Cheddar Cheese Beer Bread

When it comes to minimum input and maximum output in the kitchen, beer bread is about as good as it gets. Five minutes of work rewards you with a heavenly aroma through the house and a warm, crusty loaf in just an hour.

This bread is delicious warm or at room temperature. You can serve it with a side of chilli or even a big bowl of soup, you can even use it to make sandwiches. Another thing you can do, which I've done over the holidays is after it's cooled, you can hollow it out and put a dip in the center and cut up the part that you cut out and us that bread for dipping.  And if that wasn't enough, it even  freezes beautifully.

There are endless flavor variations of beer bread possible; simply add whatever you desire to the basic dry mix. I did not add any herbs this week because Jonathan is on a "I will not eat anything that it green" kick right now. But just because I didn't add anything doesnt mean that you can't try experimenting with different herbs and beers. A darker beer will give you a deeper flavor.

I have to say that this is easy to make and the flavor profile is amazing.  I's still shocked by how few ingredients there are in a basic beer bread. Why pay $10 for a boxed mixed when you can make fresh at home for 1-2 dollars.  

Like always happy Baking and i hope you enoy this as much as we do.   

 

 

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Nonstick spray
8 ounces all-purpose flour
4 ounces whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 1/2 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
12 ounces cold beer,
.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat the inside of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick spray and set aside
• Whisk together the all-purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
• Add in the cheese and stir in the beer just to combine. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
• Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the bread is golden brown and cooked thru.  This will take about 50 to 60 minutes.
• Best if served hot. 

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Easy Turkey Enchiladas

I've always taken pride in making healthy meals for my family. When I went back to work after a year and a half, buying a new house, and then having a second child. I found myself looking for shortcuts and not always making the right food choices, because "I didn't have enough time". Over the past year, and not getting all the "baby weight" off as fast as I did with Jonathan. I took a good look at the foods that I was making, and in some cases the carry out I was bringing home. And all I could think was no wonder it's been a long road. The processed foods, the lack of veggies, it's all affecting our health, and in the time that it would take me to make a "ready-made meal”, or use my short cuts, I could make something at home which was better for us.

And this recipe just happens to be one of the many new quick meals that I have come to use a lot.

 

Inspired by: Guy Fieri

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

 

· 1 pound lean ground turkey

· 1 1/2 cups diced onion

· 1 1/2 cups finely diced zucchini

· 12 tortillas

· 2 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, you can buy the canned sauce, (try this homemade Enchilada Sauce it's so much better than the canned stuff.)

· 3 cups cheddar- jack shredded cheese

· 1 cup shredded lettuce

· 1 sliced avocado

· sour cream

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
 

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add ground turkey and break apart to crumble the meat.
 

Sauté the meat on medium heat until browned.
 

Once meat it browned, remove cooked meat to a bowl and set aside.
 

Return pan to medium heat and add onion and zucchini. Saute until just softened.
 

Remove the vegetables from the pan and add to the meat mixture.
 

Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the prepared pan and spread it around so it coats the entire bottom evenly.
 

Place tortilla on a work surface. Spoon 1/4 cup of the meat mixture down the middle.
 

Add 2 Tablespoons of cheese on top of the meat. And then top with 1 Tablespoon of sauce.
 

Wrap the tortilla around the filling tightly and place it seam-side-down in the pan.
 

Repeat the steps above with remaining tortillas and filling until you have finished filling until you are out of tortillas.
 

Place the tortillas side-by-side in the pan. It is recommended that they are snuggled in tightly so that they do not open when baking.
 

Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the stuffed enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.
 

Bake for 30 minutes and then serve immediately with desired condiments.

Like always happy cooking!


 

Tyler Florance's Ultimate Crab Cakes (Baked)

I'm just going to get to the point...I love Tyler Florance, and I know that If he was my husband my ASS would be ten times bigger than it already is. I have never made a Tyler Florance recipe that I did not love. Each time I make something I tell myself..."it can't get any better than this" and each time I prove myself wrong.

I know that I have said that his Prime Rib recipe is my favorite, but this crab cake has changed me. For now this is my new all time favorite recipe. I highly recommend trying it at least once, you wouldn't be disappointed!

Recipe source: Tyler Florance Ultimate (cooking channel)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely minced
1/2 green pepper
1 celery stock
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds jumbo lump crab meat
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons fat free mayonnaise, (more if needed)
1 large egg white
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves, (I used less because I don't care for it)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of butter melted

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

In a medium frying pan, add just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of pan and heat.

Add the onion, peppers, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the onion gets kind of caramelized.

Dump that into a bowl and fold in the crab meat, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lime juice, and cilantro, mixing just until well blended.

Season with salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into 6 fat crab cakes. Put them on a plate, cover, and stick them in the refrigerator to chill. (about and hour)

Heat oven to about 400 degrees.

Take crab cakes out of frig and brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake for about 20 minutes flipping crab cakes once.

After fully cooked turn oven onto broil and allow crab cakes tops to crisp, this will take 3-4 minutes.

Serve one a bed or salad, or with fresh lemon wedges

Baked Chicken Wings in a Mango Habanero Sauce

IT'S SUPERBOWL TIME! When my husband thinks football, he automatically thinks wings and beer. When I think football and wings,the first thing that comes to mind is fatty fried food. To keep both my husband and myself happy, I decided that I would just bake the wings and when they were fully cooked I would broil just to give them some color and to a little crispiness.

The end result is they came out amazing. I will never, ever fry another wing again. I hope you all enjoy this as much as my husband does.

***The Mango Habanero sauce is SPICY*** So be careful and try the sauce before hand.

Recipe source yours truly

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

4 lbs of chicken wings
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small Spanish onion, cut into chunks
2 whole cloves of garlic
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 habanero, chopped
1 Fresno pepper
1 cup white wine vinegar
a splash of water (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt
2 tablespoons of honey (to mask the acid of the vinegar)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Season chicken wings with garlic, salt, and pepper and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.

Add onions, garlic, mangoes, habanero, fresno pepper, and vinegar and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Place the mixture in a blender add honey and water, then blend until smooth.

If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of warm water or vinegar.

In a large bowl mix together wings and half or prepared sauce. Let sit for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place chicken wings in a single layer on baking sheet.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes until wings are cooked(baking time will depend on the size of wings)

Once baked broil wings until they are golden.

Serve hot with the other half of the sauce.

Mango Habanero and Fresno Sauce

My husband is a long time fan of wings and spicy dipping sauce. About three years ago my husband was introduced to BWW (http://www.buffalowildwings.com. On that day he fell in love with their Mango habanero wings. The good news is you can buy bottled sauces in house, the bad news is since we've moved, BWW is way out of the way for us. So no more wings for the hubby.

The other day Mangos were on sale so I decided I would pick up a couple. When I got home all I could think about was the fact that I bought mangos and they weren't in season (what the hell was I thinking) this means they are going to be tasteless.

At this point I had to come up with some type of recipe so I didn't waste them. I had wings defrosting and it came to me...why not make a mango sauce for the next time I baked wings...and thus Mango Habanero Fresno pepper sauce was created.

I do caution you all, it's really spicy, but so yummy. Great for people who like spice, and definitely NOT a recipe for toddlers. Sorry Jonathan looks like you're going to have to wait a few more years before you are able to have this. =)

Recipe inspired by BWW

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small Spanish onion, cut into chunks
2 whole cloves of garlic
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 habanero, chopped
1 Fresno pepper
1 cup white wine vinegar
a splash of water (about 1 tablespoon)
Salt
2 tablespoons of honey (to mask the acid of the vinegar)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.

Add onions, garlic, mangoes, habanero, fresno pepper, and vinegar and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Place the mixture in a blender add honey and water, then blend until smooth.

If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of warm water or vinegar.

Season with salt.

Yield: 4 servings

Salsa

For this year's New Year Eve we decided that we would just stay in, and have a bunch of appetizers for dinner. The reason for this is we are having company over the two days following, and I have two large meals planned.

My goal was to make a bunch of things that we could pick at all night and I wanted something that we could much on while I prepared everything else. So I ask you what is better than making homemade Salsa?....NOTHING this was so good, that I will never go make to buy salsa again.

Happy New Year everyone!

Inspired by Better Homes and Gardens

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
3 Tomatillos, husked. rinsed, and chopped
6 Firm tomatoes
1/4 Cup of finely chopped red onion
2 Habanero pepper finely chopped (leave seeds and inner pepper ribs for more heat)
Lime juice from half a lime
2 Tablespoons of fresh chopped Cilantro
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
4 Cloves of garlic finely minced

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

In medium bowl stir together tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, and garlic.

Once combined cover, for best results chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Salsa is best if consuming within 2 days.

Nutrition Facts serving size 2 tablespoons,
62 cal, 6g of fat, 132mg of sodium, 1g of carbs, 2 g of protein

Tyler Florence's "My Big, Fat Chocolate Chunk Cookies"

OMG! Not only do I love Tyler Florence, but I also love his recipes! Everything that I have ever tried has come out wonderful. The recipe name "MY BIG, FAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES" is an under statement! They are huge! I'm actually thinking that I will use this recipe for Operation Baking Gals next time!

I feel that one of the best things about this recipe is that it's such an easy recipe and the end result it outstanding! I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I have. Happy baking!


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) block dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup of chocolate chips

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Place the butter, sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Beat in the vanilla and eggs.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and continue to mix until a smooth batter forms.

Fold in the chocolate chunks and chocolate chips using a spatula.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of cookie dough into your hands and roll it around into a ball

Place cookies about 3-inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets

***You will get about 4 cookies on each pan***

Press down the tops of the dough slightly and bake until the cookies are light brown.

Bake for 12 minutes for chewy cookies.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough/cookie sheets.

Bacon Eggs and Potato Salad

We were invited to a friend's house this weekend for a Memorial Day BBQ, and like always I asked what I could bring. At first she asked me to bring a pasta salad, but later she called me and asked that I bring something else because she already had someone bringing a pasta salad. Lucky I hadn't gone to the store and bought everything I needed yet, so I asked her what I could bring in place of that, her response was maybe a potato salad.

So Sunday afternoon I spent the day thinking about what I could do to make my potato salad great and like any other time when I'm in a jam I turned to the women on the nest and PearlieGirl'sMom shared a recipe that she was making and i took her recommendation and adapted it to work for me. Thanks to PearlieGirl'smom for inspiration. This was an such a great side dish!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

4 pounds small red potatoes scrubbed and quartered
1 pound bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup lite or fat free mayonnaise (You might need to add more mayo depending on your own preference)
3 tablespoons mustard
6 scallions, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely diced
i red bell pepper finely chopped (You could use any color pepper here)
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
a few sprigs of dill chopped

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Place potatoes in cold water in a large pot.

Bring to a boil and turn down the heat to medium, letting them cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. (do not over cook your potatoes you don't want them to fall apart when mixing all the ingredients together later.)

In a small pot bring eggs to a boil and let cook until eggs are hard boiled, once cool peel and chop eggs set aside for later.

In a skillet, saute bacon on low heat until crispy.

Place bacon on a paper towel and discard the grease, once cool chop bacon into small pieces.

Drain the potatoes, but DO NOT rinse them under cold water. Let them cool for about 6 to 8 minutes on a sheet pan.

In a small bowl combine vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, scallions, onion, sugar, pepper,dill, and salt and pepper.

Transfer potatoes to a mixing bowl and sprinkle bacon and hard boiled eggs over them.

Then fold mayonnaise mixture into the potatoes and put in the frig for 2 hours to cool before serving.

Happy cooking!

Stuffed Sausage Bread

So why stuffed sausage bread you might wonder, well it's simple...My husband is not a huge fan of pizza, however he will eat homemade pizza and enjoy it, as long as I not make it every week and I change up the pizza toppings.

The plan for this week was I was going to make sausage and turkey meatball pizza...I mean that was the plan until my husband informed me that he had pizza two times that week at work. So now I thinking, I have dough that is going to go bad, what else can I do with it... then it came to me why not make a stuffed bread and that is exactly what I ended up doing. Needless to say it came out really good and my husband and son both enjoyed it.

Pizza dough recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, the rest of the recipe is an original. link to dough recipe below
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/fresh-pizza-dough-recipe/index.html




WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO NEED:

1 Homemade pizza dough (store bought is fine, but I use Tyler Florance's recipe link to pizza dough above)
3 sausage spicy Italian links
1 medium red onion chopped
2-3 medium ALREADY COOKED meatballs sliced thin (I like turkey meat for this)
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Dry basil

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

Preheat oven to 350

Open sausage links and crumble the meat.

In a hot medium saute pan, add crumbled sausage and allow it to brown and cook.

Once sausage it cooked, remove from heat place on paper towel to drain excess fat. Return pan to heat and saute onion.

Once onion is cooked place onions in a small bowl.

While everything cools, take your dough and roll it out into a square.

Once you have rolled out your dough, take the sausage and sprinkle it over the dough, top with onions, and then sliced meatballs.

Starting at one end, take the dough and start rolling it onto itself, to create a log.

Place on cookie sheet and let stand for 15 minutes, once 15 minutes have passed brush the top of the bread with olive oil, sprinkle garlic salt and basil.

Place in oven and let bake for about 30 minutes until it becomes a lite golden brown.

Serve with a side of your favorite sauce. Enjoy!

Tyler Florence's Pizza Dough

So not only am I in love with Tyler Florence, but I'm also in love with all his recipes. I am yet to make one of his recipe and be disappointed. This all leads me to wonder, how his wife stays so thin. LOL!

Anyway I have always hated working with yeast, but this recipe is so simple it's hard to mess up. You would really need to work hard to mess it up. Even my friends that "don't cook or bake" love this recipe and use it to make homemade pizza and stuffed breads.

I love the fact that this recipe yields two doughs. It's so nice to be able to use one now and safe the other for another day. Hope you enjoy it, and happy baking!

Makes enough dough for 2-15 inch pizzas

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence link to recipe below
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/fresh-pizza-dough-recipe/index.html


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

2 packages active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees F.)
1 tablespoons kosher salt (original recipe calls for 2 tablespoons but i find it to be too salty)
6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for bowl

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water and stir gently to dissolve.

Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.

Combine the salt and flour in stand mixer and pulse a few times to mix.

Add the yeast mixture, at the lowest speed, until the flour incorporates.

When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough gathers into a ball.

This should take about 2 minutes.

Add the olive oil and pulse a few more times. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook.

Get a feel for the dough as you're making it by squeezing a small amount together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water, if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, kneading until it's smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a round and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat the dough entirely with the oil.

Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour

Weight Watchers White Chicken Chili

So a few months ago I couldn't get over the amount of food (leftovers), I was tossing each week. I hate wasting, and to see perfectly good meals go to waste upsets me. One day I found myself doing the math and found that, my husband was spending over $2,000 a year on lunches during the week. That total doesn't even include hundreds that I was tossing out at the end of each week. Granted it's not a lot of money, but just picture taking $2,500 dollars and burning it. You would never do that, so why would you toss it into the trash?

This set me on a mission to save money on lunches. My goal was to come up with meals that would leave us with leftovers, so we could at least pack a lunch 2-3 times a week. Needless to say, I haven't tossed much food out over the passed few months and we have saved a few hundred dollars on lunches.

I think the key is making dishes that you like and don't mind reheating. For example soups, chowders, stews, and of course chilies are one of the best things you can make for reheating purposes. This recipe is so good, and packed with flavor, that I found it to be better the second day. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.

Happy cooking!

Makes 9 cups

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 pound chicken breasts, diced
14 ounces chicken broth
2 tablespoons (I use unsalted)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 large carrot chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
8 ounces canned chopped mild green chilies
2 tablespoons flour
28 ounces canned white beans, rinsed
14 ounces canned corn, including liquid (I omitted this because I do not like corn)
14 ounces canned red kidney beans
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 cups fat-free half ‘n’ half
½ cup sour cream (I use fat free)
½ teaspoon Tabasco
Garnish with chopped cilantro (I omitted this because I'm not a fan of cilantro)

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

Cook chicken in splash of the chicken broth in a Dutch oven over medium heat until cooked. (If you do not have one, just cook the chicken in a regular pot, it works just as well)

Heat remaining broth in microwave.

Transfer chicken into a dish to hold while you prepare the rest of the chili.

Melt butter with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Add onion, red pepper, celery, carrot, garlic and chilies; cook until onion is soft.

Stir in flour; cook 1 minute.

Stir in hot broth, chicken, beans, and vinegar.

Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 90 minutes.

Stir in half ‘n’ half, sour cream and Tabasco; rewarm but do not boil.

Serve and enjoy!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Cup: 261 Cal; 7g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 32g Carb; 5g Fiber; 1013mg Sodium; 44mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 5 points

Turkey Meatballs

I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I hate using ground beef. I think I serve my family enough red meat that I would rather make meatballs with turkey, and have done so for the passed 3 years now.

I know what your thinking..."Aren't the meatballs going to be dry?" Well the answer to that question is NO WAY! In fact I think turkey meatballs are juicier. One of the best things about this recipe is you're saving on calories by using a leaner meat. I promise that no one will notice the difference, and if they do it will be because the meatballs taste better.

You REALLY need to try this recipe. Once you try it, you'll be addicted to turkey meatballs and will never use ground beef again.

This recipe is something that I came up with after years of playing around trying to perfect "the perfect turkey meatball"

This recipe yields a large batch of meatballs


WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
3 slices white bread, crust removed
1/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
2 pounds ground turkey
half a red pepper finely chopped (you can use more or omit all together)
1 large egg
about 3/4 cup of bread crumbs (you might need to add more, read below for more info)
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
2 cloves minced garlic,
Salt to taste
ground black pepper
2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce
olive oil, for pan-frying (just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet)


WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

In a bowl, soak white bread with the milk. Let soak for 1 minute then remove the bread and squeeze out most of the milk.

In another bowl, add ground turkey, parsley, garlic, diced red pepper, egg, and salt and pepper.

Add milk soaked bread tearing it apart, as you add it, mix all ingredients gently. (Make sure not to over mix)

You will note that the mixture is very wet, so you will now add the bread crumbs. If you feel that the mixture is still too wet add more. Be careful not to add to much, you still want your mixture to me moist and sticky.

Form meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. I have found that using a pampered chef medium scoop works wonderfully, and saves you a ton of time.

In a large preheated heavy skillet add olive oil and let heat. Add meatballs and cook until you get a nice golden brown color on all sides.

Remove the meatballs to a paper towel lined platter.

Repeat in batches until there are no remaining meatballs.

Add meatballs to the cooked sauce and add salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes you can serve your Turkey Meatballs over your favorite pasta, or make your own meatball sub. ENJOY!

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

What's better than homemade pizza? Barbeque chicken pizza of course. This has to be the easiest recipe I have ever made. It takes little to no time to make and is by far much better for you than the one you can get from your local pizza place. I can honestly say that you will never go back to frozen pizzas ever again.

I found a recipe on allreipes.com and while I liked it for the most part, I still had to make a few adjustments to make it suitable to my family's needs, and wants. I hope you all enjoy and if you do try it. Please let me know how it turned out. Happy Cooking...or in this case happy baking!

Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Unbelievably-Awesome-Barbeque-Chicken-Pizza/Detail.aspx

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
1/2 cup barbeque sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package pre-baked pizza crust (I make my own Whole Wheat pizza dough, which I will be blogging about in the next few days.)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I use the fat-free cheese)
1 medium thinly sliced red onion
4-5 slices of cooked bacon diced

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Once oil is heated, place chicken breast in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and top with 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce.

Cook 10 minutes, turn chicken over onto the other side.

Now top this side with 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce.

Cook about 10 minutes longer, or until juices run clear.

Cool slightly, and cut into chunks.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread barbeque sauce over the pizza crust.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Arrange cooked chicken chunks, red onion, and bacon over the top.

Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from heat, let sit 10 minutes before slicing.

ENJOY! =)

Carne Adovada

I would have never thought of making this dish on my own. I had a 3lb pork shoulder in my freezer that I wanted to use up, and both my husband and I weren't in the mood for pulled pork again so soon. I then, turned to the ladies on the nest and BridgetMc posted this recipe which appeared to be something completely different from anything I had ever made. Needless to say...I was so excited to try something new.

Not only is this recipe easy and tasty, but its also lite and not fatty. My husband and I enjoyed this so much that I can't wait to make it again.

FYI....This is a spicy recipe so if you have stomach issues, or do not like spicy foods, then this recipe is not for you.

Thanks Bridget!

Recipe from BridgetMc blog link below
http://www.crumblycookie.net/2009/11/18/carne-adovada/

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
16-18 dried red chili pods
hot water
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt (adjust salt to taste, I had to add more)
1 tablespoon dried oregano (I omitted this because I didn't have any in the house)
4 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of thick layer of fat and sliced ½-inch thick

Remove stems and seeds from the chile pods (I left the seeds, because we like spicy foods.)

Place the chile in a large bowl add enough hot water to cover them.

Soak for 1 hour. Strain, reserving the soaking liquid.

Place the chiles, garlic, and salt in a blender and add enough soaking liquid to just cover.

Blend until the skins disappear and the mixture is smooth, 2-3 minutes.

Pour the sauce over meat, cover tightly, and marinate in the refrigerator for 24-28 hours. (I ended up marinating the meat for over 36 hours and it gave the pork a wonderful flavor.)

Directions for baking in oven... heat the oven to 350ºF.

Place the meat and chile sauce marinade in a baking pan and cover tightly with foil.

Bake the carne adovada until the meat is falling apart tender, about 4 hours.

Directions and the way I made it...crock-pot carne adovada cook on low heat for 7-9 hours.

When the meat is done, shred it or cut it into 1-inch pieces. Serve with your favorite Mexican sides. I served this with yellow rice and guacamole. Yummy!

Weight Watchers Guacamole

I admit it... I hate Guacamole I would much rather have salsa on my plate. The only reason that I make it is because my husband loves it and likes to have some whenever I make Mexican food.

So on my quest of getting both my Husband and myself back to your "ideal weight" I decided that I would trying making him some homemade Guacamole. I hate buying processed foods or anything that has additives. I really try to avoid buying anything that could be made at home. My husband told me that this is the best guacamole he has ever had, therefore anytime I made Mexican food, I will always use this recipe to go with it. I hope you all enjoy!

Recipe from the Weight Watchers Cookbook.

Makes 6 servings:

WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO NEED:

1 Large ripe avocado
2 Plum tomatoes chopped
2 Scallions (white and lite green part only) finely chopped
1 Small jalapeno pepper, minced (remove seeds if you would like it to be mild, if you are looking for it to be a little more spicy leave seeds in.)
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice (this will help aid the guacamole from turning brown)
A pinch of salt

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Cut the avocado in half and discard the pit

Scrape the avocado pulp into a small bowl and mash with fork.

Add tomatoes, scallions, jalapeno, lime juice, and salt.

Mx just enough to combine everything together.

Serve at once.

Serving size is 1/4 cup...54 cal, 4g fat, 1g sat fat, 0mg of chol, 196mg sodium, 4g carbs, 3g fiber, WEIGHT WATCHER POINTS 1

Caribbean Chicken Wings

Almost 4 years ago my husband and I went to Jamaica where we both became addicted to anything that was made with jerked seasoning and jerked sauce. We liked it so much that we actually went to the local store and bought a few jars Jamaican BBQ sauce to bring back home with us. Needless to say we ran out of the sauce a long time ago, and this recipe is the closest I have found to the real thing.

Something that is important to keep in mind is that this is a spicy recipe, and if your not big on spicy foods then maybe this might not be for you. If you do like spicy foods then I highly recommend trying it.

What could be better that chicken wings? Chicken wings that are tasty and juicy all while being baked and not fried.


Another important note about this recipe is that it yields a large batch of chicken so its great if your having a get together. Another note is if you can I would let the wings marinate over night for best results!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 habanero, seeded and chopped (I leave in the seeds because we like the added heat)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
7 pounds chicken wings

Directions

In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients but the chicken until smooth.

Reserve 1 cup of marinade.

Place chicken wings into a large resealable plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over them. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator 4 to 6 hours. (I ended up marinating the chicken over night.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 sheet trays with parchment or foil.

Remove chicken from bag and place on the baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring reserved marinade to a boil.

Reduce by 1/3 until it thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove chicken from oven.

Brush chicken with the glaze.

Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and cook chicken until cooked through, another 20 minutes.

Place wings on platter and if you like serve with blue cheese dressing.