Sweet, Salty and Spicy Honey Comb Snack Mix

What to do with a bunch of half eaten boxes of cereal, bags of pretzels and dried fruit/nuts that no one is eating??? Easy solution for me....make a snack mix.... 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup salted butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup or agave
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T. Soy Sauce
2 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1 T. Saracha
1 T. Garlic Powder
1/2 T. Dried Rosemary
1/2 T. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Cayenne pepper
4 C. Honeycomb Cereal
3 C. Cheerios Cereal
3 C. Pretzels (slightly broken)
1 C. Mixed Nuts
1 C. Dried Cranberries
1 C. Banana Chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place the oil, butter, corn syrup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Saracha, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until the butter melts and sugar dissolves. In small dish combine garlic powder, dried rosemary, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.
3. Pour the cereals, pretzels, nuts cranberries and banana chips in large mixing bowl. Drizzle 1/2 of the syrup over the cereal mix and mix well. Sprinkle 1/2 of the spice mix over the mix. Continue adding syrup and spice mix and mixing until all ingredients have been added and the cereal mix is evenly coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool. Transfer into an air tight container.

Spicy Chicken Sausage and Veggie Quiche "crustless"

Great for those of you who are trying to cut out carbs. This crustless quiche is jam packed with delicious flavorful veggies and a yummy spicy chicken sausage.  You won't even miss the crust when you have this.  Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a light dinner.

Ingredients:

5 links of spicy chicken sausage(I used the jalapeño chicken sausage from Trader Joes) you may substitute any sausage that you prefer.
1 package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
6 eggs (or 8 egg whites)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large  saucepan add about a tablespoon of olive oil and brown sausage links.  Once sausage is browned on all sides remove from pan, slice and set aside.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the hot saucepan and add in the yellow squash and zucchini slices and sauté on medium heat until slightly soft.  Next add the drained, chopped spinach to the pan and warm through.  Add back in the sliced sausage and cook contents for an additional 3 minutes.  Turn off heat and set pan aside to cool.  In a large bowl add in your eggs (or egg whites) and beat until frothy.  To the egg mixture add the cooled sausage and veggies and mix well.  Lastly, add in the shredded cheese and mix.  Pour quiche mixture into the prepared casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.  Quiche is done when lightly browned on top and firm to the touch in the center of quiche.   Slice into squares and serve hot.

Baked Buffalo Wings

We had some friends over for Sunday football a few weeks ago and my husband requested wings.  I was trying to watch what I was eating and wanted to come up with a way to make chicken wings that still tasted great but that weren't fried and didn't need butter.  This was so super simple and other than the chicken skin were very healthy.

Ingredients:

3 lbs of chicken wingettes and drumettes

1 cup of Franks wing sauce, buffalo flavor (no fat, no calories)

salt and pepper to taste

3 stalks of celery cut into small sticks

2 carrots cut into small sticks

1 container of fat free sour cream

1 packet of ranch dressing powder mix

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place chicken wingettes and drumettes on a cookie sheet sprayed generously with non-stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle chicken with a little salt and pepper.  Bake in oven for 45 min - 1 hr until chicken is golden brown and the skin is very crispy.  While the chicken is cooking make the ranch dipping sauce by combining the FF sour cream and the ranch dressing packet and mixing until completely combined.  Pour one cup of the Frank's wing sauce into a very large bowl.  Remove chicken from oven and place directly into the large bowl with the wing sauce.  Using tongs quickly toss the wings in the sauce until all pieces are coated well.  Serve hot wings with the dipping sauce and some cut up celery and carrots.

Chicken & Spinach Meatballs Arrabbiata

I have been trying to eat less carbs and fat. These meatballs are virtually carb free. But the little bit of carbohydrate is in the form of oat bran which is a very healthy grain and is said to help in weight loss. I love spicy marinara sauce so I was happy to find a jarred Arrabbiata sauce in the grocery store that was very low in sugar (only 3 grams per serving). The key is to use a lot of spices to add flavor. I went heavy on the garlic powder. The meatballs are really delicious and the look pretty with the bright green spinach laced throughout. You can substitute, beef or turkey ground meat for the chicken

Ingredients:

1 jar of arribbiata sauce (I used Bella Familiga)
1 lb. ground chicken (you can use beef or turkey too)
1/3 cup of organic oat bran
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of minced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained


Preparation:

Simmer sauce over medium heat. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Roll into balls and drop into simmering sauce. Cook in sauce for approximately 30 minutes.

*note....The meatball mixture will be very soft. Roll carefully and drop into sauce trying not to touch the other meatballs. If you can't fit them all in at once, wait about 10 minutes for the meatballs to firm up and then you will be able to move them around to make room for more meatballs to drop in.