Frank’s red hot – Fervent Foodie

Buffalo. Chicken. Dip. Rocks my world.

August 29, 2010 28 Comments

Not to be a total buzzkill, but this is by no means a “healthy recipe.” However, it is much healthier than the version we used to make, and I promise everyone who tries it will love it. I stand behind my buffalo chicken dip 🙂

Here’s what you’ll need to make a single batch. For game day, I totally recommend using a slow cooker like this one!

1.25 pounds shredded chicken breast
8 ounces Hidden Valley Fat Free Ranch Dressing
8 ounces Philadelphia 1/3 less Fat Cream Cheese
4-5 ounces Franks Red Hot, depending on your heat preference.
Shredded cheese of your choice
Tortilla or corn chips for dippin

First up, I like to boil the chicken. This is the ONLY recipe you will ever see me use boiled chicken for, as I find it extremely unflavorful. However, it does make the chicken very moist and easy to shred. I typically cut the chicken breasts in half before dropping them into a pot of boiling water. Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, this can take 12-14 minutes or so–just cook the chicken until it’s no longer pink in the middle.

Once the chicken is done, transfer it to a plate to cool. Meanwhile, combined the ranch dressing, cream cheese, and Franks in a bowl.

Melt the sauce in the microwave on a VERY low heat, stirring frequently.

Next up, it’s time to SHRED. The chicken that is. I find it easiest to shred the chicken by using two forks. One to hold the chicken in place, and the other to shred the chicken a part:

I usually do a rough shred with the forks, then use my hands to break it up into smaller bits and also find any fat that may have slipped in. Chicken fat. *CRINGE*

Once shredded, toss the chicken into a baking dish (or crockpot):

and pour the melted sauce over top. Stir to combine:

then top with shredded cheese:

At this point you have two options–bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes OR you can also just put the lid on the crock pot and set it to medium heat. If I’m using a crockpot, I often use a little less chicken so the dip doesn’t dry out too much throughout the day.

I kid you not, this is better than any buffalo chicken dip I have ever tried. A lot of people used canned chicken in their buffalo chicken dip, and honestly, that is the worst idea ever. Using chicken breast is KEY. In a pinch, I’ve also used a rotisserie chicken, which was equally tasty.

Also important to point out that sometimes fat-free ranch can have kind of a funky taste. I’ve tried other brands in this BCD, but have found Hidden Valley to be the best option.

The dip disappeared before I got a photo, but I think you get the picture. It is friggin delicious.

It also freezes and reheats well, tastes delicious cold, on a sandwich, and when eaten with your bare hands 😀

ENJOY!!!

What I ate

A sandwich BUILT for Hummus

August 26, 2010 4 Comments

It’s Thursday, and I am one happy lady. Thank you to those of you who commented on yesterday’s tell me something happy post. Each one of your comments resulted in a big smile on my face, and I thank you again and again for sharing your happy thoughts with me!

Breakfast #1

Today I planned on eating the last of the scrambled eggs I cooked up on Sunday, but I was in the mood for something a little different. Something with a little kick. And when I’m in such a mood, I turn to my friend Frank. Frank’s Red Hot that is 🙂

Come to think of it, I can’t leave out my good friends George and Mama Lupe either! Frank, George, and Mama Lupe all contributed to my yummy breakfast wrap.

Leftover scrambled eggs + several shakes of Franks atop a Mama Lupe low carb tortilla:

Then I wrapped it up burrito-style and grilled on the George for about 5 minutes, until the eggs were hot and the tortilla was crispy.

I also heated up the broccoli in the microwave… Unfortunately my microwave doesn’t have a human name… Frank, George, Mama Lupe, and Emerson (I guess Emerson could be a last name).

I swear the George Foreman grill is one of the most amazing kitchen gadgets on earth–or at least the most amazing one in my kitchen!

Stats on B#1: 208 Calories, 15 g carbs, 8g fat, 24g protein, 6g fiber

Breakfast #2

Overnight oaty goodness:

It’s getting cold in the mornings now… I have a feeling pretty soon I’ll be saying farewell to cold oats and heading back to the warmth the traditional hot oats. *Sigh*

Stats on B#2: 233 calories, 44g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 7g fiber

Lunch

Ive blabbed my Trader Joe’s sob story on this blog many a time.. Sooooo far to drive (~1 hr away) to the nearest TJ’s… So sad. Luckily, my mom picked me up some Trader Joe’s Hummus on her last trip to TJ’s! WOOOOOOT!

The hummus was not an afterthought for today’s sandwich, not a mere condiment to go on the bun. No. Today’s sandwich was BUILT specifically for Trader Joe’s Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus.

This sandwich consisted of a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat & a four ounce grilled chicken breast:

That I topped off with sliced tomato, onion, and the STAR of the show: Trader Joe’s Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Then I added some fresh spinach and some sprouts. Excessive veggies? Perhaps.

Check out the height on this sucker:

I also had some leftover roasted cauliflower on the side. Cauliflower might looking boring, but trust me. It was fab.

Layers of FLAVOR.

Stats on Lunch: 364 calories, 35g carbs, 5g fat, 46g protein, 11g fiber

QUESTION: What did YOU have for lunch today? I’m always looking for ways to shake up my lunch routine!

Recipes

Zucchini Pancakes

July 26, 2010 6 Comments

Sometimes life is just about compromises. Tonight, I had a serious craving for some french fries… a big ole mound of french fries and some ketchup.. mmmmm….

In lieu of this, I opted for a big ole salad… hmm big ole salad vs. big ole mound of french fries? That’s not exactly a fair fight…

My salad consisted of:

1/2 bag fresh express romaine
2.5 ounces grilled chicken breast
1 roma tomato
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 cup white mushrooms
2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Italian Romano dressing

Not exactly a french-fry-craving cure… but darn tasty in its own right.

Stats on the salad: 204 calories, 18g carbs, 6g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

To help curb my desire for some grease, I decided to try out this recipe I found for Zucchini Pancakes on Gina’s Skinny Taste blog.

Here’s what went in to my zucchini pancakes:

1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbsp chopped chives (holler at you, backyard garden 😉 )
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large egg white
2 tsp DiGiorno Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp each S&P
Sprinkling of red pepper flakes

I combined everything up, then heated up a skillet I had sprayed with some cooking spray. Using a small cookie dough scooper, I dropped 3 pancakes into the pan.

One by one:

Batch #1 Finished Products:

These tasted AWESOME. They really spoke to the onion-lover in me. Only problem was they didn’t get crispy like a traditional potato pancake. I tried several different methods, including flattening them out til they were very thin–but they just wouldn’t crisp up! Maybe it’s the whole egg that helps to get them crispy–but regardless of the texture issues the taste was yum-o.

I tried one bite with some ketchup of course:

And I tried one bite with some Frank’s red hot:

(I preferred the ketchup in this case)

The zucchini pancake “batter” made 9 of these little fritters. I ate 7 of them (I had to try one for each cooking method…. haha), and I saved two of them for breakfast tomorrow so I can see how well they heat up in the microwave.

Stats on 9 Zucchini Fritters (entire batter): 159 calories, 27g carbs, 2g fat, 11g protein, 2g fiber

What I ate

Canada, Greece, Repeat.

June 29, 2010 6 Comments

Around the world and back again in three short meals 🙂 Geesh, I need a vacation… Luckily, only two weeks til my Char-Char-cation!!! (Charlotte/Charleston/Vacation 😉 )

Breakfast #1 = Canada

Canadian Bacon Eggins! Last night, I decided to whip up some eggins and use some of the Canadian Bacon I picked up at Trader Joe’s over the weekend.

I sprayed a muffin tin down with cooking spray, and plopped one piece of the Canadian bacon in each of 6 muffin tins.

Then I mixed together 9 egg whites, splash of water, S&P, red pepper flakes, franks red hot and poured it evenly into the 6 muffin tins. (Word to the wise – if you use a container with a spout it makes life A LOT easier 🙂 )

I cooked them for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

I had three of these little guys for breakfast with a dollop of ketchup.

Stats for 3 Canadian Bacon Eggins & ketchup: 147 calories, 6g carbs, 1g fat, 26g protein, 0g fiber

Breakfast #2 = Greece

1/2 cup Trader Joe’s nonfat vanilla greek yogurt with 1/4 cup each strawberries and blueberries.

Trader Joe’s greek yogurt was so tasty. It’s not overly sweet, which I really liked. I think I could have ate about 3 more servings of this 🙂

Stats: 133 calories, 23g carbs, 0g fat, 9g protein, 2g fiber

Lunch = Repeat

Leftovers from last night’s Chicken Couscous Salad!

So tasstttyyyy…

Last night’s smoothie

Since lunch was a repeat, I thought I’d showcase the lovely little smoothie I made last night. Everyday, I have a mid afternoon snack and a late night snack, each of which are around 100 calories. They are usually something simple like an apple or a bowl of low-cal cereal and almond milk, and don’t typically make it into the blog.

Last night, I was feeling up for a smoothie so I put the following into the blender:

1/4 cup Oikos nonfat plain yogurt
1 packet Truvia (Stevia)
1/4 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk
1/4 cup each of frozen fresh blueberries, strawberries, and black raspberries

All blended up:

This lil guy was quite tasty, and he is quite the looker too 😉 !

Stats on the berry smoothie: 92 calories, 18g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 4g fiber

Get those comments on the PB2 Giveaway page! Pssst… you don’t have to create a blog to get a wordpress account!

Also, check out this Chobani Greek Yogurt Giveaway courtesy of Hillary at Foodie on the Run!!!

Recipes

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

June 26, 2010 No Comments

Today, I decided to try out brussel sprouts on the grill. Using this recipe from food network as my guide, I microwaved 5 brussel sprouts for 3 minutes. Then topped with a tiny bit of olive oil, S&P, minced garlic, tiny bit of cayenne pepper, and some paprika.

I stuck the sprouts on a skewer and put them on the george foreman grill for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, I assembled a turkey wrap sandwich consisting of 1 lite Flatout italian wrap, 3 ounces turkey breast, tomato, onion, banana pepper, a 1/2 tsp fat free italian dressing, and a few drops of Frank’s Red Hot.

After the sprouts had cooked for five minutes, I flipped them to the other side, threw the wrap on the grill, and cooked for another five minutes.

Lunch is served!

Stats on the wrap, sprouts, and grapes: 306 calories, 39g carbs, 7g fat, 27g protein, 14g fiber

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