Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

We love this salad! We make it all summer long - we even made it while we were camping once - and I never get tired of it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes

1 t. dried basil

1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. pepper

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 large bunch of Romaine lettuce

1 1/2 cup croutons

1 c halved cherry tomatoes

2/3 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing (our favorite is the Lighthouse brand)

shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first 8 ingredients, then add chicken. Seal the bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Drain and discard marinade. Grill chicken. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the romaine, croutons and tomatoes; add dressing and toss to coat. Divide onto salad plates, slice chicken and arrange on salads. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

*If I'm making this for just Chris and myself, I add the dressing to our salads individually. That way I'm not stuck with a bunch of leftovers that will go bad by the next day.

Amazing Crusted Chicken

I found this on allrecipes.com the other day and have made it twice now. It has a wonderful flavor and is so easy and fast to make. My husband loves it so that is all the reason I need to add it to my 'Favorites' list. The chicken stays so moist and juicy but the outside is crispy and flavorful.

Ingredients:
2 cups cheese flavored crackers (such as Cheez-It brand), crushed
1 cup French-fried onions, crushed
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs (plain work fine too, or you can just add Italian seasoning to the plain)
2 teaspoons sesame seed, toasted( I bought some that are already toasted)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut in half
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F ( 190 degrees C). Spray a baking dish or sheet with cooking spray.

2. Mix cheese crackers, French fried onions, bread crumbs, sesame seeds, salt and pepper in a bowl. set aside.

3. Wash and pat chicken breasts dry. Spread a thin layer of mayo on one side of each piece and place mayo side down in the cracker mixture. Repeat on the other side patting firmly into the chicken, covering all sides. Place chicken on the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining mixture on top. Lightly spray the chicken with cooking spray.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink inside and the juices run clear, 35-40 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

*I serve mine with white rice and a salad.

Apple Dip

Summer is the perfect time to sit and snack on a bowl of fruit - and sometimes it's fun to indulge yourself in a little fruit dip :) This is super easy to put together, so you can have a great snack for book club, picnics or parties in about 15 minutes!

Ingredients:

1 package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp orange juice

Directions:

In a large bowl or mixer, cream all ingredients together. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

*The original recipe didn't call for orange juice, but when I tasted the mixture, the texture was really grainy from the sugar. Once I added the orange juice it was perfect. It also sets up nice and thick after you refrigerate it.

Grilled Rosemary Chicken with Cream

I found this recipe on my friend's recipe blog, Making Manna and had to try it. It was delicious - my husband is still raving about it!

Ingredients:

2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Sauce:

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp milk

Directions:

Prepare grill to medium high heat.

For chicken, combine mustard, oil, rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl; brush evenly over chicken. Grill chicken for 6 minutes on each side or until done.

For the sauce, while chicken grills, combine mustard, mayo and milk. Serve over grilled chicken.


*I personally thought that a little of the sauce goes a long way - I won't put as much on my chicken next time. However, my husband loved it just the way it was so I think it's all a matter of personal preference :)


per serving: 400 calories; 55 grams protein; 18 grams total fat; 0 grams fiber; 3 grams saturated fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 143 mgs cholesterol; 287 mgs sodium
10 Weight Watchers points

Aunt Kathy's Cookies

I really have no idea who Aunt Kathy is, but I love her cookies! When Chris was a student working at the lab, he used to come home and tell me about a coworker who always brought cookies in for everyone. He raved about how fantastic they were, so I kept bugging him for the recipe and he finally brought it home one day. They've been my favorite ever since!

Ingredients:

3 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 c. brown sugar
3 tsp. vanilla (Mexican vanilla if you have it)
6 eggs
3 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking soda
7 1/2 c. flour
2 packages chocolate chips. (I like to use one bag of regular chips and one bag of chocolate chunks)

Directions:

Cream together the shortening, sugars, vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the salt, soda, and flour, mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and beat just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. I actually put mine in for about 7 1/2 minutes because my oven runs hot. You'll probably need to adjust the baking time according to how your oven cooks.


Here are a few tricks that I've learned along the way:

* When creaming together the wet ingredients, I make sure to let the mixer run for a few minutes. It really helps to add some air into the mixture so that the cookies end up nice and thick. Flat cookies = yuck!

* I take these out of the oven when they are just barely golden brown on top - it is my firm belief that chocolate chip cookies should be soft, not crunchy! The cookies will continue to bake as they're sitting on the cooling rack, so they'll be perfect by the time you're ready to eat them.


I just made this recipe on Sunday and I made about 8 dozen cookies (I was making them to give out at church for Father's Day). You may want to half the recipe, or you can freeze the leftovers and make them later :)

Bowtie and Asparagus Pasta

I may have mentioned this before, but my mom gave me her neighborhood's cookbook for Christmas and I've been trying all kinds of recipes from it. I just made this recipe last week and, mmm...so good. I loved it! It took a little bit of time to prepare, but for me, that always happens with new recipes. After I make this a few times I'll have a system down and it'll go much faster.

Ingredients:

1 box bowtie pasta

1/2 c. butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1-2 chicken bouillon cubes (I used 2)

1 pt. heavy cream (I only had a 1/2 pint, so I substituted the rest with fat free half and half)

Salt and pepper to taste

10-15 spears asparagus, blanched

1/2 c. bacon, crumbled

1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted

Fresh parsley (I used about a 1/2 c. chopped)

Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:

Boil bowtie pasta in salted water until al dente. Do not overcook. In wok or heavy skillet, melt butter. Add minced garlic and sauté a minute or so. Add Parmesan cheese and bouillon cubes. When the bouillon cube is disolved, slowly stir in heavy cream until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cooked pasta to cream sauce and toss until pasta is well covered. Add blanched asparagus. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, toasted pine nuts, parsley, and Parmesan cheese then toss together. Serve immediately.

Serves 6-8

*I found that the chicken bouillon took awhile to disolve. I think the next time I make this, I'll use Better than Bouillon instead. Since it's a paste instead of a cube, it will disolve quickly; I think it'll give a better flavor to the dish as well.

This makes quite a bit of pasta; I should have known - it uses a whole box of pasta! You may want to half this recipe if you're only making it for a few people. My kids didn't eat it - big surprise there - so there was quite a bit left for me and my hubby. Surprisingly, it was still really good leftover. Normally I don't like dishes like this left over because the cream and butter separate and it just doesn't taste as yummy as it did when it was fresh. Besides, then you can see just how much butter you're actually eating and that's not appetizing. I prefer to conceal the butter as much as possible! However, this was still pretty good. The sauce did seperate some, but it didn't completely gross me out like, oh, I don't know...the way leftovers from Olive Garden do. :)


*Update - I made this again last night and the bouillon dissolved just fine, so really you could use either the cubes or Better than Bouillon.   :)  Oh, and Andrew actually ate the pasta - minus the asparagus.  Can't blame him though; I didn't like asparagus until just recently.

Grilled Pineapple Chicken Sandwiches

I've been dying to try this one for awhile and for some reason I haven't. Does that ever happen to you? Chris and I both love bacon and pineapple, so I finally decided enough was enough and I put it on the menu. It was great! I will absolutely be making this again :)

Ingredients:

2 bacon strips, halved

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp barbecue sauce

2 pineapple slices

2 lettuce leaves, optional

2 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

In a small skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels. Flatten chicken to 3/8 in. thickness; brush both sides with oil. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 4 minutes. Turn; brush with barbecue sauce. Grill 3-4 minutes longer or until juices run clear.

Meanwhile, place the pineapple and rolls cut side down on grill; cook for 3-4 minutes or until browned, turning the pineapple once. Place lettuce if desired on roll bottoms; top with chicken, cheese, bacon and pineapple. Replace roll tops.

Serves 2

Nutritional Facts: 1 sandwich equals 556 calories, 23 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 103 mg cholesterol, 860 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 44 g protein.

Weight Watchers Points: 13