Lemon Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

Danielle found this recipe on the back of a Tone's Lemon Pepper Seasoning jar and made it for us a few weeks ago. It was a big hit! Even my husband, who complains he doesn't like chicken, said he loved it. The chicken was moist and the lemon honey-mustard sauce was delicious. Danielle added the extra step of pounding the chicken, but we've all decided that it really added to success of the recipe.

The nutritional value is just an estimate as I was only able to guess at the portions for the sauce when I entered it into MyPyramidtracker.gov.

Lemon Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts

½ cup honey

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

1 ½ tsp lemon pepper seasoning

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp margarine (reduced fat type), melted

6 or 7 medium chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

Blend the first five ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Place chicken in a Ziploc bag and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until chicken is about ½ inch thick. Marinate the chicken in about half of the sauce for 20-30 minutes.

Grill on barbeque on medium-high heat for approximately 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Brush chicken with additional marinade while cooking chicken on the grill.

Serving size: 1 medium chicken breast

Calories 305; Fat 7.6g; Fiber 1g; Carbohydrate 6g; Sodium 846mg

Positive thought for the day: A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. ~Roald Dahl

Coconut Meringue Cookies

I just got back from visiting my daughter in Utah so I haven't blogged in awhile. Stephanie and I had a great time together just "hanging out". We went out to eat a lot, but we still tried to eat healthy. I had a yummy vegetarian sandwich at Jimmie John's, fish tacos at Rumbi's, and a big turkey sandwich on focaccia bread at Kneader's - though we did succumb to the pastries at Kneader's and took home a creme-filled Neapolitan! Yum!

While I was there, Stephanie made some delicious, low-fat/low-cal cookies for me. The basic ingredients are just egg whites, coconut, and sugar. She found the recipe online at a weight-loss forum when she was looking for low-point snacks for her Weight Watcher's diet. Steph made them with chocolate chips, but if you didn't add the chocolate chips they would be even lower in calorie. You could also use Splenda instead of the sugar to reduce calories even further. These cookies are so delicious - you might want to make a double-batch!

Coconut Meringues


Servings: 24
Weight Watcher Points per serving: 0.5


2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chocolate chips


1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
2. In small bowl with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Beating at high speed, gradually sprinkle in sugar, 2 Tablespoons at a time, beating until sugar is completely dissolved. (Whites should stand in stiff glossy peaks.) With rubber spatula, fold in coconut and extract until mixed.
3. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto large cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake 1 hour or until dry. Remove to rack to cool.


Per Serving: 40 Calories; 1.1 Fat; 0.6 Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; trace dietary fiber 1mg cholesterol; 7mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Positive Thought for the Day: "Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not! " ~Author Unknown

Coconut Chicken

I found this recipe at CookingLight.com and since we love coconut, we just had to try it! It was pretty good and a nice change from plain baked chicken. I changed the recipe a little a bit since I didn't have some of the ingredients on hand, and I wanted to bake the chicken instead of pan fry. (See my notes below for my changes.)

Sorry for the poor quality photos - I wish they were a little better. Maybe with a little practice... or a new camera. (hint, hint honey)

Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 cup rice flour

1 cup whole buttermilk

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut

3 tablespoons canola oil

Sweet chile sauce (optional)

Preparation

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well. Place coconut in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess. Dip chicken in egg mixture; dredge in coconut.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes or until done, turning to brown. Serve with chile sauce, if desired.

My changes: I didn't have rice flour so I just used regular flour. I also didn't have whole buttermilk so I made my own using fat free milk and vinegar. Finally, since I didn't want to fry the chicken, I put the chicken on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam - lightly spray the chicken pieces as well. Bake it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Turn once while baking.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 298, Fat: 12.7g , Protein: 28.7g, Carbohydrate: 15.9g, Fiber: 1.7g, Cholesterol: 102mg, Iron: 1.4mg, Sodium: 318mg Calcium: 20mg

Positive thought for the day: "Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne

Pita Pocket and Home-baked Fries

This is one of those meals that I always forget I can make in a pinch. I’m usually trying to figure out what I can make for dinner using ground beef and then the light bulb in my head goes on and I say “Oh, yeah, I can make pita pockets!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation in my head. J

The whole wheat pita pockets are low in fat and a good source of fiber. I like them toasted because it brings out the nutty flavor of the wheat. I just cut the pita pocket in half and pop it in the toaster like a slice of bread.

The home-baked fries in this recipe are a family favorite at our house. Whenever I make these “fries” I always hear a big “YES!” when I pull them out of the oven. They are a very simple recipe – potatoes sprayed with Pam and sprinkled with an herb blend, then baked in the oven. They turn out crispy and a little spicy because of the herbs.

We all love fries, but the homemade version is so much healthier. Here’s a quick comparison:

Home-baked fries (56g) 52 calories; 0 fat; 1g fiber; 1g protein

Store bought frozen French fries (baked) (69g) 115 calories; 4g fat; 2g fiber; 2g protein

In-n-Out French fries (1 order) 400 calories; 18g fat; 2g fiber; 7g protein

McDonald’s French fries (small order) 209 calories; 10g fat; 2g fiber; 3g protein

Wendy’s French fries (kid’s size) 254 calories; 11g fat; 4g fiber; 3g protein

Pita Pockets

Thomas brand whole wheat pita pockets, toasted

90% lean ground beef, cooked and crumbled, drained

Fat free sour cream

Lettuce, chopped

Mexican cheese blend (optional – save about 4g of fat if you don’t use the cheese)

Directions:

Season the ground beef with salt and pepper. Fill toasted pita pockets with cooked ground beef (about ¼ cup). Top the filled pockets with sour cream, lettuce, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese.

Home-baked fries

6 or 7 medium sized Russet potatoes

Pam spray

Herb blend (I use a rosemary/garlic blend from Sam’s Club)

Directions:

Wash and slice the potatoes into long strips. Spray cookie sheet with Pam spray and the “fries” as well. Sprinkle with herb blend. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 400^o, or until crispy. Turn the fries over at least twice during the baking.

Pita Pocket Nutrition info (3oz ground beef, ½ pita pocket):

324 calories; 15g fat; 5g fiber; 59g protein

Home-baked fries Nutrition info (1 medium potato):

161 calories; 0g fat; 4g fiber; 4g protein

While researching the nutrition info for this recipe, I ran across this website that talks about different ways to reduce the fat when cooking ground beef:

http://www.beefnutrition.org/CMDocs/BeefNutrition/ReducingFatinCookedGroundBeef.pdf

Positive thought for the day:

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” ~ Dr. Seuss (http://www.suite101.com/content/uplifting-words-quotes-and-sayings-a116309)

Breakfast Parfait

Sometimes you just get tired of the same 'ol thing for breakfast - cold cereal, oatmeal, cold cereal, oatmeal... Danielle wanted something other than cereal again for breakfast and so she made this yummy yogurt/fruit parfait this morning. It's very high in fiber and antioxidants because of the fruit, and the yogurt itself has 6 grams of protein.

It's a pretty simple recipe - layer nonfat yogurt (she used one 6oz container Yoplait Black Forest Cake), 1/4 cup raspberries, 1/4 cup blackberries, 1/2 a banana, and 1/4 cup Kellogg's Lowfat Granola.

Nutritional info:

352 calories, 2.8g fat, 74.5g carbs, 12g protein, 15.5g fiber

Positive thought for the day:

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business." ~ Michael J. Fox (http://www.suite101.com/content/uplifting-words-quotes-and-sayings-a116309)

Irish Soda Bread

Okay, this recipe is mostly just for fun since it's St. Patrick's Day! Maybe it's the Irish in me, but every time I make Irish Soda Bread - which is usually once a year on St. Patrick's Day - I'm reminded how much I love Irish Soda Bread. It smells great while it's baking and makes your house smell like home. The bread has a crunchy crust and a creamy, slightly sweet flavor, on the inside. So good!

I tried to make it a little healthier by using low fat sour cream, but it's probably best just to eat one piece and then stop-- if you can!

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups light sour cream

2 eggs

2 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. In a small bowl beat eggs and stir in sour cream.

3. Add the egg/sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon.

4. Batter will be very thick and sticky.

5. Add the raisins and the caraway seeds and stir well with the wooden spoon or knead in with your hands. (I personally like the flavor of the caraway seeds in this bread, but not everybody does. I didn't add them in this time though since I wasn't willing to pay $6 for a bottle of caraway seeds.)

6. Place batter in a greased 9 inch springform pan. (You could also use a pie pan if you don't have a springform pan.)

7. Dust the top with enough flour so that you can pat the batter like a bread dough evenly in the pan without it sticking to your hands.

8. Make a shallow crisscross on the top of the dough using a sharp knife.

9. Bake for 50 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven.

Nutritional info:

Serving size 1

Servings per Recipe 16

Calories 205, Fiber 1g, Fat 4.15g, Carbohydrates 37, Protein 4.8g

Positive thought for the day:

"A good laugh is sunshine in the house." ~ William Makepeace Thackeray

Super Low-Cal Italian Chicken Dinner

Now that Dayle has this new app for his phone that lets him calculate how many calories, fat grams, carbs, etc. are in the food that he eats, it’s been fun to run the numbers with him on our meals every night. His phone will even let him snap a picture of a barcode on a packaged food item and then immediately tell him the name of the product and all of the nutritional information. It's pretty amazing!

The other night I made this Italian chicken dinner and I had no idea how low calorie it was - I just knew it had some healthy ingredients. So we were pleasantly surprised after he plugged it all into his phone!

Italian Chicken

4 or 5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen this time)

1 bottle low fat Italian dressing (the cheaper the better)

This is hardly even a recipe, but this is what I did:

Preheat the oven to 375^o. Rinse off the protective coating on the frozen chicken. Place the chicken on a foil covered cookie sheet. Pour about half of the bottled dressing over the chicken. Bake in the oven for about 55-60 minutes, or until juices run clear (If using fresh chicken breasts marinate them in the Italian dressing for 3-4 hours before cooking and reduce the overall cooking time).

I served this with frozen mixed vegetables and steamed brown rice. I tried something different with the brown rice this time and added chicken broth in place of the water in the rice bowl so it had a little more flavor.

This is the nutritional information for the WHOLE dinner:

1 serving chicken (1/2 breast)

1 serving mixed vegetables (1 cup)

½ serving brown rice (1/2 cup)

326 calories; 7.6g fat; 33.21 carbohydrates; 29.32 protein

Positive thought for the day:

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. - Confucius"