Spicy Oven Baked Crispy Chicken Strips

Ingredients

• ½ cup skim milk
• 1 Tbsp hot sauce
• 1 ½ cups cornflakes, crushed
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 — 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts cutlets, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, add 1 cup of cornflakes, black pepper, salt and paprika. Process until mixture is a crumb-like consistency.
2. Pour into a shallow bowl (I used a cake pan). Somewhat crush the remaining ½ cup of cornflakes by hand in a Ziploc® bag. Add it to the bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate shallow bowl, mix skim milk and hot sauce together.
4. Between 2 pieces of waxed paper, place each chicken cutlets and gently pound with a tenderizing mallet (or rolling pin) until about ½ inch thick. Cut into 2-inch pieces (about 3 pieces per cutlet).
5. Dredge pieces of chicken in milk mixture and then immediately into the cornflake mixture.
6. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet.
7. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and cook for another 15–20 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy.

Easy Beef Enchiladas

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground sirloin or lean ground beef
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 2 — 14.5 oz cans red enchilada sauce
• ¾ cup reduced-fat, shredded Mexican cheese, divided into ½ cup and ¼ cup
• 8 — Large La Tortilla Factory® Smart & Delicious™ Low-Carb High Fiber Tortillas

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9" x 13" baking dish (or similar size pan) with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cook ground beef on medium heat until done. Drain meat and set aside.
3. Add onion to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until soft.
4. Next, add green chilies to onion and stir. Add cooked ground beef to onion and green chilies.
5. Mix meat mixture with one can of enchilada sauce and ½ cup of Mexican cheese, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Spoon meat onto center of tortillas and roll. Place tortillas with the seam side facing down into pan.
7. Cover tortillas with remaining can of enchilada sauce and remaining ½ cup shredded reduced-fat cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Skinny White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 2 —14.5 oz cans reduced-sodium chicken stock
• 3 cans white beans, rinsed + drained
• 4 oz can diced green chile peppers
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp oregano
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Optional toppings*:
• reduced-fat, shredded Mexican cheese blend
• reduced-fat sour cream
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• *Optional ingredients are not included in nutritional calculations.

Instructions

1. In a large stock pot, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onions and stir until the onions are tender.
3. Add in the minced garlic, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Continue to cook and stir ingredients together for 2-3 minutes until everything is tender.
4. Add in chicken broth, shredded chicken and white beans.
5. Simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve with reduced-fat sour cream, reduced-fat, shredded Mexican cheese blend, and fresh cilantro.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ingredients

• 2½ lbs boneless, center-cut pork loin roast, trimmed of all fat
• 2 medium onions, sliced thin
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• ½ Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup reduced-sugar BBQ sauce

Instructions

1. Place the onions and minced garlic in the bottom of slow cooker.
2. Pour chicken stock on top of onions and garlic.
3. For the rub: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin and cinnamon. Pat the pork loin roast down with paper towels to dry. Using clean hands, rub the spice mixture generously over pork loin roast.
4. Place the meat on top of onions and garlic in slow cooker. Cover and cook pork for 8-10 hours on low, until pork is fork tender.
5. Turn off slow cooker and move pork to a cutting board.
6. Using a fine mesh strainer, hold strainer over a medium size glass bowl. Drain liquid from slow cooker through mesh strainer separating solids from liquids. Return the solids to the slow cooker and reserve the liquid.
7. Using a fork and knife, start shredding the pork and return the shredded pork to the slow cooker.
8. Add the low-sugar barbecue sauce to the slow cooker and cover the pork. Mix gently.
9. Add the liquid from the port into the slow cooker. Use as much as needed to moisten the meat before serving. I usually add ¼ cup to ½ cup of the reserve liquid to the pork.

Blackened Chicken

Another easy and great tasting recipe.

4 boneless chicken breasts

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Just put the dry rub on the chicken and grill until done. We like to eat it on top of a salad with some corn and my cilantro dressing!

Birthday Cake & Icing

I made a yummy b-day cake for D's birthday yesterday. It was scrumptious!

CAKE


Ingredients

1 cup butter 2 cups white sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 eggs

3 teaspoons baking powder 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 pinch salt

Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan or three 8 or 9 inch round layer cake pans.
2.	Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract.
3.	Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside. Add the egg yolks one at a time to the creamed mixture, beating after each one.
4.	Measure the baking powder into the flour, sift a little of the flour into the creamed mixture. Continue adding the flour and the milk alternately, while continually beating the mixture. Beat the cake batter until a few air bubbles show.
5.	Beat the 4 egg whites with a dash of salt until stiff. Gently fold egg whites into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
6.	Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until cake(s) test done, approximately 25 to 35 minutes.

ICING

Ingredients

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons milk 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

Cream sugar, butter and vanilla. Add a small amount of milk (1 to 2 tablespoons). Add cocoa if desired and beat until fluffy. If frosting is too sweet add a little more milk.

Cafe Rio Copy Cat Cilantro Lime Dressing

This is SO good! Great on salads, tacos, to dip veggies in....so many ways to use it.

1 packet of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch Dressing mix
1 c. Mayo
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 tomatillo
1 jalapeno (with ribs and seeds removed if you don’t like the heat!)
3 cloves of garlic
1 lime (juiced)
Directions:

• Mix all the ingredients in your blender.
• Make it ahead of time to give the ingredients a chance to marry.