The Nifty Foodie

Poultry

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

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I love baked chicken, but the problem I have is getting it crispy on both sides. Makes frying seem so much better, even though I’ve never fried chicken.

When I saw this recipe, I was very interested. I thought, wow, I bet the yogurt lends some moisture and the lemon might tenderize the meat a little while baking. After seeing many raving reviews on this recipe, I decided to go for it and try it! My local Albertson’s had boneless, skinless breasts at $1.68/lb too!

Crispy Yogurt Chicken
Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

  • Chicken breasts (we used 3 chicken breasts which I split in half)
  • 2 cups plain, unflavored yogurt (we used fat free)
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • Parsley (I was cheap and used dried but PW recommended fresh)
  • The juice of one lemon
  • Salt
  • Butter
  • 2 cups (approx.) Panko Bread Crumbs

Directions:

  • Begin by pouring 2 cups of plain yogurt into a mixing bowl. Peel and mince a couple cloves of garlic and add them to the yogurt. Next, chop up a small amount of fresh parsley and add to the yogurt as well. To this, add the juice of one lemon. Mix together to combine.
  • Rinse your chicken and pat it dry. Then, give it a nice sprinkling of salt.
  • In another bowl, place the panko crumbs. Add a little salt and stir together.
  • Butter a baking dish. (I used parchment to save calories). Place the chicken, one piece at a time into the yogurt mixture, thoroughly coating it. Then, roll the chicken in the panko. Cover each piece with bread crumbs and place in the baking dish.
  • Finally, place a slice of butter over the large part of each chicken piece.


I ended up double buttering some pieces because they were so large (though I split the breasts).

  • Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 – 1 1/4 hours, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking. When the chicken is nice and golden, remove from the oven and enjoy!

POINTS*: 6 (We didn’t use all the panko and yogurt so I estimated a little bit less used for a more accurate POINTS value)

This really was crispy chicken on both sides! Just look at that color!

However, I will say, this lacked some kick in it. Next time, I’ll add a little hot sauce and Tony’s to the yogurt mixture to make it a little more Louisianian. We will definitely make this again!

I ended up making onion soup potatoes, and rebaking the leftover green bean casserole and garlic bread to complete the meal!

Smothered Chicken

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I’ve been challenging myself to cook more often when I’m at my fiance’s house. Lately, the cooking has been so-so until now. This recipe has been the BEST recipe I’ve made, and it’s Weight Watchers friendly!!! I made this using the non-crockpot method, because we didn’t want the meat too tender. My fiance requested rice with this dish, instead of pasta as well, which was a WONDERFUL combination :).

I was given this recipe from a knottie on my club board. It was a pdf form of Weight Watchers recipes, so I don’t really know the original source, however, I will say this isn’t mine. I did adapt it, though, for more flavor.

Smothered Chicken
adapted from Weight Watchers Crockpot recipe pdf (from a knottie)

Ingredients:

  • 4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 12 ounces Mushrooms — fresh
  • 1 can 98% fat-free Cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can 98% fat-free Cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can French Onion Soup
  • 1/2 onion (added)
  • 1 clove garlic (added)

Directions:

  1. Cut chicken breasts into stew size chunks, and sauté while washing and cutting mushrooms in half. Then simply add all other ingredients to chicken and simmer about 1 hour (I did this for half an hour covered and half an hour uncovered). You can also do this in a crock pot and simmer all day ’til dinner. Serve over rice, noodles or potatoes.

This makes 6 servings.


Check out our new funky plates. They match our kitchen perfectly!

Here’s a zoom-in of the yumminess!

Points* (without rice): 7

Since I had 1 cup of brown rice with mine, this dinner was 11 points. Yep, a little on the high side, but this was some SERIOUS comfort food. 🙂 I will be making this again when the fall comes!!

Turkey Enchilada Pie

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I officially rejoined Weight Watchers last Monday. I’ve been really good on my diet this week. Totally within points, and I’ve worked out 5 days in a row using Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred DVD (which I highly recommend!!).

Anyways, being a member of Weight Watchers means I have an eTools membership. So, points values* will be determined using that tool instead of SparkRecipes. Along with that, eTools gives me GREAT W/W friendly recipes that I can adapt (and it will count points as I adapt). So, here is my first recipe that I made for Joey and I last night.

To me, it was spicy and I wish I would have used green chiles instead of jalapenos. I also cut this into 8 wedges instead of 6. (didn’t read directions well so I ate less points than I thought for supper)

Before I show the results of this dish, I want to give a shout-out to Rachael Ray (yes, I *heart* her!). This Furi tool pictured below, rocks my world in chopping vegetables. I usually cut myself a lot with using knives, and with this tool, my hands are safely on the grip! 🙂 I found it (with cutting board) for $15 at Tuesday Morning!!


Look at how fine that chop is…I’m wowed by myself!!

Turkey Enchilada Pie
Source: Weight Watchers

Ingredients:

  • 1 sprays cooking spray
  • 3/4 pound lean ground turkey (used 1 lb.)
  • 1 medium onion(s), chopped
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup fat-free skim milk (used lowfat at FI’s request)
  • 4 oz canned jalapeno peppers, drained and chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 large burrito-size wheat flour tortilla(s)
  • 3 cup tomato(es), chopped (omitted because I’m a creole tomato snob and they are out of season for the year 🙁 )
  • 10 Tbsp low-fat shredded cheddar cheese (used 2% mexican blend cheese)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium heat. Place turkey, onion and chili powder in skillet and cook until turkey is browned, stirring occasionally to break up meat, about 8 minutes. Remove turkey mixture from skillet and set aside.
  2. Place skillet over medium-high heat and add flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium; simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  3. Remove skillet from heat; stir in turkey mixture, jalapenos and cumin.
  4. Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave on HIGH until softened, about 15 seconds. Place 1 tortilla in bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Spread 1/3 of turkey mixture over tortilla. Spoon 1 cup of tomato on top and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients ending up with 2 tablespoons of cheese.
  5. Cover pie plate with aluminum foil and cook until cheese melts and filling is warmed through, about 15 minutes. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges.


Here is the pie out the oven 🙂

Check out how gooey those layers look…YUMMY!

Points*: 6

The site provided says it’s 4 points but eTools’ recipe link (which I can’t give because W/W has recipes in flash so bleh…) says 6…so I would calculate 6 to be safe here!

Slow Cooker Zesty BBQ Chicken

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Last weekend, I was off and I wanted to blow Joey’s socks off with some killer food. We had chicken breasts in the freezer and a slow cooker for me to use while I was running errands…I found this recipe on All Recipes and was NOT disappointed…this chicken literally fell apart and shred beautifully into some TASTY bbq chicken sandwiches…mmm…


Not at all attractive looking…kinda looks like dog food actually but I promise it’s good!!


Check out how well it shreds…we used a fork with little effort!! mmmm…

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ
Source: AllRecipes

Ingredients:

  • 4 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 2/3 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (We used Jack Daniels original sauce)
  • 1/3 cup Italian salad dressing (I used Fat Free Dressing to lighten it up a bit)
  • 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Serves 8…these breasts can easily split into two servings!!

Nutritional Information:
Calories 206.3
Fat 1.6g
Fiber 0.1g

POINTS*: 4

**add standard whole wheat hamburger bun for 2-3 points and easily have an entree for 6-7 points**

Waist Friendly Chicken Marsala

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I had been craving some serious chicken marsala for a while, and so I asked my What’s Cooking sister from A Taste of Home Cooking, if she had a recipe, and SCORE! (she did!!) So, thank you so much for this recipe, which is from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart (my changes noted to make it weight watcher friendly)

Serves 4 (When the chicken was pounded out, it served 6)

Chicken Marsala

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (omitted)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each)
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (used Portobella’s)
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish (didn’t have this, used oregano)
1/2 cup sweet Marsala wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
added oregano
added 2 cloves of minced garlic
added 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions
Place flour in a shallow bowl; season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge each piece of chicken in flour, shaking off excess.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken, and cook until golden on the outside and opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm (reserve skillet).

Instead of this, I pounded the chicken to equal thickness, put the olive oil in a hot skillet and grilled/seared the chicken until cooked. I added salt/pepper, some oregano and basted with the balsamic vinegar for more flavor while cooking.

Add mushrooms, shallot, garlic, sage (not for me), and 1/4 cup water to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add wine and cream; simmer over medium-high until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in butter; season with salt and pepper.
Top chicken with mushroom sauce, and garnish with sage. (didn’t have sage)



The results? Total yumminess! Here are the stats:

6 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 191.4

Total Fat 8.2 g

Total Carbohydrate 21.9 g

Dietary Fiber 0.8 g

Weight Watchers Points: 4.5 *

Savory Chicken and Potatoes..

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This diet thing isn’t so bad right? I love my George Foreman grill. It’s one of the best purchases towards kitchen stuff I have ever made. I got it at a Black Friday sale, so the price was right! This thing didn’t disappoint me tonight. I wanted chicken badly tonight but I wanted a healthy recipe. I remember a month or so back when Katie from Good Things Catered made grilled chicken and since grilled chicken is as diet friendly s it comes, I decided to give this recipe a go. I ended up doubling the recipe and making some substitutions for a couple things. This chicken, let me tell you, was sooo moist, tender and savory (and easy to boot!!). Thanks Katie for a great recipe!!

Ingredients:
1 pack chicken breasts
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper
Montreal Chicken seasoning

Preheat the Foreman grill. Mix olive oil, vinegar, garlic salt and pepper together in a bowl. Pound chicken down to about 1/2 – 3/4 in. thick to tenderize and make the chicken faster to grill. Dip chicken in mixture on both sides, and place chicken on the grill (for me, one piece fit at a time. Then, sprinkle the Montreal seasoning on top of the chicken and put the grill top down. Grill for 5 minutes, or until done. Repeat for the rest of the chicken.

The spread..

Yum! Time for my closeup!

And just one more stab to make sure it’s still indeed dead!

Serves 6 (cut breasts in half for a correct portion size)

Nutritional Info:
Calories 176.3
Fat 6.0 g
Fiber 0
Points: 4

Now, onto another easy dish, which is a favorite of mine. This is off the Lipton Onion Soup mix box. I made oven roasted potatoes. Here is the recipe…never fails and once again, easy and good!

1 pack Onion Soup mix
1/3 cup olive oil
5-6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (use whatever potatoes you want…these are just my favs)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the potatoes into 4-6 pieces (depending on potato size) and place in a 9×13 baking dish. Drizzle olive oil and soup mix on top and mix together (best done with hands I find!). Place in oven for about 30 minutes or until done. YUM!

Zoom in of that starchy goodness!

I could just sit with a fork and eat it all!! Can’t wait for lunch tomorrow now 🙂

Serves 9-10 ppl

Nutritional Info:
Calories 183.2
Fat 8.0 g
Fiber 3.1 g
Points: 4

Diet Coke Chicken Revisited!

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I’ve made this before on my blog, and it’s a favorite. However, last time there were no pics so here they are!

Diet Coke Chicken

Source: Aimee’s Adventures

1 cup ketchup (I do half ketchup, half bbq sauce)
1 can diet coke
1 pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Put chicken in a non-stick skillet with some olive oil. Brown chicken on both sides for a couple minutes. Then, pour ketchup (and bbq sauce) and diet cola over the chicken. Turn heat to medium high and cook chicken for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook another 15-20 minutes. Remove lid, and cook until sauce thickens and sticks to chicken. Sauce will taste like BBQ and the chicken is very tender.

Simmering away!

Zoom in on that BBQ yumminess!

Finished product..

Last Week’s Adventures

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Turkey Meatballs
Courtesy of Aimee’s Adventures

1 lb. Ground Turkey Breast
1/2 Cup Seasoned Dried Breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup Chopped Parsley
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Grated Onion
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Pepper
1 Cup Spaghetti Sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except spaghetti sauce. Roll into 20-22 meatballs. Place a meatball into each well of a mini muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray. Fill un-used wells with water. Bake until lightly browned, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl; add the spaghetti sauce and toss meatballs.

Meatballs are 1 point each!!!!

I ended up making 22 pretty decent sized meatballs with this recipe. I made them on a cookie sheet and they actually ended up taking 25 minutes for my oven. I added some Whole Wheat Farfalle and a mix of red sauces to the meatballs. Great national championship game food (GEAUX TIGERS!!)

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Diet Coke Chicken
Courtesy of Weight Watcher’s Leader

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1 can diet coke

Brown chicken in skillet on both sides. Add can of coke and cup of ketchup. Put heat on medium low to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occassionally. YUM!! Turns into a BBQ chicken 🙂

4 points/breast!
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Chicken Cheese Biscuits
Courtesy of Aimee’s Adventures

5 oz. diced chicken breast
1 can Healthy Request Cream of Chicken soup
3/4 cup FF shredded cheddar cheese
Pinch of Salt/Pepper
1 tbsp Parsley
Pack of Pillsbury Biscuits (type in a four pack at grocery store)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take a cupcake pan and spread each biscuit to where it forms a cup in each cupcake opening. Mix soup, chicken, cheese and spices in a bowl. Scoop mixture into biscuit cup. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden (timing was right here).

Makes 10 biscuits @ 2 points each!!

I found these to be VERY salty, so I wouldn’t add salt to these for the next recipe!
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Non-WW Recipe of the Week

I made these a lot for Christmas gifts and my mom requested these to be made. I make these with Splenda instead of sugar though and they come out great!!

Cranberry-Pistachio (White Chocolate) Biscotti
Courtesy of All Recipes

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup light olive oil
3/4 cup white sugar Substituted splenda in here
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups pistachio nuts
Added 1/2 cup Ghiradelli white chocolate chunks

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.
Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12×2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.