Man Pleasing Chicken {{Secret Recipe Club}}

Happy Monday Folks! :)
It's time for another fun installment of the Secret Recipe Club!
This month, I was assigned a super amazingly beautiful blog. Debby from A Feast for the Eyes describes her page as " Take one recipe blog, and add a passion for cooking a garnish of beginning gardening and a dash of travel". Seriously, her page is full of so many wonderful recipes! Her recipes are organized so wonderfully!
I had a hard time deciding what to make. She has great choices such as Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins, Crispy Fish Tacos, and Pan Seared Scallops and Pasta!


I chose to make the recipe on her blog for "Man Pleasing Chicken" She touts that it applies to Moms, Women, and Wives as well :)

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed well (mine had 8 pieces)
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbs rice vinegar





Preheat oven to 450. Line 9x13 baking dish with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Lightly salt and pepper chicken and place in baking dish. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small mixing bowl and pour over the chicken, coating well. Bake for 30-40  minutes, until cooked through, basting the chicken in the sauce about 1/2 way through. Sprinkle with your choice of herbs. I used Dried Thyme

Serve and Enjoy. This was indeed Man Pleasing Chicken :) Ed intentionally didn't eat as much as he wanted to so he could save some to take to work with him for dinner a few nights this week! I also thought it was good and I will try making it again. I think I will add some garlic to it, to increase the savory spice a bit, and I was to try it with Chicken Breast instead of thighs to cut the Points down some. It was really really yummy and super moist. I know my BFF Lorin would LOVE this :)

the Points Plus Breakdown for this recipe is as follows:

Serves 8 @ 8 PPV

Serves 6 @ 11 PPV

Serves 4 @ 16 PPV

Some of the fat cooks out of the chicken but I don't feel comfortable adjusting the points based on that :) have yourself some zero point veggies and call it a night :)

Check out the linky below for more great recipes!

McCormick Grill Mates® Grill Ambassadors Party

I must say, I love crowdtap! I had gotten a free pair of shorts from Old Navy, and then I was selected for the McCormick Grill Mates® Grill Ambassadors Party. The party pack I received in the mail had lots of yummy goodies! There is still so much summer left, and grilling is such a fun way to get friends and family involved together.

1) Molasses Bacon Seasoning

2) Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ Sauce

3) Montreal Steak Seasoning

3) Spiced Brandy & Herb Marinade

5) Slow & Low Memphis Bit BBQ Rub

We tried each one of these and we were truly impressed by them all. I like to think of this as my sweet and smoky flavor arsenal. The flavors are unique and full.

The molasses bacon has become a multipurpose spice in my kitchen. Sprinkle some on top of your eggs, or on a baked potato to kick the flavor up a notch! I cooked some Hake fillets in the stove top, in coconut oil, sprinkled with the spice and it was out of this world!

Taking this spice to the grill, we enjoyed boneless skinless chicken breast, rubbed lightly with a BBQ spice rub, topped with diced peaches that were sprinkled with the Molasses Bacon Seasoning. Oh My Yum ! :)

Very tasty, and visually appealing too!

The Brown Sugar Bourbon BBQ sauce is in a class of its own. The sauce is SO thick, no worries with wasting half the bottle from it not sticking to the meat when you are trying to cook! The bottle touts that this is both a BBQ sauce and a rub in one, which is pretty impressive. We cooked some chicken tenders in grill packets on the grill with the sauce. The flavor balance was perfect, just enough flavor but not over powering!

I used both the BBQ sauce and the Montreal Steak Seasoning to make these Turkey Burgers. Easy to make and tasty to boot. 1 pound lean ground turkey, 1 tbs Montreal steak seasoning, 1 tsp diced onion, 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Mix together and form patties, Brush on BBQ sauce. Grill and enjoy!

The biggest surprise was the awesome flavor that was provided by the Spiced Brandy and Herb Marinade. The package describes the flavor as  having "the distinctive blend of herbs and warm spices such as cinnamon and ginger with a hint of brandy flavor" :D. I happened to be out of regular vinegar like the marinade recipe calls for so I subbed in some pomegranate infused red wine vinegar. Ed said these were the best chicken legs he had EVER had. That is saying something!

Last, but certainly not least, is the Slow & Low Memphis Pit BBQ Rub. I can say that I like ribs, but this rub takes them to a WHOLE new level. I was afraid that the spice blend was going to be too overwhelming and I am so glad that I was wrong. Honestly, I don't know that I will ever cook ribs again without this blend. It is super easy to use, just rub it on the ribs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a few hours. The juices release from the meat and combine with the spices to make an amazing crust on on the ribs. Holy Yum. I really want to make more, just reliving the experience!

For more great grilling ideas, stop by the GrillMates facebook page. They share new recipes, and are even currently offering free ringtones!



I was sent this awesome sampler pack to review from CrowdTap and McCormick GrillMates. However all opinions expressed in this post are my own, honest opinions. I was not given any additional compensation for my opinions.

Review: Beanfields Crispylicious Bean & Rice Chips

Stop what you are thinking, unless you are thinking amazing things. :D When I applied for this product review for Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips I was excited and nervous at the same time.  Think about it. A healthier snack chip. There are all kinds of ways this could go wrong. After review the ingredients, mainly beans, rice and oils, my interest was piqued and I was so excited to get my sampler box in the mail. DELICIOUS!

Beanfields is a family owned, values-based company. They love them some beans.All of their chips are Corn Free, Gluten Free and do not include GMO (genetically modified) ingredients. Beanfields believes that great taste, high nutrition and allergen free can and should co-exist. A servings of these chips packs 4 grams of fiber and 4 grams of complete protein.

1 serving

In my sample pack, I was lucky enough to receive the following varieties to samples:

Naturally Unsalted

Sea Salt

Sea Salt & Pepper

Pico de Gallo

Vegan Nacho

I shared the chips with some of my friends and co workers to get their opinion of them as well. All of the chips were super tasty and filling. They were crunchy, flavorful, and satisfying. The Pico de Gallo we my and my friend Stacy's favorite, while our hubby's liked the Nacho ones best.  For those of you watching your sodium, the Naturally Unsalted would be a great option for you! One serving only has 5 mg of sodium!!! My boss and coworker both enjoyed the Unsalted variety.The other varieties range from 140-190 mg (see pics below).

click for larger view

click for larger view

All varieties are 4 Points+ Per Serving :)

I was a big fan of the texture of the chips. They are not greasy and you can see the detail below:

These chips are really delicious and I am anxious to get some more in the mail.I love that they sell these great snacks in two sized bags, 1.5 oz and 6 oz. The bags in the above picture of the varieties are the 6 oz size. The prices are reasonable, averaging about $1.19-$1.49 for a 1.5 oz bag and $2.99-$3.99 for the 6 oz bags. You can look for a store that sells them locally near you, or if you live in an area similar to where I live and the stores do not carry this brand you have 3 options :D

1)  Beanfields is kind enough to provide a form on their website that you can take to your local grocer, requesting that start carrying the product

2) You can order them online from their website

3) Shop from Amazon!

I thoroughly enjoyed my samples and Beanfields has changed my mind on what chips should be. These quality and wholesome chips are farmed and made in the USA.  I learned a lot while researching this product and sampling them. Some of my favorite facts include:

Beans are the only food listed twice on the USDA Food plate, both as a vegetable and as a protein
Beans take less water to grow, per pound, than any other protein source




I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Squash Pudding {Secret Recipe Club}

It is unbelievable that it is June already! That means it is time for another Secret Recipe Club Post! This is such a great group of bloggers where each month we are secretly assigned another blogger from our group, so that we can visit their blog and recreate one of their recipes! This month, I had the pleasure of browsing Julie's blog Little Bit of Everything She participates in all sorts of neat challenge groups, and that was fun to read about. I have about 6 of her other recipes bookmarked to try later :) I eventually decided I needed to make her Squash Pudding. I wasn't really sure what size pan to use, so I baked mine in 2 8x8'sThank you for allowing me over to your blog Julie! I look forward to trying more of your recipes soon!


Ingredients:
2 3/4 lb yellow squash, peeled and sliced
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup white flour
1 1tsp vanilla
1/4 + 1/8 cup brown sugar blend
sprinkle of cinnamon and allspice


Preheat oven to 350 Spray glass baking dish (2- 8x8 or 1 9x13) with cooking spray. Boil squash until tender and drain well ( I don't think I drained mine well enough as it never really set, but this could be the correct consistency) . In your blender or food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour in to prepared backing dish and bake for 30-45 minutes or until edges are brown.

This turned out quite yummy, though I wasn't sure of what the final consistency should have been. It was pudding-ish though :) I think I will try and remake this again in the future, better draining the squash and reducing some of the sweetener,  but over all i was impressed I could turn veggies in to something this unique :)

Serves 8 @ 3PPV
Serves 6 @ 4 PPV
Serves 4 @ 5 PPV

Check out the linky below for more great Secret Recipe Club posts!!!




Linked at Fit and Fab Fridays

Savory Breakfast Bake

If you have been a reader for long, or if you visit my recipe index, you know that we are big fans of breakfast! This recipe is one that I came up with after Ed has a few sweet breakfasts back to back and I wanted to try something different. The blend of spices in this recipe is the perfect savory blend. If you scale the portions down this could be an awesome side dish! We had some leftover burger buns to use up, but you can use all light wheat bread if you prefer


Savory Breakfast Bake
Printable Recipe

3 burger buns, cubed
2 slices light wheat bread, cubed
1/3 cup milk
5 eggs
1/4 cup diced green onions
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp garlic salt with parsley
1/4 cup 2% milk cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray Toss the bread cubes and spices together, beat the eggs and milk together.Combine the bread and egg mix and stir til coated Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until cooked through Serve and enjoy!

Serves 4 @ 5PPV

Serves 5@ 4 PPV

Serves 8 @ 3 PPV

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatcake

I have been eyeing rhubarb for a while, and every time I see a recipe I like, the rhubarb is not in season. BUMMER! This year, I was keeping an eye out for some that wasn't ridiculously expensive and when I found some, I scooped it up. It took me about a week to find just the right recipe but it was totally worth the wait! Get Healthy With Heather is a fellow Secret Recipe Club Member and her recipe is fantastic! I made some adjustments but the original premise is based off of her recipe. This is PERFECT for breakfast, or you can have smaller portions as a snack or a dessert.

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatcake
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
3 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup white flour
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbs brown sugar blend
2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed banana
6 oz fat free vanilla yogurt
2 tbs oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
 9 oz rhubarb, diced (about 2.5 cups)
10.5 oz strawberries, diced (about 2 cups)
1 tbs sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 glass baking dish with pan spray. Dice and rinse rhubarb and strawberries, sprinkle with 1 tbs sugar, stir to coat and set aside.  Mix your dry ingredients (oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and brown sugar blend) in a mixing bowl until well combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients ( eggs, banana, yogurt, oil, vanilla and milk). Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and add the strawberries and rhubarb. Stir until coated and well combined Pour in to baking dish and bake for 45-60 minutes or until cooked through. Serve and enjoy!!

Serves :

12 @ 4 PPV

10 @ 5PPV

8 @7 PPV

Linked At Amee's Fit & Fab Fridays, The Latest Edition

Ritz Breakfast Bake

A simple and affordable meal, that can be adapted to mostly any taste, by adding extra veggies, some additional protein, and using your favorite CHEESE :) This recipe is cooked up in a 9x13 dish, but you could half the ingredients and make it in an 8x8 if that better suits your needs.

Ingredients:
36 ritz crackers (about 1 sleeve) crushed fine, I put mine in my mini food processor
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs onion powder
2 cups prepared white gravy (pour-able consistency, but not water thin)
1/2 cup cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spray glass 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Spread the crushed crackers in the bottom of the dish. Drizzle the gravy as evenly as possible over the cracker crumbs. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, milk and onion powder until well combined and pour this evenly over the gravy and cracker base. Top with cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until puffed and cooked through. Serve and Enjoy! This would be great topped with some salsa, hot sauce, or as my hubby like it, with maple syrup :)

Serves 8 at 7 PointPlus
Serves 6 at 9 PointsPlus
Serves 4 at 14 PointsPlus




*this recipe was originally posted as a guest post over on Coupon Savings In The South! Drop by and check out her page!

Linked at: the Latest Find, Recipe of the week: Eggs

Old Navy Style Council: FREE SHORTS!

I was pretty ecstatic to be chosen by Old Navy and CrowdTap to be part of the Old Navy Style Council Summer Style is short and sweet promotion where I was able to visit Old Navy and get a free pair of shorts. I have never been a big fan or shorts shopping, regardless of what size I have been. Old Navy offered a nice variety of styles, sizes and patterns to choose from! I grabbed my armful of different styles and headed for the dressing room!

I love their cute hangers :)

                          I loved the cute tie belt on these shorts, but they were a tad short for my taste!

These shorts were super short and comfy but I wasn't quite feeling the print. Looking back at the pics

I realize I like them a bit more now than I did in the store! The length of these 5" shorts

was more my speed :)

These were easily my absolute favorite. The fit was comfortable, with out being too baggy

or too tight. And the colors were so much fun! Perfection, in the form of shorts!

Comfy and cute without being clingy. The perfect summer outfit!

My friend Jennifer aka Twinny got to get a free pair of shorts too. 

I was pretty happy we both have super white legs :)

And her super cute son Michael Goofing off!

I was very pleased with the selection the was offered at the store near me! I was hoping to try on some of the bermudas, which there weren't too many off, but that helped get me out of my long shorts funk. The sizes were good as well. I picked the same size of all the shorts that I tried on and they all fit well. It was nice not to have to run back and forth picking up other sizes to try.

Want to learn how to be a crowdtapper and have the chance for excellent opps like this? Check out this link and sign up! They offer some awesome rewards. I am very proud to be a Crowdtapper!

* I was given 2 coupons to get free shorts from Old Navy. However all opinions expressed in this post are my own, honest opinions. I was not given any additional compensation for my opinions.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread {Secret Recipe Club}

Another month, with another wonderful Secret Recipe Club assignment! If you are new to my blog and are unsure of what the Secret Recipe Club is, each month the members are secretly assigned another member from the group, and then we go and find an irresistible recipe to recreate and post on our own blog.  It is so much fun to browse through the other blogs and find awesomely wonderful recipes to make :)  A big shout out to Amanda, the founder of this wonderful club, and to Suzanne, the hostess of group B who helps us keep all of our stuff together :).


This month, I was assigned Allison's Blog, Sweet Flours. Allison is from the West Coast and she also has another blog site called Have the Cake. I highly suggest checking out both pages!  Her blog is full of so many wonderful recipes, with such a great variety of ingredients, I was having trouble choosing! Would it be the Pepperoni Pizza Puffs, Pesto Meatballs, or Jalapeno Sausage Cheese and Egg Braid? I actually ended up baking, and making the Peanut Butter Banana Bread :) Thank you for being in the SRC Allison and allowing me the chance to wander around your blog and discover tons of yummy new recipes! <3 I didn't have an actual loaf pan, so I baked this in a 2 quart baking dish and will have wide thin slices :) Allison also added a glaze to her bread, which I decided against for the time being but I will probably try it later!


Printable Recipe
Ingredients: 
1/2 cup ground oats
1 cup white flour
1/4 ground flax seed
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon


1 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 large bananas)
1/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
2 eggs
1/3 cup creamy honey roast peanut butter
2 tbs melted coconut oil


1/2 cup brown sugar blend


Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (except the sugar blend), stir til well combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredient and beat til well combined. Beat the sugar blend in to the wet ingredients, then beat the wet and dry ingredients together. Pour in to baking dish ( 9x5 loaf pan or 2 quart rectangle baking dish) that has been sprayed with pan spray, smoothing the top, and bake for 50-65 or until cooked through. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Serves 20 at 3 PPV

Serves 16 at 4 PPV

Serves 12 at 5 PPV

Baked Kiwi

I bought a six pack of kiwi fruit from Walmart the other day and wanted to try something new with them! I came across this recipe, with a video that shows you how to prepare it! :) ( Should have watched the video better, I didn't cut the bottoms off so mine kept trying to roll around :) )

Ingredients:
2 Kiwi fruit
1 tsp honey
sprinkle cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450. Cut thin slice off the bottom of each kiwi to keep it from rolling around. Cut the top off the kiwis. Place flat end down in baking dish, pour 1/2 tsp honey on top of each kiwi, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until heated through. Serve and enjoy!

These were yummy, but kind of hard to scoop the insides out with out getting sticky. I ended up slicing the fruit out and putting it in the baking dish with the excess melted honey :)

3 PPV for both!



Linked at: Newly wed Linky,Fit and Fabulous Fridays,