PRODUCT REVIEW: Mrs. Dash Grilling Blends

I love this time of year…grilled food is the BEST! Since we eat a lot of chicken in our household we are always looking for new ideas for chicken breast marinades. I am a big fan of Mrs. Dash Original on my vegetables; since I had to give up salt a while back this was a great alternative and gives a good burst of flavor. So you can imagine how excited I was to see that Mrs. Dash had come out with grilling blends! I always like to marinade the meat before we put it on the grill so I combined 3 teaspoons of light olive oil, 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast and 1 capful of Mrs. Dash Chicken Grilling blend. Let it marinate in the fridge for about 20 minutes and fire up that grill. Grill the chicken as you normally would and you have a fantastic tasting piece of chicken. I ended up serving this chicken with a side of Grilled Vegetables (don’t worry…I’ll post that recipe soon!). What a healthy and tasty meal! Below are some pics for you…

Ingredients…


Chicken cooking on the grill…


Final product…


Happy grilling!

GRILLED WHOLE CHICKEN WITH GARLIC & HERBS

I am a big fan of baked whole chicken, so when I saw them on sale at Sam’s Club I picked them up and decided to try out this recipe. I have never made a whole chicken before, I’ve just seen my Mom make them and they are always so tasty…so I thought, why not let’s give it a shot. This recipe was easy to follow and it left the chicken moist and tender. Good stuff. Here is the recipe that I used.

Grilled Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs
Points Value: 5
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage & 3 sage leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (3 1/2 – 4 pound) chicken, giblets discarded
1 medium onion, halved
1 lemon, cut into quarters

Instructions:
1. Spray the grill rack with nonstick spray; preheat the grill to medium or prepare a medium fire using the indirect method (see special notes section).

2. Combine the garlic, oil, lemon zest, chopped sage, salt and pepper in a small bowl. With your fingers, loosen the skin on the chicken breasts, legs and thighs. Rub the garlic mixture into the meat under the skin. Place the onion, lemon and sage leaves inside the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.

3. Place the chicken, breast side up, on the cooler part of the grill rack; cover the grill. Grill the chicken, without turning, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thigh registers 180 degrees F, about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let stand about 10 minutes before carving. Remove the skin before eating.

Special Notes:
To set up a grill for indirect cooking, preheat only one side of a gas grill or mound the charcoal on one side of a charcoal grill. With indirect grilling, larger items, such as a whole chicken, can be grilled for a long time without getting charred while acquiring a delicious smoky taste.

Recipe Source:
Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites Cookbook

Before the grill…


Before the grill side view…


Cooling on the cutting board…


Cooling on the cutting board side view…


Final product…


CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Grilled Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs recipe.

CHICKEN & RICE

This recipe is an old favorite of mine before my Weight Watchers days. It is an easy recipe and it was always a good comfort food during those cold winter days. And just a side note, this was the first meal I ever made for my husband; he stuck around…so it must’ve been good! After learning how to make recipes a bit healthier I decided to modify this one so that we could still enjoy this comfort food without feeling the guilt. Below is the recipe that I used.

Chicken & Rice Recipe
Points Value: 5
Preparation Time: 10 minutes.
Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
2 cups of brown rice
8 oz can of Condensed Soup (Cream of Chicken, Cream of Broccoli, Cream of Mushroom, etc)
8 oz fat free milk
1 pound of boneless chicken breast cut into cubes
1 spray cooking spray
¼ cup reduced fat Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp seasoned salt

Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. In a cooking dish spray non-stick cooking spray and coat dish.
3. Place 2 cups of brown rice in the bottom of the dish.
4. Place cubed chicken on top of the rice. Salt & pepper chicken, very lightly coating.
5. In a mixing bowl, add condensed soup, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic salt and seasoned salt. Mix well.
6. Pour the soup mixture on top of the chicken and rice and place in the oven.
7. Every 20 minutes, stir the chicken & rice, bringing the rice to the top of the mixture.
8. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes. Serving size yields approximately 1 cup each.


The ingredients…


Step #1, the rice…


The soup mixture…


Adding the chicken…


Ready for the oven…


Cooked and now cooling…


Final product…


Overall, LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe, it’s easy and good; I highly recommend it. I like to use the Campbell’s Broccoli & Cheddar soup, but that does add an additional Weight Watchers point to the meal.





CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Chicken & Rice recipe. Happy cooking!

PRODUCT REVIEW: Chicken Stir Fry

Greetings all, sorry it has been so long since I have posted. It’s been busy busy around our household. I have always been a fan of stir fry since it is a lower calorie Chinese food option. While grocery shopping, I found a quick mix by ‘Sun Bird’ for stir fry, so I thought I’d try it out. Since this isn’t a recipe, I figured I’d just tell you the ingredients that I ended up using.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound boneless chicken breast (cut into chunks)
1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables
1 can of bamboo shoots
1 can of water chestnuts
1 can of baby corn
2 tsp Splenda
2 tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
2 cups Brown Rice
1 package Sun Bird Stir Fry mix

On the packaging of the Sun Bird Stir Fry mix it asks for sugar and soy sauce, so instead I used Splenda & Low-Sodium Soy Sauce to make this a little healthier. I really enjoyed this meal, it wasn’t too heavy and it wasn’t salty. I would recommend this Sun Bird stir fry mix!



The stir fry cooking…


Final product…


Happy cooking!

LEMON CHICKEN WITH BROCCOLI

My husband loves anything citrus, but I’m not a big fan. However, we both do like lemon and orange chicken from Chinese food restaurants. Considering I have 5 pounds left to loose before I am a lifetime Weight Watcher, I think Chinese take out is not the way to go.

I found this recipe on Weight Watchers eTools site…I love broccoli and I notice there was just a hint of lemon, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Since I did not have many points left for the day, I decided to not pair this dish with anything else.

This was a very good light dish, I was pretty surprised. Here is the recipe that I used…

Lemon Chicken with Broccoli
POINTS Value: 3
Servings:  4
Preparation Time:  10 min
Cooking Time:  10 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt, divided
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup(s) fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
2 tsp minced garlic
2 1/2 cup(s) broccoli, small florets
2 tsp lemon zest, or more to taste
2 tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions
1. On a plate, combine 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper; add chicken and turn to coat.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning as needed, until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes; remove to a plate.
3. Put 1 cup of broth and garlic in same skillet; bring to a boil over high heat, scrapping up browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon. Add broccoli; cover and cook 1 minute.
4. In a small cup, stir together remaining 1/2 cup of broth, 1/2 tablespoon of flour and 1/4 teaspoon of salt; add to skillet and bring to a simmer over low heat.
5. Cover and cook until broccoli is crisp-tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in chicken and lemon zest; heat through.
6. Remove skillet from heat and stir in parsley and lemon juice; toss to coat. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Ingredients...


Preparing the chicken...


Cooking the chicken...


Preparing the chicken, again...


Chicken & broccoli simmering...


Final product...

This dish was great! I would definitely pair it with some couscous, rice or angle hair pasta (assuming that you add the extra point values). It was very filling and flavorful, I was impressed. Kind of messy to make (but isn’t that part of the fun?) but overall a very tasty meal.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Lemon Chicken with Broccoli Recipe.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

Since there has been quite a cold wave here, I thought it was about time that I made some Chicken Tortilla soup. This has to be one of my favorite soups out there…I have combined a few of my favorite recipes to come up with this version.

When making the soup on Friday night, I realized that corn tortillas do not freeze well; so that was missing from our meal. But it was still an excellent soup!

Below is the recipe that I used:

Chicken Tortilla Soup
POINTS Value: 4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Serving size: 2 cups
Number of Servings: 20

Ingredients:
2 10 oz cans of Rotel Diced Tomatoes
2 14.5 oz. cans of Diced Tomatoes
1 4 oz. can of Diced Jalapenos
6 cups Fat-Free Chicken broth
1 pound uncooked boneless and skinless chicken breast
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tsp. chili powder
4 tbsp. fresh lime juice
½ tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
4 (6”) corn tortillas

Instructions:
1. Heat a Dutch oven or stock pot on stove on med-high heat. Add garlic (and onions if desired). Cook for about 15 seconds.
2. Add broth, diced jalapenos and chili powder. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
3. While the soup is simmering, boil the 1 pound of chicken breast until cooked fully. Shred chicken and place in a bowl.
4. Stir in Rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes, lime juice, cumin, and salt. Add chicken. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 40 minutes.
5. While the soup is simmering, cut tortillas into ¼ X 2” strips. Place on a baking sheet in a single layer, and coat lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.
6. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle servings evenly with tortillas strips.

Notes:
If you choose to not serve the soup with the tortilla strip, remove 2 points per serving.

Ingredients…


Soup simmering…


Final product…


This batch turned out to be pretty spicy, but it was definitely good!

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.

CHICKEN WITH RAINBOW PEPPERS

I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers site with a promotion for the Reynold’s HandiVac sealer. I absolutely love the HandiVac, it’s easy to use and it works! So, I thought…why not, let’s try this recipe.

After making this recipe, I came to the conclusion that I am NOT a fan of chicken being baked in the oven. But for those of you that like that, I figured I would post the recipe and maybe you will have better luck with it.

I pulled the recipe from the Reyonld’s website, below is the recipe that I used.

Chicken with Rainbow Peppers Dinner
Points Value: 8
Preparation Time: 10 mins.
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
• 1 Reynolds® Handi-Vac® Vacuum Sealer
• 1 Reynolds® Handi-Vac® Vacuum Freezer Bag, Gallon size
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 package (1 oz.) herb and garlic dip and soup mix, divided
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
1. PLACE vegetables in an even layer in Reynolds Handi-Vac Vacuum Freezer Bag.
2. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon seasoning blend.
3. Mix remaining seasoning blend with olive oil; set aside.
4. Place chicken in freezer bag in an even layer on top of vegetables with food touching the textured layer inside the bag.
5. Pour seasoning mixture over chicken. Seal bag.
6. VACUUM bag with Vacuum Sealer until bag tightens around food. FREEZE immediately.

When ready to cook, defrost completely in the refrigerator.
PREHEAT oven to 400°F.
Line a 13x9x2-inch pan with Reynolds Wrap® Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil.
Place chicken and peppers in foil-lined pan; discard any remaining liquid in bag.
BAKE 35 to 40 minutes or until chicken is done.

Pre-cooked meal:


Final product:


Personally, I did not like the recipe, but my husband thought it was OK.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Chicken with Rainbow Peppers Dinner.