Deli Style Chicken Orange Salad...with some extras!

So, I am super lame and started my menu week a day late.  It happens!

We were scheduled to have Deli Style Chicken & Orange Salad with French Bread.  I could have bought a loaf of bread at the store...but where is the fun in that?!

The French bread was super easy...with the help of my trusty breadmaker!

1.5 c water
1 Tbl veggie oil
2 Tbl milk
4 c flour
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast

Toss them all into the breadmaker and walk away!  Crazy easy!

Truth be told the Salad was just as easy.

Get yourself a rotisserie chicken and tear it to bits.  I tossed the skin, since I am making strides to keep things on the healthy side!
Get a bagged salad - or cut your own greens and place in salad bowls.  Top with mandarin orange slices and peanuts.  I made a really easy dressing (though forgot to take pics) of 2 Tbl. of frozen oj, 1 Tbl. of water and 2 tsp. of sesame oil.

Doesn't that look delicious?  Well, it was...trust me.

Aiden was much happier about dinner than he appears and Daddy was quite happy to have a great dinner waiting for him as soon as he got home!
(Stats on the salad: 232 cal, 10g fat, 25g protien, 10g carb, 3g dietary fiber, 65mg sodium)

Did I mention that we also had dessert?  Of course we had dessert...but this time it was a more health conscious choice, though it won't appear so at first glance!

Yes, we had cupcakes.  Not just any cupcakes...Devin Alexander Black & White Cupcakes.  If you are not familiar with Devin - you should be.  She has a show on Discover Health called Healthy Decadence (a cookbook by the same name as well as others) and she is also a major contributor to The Biggest Loser cookbooks.  She is really a great find.

To start you will need:

For the cupcakes:
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1-1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup corn starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 cup fat free milk
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
3 egg whites
1/2 cup light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 18 silicone or foil (not paper) cup cake liners into 18 cups of 2 standard, non-stick muffin tins (or you can work in batches, using only 1 tin). If using foil liners, lightly mist them with spray.
Add the flour, cocoa, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium mixing bowl. Using your hands, mix them until combined, being sure to break any lumps. Set it aside.

In a large mixing bowl, using a sturdy whisk, mix the sugar, milk and coffee granules, stirring continuously for 1 minute. Whisk in the egg whites and the corn syrup until blended. Add the dry ingredients and stir them until just smooth.

Fill each cup about two-thirds full.

Transfer the pan to the oven and bake them about 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are okay). Transfer the pan to a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes from the pan and allow them to cool completely.

For the butter cream frosting:
1/2 cup light butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3-3/4 cups powdered sugar

Add the butter, vanilla and salt to a medium mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer fitted with beaters, beat it on high speed until smooth. Then add half of the powdered sugar. Beat on low speed until well combined. Beat in the remaining powdered sugar until combined. Then beat on high speed until fluffy. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap until the cupcakes are completely cooled. Then spread 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of the icing evenly over each cupcake. Makes 18 cupcakes.

(You save: 154 calories, 18 g fat, 11 g saturated fat!!)

Everything turned out really great.  I even took some extra non-iced cupcakes to my walking group and got great reviews!  Hope you are all having a great day...I have to get to tonight's dinner!! 

Kitchen Tales - Part 3 Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti

I have seen this on so many of the blogs that I follow, I can't even begin to think of where I saw it first.  I am pretty sure it was here though.

This dish was really simple to make and ended up much better than I had initially thought.
Here is all you need (plus 2 chicken breast and 2 cups of chicken stock):

Use the salt and pepper to season your chicken breasts.  Then add those to 2 cups of chicken broth in a skillet:

I thought this was a really odd way of cooking the chicken - but it worked out and more than likely helped to keep the chicken really moist.  This stays this way for about 15 to 20 minutes on medium high heat, just until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  Remove the chicken and then either cube or shred it.

While the chicken is cooking you will want to make your sauce.  Here you will use 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1/4 cup of hot sauce (this makes it mild to medium, you can change it up for your personal heat preference).  Let these cook over a low heat until the cream cheese has melted.  Once that is done add your 1 cup of blue cheese dressing (I used a light version to keep it from being too heavy) and the chicken.

All that's left to do is add your pasta and serve!

Like I said, this turned out a lot better than I had initially thought.  The husband took all the leftovers to work (there were a lot since I used the whole box of pasta) - so I am guessing he liked it a little.

If you try it, I really hope you like.  We will definitely be making this again!