Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Easiest Low Calorie Mini Muffins


I love chocolate. When you're counting calories, anything chocolate seems to take a big chunk out of your daily intake. More than once I've sacrificed my dinner to enjoy Raisinets (I regrettably admit...). These sweet treats are super easy to make (two ingredients!) and they're a great low calorie snack (43 calories a piece!). I've seen many variations of the recipe, mine is as basic as it comes. Here's how to make them:

Ingredients:

- 1 Box of Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1 Can of Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)

I happen to have these items in my pantry, but any cake mix will do.


That's all you need! Now for the instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350 F
-Mix your ingredients together well
-lightly grease mini muffin pan (I lightly sprayed mine with a vegetable oil spray)
-Fill muffin cups nearly full, distribute to allow for 48 mini muffins (I did not use muffin liners)- batter will be thick
-Bake for 18 minutes
-Allow muffins to cool in pan, then I usually dump the contents onto clean paper towels.

That's it! Now you have a low calorie chocolate fix to last you a while! I know these are commonly made with mini chocolate chips in them as well, which I'm sure is fantastic, I didn't add only because I was keeping the calories low on mine.








Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Quick and Easy Ritzy Chicken




I admit I don't enjoy handling meat.  Being a vegetarian, holding raw chicken or beef or pork is pretty much the grossest thing ever to me.  I suck it up, only because I have an awesome husband and enjoy cooking new things for him.  The strange thing is, I often experiment in the kitchen and rarely follow a recipe, and because I don't eat meat I can't test things, so Tim is somewhat of a guinea pig (I actually hate that term, don't animal test!).  Luckily, most of the time I'm successful.  Tim is far too kind to tell me straight out if he's not crazy about something, so I've learned to read the signs: no seconds means I won't try that recipe again.  One second helping means it was pretty good, while thirds means it's a recipe I better write down and repeat in the future!

Today I had the opportunity to observe in the art rooms at the middle school in my district, and I loved it!  It's so worthwhile to see how other teachers teach.  I left with tons of ideas for my own classroom, as well as a better understanding of where my students (in the elementary school) are headed.  My goal is to help them better prepare for the adjustment of middle school!  I was a little strapped for time and didn't go to the grocery store, so today I threw dinner together with just what I had in the kitchen! Although I'm sure there are tons of variations for Ritz Cracker Chicken, here's my hand at it!

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Milk
2 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Tsp Italian Seasonings*
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tsp Herbamare
1 Sleeve of Ritz Crackers (I used Butter Garlic Flavor, just because we happen to have it!)
1/4 Cup Flour

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 400 F.
-Beat your egg and milk together in a bowl. Set aside.
-Smash unopened sleeve of Ritz Crackers (I used a marble pestle, you could probably just mash it with your hands though!)
-In a shallow bowl, combine Ritz crumbs (I only used about 3/4 of the sleeve), Italian Seasonings*,  Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Herbamare, and Parmesan Cheese.  Mix together until combined.

-Put your 1/4 cup flour in a shallow bowl.
-Prepare a shallow baking dish by lining it with aluminum foil (easy clean up!).
-I prefer to do my chicken in strips, so I cut them accordingly.  You could easily leave them as full breasts if you prefer. Rinse and blot your chicken with paper towel.
-Prepare each piece of chicken by doing the following: Roll chicken piece in flour. Next, dip in egg mixture until covered.  Lastly, roll in Ritz crumb mixture.  Lay in baking dish.
I ended up with too many strips and needed two baking dishes

-Bake for 20 minutes or until completely cooked.  Baking time may vary if using larger cuts of meat.

I served this dish with a wild rice blend and edamame (my favorite vegetable!).  It came out crisp on the outside but moist in the center (the bottom of the chicken was moist, perhaps this can be prevented using a broiling pan for even air circulation?).  Tim went back for thirds on this dish.  It is definitely one for the books (or the blog)!

I hope you enjoy it!



*Italian Seasonings- I use McCormick "Perfect Pinch", which contains: Marjoram, Thyme, Rosemary, Savory, Sage, Oregano and Basil.