Easy Chicken Salad

I love Chicken Salad.  I always see it in the Deli case at the grocery store but never pick it up there because it tends to be heavy on the mayonnaise and fat.  For some reason I never end up making my own.  This past weekend I decided to make the best of being stuck inside on another snowy Sunday in New England and made some chicken salad.

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cooked, Cooled and Chopped

1/3 Cup Red Seedless Grapes

1/3 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Stalk (Rib) Celery

Mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip Light) 

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

Directions:

Combine Chicken, Grapes, Almonds and Celery in mixing bowl.  Add mayonnaise, start with 2 tablespoons and add as desired.

Place Chicken Salad in Pita Pocket.  I added some Spinach in my Pita Pocket.

Enjoy!

Awesome Brownies

Over the years I have made my fair share of brownies both boxed mix and from scratch.  This is by far my favorite brownie recipe.  It is easy,  stays fresh for at least a week (if covered) and they have the perfect amount of sweetness. Simple chocolate perfection .

Ingredients

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup butter, melted & divided (1/3 cup + 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup boiling water

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cup flour

 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Set oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13" baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Stir in 1/3 cup of the melted butter until smooth then stir in the boiling water until the mixture is again smooth.

Stir in the sugar and eggs with the remaining melted butter. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

Add in the flour and chocolate chips, then stir until combined.

Spread the batter into greased baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the pan.  Do not over bake!

Cool completely in the pan.

Yummy Turkey Meatballs

I was feeling adventurous while cooking last night.  I always try to make new recipes but hadn't found just the right recipe for Turkey Meatballs. I wanted a meatball that included veggies in them..so I took to the fridge.  I had a couple o6f veggies that needed to be eaten so I included the zucchini, carrots and onion in my recipe.   Quick,  and tasty I am glad I took the leap to go outside of the box.   Here is my Turkey Meatball Recipe.

Turkey  Meatballs

1lb. 3 oz.  Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1/2 Zucchini  (Finely Grated)
1 carrot (Peeled and Finely Grated)
1/4 Onion (Finely Chopped)
1 Tbsp.  Catsup
2 Eggs
Salt
Pepper
Fat Free/Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Olive Oil

Directions
1.  In a large bowl mix: Turkey,  Breadcrumbs, Zucchini, Carrot, Onion, Catsup and egg.  Once mixed for into balls approximately 1" or as desired
2.  Heat approximately 1 tablespoon Olive Oil in frying pan.  Once hot add meatballs and cook for approximately 7-10   minutes depending on size.
3.  Add Chicken Broth to the frying pan with meatballs.  Use enough to cover the pan about 1" deep.  Bring to boil  once broth has come to a boil lower heat and simmer until cooked through.
4.  I added my sauce to meatballs and stored in fridge.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Very often we have extra bananas in our house. We do not like to waste food therefore I make lots of banana breads and other recipes that call for ripe bananas.  I tried this one last night and I have to say that it is now one of my favorites.

I didn't make any adjustments except I did include both chocolate chips and  chopped walnuts. If you are not a big chocolate  chip fan you could just add the nuts and I am sure it would still be delicious. This recipe is both tasty and moist.

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/chocolate-chip-banana-bread

Simple Way to Help Organize Kids Puzzles

My daughter has a number of puzzles.  Inevitably she ends up taking out one or two puzzles out at the same time and gets the pieces mixed up.  In an effort to organize the puzzles,  I started to label the back of each puzzle piece with a letter.

I simply write a different letter on the back of each puzzle piece with a marker.  Each puzzle gets its own letter.  That way if the puzzles get mixed together or if a piece gets left out I know where the pieces belong.

I hope this little tip helps you organize your kids puzzles.

Until next time.
Jamie

Appetizer Wreath

I had initially found this recipe to bring to a New Years Eve get together  a few years back.  Simple and delicious this has become one of my favorite appetizer recipes. 

While I still use the same basic recipe I have changed it a bit to make it a little healtier.

The original recipe can be found here:

http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/veggie-stuffed-holiday-crescent-wreath/4919df64-ea10-4e3c-976a-e626d5d21548

I have chosen to make mine a little lower fat

 Ingredients:

6 slices turkey bacon

Chive and onion cream cheese spread (enough to thinly coat thick part of wreath)

2 cans of low fat crescent rolls

2 cups frozen broccoli florets 

1 large rice red bell pepper

1 egg beaten

Sesame seeds

Directions:

1.  Preheat  oven to 375 degrees

2.  Cook bacon according to package directions,  drain on paper towel. 

3.  Unroll crescent  rolls and create a wreath shape on metal pizza pan or cookie sheet.

4.  Spread cream cheese spread as desired on crescent rolls.

5.  Mix crumbled bacon, defrosted and chopped broccoli florets and diced red bell peppers in bowl.  Stir.  Add to wreath.

6.  Pull  points of triangles over to format wreath.   Brush top with beaten eggs.  Sprinkle top with Sesame seeds.

7.  Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Simple Bird Feeder

Yesterday, while playing outside with my daughter I saw a pine cone that had fallen in our yard.  Thoughts of my childhood flashed in my head of making bird feeders from pine cones, peanut butter and birdseed.  Quickly I asked my daughter if she wanted to feed the birds, she quickly said yes and we were off making our project.

What do you need?

Pine Cone

Peanut Butter (any type)

Bird Seed

Twine

Paper Plates

Knives

Scissors

Paper Towels

We started with one (1) plain pine cone we found in the yard.

We added twine to hang the pine cone feeder up.

Then we spread the peanut butter on the pine cone.

Peanut butter on the pine cone.

Then we rolled the pine cone in bird seed.

Pine cone feeder hung on the tree.

This is a simple and fun activity that you can do almost any day.  

Until next time,

Jamie