tasty, boiled and baked chicken wings

Here's a healthier way to enjoy crispy chicken wings.
The secret is to boil them first to remove fat so they crisp better in the oven.
I bought a 4lb bag of frozen plain wings.
Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water.
Bring to a boil.
Add wings.
Bring back to boil, partial cover, and boil for 15 minutes.
Scoop out wings into a colander to drain and cool.

Look at all the fat that boiled out of the wings!
While the wings are boiling, fill a resealable bag with.....
!/2 cup flour and any seasonings you want.
I used 3 Tablespoons of garlic powder and 3 Tbl Cajun seasoning.
 Add drained and cooled wings to bag, seal and toss to coat.
Important! Place pan in fridge for 45 minutes up to an hour to  give flour time to meld to the wings.
preheat oven to 450.
Pull pan out of fridge.

For this batch, I left half of the wings floured, the other half I put in a bag with barbecue sauce and re coated them.
Spray floured wings with a butter cooking spray to help brown while cooking.
Cook wings for 40 minutes, turning once.

Believe me. They were as tasty as they look!
The barbecue wings burned a bit, but were still good. I think next time, I'll turn the temp down to 425.

Smokey Cauliflower

A tasty twist on cauliflower.
Roasting veggies gives them an entirely different flavor.
 1 large head of cauliflower, broken onto 1-in. florets.
 2 Tbsp olive oil.
 1 tsp smoked paprika.
 3/4 tsp. salt.
 2 garlic cloves, minced. Or 2 tsp. minced garlic
 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley.
 1. Place cauliflower in a bowl. Mix oil, paprika, garlic and salt. Drizzle over cauliflower; toss to coat.

 

 Transfer to a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered at 450 for 20-25 minutes or until cauliflower is tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley. 

 

Apricot-Onion pork

Apricot-Onion Pork Cutlets

Ingredients...
4 pork cutlets.
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
2 tablespoons olive oil.
1 tablespoon butter. (or butter cooking spray)
1 onion thinly sliced.
1/2 cup canned low sodium chicken broth.
2 tablespoons Apricot jam.
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.

Preparation...

Sprinkle both sides of pork with thyme and salt.
Warm oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy skillet.
Cook pork, turning once, until well browned on both sides, about 3 minutes total.
Transfer to a plate.
Add butter to pan and melt. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add broth, jam and mustard and bring to a boil, stirring. Cover, lower heat and simmer until onion is very soft, about 5 minutes.
Return pork to pan, cover with sauce and serve immediately.

And I forgot to get a pic when we served it, so this is a pic of the leftover with asparagus and steamed carrots we'll have in a couple of days.  :-)

Velveeta Sausage Bake

Velveeta sausage Bake.

Here's what you need.....
1 1/2 cups penne pasta, uncooked.
1 lb Italian sausage
3 cups halved zucchini slices.
 1 red pepper, chopped.
1 can (8 0z.) pizza sauce.
1/2 lb. (8 0z.) Velveeta, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup Kraft grated Parmesan cheese.

How to make it......
Heat oven to 350.
Cook pasta as directed, omitting salt.
Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to break up sausage.
Drain: return sausage to skillet, stir in zucchini, peppers and pizza sauce: cook 5 to 6 minutes. or until veggies are crisp tender, stirring occasionally.
Drain pasta. Add to sausage mixture with Velveeta: mix lightly.

Spoon into a pre-greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Top with Parmesan.

Bake 15 to 20 min. or until heated through.

And now Craig's modifications......
Use extra lean ground beef instead of sausage.
Add 1/4 package of low sodium taco seasoning when browning meat.
Use 2% Velveeta cheese.
Use 1 cup shredded carrots and 1 cup zucchini instead of 3 cups zucchini.
Used fat free shredded cheddar cheese on top instead of Parmesan.
Garnish with diced green onion and diced tomato when serving.
It was delicious! and enough for leftovers too!

Herb Chicken and Squash

Herb Chicken and Squash.
4 skinless chicken breasts.
2 tbsp chopped rosemary, divided.
1 tsp salt, divided.
1/2 tsp ground black pepper, divided.
1 lb of peeled, seeded, cubed butternut squash.
2 tsp of canola or olive oil, divided.
3/4 lb sweet onions halved if large.
3 tsp balsamic vinegar, divided.
cooking spray.
2 tbsp apricot preserves.
2 tsp Dijon mustard.
2 tsp chopped ginger
1 clove garlic chopped.

position rack ion  lower third of oven.
Heat oven to 400.
Season chicken with 1 tbsp chopped rosemary, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.
 In a bowl, toss squash with 1 tsp oil. In a second bowl, toss onions with 2 tsp vinegar and 1 tsp oil.
Coat a rimmed sheet pan with cooking spray.
Place chicken on pan. spread veggies around chicken in a single layer.
Sprinkle veggies with remaining rosemary, salt and pepper.

Roast 15-20 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine preserves, mustard, ginger,garlic, and remaining 1 tsp vinegar.

Flip chicken and baste with apricot/mustard sauce.
Turn veggies.
Roast until chicken reaches 165, approximately 15-25 minutes.

Serve with a green veggie of choice for an eye appealing, tasty meal!

Grilled, roasted, veggies

Grilled roasted veggies.
Use 1 cup of Zesty Italian Dressing, or 1 cup fat free Italian Dressing and 3 Tablespoons olive or Canola oil.
3 teaspoons garlic powder.
3 teaspoons basil.
Assorted veggies cut into bite size pieces.
I used for this meal, yellow summer squash, red pepper, mushrooms and onions.
Put everything in a zip lock bag, seal, and turn to coat veggies. Let stand for about 30 minutes turning bag every 10 minutes.

Put veggies on skewers and cook on top rack of grill over medium high heat for about 15 minutes, or until slightly burnt on edges.

Serve as a side dish with any meal.  :-)

oven fried veggies

Oven Fried Veggies.

Ingredients....
1/4 cup flour.
1 cup panko bread crumbs.
1 cup Parmesan  cheese.
 2 eggs.
seasoning to taste.
zucchini.
cauliflower.
mushrooms.
Marinara sauce.

 Mix panko, Parmesan cheese, and your favorite seasonings in a bowl. I used garlic powder and Italian seasoning.
Heat oven to 425.
Cut ends off zucchini, slice in half lengthwise, and cut into spears.
Cut cauliflower into bite size florets.
Cut mushrooms in half.
Rinse veggies and leave wet.
Dredge veggies one by one in flour, than beaten eggs, then in Panko/Parmesan seasoned mixture and place on pre-greased baking pan.
Bake 15 t0 20 minutes until golden, turn and bake another 10 minutes or until golden.
Serve with marinara sauce,  or your favorite dipping sauce.