Almond-Crusted Chicken

I didn't get a picture of this one, but trust me - it's delicious! It's a recipe out of the Southern Living 2007 Annual Recipes Book. It's easy too - prep time is 10 minutes and cook time is 8 minutes!

Ingredients:

• 2/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped (you can just buy them this way)
• 1/2 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tsp. Jamaican jerk seasoning: Okay - this is the ONE ingredient you probably don't regularly buy, but it's worth it! (You can find it in your regular spice aisle)
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1tsp. grated lime zest
• 1 1/2 lb. skinned and boned chicken breast cutlets
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1. Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor or blender 45 seconds or until finely ground. Place almond mixture in a shallow bowl.
2. Brush chicken evenly with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. Dredge chicken in almond mixture.
3. Cook chicken in remaining 1/2 Tbsp. in remaining olive oil (after heating olive oil for a few seconds in a hot non-stick skillet). Cook over medium-high heat 4 minutes on each side or until done.

Makes 5 servings.

The Skinny Girl's Margarita

Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives of New York (on Bravo TV) shows you how to make what she has deemed "The Skinny Girl's Margarita." She doesn't use exact amounts of any of the liquids, but really I think it's best when making drinks with alcohol in them to use your own proportions to best suit your needs. (My husband probably used 1/8 of the amount of alcohol in making margaritas for us that normal ones have. :) )

Enjoy!

Caffeine Intake

I saw an interesting article on Real Simple's website about monitoring your caffeine intake. The recommended limit for caffeine intake is 400 mg per day. While you may (some of you may not!) turn down that third cup of coffee, there are a lot of hidden sources of caffeine that you may not think of.

photo: realsimple.com

The article says that 12 oz. of Starbucks brewed coffee has 195 mg of caffeine. that may not be too surprising, but did you know your alka seltzer may contain as much caffeine as a Starbucks latte?

Check out this link to see the rest of the article.

Slow-Cooker Lasagna

Honestly, this lasagna needs no introduction, really- as it is my FAVORITE lasagna I have ever had. Honestly! AND, it's made in the slow cooker! It's a super easy recipe that I found on the internet but substituted a few things here and there and made it even EASIER than it was originally! You don't even have to bake the noodles, the tomato sauce will soften them over time in the slow cooker. I used a large slow cooker, so if yours is smaller you might want to half the recipe, or make more layers and adjust the time accordingly (adding an hour to the cook time). There's no picture, because, well, all lasagna looks the same- this one just happens to taste the best!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

-1 pound lean ground beef
-Garlic powder (or garlic salt)
-1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
-1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
-2-3 teaspoons dried oregano
-1 (12 ounce) package lasagna noodles
-12 ounces low fat cottage cheese
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large skillet over medium heat cook the ground beef until brown. Add garlic powder to your personal taste while beef is still warm. Add beef, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and oregano to a medium sized bowl and stir until well incorporated.
2. In another bowl mix together the cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese.
3. Spoon a layer of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a double layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles, making sure that the tomato sauce is covering the underside of the noodles. Break to fit noodles into slow cooker. Top noodles with a portion of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layering of sauce, noodles, and cheese until all the ingredients are used. (We did three layer in our big slow cooker.) Make sure that the meat/sauce is thick but watery enough so that the noodles will soften in the slow cooker.
4. Cover, and cook on LOW setting for 4 to 5 hours. (Watch it the first time you make it and make sure that the noodles are able to get soft, ours were perfect doing it on this setting for this amount of time.)

Enjoy!

Hello, Cupcake!

I receive, nightly, a copy of the blog put out by some of the writers at Real Simple Magazine. (If you are a fan of Real Simple, and haven't done this- you absolutely should! It's free and it's basically like waking up to a mini-magazine of ALL your favorites every morning! Go here to subscribe!)

Today's post included a book review on a precious book called "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. You can go here for Real Simple's review, but I wanted to just post a few pictures of some sweet examples in this book so that you know you should can go out and get one for yourself!

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Below is some cute details of horses out of peanut shells, and what looks like a little bunny running into it's hole!:

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Here are some aliens in their personal UFO's and some classic bugs out of M&M's! Below this picture is a way cool "Shark Attack" with mini-doughnuts for life preservers and channel markers from mini ice cream cones and small lollipops, as well as "Popcorn" made with marshmallows!:

photos: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

And probably my favorites...
Spaghetti and Meatballs- with chocolate hazelnut balls for the meatball, covered in strawberry jam on a bed of icing!

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

And we'll leave this up to your findings... can you figure out where this "TV dinner" and "corn on the cob" come from!!!!! (Hint: does the "pat of butter" look like a yellow Starburst to you?)

photo: "Updates from Real Simple's Simply Stated"

Enjoy! And have fun entertaining with these great conversation starters that will TASTE sweet, too! :)

Brittany

Lunches on the Go

Whether it's sending the kids off to school, helping the spouse out the door in the morning, trying to leave before traffic gets too bad, or just wanting to cut back on spending- lunches and snacks to take from home for school or work can be a great option to always eating out during the day while you're away from home.

I recently came across Hillbilly Housewife, where they share all kinds of fresh ideas for ways to keep from getting in the "sandwich, chips, and juicebox" rut that many can fall in to!

For the main entree of a lunch box, they suggest choosing from one of the following:
Tuna Salad with Celery
Egg Salad with Pickles
Chicken Salad with Raisins
Turkey Salad with Curry Powder
Baloney & Cheese & Mustard & Mayo
Turkey and Cranberry sauce
Fried Spam & Cheese
Fried Canned Corned Beef & Sauerkraut
Meatballs in a hotdog bun with tomato sauce
Meat Loaf with Tomato Slices
Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato
Bacon and Fried Eggs
Fried Baloney or Spam & Fried Eggs
Sloppy Joes
Turkey & Bacon and bean sprouts
Sliced Cucumbers & Butter
Sliced Cucumbers & Cream Cheese
Cream Cheese & Jelly
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Fluff
Peanut Butter & Raisins
Sausage & Egg Biscuit
Egg & Cheese Sandwich
Pork Roast & BBQ Sauce & coleslaw
Sliced Beef Roast & horseradish
Sliced Beef and Swiss Cheese
Sliced Beef & Cream Cheese
Sliced Beef & fried onions or mushrooms
Loose fried hamburger & onions & cheese
Burritos with beef or beans & cheese
Tacos
Quesadilla (fried cheese tortillas)
Baloney, mayonnaise & Pineapple Rings
Cream Cheese & minced peppers
Baked beans with pickle relish
Hamburgers with fixings
Corn Dogs
Hot Dogs with Chili
Hot Dogs with Cheese
Hot Dogs with Coleslaw
Chopped Chicken & BBQ Sauce
Ham Salad with Pickles
Fajitas with Beef or Chicken
Baloney, Mustard & Sprouts, wrapped in a tortilla

If you've got a thermos on hand, you can also try out any of these:
Baked Beans & Sliced Hotdogs
1/2 cup Hot Rice with 1/2 cup Beef & Broccoli overtop
Mashed potatoes with creamed chicken or turkey & gravy
Tuna Casserole
Chicken & Rice Casserole
Beef & Tomato Casserole
Canned Soups
Chowders
Creamed Soups
Hot Pinto Beans & Salt Pork or Bacon
Chili with beans
Spaghetti and Sauce
Chopped up Lasagna
Scalloped Potatoes or Potatoes Au Gratin
Macaroni & Cheese
Lentils & Rice
Beef Stew
Hamburger Gravy to spoon over bread
Sausage Gravy to spoon over biscuits
Creamed Ham to spoon over biscuits
Mashed Potatoes with Cheese
Ramen Noodles & Veggies

Great options for the classic Ziploc baggie can include these:
Apple Wedges
Orange Smiles
Cluster of Grapes
Small Banana
Carrot Sticks
Celery Sticks
Broccoli Trees
Turnip Sticks
Radishes
Boiled Eggs
Green Pepper Strips
Cucumber Slices
Cheese Cubes
Peanut Butter Crackers
Crackers & Baloney Triangles
Crackers & Cheese Slices
Crackers & Cream Cheese
Pretzels
Popcorn
Caramel Corn
Raisins
Dry Apricots
Prunes
Banana Chips
Peanuts
Sunflower Seeds
Cheese Crackers
Celery stuffed with Peanut Butter
Celery stuffed with Cream Cheese
Granola
Gorp
Homemade Cereal Snack Mix (like chex mix)

And finally, to add some variety to your drink selection during the day, choose from one of these:
Reconstituted Milk
Chocolate Milk
Hot Chocolate
Hot Coffee or Tea
Kool-Aid
Iced Tea
Ice Water
Fruit Smoothies
Orange Juice
Apple Juice
Grape Juice
Lemonade

You can view the original post for "Lunchbox food" here!

Also, in the next few days, check out our Sassy Chefs store for some great options for a thermos!

Enjoy!

Applebee's Menu Items Spur Lawsuit

If you've been to Applebee's in the last few years, you've seen the Weight Watchers logo on the menu indicating how many "points" particular menu items have. In general, patrons think of the items with the Weight Watchers logo as lower in calories and fat than other menu items. Unfortunately, it appears that some of the nutritional information found on the menu about these items is misleading.... or flat out false. For at least one menu item, lab tests revealed twice the number of fat grams listed on the menu.

Yikes! You can read more about it here!