Catalina Chicken

Anyone in the mood for a super easy, super low fat and super yummy dinner idea?? I thought so. My college roommate introduced me to this years ago and then a few months ago we tried it with a few additional ingredients and it is so good. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts

Fat Free Catalina salad dressing

Cranberry sauce

Onion Soup Mix pack

Toss all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. I didn't put any measurements in because it is easily modified for the size you want to prepare. You just want the chicken breasts to be covered with sauce. When chicken breasts are tender shred them.... and serve over rice. This dish has about 2.5 grams of fat per serving!!! (If you looked at Trina's recent post that showed an appetizer from Outback Steakhouse coming in at 182 grams of fat - 2.5 grams sounds pretty good.)

food links you might find interesting

In some random internet clicking, I came across a website called "Eat This, Not That!" It definitely made for some interesting reading ... how drinks alone can sabotage your caloric count here, and if you eat out very often, this is an eye opener.

Bon appetit!

Hidden Veggie Chili and Corn bread

I have always wanted to make chili, just never got around to doing it. Finally, one day I decided to go for it. I looked over several different recipes, picked out things I thought would be good, and came up with my own. Can I just say it turned out FABULOUS! I loved it, CJ loved it, Ches has yet to try it (he was sick when I made it). Also, one of my favorite things to do when I cook is to sneak veggies in and see if CJ notices. Not that CJ is anti-vegetable or anything, but if I told him I was putting more veggies into this chili then beef, he probably would have protested. He didn't even know I put any in, though I think it just added to the great flavor. I may never go back to canned chili again!!

Sorry, I am taking off this recipe for now. I have modified it several times, and am kind of turning it into a signature dish. Maybe someday I will be ready to share the recipe again, but right now I am not.

My favorite cornbread

This is a recipe I tweaked a little to get it nice and moist. Just remember not to overcook it!

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs
6 Tbs melted butter (again, I use smart balance spread)

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and beat 1 min. Pour into greased 9x9 pan (I use a glass dish) Bake at 425 for 15-20 min. Serve immediately.

Cheater Toffee

One Monday afternoon I realized that though I had a FHE lesson plan I had no Family Home Eating planned. It would have been a major disappointment to Ches to have FHE with no FHE so I quickly scanned my fav site, allrecipes.com and found this recipe, made a few modifications and here we have it! Quick, easy, Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Graham Crackers
1/2-1 c smart balance spread
1/2 c sugar
vanilla
chopped nuts (recipe said pecans, I used walnuts, though I made some w/o any because Ches is anti-nut)

Directions:
Cover baking sheet with graham crackers and sprinkle with nuts
In saucepan melt "butter" and sugar together, til boiling, boil 3 min.
Pour in some vanilla (around a tsp)
Pour mixture over crackers and nuts, coating evenly.
Bake at 350 for 12 min, until golden. Cool completely before cutting and eating.

Baked Spaghetti

This is a recipe that I first tried on spring break '01. Me my cousin and her roommates went to St. George, then Las Vegas for spring break. While we were in St. George we were staying at one of the girl's parents vacation house and so we had a full kitchen. Rachel (don't remember her last name) taught us this recipe, and it was so good that Maria (my cousin) and I were begging for it ever since. It took several years to finally get it from her (slacker) and then a couple more years for me to finally make it (bigger slacker). But yes, it was just as good as I remembered it. CJ said he preferred it over regular spaghetti. It does have cream of mushroom soup in it, and I usually try to avoid using that, but for this recipe I will make an exception. Sorry about the lamo picture. My kitchen really has terrible lighting for good pictures.

note: I halved the recipe when I made it, and you can see it still made a lot. I kind of guessed on the amount of spaghetti since I always just buy the big packs, and she didn't really say how much, and I also used a little more then half of the cream of mushroom soup. Oh and I used almost the whole jar of spaghetti sauce too. Also, depending on how bland your sauce is, you might want to season it up with garlic and onions. Mine was garlic , onion and basil sauce so I felt no need.

Ingredients:
cooked and drained spaghetti noodles
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
shredded cheddar cheese
2 small cans of sliced olives, drained
1 small package mushrooms, chopped
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c water
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Sautee tomatoes, mushrooms and olives over medium heat for 5-7 min, add sauce while sauteeing if desired. Add rest of sauce when done.
2. Mix mushroom soup with water and set aside.
3. In large dish layer noodles, sauce, cheese, noodles, sauce, cheese, mushroom soup, and top with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

This one was a big hit with my family. The Monterey cheese really brought in an excellent flavor. It makes a lot so I put half in a tupperware and froze it for another meal. The recipe calls for fresh cilantro, but I didn't have any and the stuff in the store looked gross. Also, I added a can of drained diced tomatoes. I was also in a rush to get things done so I just microwaved it til it was hot and bubbly. Still tasted good, but I will probably bake it next time.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
1 can rinsed and drained black beans
1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
salt and ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.
In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, beans, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.
Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.