Easy Peasy Chicken Fingers

Sometimes, the heart wants chicken fingers.  I get it.  As a child, it was always chicken fingers for me.  Instead of running to the drive-thru for a deep fried, high fat version- take 15 minutes to make these. :)

Easy Peasy Chicken Fingers

Serves: 4 (3 chicken fingers each)

1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. ground flax seed (or “flax meal”- same thing)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins, rinsed and trimmed of visible fat

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Cooking spray

Barbeque sauce to drizzle on top (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Lay raw chicken out on cutting board and lightly salt and pepper.
3. Lightly beat egg in medium sized bowl.  Combine flax, panko and whole wheat breadcrumbs on a plate.  Mix well.  Spray medium sized cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Line them up in a line in the above order.
4. Carefully dip chicken fingers one at a time into egg, then flour mixture, and place on cookie sheet.
5. Bake in 350 F oven for 25-30 minutes, flipping chicken fingers over after about 15 minutes.
6. Serve with 1-2 tbsp. drizzle of barbeque sauce if desired.

Suggested Side: baked sweet potato fries and a mixed greens salad.

Nutrition Facts (per serving- bbq sauce not included):  230 calories, 6g fat (1g saturated fat), 12g carbohydrate (2g fiber), 30g protein

Broccoli-Olive Pizza Puffs & Veggie Enchiladas

I wanted to make note of these two recipes because they were great.  I only made very small alterations though so I will link you right over to the original recipe.  I hope that you might like these too :)

Broccoli-Olive Pizza Puffs

I made these for the Superbowl last weekend and I thought they were a great way to satisfy a pizza craving with the addition of vegetables while cutting out some of the high-sodium sauce.

My changes: substituted black olives for green olives and used a low sodium marinara sauce.  I also made them in large muffin tins, so it made 10 servings.  I didn’t have enough mini-muffin tins to accommodate the recipe, but if you have them I would recommend doing it that way since they will be more bite-size.

Veggie Enchiladas

I seem to have misplaced the picture I took of these but they were deeeelicious!  We loved them.

My changes: I used one whole red bell pepper instead of 1/2, I omitted the cilantro, and used flour tortillas instead of corn.  I just find them easier to roll up for enchiladas.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Spinach-Pesto Sauce

Before I start I have to admit that my posts are going to be a little sporadic for a while. I love blogging recipes that I find to be successful to share with all of you, so it won’t be goodbye.  Unfortunately, I am in my internship full time until May.  The unfortunate part is that I am not paid to do it, so I have to work some nights and weekends on top of my full time hours just to get by.  Effectively, this doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for trying new recipes.  What I do promise is that as I find them, I will post them.  It just may vary from my usual schedule.  I hope you can bear with me during this time, because I appreciate every single person that stops by my blog.  It makes me love doing this even more then I already do when I see a “like” or a “comment” on a post. :)

In other news, this was my first attempt at a homemade ravioli, and I’m happy to say that it won’t be my last!  Folding the ravioli’s up did take a little bit of time so this is probably best left for the weekend, but it still wasn’t that time consuming.

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Spinach-Pesto Sauce– slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Serves: 5

1.5 lbs butternut squash, pre-diced or scoop and dice yourself
2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tablespoons Smart Balance, melted (or other light buttery spread without hydrogenated oils)
5 tbsp. reduced fat Parmesan cheese, grated and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
30 frozen wonton wrappers, thawed out
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. garlic powder
1.75 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup fresh basil
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts, divided
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons vegetable broth
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
6 quarts water

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Place diced squash on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and dried Italian seasoning.  Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until tender. Cool.
3. Combine oregano, squash, and smart balance in a large bowl.  Mash together with a potato masher. Stir in 3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Working with 1 wonton wrapper at a time (cover remaining wrappers with a damp towel to keep them from drying), spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons squash mixture into center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with beaten egg; bring 2 opposite corners together. Pinch edges together to seal, forming a triangle. Repeat procedure with remaining wrappers, squash mixture, and egg. Cover ravioli loosely with a wet towel to prevent drying.
4. Place garlic powder, remaining 2 tablespoons cheese, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, spinach, basil, and 2 tablespoons walnuts. With processor on, slowly pour 2 tbsp. oil, broth, and lemon juice through food chute. Process until well blended. Place pesto in a large bowl.
5. Bring 6 quarts water to a boil in a large pot.  Add half of ravioli; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Remove ravioli with a slotted spoon. Repeat procedure with remaining ravioli. Top ravioli with pesto and serve.  Suggested serving: 6 ravioli per serving with a side of mixed greens.

Nutrition Facts (per serving): 286 calories, 15g fat, 30g carbohydrate, 8g protein