Grilled Corn on the Cob with Roasted Jalapeno Butter

Wow! This was amazing!! You grill the pepper first before adding it so it kills the hotness, but adds the best amount of flavor ever! We ended up using this butter on multiple things!!!! We served this with the Indian Inspired Chicken Kabobs, amazing combo!

1 Jalapeno pepper
Cooking Spray
7 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened (that is for a serving of 6 - we cut our recipe in half)
1 tsp grated lime rind
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
6 ears chucked corn (or less if you are cutting recipe in half)

1. Preheat grill to medium - high heat.
2. Place jalapeno on grill rack coated with cooking spray, cover & grill for 10 minutes or until blackened & charred, turning occasionally.
3. Place jalapeno in small paper bag and fold tightly to seal. Let stand for 5 minutes. Peel & discard skins, cut pepper in half lengthwise. Discard stem, seeds & membranes.
4. Finely chop jalapeno.
5. Combine jalapeno, butter, lime rind, honey and salt in small bowl, stir well.
6. Place corn on grill rack. Cover & grill for 10 minutes or until slightly charred, turning occasionally. Place corn on serving plate, brush with jalapeno butter.

*Recipe courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine

Lemon Garlic Chicken Breasts - Slow Cooker

This was a light and easy meal for a weeknight. It went great over brown rice with broccoli. The flavor wasn't too bold, it could use a bit more lemon.

Ingredients
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp lemon juice
lemon zest - about 1 TBSP
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 Cup low-sodium chicken broth


Directions:

Place chicken breasts in crockpot. Sprinkle with italian seasoning. Zest lemon over top of chicken. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours (3 hours on high).
Chicken is very tasty served on a bed of brown rice with steamed broccoli!

Spicy Peanut Chicken Salad

This was a family winner! Everyone had seconds and the entire dish was gone at the end of the meal. We'll be making this again, frequently.

The original recipe had you placing the chicken & noodle mixture on top of a bed of the spinach. I changed it because my family wouldn't eat raw spinach leaves. That's why "salad" is in the name.

This recipe would work great with any protein if you don't want to use chicken.



Ingredients:

2 medium to large chicken breasts, cut into strips
evoo
salt & pepper
2/3 C chicken broth
2 T low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp sesame oil (I didn't have any and used evoo)
1/3 creamy peanut butter

1/2 box spaghetti
1/2 bag of fresh spinach
1 C matchstick carrots (shredded is fine)
1/2 C green onion, diced
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (optional)

Directions:

Saute chicken strips in evoo. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Add carrots and green onion.

Bring to a boil 2/3 cup chicken broth, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp tabasco or hot sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic and 2 tsp sesame oil. Remove from heat and whisk in 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter.

Cook spaghetti, adding spinach to the last 3 minutes. Drain.


Toss chicken, carrots and green onion with peanut butter sauce.

Add to drained pasta and toss.

Serve, top with Sriracha and ENJOY!

*A gread addition to this dish would be crushed peanuts for added texture.

 courtesy of Jen over at Three Pugs & A Baby

Easy Chicken Marinade

This marinade was simple, healthy and kept the chicken very moist and flavorful. Perfect for grilling season!

1/4 cup Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 TSP garlic powder
1/2 TSP black pepper

Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Stir well. Put chicken breasts (we had 3 large ones) in a resealable bag and pour marinade over. Squeeze all the air out of the bag, seal tightly and mix around to make sure all the chicken is covered. Best to let it go at least an hour in fridge before cooking. I had to pull one out early to cook for my daughter and after only 30 minutes, it rocked! The rest are still marinating for our later dinner! Yum!

Low Fat Baked Onion Rings

These onion rings are super tasty! They have the crunch as if they are fried minus the guilt. They are a perfect side dish, appetizer or snack!

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
2 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup Italian seasoned whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup crushed corn flake crumbs
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil baking spray

Directions:
Place slices of onion in a shallow dish. Pour the buttermilk over the top and let them soak for about 1 - 2 hours, refrigerated.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Combine panko, bread crumbs and corn flakes in a large dish, season with salt.
Dip each soaked onion ring into the crumb mixture; coat well. Place rings onto two cookie sheets. Lightly spray with oil. Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Skinny Italian Spinach Meatballs

We absolutely love these meatballs. They are delicious, packed with flavor, healthy, super easy to make and they sneak in veggies, too! We like to place ours on top of a bed of whole grain ziti, sprinkled with a little shredded italian cheese. Yum!

With 1 pound of ground turkey you can get anywhere from 24 to 30 meatballs.

Ingredients:
1 lb turkey ground
1 tbsp olive oil
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of all liquid
2 slices whole wheat bread
1 large egg
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 cup Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese
salt and pepper

Directions:
Wet bread with water then mash up with your hands. Add to large bowl and combine with ground turkey, chopped spinach, egg, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well until thoroughly combined. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, measure meat, then divide in two so that each meatball is 1/8th of a cup. Roll into little meatballs.

Heat oven to 400. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and drizzle with EVOO. Place each meatball on the baking sheet. Bake until meatballs are golden brown and reach 170 degrees internal temperature, about 30 minutes.

recipe adapted from Skinny Taste 

Broccoli & Cheddar Potato Skins

I got this recipe from here but I did things a little differently. These were delicious, filling and very easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 medium to large russet potatoes (or 4 small)
spray oil
2 cups fat free cheddar cheese
1 cup of chopped broccoli
salt & pepper
fat free sour cream (optional)

Directions:
scrub potatoes and pierce with a fork all over. microwave for 5 minutes per potato.
slice potatoes lengthwise and scrape out filling, leaving about a 1/4 of an inch wall.
spray the bottoms of the potatoes with spray oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
combine 1/2 of removed potato, cheese, broccoli, fill the potatoes
bake on 450 for about 20 minutes, until edges of potatoes get golden brown.

serve as is or dip in sour cream