Onion, Ham and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

First off, I apologize for the lack in posting. Life got in the way (know, lame excuse) and then I moved out of my apartment and into my dad's place, which caused me to lose the desire to meddle in someone else's kitchen. I finally bought some chicken breasts the other day to force myself into the kitchen.

I wanted to make the Hungry Girl Chicken Cordon Bleu, but I just cannot find the right ham slices anymore. Instead, I cut open a chicken breast and stuffed it with Laughing Cow cheese, pre-cooked diced ham and chopped onion and cooked it at 450 for about 10-12 mins. Served with a side of Minute brown rice, the result was YUM!! Super easy, pretty healthy...I'll definitely be making this one more often. And you should too.

Spinach Salad with Apple Vinaigrette

A work friend is getting married in Costa Rica in a few weeks, so we threw her a tropical-themed shower.

I was busy the night before and needed to find something to make that I could prepare ahead of time. My co-party planner suggested a spinach salad so I hunted for a recipe. I liked this one because it did not include strawberries. I added almonds and dried cranberries to the recipe just to add some crunch and flavor. The salad turned out great, but I would use about a half or a quarter of the dressing they suggest, because the bottom of the salad turned into a soup. Otherwise, a great easy recipe since the dressing can be prepared ahead of time and then thrown everything together right before serving.

Check out the recipe here!

Bacon Cheddar Pinwheels

In addition to my sausage bake, I brought these pinwheels for breakfast club at work. They certainly didn't turn out like the picture on the website because the Recipe Creation dough did not come out of the package nicely, but they tasted good enough. Again I substituted by using fat-free ranch dressing. I may use slightly less ranch dressing next time or make sure it it distributed more evenly because some pieces had too much on them.

Check out the recipe here!

Sausage Bake

This week it was my week to cook for breakfast club at work. I've had my eye on this recipe for awhile. It's not nearly healthy and it makes too much for just me, so I knew breakfast club was the perfect venue to try it. I tried to make it a bit healthier by using reduced-fat sausage, fat-free cream cheese and reduced fat cheese. The Recipe Creations dough was a little harder to work with than I thought, but it turned out in the end.

Check out the recipe here!

Finger Lickin' Chicken Fingers

Who doesn't love chicken fingers, or at least crave them every once and awhile? I was skeptical about this recipe before I tried it, but it is SO GOOD. I just make them on a pan, as opposed to putting them on sticks like Hungry Girl suggests. I also add a bit more seasoning: a few shakes of garlic salt and minced onion, in addition to what the recipe suggests. They have a fantastic crunch and a great taste. I love to dip them in Bacconaise...though that does kind of defeat the purpose of eating healthy. Can't help it...it's so delicious.

Check out the recipe here!

Chicken with Asian-style Glaze

It's been awhile since I have cooked chicken at home. For some reason I have gotten it in my head that it was time consuming and cumbersome. Silly me. This is fast becoming one of my post-gym staples as well. It's not much to look at, but it sure does hit the spot. I only made one chicken breast at a time, so I reserved the sauce for later in the fridge and used it a second time. I ate it over a serving of Minute brown rice, pouring a little of the extra sauce on the rice. Delish and super easy!

Check out the recipe here!

Crab Rangoon

As a complement to my fried rice, I wanted to try my hand at crab rangoon, to see if I could truly replicate the take out experience at home. Verdict? Not quite, but not half bad. I'll have to make some adjustments to the filling, but overall, not bad for a first try.

Ingredients

Wonton wrappers (found in the refrigerated section near the veggies)

Fat free cream cheese

Green onion

Canned crab meat

Vegetable oil

I didn't go off any recipe here, I pretty much just winged it. I mixed some cream cheese, crab and chopped green onion together in a small mixing bowl. I placed smallish spoonfuls of it in the center of the wonton wrapper and the folded the wrapper over, wetting the bottom edges so the top stuck to it. Then I placed them in some heated oil in a pan on the stove, and fried them until they looked done. Not quite restaurant quality but not bad. Would have benefitted from some sweet and sour sauce for sure. Next time.