sauce while I worked on everything else to let the sauce soak in a bit. If you have time to cut and soak them long before you are going to bake them, I would encourage that as it'll only increase the flavor!!
Also, it does make a bit of a mess. I have a set of rectangular trays I got from The Pampered Chef just for this kind of thing and it works perfectly! Be prepared to get your hands a little dirty!! Once you get them coated however, the rest goes pretty quickly. Since the chicken is cut up so small, it bakes pretty quickly. Definitely let it bake so they get nice and crispy. They can taste a little dry if the breadcrumbs don't crisp up. I would also recommend getting a good, name brand kind of breadcrumbs. I'm all about saving $$ but sometimes you just gotta spend a little more to get a better quality.
This would also make a great appetizer for a game or party. They taste good hot, but they also taste good cold! We were big fans of this recipe and the best part is below:
Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 210.6
Total Fat: 2.7 g
Cholesterol: 65.7 mg
Sodium: 295.0 mg
Total Carbs: 16.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.6 g
Protein: 29.3 g
I'm not going to claim they are as good as a fatty, crunchy boneless buffalo nugget, but for 2.7g of fat and only 210 calories, it's definitely a good substitute!! Hope you all enjoy! I'm going to try low fat cheese sticks, another version of these but more buffalo chicken WINGS this weekend so I'll let you all know how that goes next week!!
Welcome!!
Welcome to my blog!! I've done a couple before, but that was more of an online diary for me rather than a show and tell sort of process. So, I've decided to start an open to the public blog! For those who don't know me, my name is Aubree Barbosa. I live in the Kansas City area and got married in October to a wonderful man named Nick and we have an (almost) 6 year old black chihuahua named Oscar. When we got married and got all this fabulous new cooking stuff, I couldn't wait to get started making dinner at home! I quickly learned I had about 3 rotating recipes I knew how to make - tacos, spaghetti, and chicken with some sort of side out of a box or a can - and I wasn't always making the healthiest of meals. So I started going through the cookbooks we had at home and found a few that were mostly healthy foods. This quickly grew into quite an obsession for me! I also signed up on a couple of different websites that send me emails daily with healthy recipes. Anytime I can find a recipe or ingredient that will make something that tastes yummy, but is also not terrible for me, I'm in Heaven!! I've had weight struggles most of my life, but now it's not just about weight, but about taking care of my body.
Now, I don't claim to be some health guru, this is more of just a hobby. I have a hard time 'dieting' but if I can find a way to eat healthy but feel like I'm cheating, I'm all over it!
A few overall changes I've made to my diet in general are switching ground turkey for ground beef (in tacos, spaghetti, anything with seasoning, you can't tell a difference) it's more lean and usually less expensive, and I try and use low-fat or no fat ingredients whenever possible - ie - reduced fat cheese on sandwiches, fat free American cheese singles for grilled cheese, low or no fat sour cream in recipes where the other ingredients will make up for any taste difference, fat free tortillas for tacos, etc. I know that the low or no fat foods usually don't taste the same, but I try to use them as much as possible, without sacrificing the flavor of the food.
I've shared my new little hobby with some friends and everyone has started asking me for recipes. So I decide that by starting this blog, I'll be able to provide anyone and everyone with the recipes I've been using, as well as my own, honest, true to life commentary. I will only put up recipes I have actually made at home so I can provide some insight on how long it REALLY takes, how well it REALLY tastes and any changes I may have made to the recipe. My goal for each recipe is to provide the ingredients, directions and nutrional info, along with where the recipe came from, while also providing real life opinions on it. Sure, it can look DELICIOUS in a cook book, but taste TERRIBLE in real life. Or their 'prep time' might be 5 minutes, but that may be AFTER have all the ingredients ready to go. I'll be putting up recipes for everything from appetizers to deserts to breakfast to full entrees. Anything and everything I can find. I also would love any other suggestions and comments for those who try them at home as well!! I will try to post at least once a week with new recipes!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Now, I don't claim to be some health guru, this is more of just a hobby. I have a hard time 'dieting' but if I can find a way to eat healthy but feel like I'm cheating, I'm all over it!
A few overall changes I've made to my diet in general are switching ground turkey for ground beef (in tacos, spaghetti, anything with seasoning, you can't tell a difference) it's more lean and usually less expensive, and I try and use low-fat or no fat ingredients whenever possible - ie - reduced fat cheese on sandwiches, fat free American cheese singles for grilled cheese, low or no fat sour cream in recipes where the other ingredients will make up for any taste difference, fat free tortillas for tacos, etc. I know that the low or no fat foods usually don't taste the same, but I try to use them as much as possible, without sacrificing the flavor of the food.
I've shared my new little hobby with some friends and everyone has started asking me for recipes. So I decide that by starting this blog, I'll be able to provide anyone and everyone with the recipes I've been using, as well as my own, honest, true to life commentary. I will only put up recipes I have actually made at home so I can provide some insight on how long it REALLY takes, how well it REALLY tastes and any changes I may have made to the recipe. My goal for each recipe is to provide the ingredients, directions and nutrional info, along with where the recipe came from, while also providing real life opinions on it. Sure, it can look DELICIOUS in a cook book, but taste TERRIBLE in real life. Or their 'prep time' might be 5 minutes, but that may be AFTER have all the ingredients ready to go. I'll be putting up recipes for everything from appetizers to deserts to breakfast to full entrees. Anything and everything I can find. I also would love any other suggestions and comments for those who try them at home as well!! I will try to post at least once a week with new recipes!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
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