Herbed Chicken and mushroom dinner

This dinner was very yummy. The original recipe called for sherry but I used water or chicken broth.

Single serve Herbed Chicken and Mushroom Dinner

1 4 oz chicken breast
dash of salt
dash of pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup sliced onions
2 oz of sliced mushrooms
1 -2 tbs fat free low sodium chicken broth or water
1/8tsp oregano dried
1 cup frozen broccoli
1/3 cup instant mashed potatoes
1/3 cup water
1 Tbs skim milk
salt and pepper if needed
pepper

  1.  pound chicken to 1/3-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and  pepper; coat with cooking spray. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until browned.
    2. While chicken cooks, cut onions into slices. Remove chicken from pan. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add mushrooms and onions to pan. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in water or chicken broth with oregano. Return chicken to pan; cover and cook 3 to 4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and chicken is done. Transfer chicken to a platter. Pour mushroom mixture over chicken; sprinkle with freshly ground pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Cook broccoli in microwave bowl with a little water to steam for 4 min.

Cook instant mashed potatoes (i do this in the microwave too) boil 1/3 cup water for 2 -2 1/2 min. Remove from microwave add skim milk and potatoes, fluff with a fork and let sit a min.

310 calories and 6 g fat (this made a good size dinner filled my plate)

Yummy Summer Dishes!!

Ok I sooo needed to take pics of these two recipes. They are a great lite summer dinner. I am trying to make the Grill my friend this season only if the rain will let up :) ahhh the life of a New Englander :)
These recipes are from Rachel Ray and the first was a salad we had Sunday, very filling I did add less salt and used a tsp more of honey and just realized that I forgot the parsley OOOPPS :). It was good non the less...
Grilled Chicken with Parsely and Cherry Salad

Today we had Grilled Shrimp Scampi. OH BOY was it yummy.. I am not a fan of shrimp nor do I care too much for zucchini or summer squash but this was cooked just right. I ended up making this for 6 instead of 4 mainly because I am trying to watch my fat intake. This was about 24 g of fat per serving for 4 people. YIKES. I am sure you could cut down the Olive oil. The zucchini and yellow squash call for 1 tbs of the olive oil mix. You could brush with lemon juice and sprinkle lightly with the dry ingredients then lightly spray with a cooking spray before you place on the grill. (never spray while foods are on the grill) So with that said you could cut back to 1/4 to 1/8 cup EVOO..  But either way this was good and I will def make this again. But next time the lower fat way for me :). (Trying to diet here BOOOO LOL) 

Grilled Shrimp Scampi

Nana A's Yummy Sticky Chicken Wings

Mom came across this recipe the other day. This was one of the ones my Nana loved to make back when. Of course not the ones my mom grew up on. Saturday nights were family game night and my Nana would bake some chicken wings with just some garlic on them and they'd have a big bowl of salad for a snack while they all played games around the kitchen table.

This is my Nana and 5 of her 10 kiddos

Here is her Recipe, I have altered it a bit my version of the recipe to follow this one.

These are from tonight, they were very yummy, I think I almost ate half of them to myself  YIKES :)

Excellent! Chicken Wings

4 lbs chicken wings

Sprinkle Garlic Powder on the chicken and bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Drain fat.

Mix all ingredients below.

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vinegar

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Ketchup

1 Tbs cornstarch

dash ginger

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbs molasses

1/4 cup soy sauce 

dash of hot sauce

Pour this over the chicken and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 min or until sauce it thick.

 Here is my version.

KayKay's Chicken Wings

4 lbs chicken wings
Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Sprinkle Garlic Powder on the chicken and bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-50 minutes. Drain fat or Transfer chicken wings minus the fat to another foil lined pan. Now I like them a little crispy. So here I put them in the broiler for a little bit just to crisp the skin about 2 minutes on each side on high about 6 inches from broiler. Be careful to keep an eye out because they can burn easily. If necessary take out the done ones and rearrange the wings that need a little more time under the heat.

Sauce
Mix all ingredients below in a medium saucepan.

1 tsp salt

2 Tbs vinegar

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup Ketchup

1 Tbs cornstarch

1/4+1/8 tps ground ginger

1/4 cup honey

1Tbs molasses

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbs Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp of hot sauce (more if you like spice)
Cook on medium heat until thick. Won't be super thick maybe a little thicker than pancake syrup.May take about 10 minutes.
 In a large bowl toss your wings with enough sauce to coat. Using any extra for dipping. These were def finger licking wings.

Very Yummy Chinese dinner

So here's the link I got the recipe from, below is my alteration to it....
http://chinesefood.about.com/od/poultryreceo/r/generaltso.htm

Ingredients:

* 1 pound chicken breast
* 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* freshly ground black or white pepper, to taste
* Cornstarch, as needed ( I used about 2 tbs.)

I think you may have to double or triple this sauce for the amount of chicken they call for. I made one recipe and it wasn't enough for my liking.
Sauce:
* 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
* 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry ( I just used some wine I had, chianti)
* 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons chicken broth or water
* 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
* 2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch for thickening sauce, optional

Other:
* 1/4 cup diced onions or 1 tsp onion flakes
* 1/2 - 1 tsp red crushed pepper flakes ( depending on how spicey you like it)
* 3 – 4 cups oil for deep-frying and stir-frying, as needed

Preparation:
1. Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Combine the chicken cubes with the egg, soy sauce, and pepper. Add enough cornstarch to nicely coat the chicken, using cooking chopsticks or your fingers to mix it in.( I drained the excess egg mixture before I added the cornstarch)
2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok or fryer to between 350 and 360 degrees Fahrenheit (175 - 180 degrees Celsius). Drop the chicken cubes into the hot oil, a few pieces at a time, and deep-fry until crispy (3 to 4 minutes). Remove the chicken cubes and drain on paper towels. ( I did this in 2 pans, one to fry the went straight to the next step cause the chicken lost it's crunch)
4. Drain and clean out the wok or in a separate pan . Heat 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and the dried chili peppers. Stir-fry until aromatic (about 30 seconds).
5. Add the deep-fried chicken cubes back into the wok. Stir-fry until the chicken cubes are browned (about 1 minute).
6. Push the chicken up to the sides of the wok. Give the sauce a quick restir and add into the middle of the wok. If you added cornstarch to the sauce, stir it continually for 1 - 2 minutes to thicken.
7. Mix the sauce with the chicken. Cook and stir for another 2 minutes, stirring, until the chicken is nicely coated with the sauce. Serve immediately.

I served mine with white rice and broccoli, it was pretty good...