sugar.salt.spice

For my neice’s first birthday party, my sister wanted something Tinkerbell to please the palette’s of the party guests. Something colorful and yummy but not overkilled with sugar.

These red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were delectable and divine!

Begin by making cupcakes from your favorite boxed red velvet cake ingredients.

For the Frosting
1 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
8oz cream cheese (softened)
2c confectioner’s sugar (sifted)
1tsp vanilla extract

Blend softened butter and cream cheese with vanilla on low speed until mixed.

Slowly incorporate confectioner’s sugar. Increase speed to medium and blend until light and fluffy.

Spread on completely cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles. Enjoy!

For chicken lovers, this dish is an easy way to spice up boring chicken recipes, and the oregano chips add a wonderful, cheesy crunch.

Stuffed Chicken

Start by preparing the chicken.  Put one thawed chicken breast into a plastic Ziploc bag. Pound the chicken with a rolling pin or other utensil until flat. Repeat for each chicken breast. Set aside.

For the filling, pour 2T olive into pan on medium heat.  Add garlic and saute for a minute.  Add spinach and mushrooms, then season with salt and pepper. Cook until spinach and mushrooms are soft, approximately 5 minutes.  Remove from heat. Add ricotta and Parmesan cheese.  

Lay one chicken breast out and scoop enough spinach mixture into center of chicken so that it can roll easily without spilling mixture out the sides, about 1/4 cup. Roll chicken around filling and secure chicken edges with damp toothpicks.  Tip: soak toothpicks in water to prevent burning when cooking the chicken. Repeat for each chicken breast.

Cook stuffed chicken breasts in a pan with 2T olive oil on medium heat, turning once or twice, for approximately 10 minutes or until cooked through.  Keep lid on to retain moisture while cooking.

Ingredients

• 3 – 8oz thawed chicken breasts
• 10oz package of frozen spinach
• 6 medium button mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4T olive oil
• 4oz ricotta cheese
• 2T grated Parmesan cheese

Oregano Chips

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Brush one side of each tortilla with olive oil. Cut the stack of tortillas lengthwise, making four slices (which will yield 16 pieces total). Arrange the tortilla pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the oregano, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes until crisp and golden.

Ingredients

• 4 corn tortillas
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1T grated Parmesean cheese

Due to the spring forward hour change last night, my breakfast idea ended up being more of a late late brunch. Nevertheless, it turned out scrumptious.  This take on the Italian Frittata is a breakfast idea I once saw on Everyday Italian on the FOOD network. I’ve tailored it to fit a low fat/low carb diet plan.  For 313 calories, you can enjoy this yummy meal!

Frittata Muffins

Boil pasta over medium heat until al dente. Drain pasta. Mix cooked pasta, Egg Beaters, ham, cheese and milk in large mixing bowl.  Season with salt, pepper and chives.  Scoop 1/3 cup pasta mixture into muffin tins coated with olive oil. Baked at 350° F for 15 minutes or until tops are slightly brown. Serve hot.

*Lessons Learned: While calculating the nutritional content of this dish, I realized that Deli Select Ham has more sodium than I would like.  Substitute with fresh deli ham to reduce sodium; turkey also works well.

Ingredients

• No Yolks Egg White Pasta – 4oz
• Egg Beaters – 3 cups
• Deli Fresh Ham – 12 slices chopped
• Weight Watchers Shredded Cheese – 2/3 cup
• Milk 1% – 1 cup
• Chopped Chives to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cream Cheese Crepes

Cheese Filling – Blend cream cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.  Works best if cream cheese is softened.

Crepe Mixture - Blend egg, flour, milk and vanilla until smooth. For those without a crepe cooker, heat skillet to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Pour 1/4 cup crepe mixture into skillet.  Flip crepe when sides start to bubble; about 30 seconds.  CAREFUL: crepes are fragile and will break with too much force.

Putting it all together – Scoop 2 Tablespoons cream cheese mixture into crepe.  Roll crepe like a fajita. Place in a 9×13in pan.  Cook crepes at 350° F for 15 minutes.  Serve with butter, syrup or jelly of your choice.
Ingredients

Cream Cheese Filling

• Philadelphia Cream Cheese 1/3 Fat – 8oz
• Vanilla Extract – 1T
• Sugar – 1/4 cup
• Milk – 1/4 cup

Crepes

• Flour – 2/3 cup
• Egg Beaters – 3/4 cup
• Vanilla – 1T
• Milk – 1 cup