{made it} Lighter Blue Cheese Burger

Lighter Blue Cheese Burger
*Serves four

Made with lean ground beef and low-fat ingredients, this is a quick and light weeknight fix.

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1 pound lean ground beef

3 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons water

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

4 (1-ounce) English muffins, toasted

4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato

DIRECTIONS

1. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat until hot. Add onion; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; let cool. Combine onion, beef, breadcrumbs, water, and egg white in a large bowl; stir well. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions. 
2. In a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, cook burgers over medium heat for 5 mins per side, or until cooked through to your liking (can also be cooked on the grill, but our deck was covered with snow at the time, so stove-top it is!)
3. Toast muffins. Spread 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 tablespoon blue cheese over top half of each muffin, add tomato and burger. Enjoy!

Original recipe found at CookingLight.com

{made it} Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

On a rare snow day in February, I made the best decision and baked up this gooey, caramel-y, chocolate-y, perfectly salty-sweet dessert.  I brought most of it to work the next day and crumbs were the only thing left standing by 5 p.m. 

INGREDIENTS

•             2 1/8 cups of all purpose flour
•             1/2 tsp. of baking soda
•             1/2 tsp. of salt
•             12 tbsp. of unsalted butter, melted then cooled to room temperature
•             1 cup of light brown sugar
•             1/2 cup(s) of sugar
•             1 egg
•             1 egg yolk
•             2 tsp. of vanilla extract
•             2 cups of chocolate chips
•             10 ounces of Kraft caramel squares (they make an unwrapped "easy for melting" variety found in the baking aisle - I'd recommend that)
•             3 tbsp. of heavy cream
•             Sea salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square pan; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars on medium speed until combined.
4. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave on high until the caramels are melted, stirring every 30 seconds. This will take about 2-3 minutes.
7. Press half of the cookie dough into the pan, smoothing the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Pour the hot caramel over the dough cookie dough and spread into an even layer, leaving some empty space around the edges (if you don't leave space around the edges, the caramel around the edges is going to get really hard). Sprinkle the caramel lightly with the sea salt. Drop the remaining cookie dough in spoonfuls over the caramel and gently spread the dough with a spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt (optional.)
8. Bake the cookie bars for 30 minutes, or until the tops of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan.
9. Cool the bars on a wire rack to room temperature, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow the caramel layer to set. Cut into squares and serve.
10. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Original recipe found at LaurenConrad.com

{made it} Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken Kabobs
*Serves 3

A delicious and light weeknight meal.

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil


Zest of 1 lemon


3 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp. minced dried parsley


1 tsp. kosher salt


½ tsp. ground black pepper


2-3 large skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch pieces

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
2. Prepare a medium fire in a grill.  If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes before use.
3. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and discard the excess marinade.  Lightly oil the grill grates.  Place the kabobs on the grill, cover, and cook until the chicken is opaque throughout, about 8-12 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking.

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.

{made it} Garlic Chicken

Garlic Chicken
4 servings
*Adapted from Food.com recipe

Brown sugar on anything - dessert, sweet potatoes, and not surprisingly, chicken - kicks it up a notch in my book. And the brown sugar makes this recipe. This chicken had such an interesting flavor - in a good way - with the sweetness of the brown sugar mingled with the spices and garlic. 

Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 T brown sugar
1 T olive oil
Additional herbs and spices, as desired (I used a rosemary garlic blend)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil. Using foil is important if you don't want a sticky mess to clean up.

In a small pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender and smelling good.

Remove the garlic from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Add in your additional spices as desired. 

Place chicken breasts on foil and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mix.

Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes, or until juices run clear. Cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your chicken. Mine took about 20 minutes. 

{made it} Cheddar Bacon Chicken

Cheddar Bacon Chicken
Serves 4

Based on Outback Steakhouse's Alice Springs Chicken… my own version. And it was very, very tasty (see all the cheese?)

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
Lawry's Original Seasoned Salt (to taste)
4 slices of bacon
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cheddar jack cheese, shredded

Directions
Sprinkle Seasoned Salt on chicken evenly, to taste. 

Cook the bacon in a large skillet. Set aside, but keep the bacon fat. Saute the mushrooms in the bacon fat until softened. Set aside. 

Meanwhile, bake chicken at 350 for about 40 minutes or until juices run clear. With 5-7 minutes left, place even portions of bacon, mushrooms and cheese on top of chicken pieces. Bake until cheese is melted and chicken is cooked through.

{made it} Chili

Chili
Serves about 8
*Adapted from Cooking Light recipe

Hungry friends at a recent Mardi Gras party gave this chili recipe a thumbs up. I prepared the meat and veggies with the spices in advance, then poured all of the sauce into a crockpot with the beef mixture to cook throughout the morning. Easy peasy! 

Ingredients
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 cup chopped green sweet pepper (2 small)
1 cup chopped onion (2 medium)
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, undrained
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
6 t chili powder
1 t salt
1 t dried basil
1/2 t ground black pepper
Optional toppings: shredded cheddar, chopped onion, sour cream

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook and stir the ground beef, sweet pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and onion is tender. 
2. Stir in chili powder, salt, basil and black pepper. Bring to boiling. 
3. At this point, I let the mixture cool a bit and put it in a tupperware container so I could bring it with me to the party the next day. 
4. When you're ready for it to go in the crock pot, dump in your beef mixture and add tomato sauce, beans and tomatoes. 
5. Adjust heat settings accordingly. I heated mine on hot until it became bubbly, then kept it on warm until it was gone. 

I am a new fan of crockpot liners. Makes cleanup after a long party a breeze/non existent.