Honey Mustard Chicken – Quick, Easy and Flavorful!!!

Tags

Baked, basil, dipping sauce, Easy, Honey Mustard Chicken, low-fat, Quick

We all have our go to foods, but sometimes you just crave something different. I’ve eaten honey mustard sauces out, but I’ve never made my own. Heck, I seem to remember that McDonalds has a honey mustard sauce for their chicken nuggets. I almost never eat fast food, so honestly don’t know if they still have that sauce or not, but they did when I worked there in high school! Anyway, the other night I had some chicken breast tenders thawed out and thought I would make some honey mustard chicken. These couldn’t have been any easier and my family loved them! They had a great, tangy flavor!

Tip: Before you start brushing the raw chicken with the sauce, set some aside for dipping with your meal. I made the mistake of diving in with the basting brush and once the sauce was tainted with raw chicken it was unusable unless I cooked it. It’s easy to make more sauce, as it is just equal parts of mustard and honey.

Honey Mustard Chicken

1 pound chicken

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard

1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together your mustard and honey. Set some aside for dipping later and don’t put your basting brush in it, so it’s not contaminated with raw chicken. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper. Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and lay on baking sheet. Baste both side of chicken with honey mustard sauce and then sprinkle with fresh basil. Bake chicken 30-45 minutes until cooked through. Cooking time will vary based on the size of your pieces. My chicken tenders cooked pretty quickly, but full size breasts or thighs  will take longer. Serve extra sauce with cooked chicken for dipping!

Enjoy!

Baked Rotini in Tomato Sauce with Artichoke Hearts – An Easy, Hearty Pasta Dinner

Tags

Artichoke Hearts, Baked, casserole, Olives, pasta, Rotini, tomato sauce

I have to admit that pasta dishes are some of my favorites. They are so delicious and statisfyng, but if you work it right they can be pretty easy to make. This is one such dish! There is not too much chopping or prep work to do, but the reward is a dish with great flavor and a variety of textures. It’s so pretty too! Definitely good enough to to serve guests and it would be easy to double and make a large batch.

Tip: I love artichoke hearts!!! They are a great ingredient to add flavor without adding a lot of fat and calories. The type of artichoke hearts you use matters though! The jarred version are usually packed in oil, so these are not the best low-fat choice. The canned version are usually packed in water, so they are low-fat, but I have found the texture of these to be rather tough and woody. In my humble opinion, frozen artichoke hearts are the way to go!!! They still have that wonderful soft, rich texture that you get from fresh cooked artichokes, but they are not packed in oil, so you get the flavor and texture without the added fat or work of cooking and breaking down fresh artichokes.

Baked Rotini in Tomato Sauce with Artichoke Hearts

1 pound Italian seasoned ground turkey

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 box of frozen artichoke hearts, rinsed, thawed and chopped

1 can sliced black olives

1/3 cup red wine

1 –  32 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

16 oz rotini pasta, boiled for 8 minutes

1 cup motzarella cheese, shredded

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put your pasta on to boil and while this is cooking put your ground turkey in a skillet to brown. When meat is almost cooked through, add your onions and bell peppers and continue to cook until meat is cooked and vegetables have softened. In a large pot or bowl, combine pasta, meat with veggies and all othe ingredients except Parmesan cheese. Stir well to mix. Spray a baking pan with non stick pray and transfer pasta/meat mixture to that pan. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Voila! You have a beautful and delicious dinner on your hands!

Enjoy!

Date Bars – Our Family’s Favorite Holiday Baked Treat

Tags

Baked, baking, Cooking, date bars, dates, Food, holiday baking, nuts, recipe

  
We all have those time tested, family recipes that everyone loves. These date bars are one our family’s favorite sweet treats! They are crunchy on the outside and sweet gooeyness on the inside! They’re sweet with out being too sweet and they have a great texture to them with the added crunch of nuts.

I’m not sure where she got it, but I got this recipe from my mother-in-law. She is famous for her date bars! All the family members request them and grumble when she hasn’t made any in a while. My husband wanted to hand some out to his customers and co-workers, so we decided to take things into our own hands and make them ourselves.

With the help of my trusty KitchenAid mixer, these were a breeze to make. I will say that it is important to use the right pan. The first batch, I used my largest Pyrex lasagna pan and it wasn’t big enough. While the bars still tasted good, they were too thick and came out very gooey and didn’t have the nice crunch on the outside. The next batch I baked in my larger, but more shallow Pampered Chef Large stoneware bar pan and these turned out perfect! My mother-in-law says she  usually cooks hers successfully in a metal pan.

Date Bars

3 eggs

1 – 16 oz package of light brown sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups chopped nuts (I prefer pecans over walnuts)

1 cup chopped dates (You can find these in the grocery store near the raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs slightly. Add brown sugar & vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Combine flour, salt and baking soda and then add to egg/sugar mixture and mix well. Add nuts & dates and mix well. Spread in a heavily greased oblong pan approximately 11″ x 15″. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!!

Baked Beer Battered Fish Tacos – Delicious and Healthy!

Tags

Baked, Beer Batter, Beer Battered, Cooking, Fish, Fish Tacos, Food, healthy, low-fat, Oven Baked, Oven Fried

   

Our famly LOVES fish tacos!!! We try them wherever we can and we have a favorite restaurant version, but that’s another blog post.

I had some cod in the freezer, so I decided to make some oven baked fish tacos. Cod is one of my favorite fish to use when making fish tacos. When out, I also enjoy mahi mahi. I do prefer the taste of fried fish over grilled in tacos, but we all know that’s not the healthy choice. I have made oven baked fried chicken and oven baked fries, so I thought I would give oven fried fish a try. And there is no better fried fish than beer battered fried fish!

My healthier version turned out prestty darn good, so i just know all you foodies wanna know how I did it and I love to share. Here you go…

Baked Beer Battered Fish Tacos

4 – 6 cod fillets

2 cups flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 cups bread crumbs

1 cup beer

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, corn starch, salt, cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, and pepper. Remove and set aside 1 cup of the flour mixture. Stir beer into original container of flour mixture untill well blended. Pour bread crumbs in a separat bowl. Dredge cod in 1 cup of flour mixture that you set aside, then dip in beer/flour mixture, and then dredge in bread crumbs. Place fish on baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Before baking spray the top of all fish with some more cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Serve your fish with tortillas of your choice. I like low-fat flour tortillas, but my family likes the corn tortillas fried in vegetable oil. Top with what ever you fancy; salsa, sour cream (I use fat free), onions, peppers, diced radish, guacamole (a must!!!), cheese (again, I use fat free), and whatever else sounds tasty. 

We usually serve our tacos with some fat free refried beans and rice made with salsa.

Ole! A healthy version of fried fish tacos!!!