chicken bites

jill reminded me recently how fabulous these ritz/parmesan cheese chicken bites are. she makes them frequently and i hadn't had them in years. so i made these last week. use about 3/4 sleeve of ritz crackers and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. use food processor to crush up crackers and blend with cheese.

cut up 1 lb chicken into bite-size pieces.
dip into melted butter (do you have a healthier alternative that will still be effective and tasty?)
then dip into cracker mixture
place on baking sheet. i lined with parchment paper (my recent addiction).

bake at 400* for about 30 minutes. flip half way through to evenly crisp.

we enjoyed with a brown/white rice mixture and veggies.
tasty with anything... as long as you have bbq sauce on the plate!

once again - pic from my phone!

lindsay's 'healthy cookies'

Healthy Cookies

Today is supposed to be a non-stop torrential downpour so I am not planning on going anywhere I don't have to. Rain makes me want to bake cookies for some reason...but knowing I'll be around the house most of the day I knew I'd eat tons of cookies if I made them. So I looked at allrecipes and found a HEALTHY COOKIE RECIPE.

I made a couple modifications. First, I only used 1/8 C of both white and brown sugar. Then I used a little less than 1/4 C agave nectar. Next I decreased the white flour by half and made up for it with whole wheat flour. In half the dough (for me!!) I put chopped walnuts. In the other half I put chocolate chips to appease Riley. Yum! I totally would have put raisins if I had them on hand.

onion goggles

just saw onion goggles on the saveur.com site from the right.

seriously, there is a product out there that will protect you from crying while cutting up onions. or you can use your scooter goggle sunglasses.

lindays' cheesecake... but

so this is the cheesecake i made for work today. as you can even see in the darn phone camera picture... there were some small lumps throughout. it still is SUPER tasty. but lindsay, what is your secret to that?!

oh, and this is with blueberry pie filling. YUM!

pasta with roasted vegetables and arugula

found in & followed the recipe from FOOD-everyday (martha stewart magazine) Jan/Feb 2010 issue

2 pints grape tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 shallots, cut into eighths
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces rigatoni pasta
1/2 cup pitted olives, coarsely chopped (DID NOT USE! i'm a riggs after all)
3 cups baby arugula or spinach


Preheat oven to 450*. Place tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and thyme on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes burst, shallots are browned, and garlic is soft, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

Peel roasted garlic and mash with the flat side of a chef's knife. Add to pasta pot, along with vegetables, olives (or not), and pasta water. Cook over medium-high until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Let cool slightly, then toss with arugula.

serves 4

as you might have picked up on, i didn't use olives. and i also should have left the tomatoes/ in the oven for a bit longer. i didn't have as much of a 'sauce' as i would have liked. it was seriously tasty though.

maple-nut granola

taken from my first issue of FOOD - everyday (martha stewart magazine), p. 60

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

5 teaspoons vegetable oil

5 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325*. In a large bowl toss all ingredients together. Spread oat mixture on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let cool completely. To store cover and keep at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Makes 4 cups

per 1/2 cup: 241 calories, 9.3 g fat (0.7g saturated fat), 7.1 g protein, 33.1 g carbs, 4.2 g fiber

i enjoy with about 1/2 cup of low-fat strawberry yogurt and 1/2 banana. i'm worried about eating it every morning because i LOVE it and don't want to get sick of it! :o) i hope someone tries this out... it really is super tasty.