Something Hot, Something Cold

Two Recipes in One Blog Post!

First of all, I must start with a an injury report, and then a few tips/lessons learned.

Injuries to date:

-2 burns on my finger (thanks to the stove)
-1 cut from an apple core cutter (more to come on that)

Tips/Lessons Learned:

-I find it relaxing to cook with a small glass of marsala wine (you can choose your own, of course)

-Always make adjustments in the midst of cooking, you don't always have to follow the recipe step by step

Something Hot: PAN FRIED CHICKEN PARM (For Sarah)

This recipe looked interesting to me because the coating of the chicken is Fiber One bran cereal...healthy, right? Ehh...not the most healthy recipe I will cook, but if you supplement it with the right sides (i.e. corn on the cob, and a small serving of whole grain rice) then it turns out to be a surprisingly healthy meal.

PER SERVING: (1 breast) 258 calories, 6g fat, 684 mg sodium, 16.5 carbs, 7g fiber, 1g sugars, 38.5g protein

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Instead of listing the ingredients for this recipe, I am just going to walk you through it. You basically beat the chicken breasts to about 1/2 inch thick. Then, you blend/process the fiber one cereal (1/2 cup for 2 chicken breasts) to a bread-like consistency. Put the bread crumbs in a seperate bowl and add italian seasoning (I didn't), some garlic powder, some onion powder (I didn't again...I'm a cooking rebel, what can I say?), and also some salt.

In another bowl, you mix 1/4 cup of tomato sauce with some more garlic powder and onion powder. Take your egg substitute (in the egg section @ any grocery store) and place 1/4 cup of that in another bowl. Coat the raw chicken in the egg substitute, and then coat the chicken in the Fiber One mixture.

Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray, and bring to medium heat. This is where I had a bit of a problem; the recipe calls for medium-high heat, but I found that too hot, and it began to slightly burn the mixture on the outside of the chicken...next time I am going with a medium-low heat. You cook the chicken about 4 minutes on each side, but just make sure it is cooked all the way through, take extra time so no one gets sick now!

Once the chicken is fully cooked, spread 2 tablespoons sauce over each breast, while the chicken is still in the skillet. Then, sprinkle some shredded mozzarella cheese over the sauce. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for about 2-3 more minutes, or until the cheese has deliciously melted!

VOILA! There are some pictures above of the dish. Thank you to my wonderful husband for being the plate model :) I figured it's probably better for you all to see the pictures to understand what to expect.

Prep Time Rating: Medium (it wasn't difficult, just a bunch of little steps)

D-Lish Factor: 7.58/10! (haha) I was pleasantly surprised that even though there were a few burnt looking places on the chicken, it actually tasted like toasted cereal and wasn't nasty at all. The dish was D-Lish!

Something Cold, Apple Shakers

I wanted to make something simple to bring over to a bible study I am currently doing with a few friends. I found one of the easiest and sweet treats there is out there!

PER SERVING: (1 apple) 102 calories, <.5g fat, 2mg sodium, 27 carbs, 5g fiber, 19 sugars, .5g protein

Prep Time: 5 minutes

No Cooking this time :) Just shaking!

Ingredients:

-1 Fuji apple, cored and cubed (I just cored the apples and then cut the slices in smaller pieces; also I did four apples total)

-1 no-calorie sweetener packet (Or, if you are against the fake sugar like I am, just use some real sugar)

-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Take the apple pieces and put them in a sealable plastic bag. Add the cinnamon and sugar (I added extra for extra sweet) to the bag, seal it, and shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake the baggie!

Prep Rating: SUPER easy

D-Lish Factor: 10/10 baby! This was a wonderfully easy, and delicious sweet treat! Check out the picture at the top of hte page!

I had a wonderful time making these two recipes...keep reading for more coooking!! Don't forget to comment :)

Sincerely,

The Hungry Wife

Dessert first, please!

First Post: Easy Oven-Baked S'Mores-Stuffed Bananas

Dessert is my FAVORITE meal (haha) so I decided to kick off this blog with a dessert item. What's special about this recipe is that it's from the foilings section of the cookbook. In the foilings section, you put all of the ingredients into heavy-duty aluminum foil, seal it up, and bake it in the oven! How cool is that?

Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 10 minutes (based on my experience)

Ingredients:
2 tblsp. mini semi-sweet choc. chips
1 sheet (4 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers, crushed
4 sm. bananas, unpeeled, ripe
1/4 cup mini marshmallows
(whipped cream on top)

PER SERVING (I LOVE this) (1 stuffed banana) 152 calories, 2.5g fat, 29mg sodium, 33g carbs, 3g fiber, 19 sugars, 1.5g protein

Now, I am not going to type up every single step for these recipes. The basis of this recipe is that you cut a slit in the banana, and put in the graham crackers/choc. chips mixture (mixed together in a small bowl). You put mini marshmallows on top of the mixture, wrap the banana in heavy duty foil, and bake it at 400 for 10-12 minutes. I didn't top it off with whipped cream, but it sounds delicious (by the way I'll be using this word a lot, it's my favorite).

Hungry Wife Analysis

Prep Rating: EASY and FUN! (made this with Vanessa)
D-Lish Factor: 5/10
The reason I gave this recipe a 5 is because I didn't like the warm banana taste. The stuffing inside was great, but I've never eaten a warm banana, and don't think I will again. However, the other three people that tried it, liked it.

PLEASE post comments...what should I cook next? Any food ideas??