"Fried" Panko Chicken Tenders

If you're like me you've seen lots of recipes that call for panko breadcrumbs and figured "What's the difference?" I would just use my regular breadcrumbs and never know the difference -- now I know the difference! The instructions in the original recipe said not to skip any steps in order to get a good crunchy coating so I figured I'd better give it a try.

The result was a delicious, crunchy coating with a moist chicken tender just right for dipping in the spicy Cajun-Creole sauce.

This recipe comes from the book Cooking Light - Fresh Food Fast.

"Fried" Panko Chicken Tenders

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tender (about 12 tenders)

Cooking spray

Cajun-Creole Dipping Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine panko, pepper, and salt in a shallow dish. Pour buttermilk into another shallow dish.
3. Dip chicken in buttermilk; dredge in panko mixture, pressing firmly to coat. Shake off excess panko mixture. Place chicken on a wire rack; let stand 10 minutes. While chicken stands, place a jelly-roll pan in oven to heat.
4. Coat chicken well with cooking spray. Remove hot pan from oven; coat with cooking spray. Arrange chicken in a single layer on pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 23 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned. Serve with Cajun-Creole dipping Sauce. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 3 chicken tenders and 2 tablespoons dipping sauce).

Nutrition info: calories 310; fat 3g; protein 44g; carbohydrates 23.8g; fiber 0.8g; chol 99mg; iron 1.3mg; sodium 666mg; calcium 76mg

Cajun-Creole Dipping Sauce

6 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt-free Cajun-Creole seasoning

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/16 teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until blended. Yield: 1/2 cup (serving size:; 2 tablespoons)

Nutrition Info: calories 23; fat 0g; protein 0g; carb 6.1g; fiber 0g; chol 0mg; iron 0mg; sodium 374mg; calcium 1mg

My Notes:

1. I didn't have any buttermilk on hand, so I made my own. Just take 1 cup of nonfat milk and add a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice, then let sit for 5 minutes.
2. I also didn't have any chicken "tenders", so I just sliced some chicken breasts into strips.
3. Since this was meal was for my daughter's birthday, we had corn-on-the-cob and green salad as side dishes -- her favs!

Positive thought for the day: "Don’t cry because it is over. Smile because it happened." –Dr. Seuss

Superfast Chicken Posale

The first time I ever ate Posale was at a church function a few years ago. The ladies from the Hispanic branch made this soup for their function and, after eating my first bowl, I fell in love! It's basically chicken soup with a kick.

I've never tried making the traditional recipe, but after reading this recipe at CookingLight.com I new I needed to give it a try. This recipe was listed in their "Quick & Easy - 20 minute recipes." The rotisserie chicken makes it super easy and "superfast."

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (8-ounce) package prechopped onion and celery mix
• 4 canned tomatillos, drained and coarsely chopped
• 2 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can white hominy, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups chopped skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 ripe peeled avocado, diced
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves (optional)

Preparation

• 1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oregano and next 4 ingredients (through onion and celery mix); sauté 2 minutes.
• 2. Stir in tomatillos; cook 1 minute. Add broth and hominy; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and cook 8 minutes.
• 3. Stir in chicken; cook 1 minute or until heated. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, salt, and pepper. Divide evenly among 4 bowls. Top with avocado and radish. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
• 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups soup, 2 tablespoons avocado, and 1 radish)
• 
  
• Nutrition: Calories 290; Fat 11.2g; Protein 28.2g; Carbohydrates 20.2g; Fiber 4.5g; Iron 2.4mg; Sodium 452mg; Calcium 62mg

My Notes:

1. I chopped my own onion and celery and didn't purchase the pre-chopped stuff.

2. I used parsley instead of cilantro since Dayle's not a fan of cilantro. It was nice to have a bit of green color though.

3. It might be hard to find the tomatillos. I found them in the Mexican food aisle at Von's.

4. I think I might add more hominy next time - yum!

5. I added tortilla strips for some added crunch and flavor. I just thinly sliced some corn tortillas, sprayed them with cooking spray, and then baked them at 400 degrees until crisp. Sprinkle with salt afterwards.

Positive thought for the day:

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind." - William James

Easy Boston-Style Baked Beans

This is a recipe that we have made quite often. It's easy to prepare and really yummy -- especially on a cold, rainy day. I found the original recipe on a Splenda recipe card. I've adapted it a bit to make it simpler to prepare. I love recipes that you can pop in the oven and let cook while you get to go do something else instead of standing in front of the stove!

Easy Boston-Style Baked Beans

3 (15 oz) cans navy beans, or white beans

1 (15oz) can light kidney beans

3/4 cup real bacon bits (or cooked bacon)

1 medium onion

1/4 cup yellow mustard

1/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated

2 tablespoons robust molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drain beans and reserve 1 1/4 cups liquid.
3. Place all of the ingredients into a 3-quart baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Serve with corn bread and honey butter.

Nutrition info: Calories 140, protein 9g, fat 3g, carbohydrates 21g, fiber 5g, cholesterol 5mg, sodium 520mg, sugar 3g

Positive thought for the day: Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours. Swedish Proverb

Chile Lime Chicken Tacos with Avocado Cream

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I have such a great recipe today that I had to make sure I got on and posted this one. Danielle and I have been trying to prepare some new recipes to see if we can add some different healthy items to our regular dinner choices. Quite frankly, we have had made some real duds lately! Last night I made one with chicken, wild rice, and a mustard/orange marmalade sauce - which you'd think sounds pretty good, but I was embarrassed to serve it! My family ate it though and said it wasn't so bad -- keep 'em hungry enough and they'll eat anything!! :)

The recipe I made tonight redeems me from my previous flop. I found this one in my Cooking Light magazine and I was pretty sure that it'd be delicious. The recipe calls for Ancho Chile Powder, but after looking in three different stores I just decided to use a combination of regular chile powder and a spicy mexican pepper blend. I love the combination of chile and lime, and with the addition of the avocado cream - which has lime in it as well - it's a real keeper!

The Cooking Light magazine calls this "Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream":

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips

3/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Cooking spray

1/8 teaspoon grated lime rind

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

1/4 cup light sour cream

2 tablespoons 1% low fat milk

1/2 ripe peeled avocado, diced

2 cups packaged angel hair slaw

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 (6 inch) tortillas

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with chile powder, garlic salt, and cumin. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes; stirring frequently. Remove chicken from pan.

2. Combine rind, 1 tablespoon juice, and next 3 ingredients (through avocado) in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.

3. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon juice, slaw, onions, cilantro, oil, and salt, tossing to coat.

4. Heat tortillas according to directions.(I just heated them over the burner on the stove.) Divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas. Top each tortilla with about 1 tablespoon avocado mixture and 1/4 cup slaw mixture. (this is the yummy stuff!)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos)

Calories 319; Fat 11.6g; Protein 30g; Carb 25.3g; Fiber 5.1g; Chol 72mg; Iron 1.3mg; Sodium 385mg; Calc 80mg

Happy thought for the day: " If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." ~Dalai Lama

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