Oven Fried Chicken

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

I have tried a lot of oven fried chicken recipes over the years, and I've always been disappointed in some way. Most of the time, I am disappointed with the breading. It always seems to either get soggy, or it falls off–sometimes I'm lucky enough for both things to happen. A lot of the oven fried chicken recipes I've tried are also kind of bland.

This recipe stood up well to both the breading and flavor challenges. It actually came out crispy, and the seasonings seemed to be just right. Did it taste just like the Colonel's? No, of course not; nobody compares to the Colonel, but it is a tasty, lower-fat, comfort food that I'll be making again and again I'm sure.

I used chicken tenderloins, so they turned out more like chicken fingers. This pleased my 18-month-old and 2-year-old, and they enjoyed dipping theirs in ranch dressing. I made some homemade buffalo sauce for the adults. ;-)

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1 1/2 cups corn flakes cereal , made into crumbs
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 eggs
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 Tablespoons white all purpose flour
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (4, 4-oz, breasts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine cornflake crumbs, thyme, garlic salt, and onion powder.

In a separate bowl lightly beat egg and egg whites. Add hot pepper sauce and mix well.

Place flour in a separate container.

Dip each side of chicken breast in the flour, then egg mixture, then in cornflake mixture.

Place chicken breasts in baking pan. Spray chicken lightly with cooking spray and bake 30-35 minutes, until juices run clear.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224.6, Total Fat: 3g, Sodium: 331.7mg, Total Carbs: 13.8g, Dietary Fiber: 0.5g, Protein: 34.2g

Cheesy Chips

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

One of the things I've missed most since becoming diabetic is crunchy things. If you think about it, there aren't too many crunchy things that aren't fairly loaded with carbs. On top of that, crunchy things are often loaded with other bad things like fat and sodium.

The sodium content in these tasty chips is not super great, but it's not horrible either. It is still less sodium than a serving of potato chips. They also have fewer carbs and less fat than potato chips. So, I'd say these are a good choice for an occasional snack when you just HAVE to have that crunch!

Ingredients:

10 wonton wrappers
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Take each wonton wrapper and cut in half diagonally to form 2 triangles. Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. *I used a pizza cutter to cut these, and it was super easy.

In a small bowl combine the cheese with oil and garlic powder.

Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the wonton triangles.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the wontons are golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 4; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 75.2, Total Fat: 3.5g, Sodium: 156.4mg, Total Carbs: 7.8g, Dietary Fiber: 0.3g, Protein: 3g

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and we had her over for dinner. She loves oatmeal raisin cookies, so I thought I'd find a low-carb recipe and try them out. I don't get into cookies that much, and oatmeal raisin is not my favorite, but these were good. We all enjoyed them. Jeff, my husband, said he actually thought they were a little too sweet for his taste, which says a lot for a low-carb/diabetic-friendly cookie recipe I'd say! These also have much fewer ingredients than a lot of cookie recipes I've seen, so it was easy to make these without a trip to the store first.

Ingredients:

3 medium bananas mashed (overripe bananas have a higher carb content, so be sure to choose fresh bananas)
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup fat free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes so that the oats will absorb excess moisture.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool for 1 minute on baking sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 36; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 51.5, Total Fat: 2.1g, Sodium: 20.9mg, Total Carbs: 7.7g, Dietary Fiber: 0.9g, Protein: 0.9g

Balsamic Pork Chops

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$
Taste: ★★★★

If you're looking for an incredibly easy pork chop recipe, this is the one for you. It didn't live up to my flavor expectations, but marinated meats rarely do for some reason. I even marinated the chops for the full 24 hours.

My family enjoyed it; my daughter, who very rarely eats much of her dinner at all (and especially not meat), actually said she liked it.

Ingredients:

8 boneless pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

Directions:

Place chops in large, re-sealable bag; add vinaigrette dressing. Seal bag and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Prepare medium-hot grill. Remove chops from marinade and pat dry. Discard remaining marinade.

Grill chops directly over heat for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning once.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 8; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210, Total Fat: 11.7g, Sodium: 351.2mg, Total Carbs: 3.9g, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Protein: 20.4g

Angel Food Cookies

Skill Level: Incredibly Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

These are the easiest cookies I have ever made, maybe even easier than the break apart dough cookies you can buy at the store! They are also very tasty. My husband didn't care much for them, but he likes extra stuff in his cookies (he's not fond of shortbread or sugar cookies, either). Oh well...They are also versatile—you could really use any fruity flavor of diet carbonated beverage. We just happened to have some peach on hand. These are also decent-sized cookies, so if you have to limit yourself to just one, you can still feel like you have satisfied your sweet tooth (without a lot of calories and fat, even!).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup diet carbonated beverage
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 angel food cake mix, 14.5oz package
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with the cooking spray.

Put the carbonated beverage, almond extract, and angel food mix in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat at a medium pace until it becomes smooth. Set 28 equal spoonfuls of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 9 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet using a spatula and let cool before serving.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 28; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 54.9, Total Fat: 0.1g, Sodium: 108.7mg, Total Carbs: 12.5g, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Protein:1.3g

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Flavor: ★★★★

How can you go wrong with mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese? Even my toddlers gobble this one up.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

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I have a hard time not sampling the Parmesan cheese mixture before I add it to the fish. It has such a zing to it! This dish can easily be paired with a variety of side dishes for a balanced meal.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 8; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 231, Total Fat: 13.3g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 278mg, Total Carbs: 0.8g,
Dietary Fiber: 0.1, Protein: 26.1g