Morning Glory Muffins

I made these today because I had carrots to use up. It was either these or a luscious carrot cake complete with cream cheese frosting. You can understand why the Morning Glory Muffins won out. They turned out GREAT! My kids thought I'd lost my mind because I kept asking them if they'd like another muffin for a snack. I didn't bother telling them that they were pretty darn healthy so I was totally OK with them digging in! I omitted the nuts but everything else was as written. Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp table salt

2 cups carrots shredded

1 cup apple(s) shredded

3/4 cup raisins

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

8 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large egg(s)

2 items egg white(s)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour through salt in a large bowl and mix well. Stir in carrots through pineapple. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add oil, applesauce, vanilla, eggs and eggs whites. Stir until just moist. Spoon batter into 24 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

What I loved about this dish was the simplicity of the ingredients. I have to say that my absolute favorite part was the dressing on the salad! So simple but sooo good! I will add that my chicken was not done when cooked in the oven according to the directions on the recipe. So follow everything until you get to the oven part and go ahead and bake them at 350 F for 20 minutes. I pounded my chicken pretty flat but it was raw when I pulled them out after following the directions. I then put them back at 350 for 20 min and they came out juicy and perfect! I also did not use 1 cup of olive oil to fry. I used about 1/3C of canola oil. Don't use extra virgin olive oil to fry! The oil isn't meant to withstand such high temps needed and will burn. Use canola or vegetable oil if you don't have regular OLIVE oil.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

Cutlets

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 3 eggs 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1 inch thickness

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 ounces baby greens

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

1 lemon, cut into wedges

1. Preheat oven to 300F and adjust rack to middle position.

2. To make the cutlets, put flour in a shallow pie plate or bowl. in a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs. Season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip a chicken breast in flour, then eggs, and immediately place into the hot pan. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces. Pan-fry each about 6 minutes, turning once halfway through to get each side golden and crisp.

3. Place a cooling rack on top of a large cookie sheet, lay chicken pieces on rack, and place in oven; bake 7 minutes. the chicken is cooked through when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 160F.

4. To make the dressing, combine lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly pour in oil, whisking constantly to thoroughly combine ingredients. Put lettuce and tomatoes in a large salad bowl and toss with dressing.

5. To serve, place a chicken breast on each of 4 plates. Squeeze a lemon quarter over each breast and top with a healthy serving of salad.

Excerpted from Deliciously Organic by Carrie Vitt, published by International Focus Press. Copyright © 2010.

Crock Pot Sweet 'n Sour Chicken

This was a "throw together because I thawed Chicken Breasts 2 days ago and I need to cook them". Plus, it was a WW recipe so I knew that it would be diet friendly. It was really good and QUICK, EASY and the kids liked it. Trifecta if you ask me. Careful not to overcook the chicken in the crock pot. I cooked it for like 5 hours on low and it was PERFECT. You could also add some pineapple and peppers to this and it would be super! Add toward the end of the cooking cycle to avoid mushy veggies though.

Crock pot Sweet 'n Sour Chicken

3 pounds of boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts (I used 3 breasts and I cut them

into bite size pieces.)

3/4 C Apricot spreadable fruit (I used Simply Fruit brand)

1 8oz bottle of Kraft Fat Free Catalina Dressing

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray. Mix all ingredients together and place into crock pot. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. Serve over rice for additional points.

NI: 1/2 C Serving without rice: Cal 183 Fat 3g Carb 11g, Fiber trace, Cholesterol 69 mg, Sodium 374 mg.

Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

OK so I know I've reviewed and posted a recipe for this type of dish before. I however rescind my former review to add that THESE were the BEST manicotti I've eaten!! LOVE the fact that they're vegetarian (but you could easily add meat to this recipe), that they have cream cheese in them (one of my loves in life next to Tim Horton's coffee) and that the sauce is homemade and DELICIOUS!! Try these, aside from the pain they are to fill the shells (made a SMIDGE easier by putting the filling in a ziplock gallon bag, snipping off the corner and piping it into the shells) these were worth all the effort.

Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cans (8 ounces each) no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dry red wine or vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano

FILLING:
1 package (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese
1-1/4 cups (10 ounces) 2% cottage cheese
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (8 ounces) manicotti shells
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions
In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, wine, Italian seasoning, sugar and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, for filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the cottage cheese, spinach, Parmesan cheese, eggs and salt.
Stuff cream cheese mixture into uncooked manicotti shells. Spread 1 cup sauce into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spay. Arrange manicotti over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top.
Cover and bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until pasta is tender. Uncover; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 7 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 2 stuffed manicotti equals 389 calories, 9 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 80 mg cholesterol, 722 mg sodium, 50 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 25 g protein.