Jalapeno Kettle Chip Crusted Chicken with Jalapeno Ranch

Via Pinterest {My Life as a Mrs.}

This recipe is something I've been wanting to try for a long time. Here's what I have concluded. yum. The sauce makes the recipe. So in case you're thinking about skipping that part and just using ranch or something, don't. This is so not ranch and so very good! Make it. Love it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup lowfat sour cream
1/4 cup (plus 2 tablespoons) lowfat buttermilk
1 tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
dash of cayenne
5-6 hot pickles jalapeno slices, finely chopped

For the Chicken:
4 chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 - 2 pounds total)
1 bag Jalapeno Kettle Chips, crushed
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne

Instructions:

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:
Mix ingredients together (adding additional buttermilk until desired consistency). Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Chicken:
Preheat oven to 375º. Place an oven safe cooling rack in a large jelly roll pan and spray with non-cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, salt, and cayenne. Pound out chicken breasts to roughly 1/2" thickness and add to buttermilk mixture (toss to coat well).
Place crushed Kettle chips in a shallow baking dish. Pull one piece of chicken at a time out of the buttermilk and gently shake to remove some of the excess. Dip into the chips and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken breast are thoroughly coated.
Place into oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through (cooking times vary based on chicken thickness and actual oven temperature). Serve hot with jalapeno ranch dipping sauce.

Kitty Chow

{picture here}

I found this website and recipe through Pinterest (Have I mentioned that I have more than 350 food & drink pins?? This could go on for a very long time!). I wanted to try it out because it claims to be a "skinny" version of puppy chow.

The first issue was that I was unable to find the reduced fat version of the chocolate almond bark... I'm thinking that probably causes a bit of a problem in the "skinny" part of the recipe.

The second issue was that I loved the cereal so much that I almost ate all of it before trying the recipe!

The third issue (personal issue,  but probably wouldn't be a problem for most people) is that it was a little bit too sweet for me. And I left out the Truvia (which was an accident, but that stuff is SUPER sweet!). I think the sweet cereal with all that chocolate and the vanilla pudding mix (I'm wondering if that added to the sweet effect).

I would like to try it with chex to see how that works.

I LOVED that it made a small portion - comparatively with a traditional puppy chow. This in itself will save me... a lot of puppy chow eating. You can't eat it if it's not there! Smaller portions are helpful for those of use with a huge lack of self-control... {who, me?}

And now, on to the recipe...

Ingredients:
2 Cups Fiber one Honey Squares
4 Tablespoons “I can’t believe it’s not butter”
2 Tablespoons Creamy All Natural Peanut Butter
2 Servings Truvia all Natural Sweetener.
1 Package of Fat Free Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix
2 Squares of Reduced Fat Chocolate Almond Bark

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl melt butter, chocolate almond bark and  peanut butter. (I used the microwave)
After melted pour cereal into mixture. Stir gently.

Let the mixture cool for a good 20 minutes.

After mixture has hardened pour the mix into a large zip lock bag, add the box of pudding mix and shake gently until coated.

My Suggestions:
*I don't see the need for the Truvia. You can try it, but I seriously can't understand why you'd want it to be sweeter...
*I'm going to try with chex to see if it works. I'll report back (hoping this will cut down a bit on the sweet)
*I did not use the "I can't believe..." ... because I can believe it's not butter. I don't like it. At all. So I use an olive oil spread - which is what I used instead.

Balsamic and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

This recipe was... interesting. I should start by saying that we (I made it with a friend) did this a bit wrong... We mixed all of the ingredients together and put them on the cauliflower prior to baking... which is not exactly as the recipe said to do it... We also weren't completely sure how we felt about the Parmesan and balsamic flavors together... Just something to think about. The pieces with just a little bit of the mixture were better than the pieces with lots on them. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 head(s) cauliflower, large, (8 cups 1-inch-thick slices), florets
2 tablespoon oil, olive, extra-virgin
1 teaspoon marjoram, dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper, black ground, freshly ground, to taste
2 tablespoon vinegar balsamic
1/2 cup(s) cheese, Parmesan, finely shredded

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper. Roast on a large rimmed baking sheet until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, 15 to 20 minutes.

Toss the cauliflower with vinegar and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and roast until the cheese is melted and any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Treats

Can I just say - YUM!!! This was a bit of an impromptu... semi-healthy dessert with a friend. AND. it. is. fabulous. and simple.

Found on this website through pinterest (I'm really getting good use of that lovely website lately!)... Here it is!

Ingredients:
2 bananas
peanut butter
1 c chocolate chips

Instructions:
Melt the chocolate chips (in the microwave or on the stove, or whatever works best for you).

Cut the bananas into round slices (mine were about 1/2 an inch thick) and top with peanut butter.

Put a banana on top of a fork, and then use a spoon to drizzle or pour chocolate over. (repeat for all bananas - or as many as possible. I ran out of chocolate, so I just drizzled it over the remaining ones). --there is a picture showing how to do this on the blog linked above.

Place the covered bananas on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and freeze. They last over night in the freezer, but they become very frozen that way... They were fantastic after frozen about an hour or an hour and a half.

**If I was making this just for me, I would only make one banana. Two bananas was more than enough for two of us.

Homemade Granola

My mother has made granola for as long as I can remember. On a recent trip to visit family, I learned that a cousin of mine has been making granola as well. And I was thrilled to find that she made it with ingredients that I LOVED! My mom's granola had raisins, which I did not love... this had almonds and cranberries... and, I learned, whatever I wanted! So, with a bit of guidance from her on the ingredients, and some guidance from here on the amounts. Here's what I came out with:

Ingredients:
5c rolled oats
1/4c honey
1/2c sliced almonds
1/2c shredded coconut
1/2c-1c dried cranberries
1/3c coconut oil
1T ground cinnamon
1/2c brown sugar

Instructions:
Mix all dry ingredients (all except oil and honey) in a large bowl. Mix in the honey and oil. Spread on parchment paper on a rimmed cookie sheet (or two). Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir, and then bake for another 15-20 minutes (or until golden brown).

No-Bake Energy Bites

I found this fantastic little recipe on Pinterest (of course). It came from the GimmeSome website. She's got lots of good stuff on there, but when I saw this one, I knew it looked like something I would like!

{I would love to post a picture or two for you... but apparently I'm out of space. Thanks a lot google! I'll figure it out and get some uploaded later}

Ingredients
1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Makes about 20-25 balls.