Getting tired of pandemic cooking? Here’s one way to make it easier

Everyone is eating and cooking more at home during the Coronavrus pandemic and, let’s be honest, it’s a lot of work. Tired of it all yet?

Ordering take-oput from local restaurants is one alternative. But another is looking for ways to simplify recipe prep. This food hack I found for making chicken kebabs is one of those.

It suggests skewering chicken breasts before you cut them up and then creating the kebab pieces. The picture expelains it better than I can, click here to read the full story from Cooking Light.

May 6, 2020 0

Remember safe food-handling tips for July 4th

Lots of people will be touching lots of food this July 4th. So it;s a good time to review how to keep all the food you make and serve that day safe for people to eat, notes the Partnership for Food Safety Education. It’s created this flyer on using thermometers for grilling. It also has some general food handling tips, such as:

Not just the grill master, but everyone at the gathering should wash their hands with soap and water before and after handling food.
Always use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of grilled meat and poultry. Print the temperature chart (below) for your refrigerator.
Keep your cooler filled with ice, so picnic perishable foods stay chilled to 40 °F.
Never place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry or seafood. Be sure to have plenty of clean utensils and platters on hand.

Happy grilling and a happy 4th to all our readers!!!

July 1, 2019 0

Summer grilling: chicken breast, corn and asparagus

I’ve been blogging this week about easy summer grilling meals that also are low in salt, fat and sugar. Today’s pick is chicken breast topped with a low-salt, low-sugar barbecue sauce like the LocalFolks variety I buy.

Chicken breast is easy to overcook, especially if you worry about killing any harmful germs or bacteria it might carry. But overcooked chicken can be dry and rubbery. I finally found a guide that says cook a breast three minutes per side and use a meat thermometer to be sure it’s properly done inside. Continue reading “Summer grilling: chicken breast, corn and asparagus” →

August 22, 2018 0

12 days of no-salt, no-sugar Christmas recipes — Chicken with strawberry & pineapple salsa

We’re bringing back a site favorite this holiday season, our 12 days of no-salt, no-sugar Christmas recipes to help you come up with a fun and healthy menu for this busiest time of year.

I’ll be linking to and discussing recipe favorites every day for the next 12, starting today with a recipe I wrote about recently and just made myself this past Sunday, grilled chicken with strawberries and pineapple salsa.

I suggested when first reviewing this recipe that you could substitute Mrs. Dash salt-free taco seasoning for the salt-free steak seasoning called for in the recipe. That worked out really well for me, giving the chicken a nice flavor. I rubbed the seasoning on both sides of each breast I made. Continue reading “12 days of no-salt, no-sugar Christmas recipes — Chicken with strawberry & pineapple salsa” →

December 19, 2017 1

Another low-salt chicken recipe — Grilled chicken with strawberry and pineapple salsa

The American Heart Association has a recipe page that’s a great place to get ideas for low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar recipes. I sometimes think the recipes they post could be even lower in all of the evil three, but I’m not going to quibble with them today. I found this fun recipe for chicken with strawberry and pineapple salsa that I intend to try out.

I’m thinking it would be really great in the summer with freshly harvested strawberries, but these days you can get strawberries in winter months too, so you can make it as a Christmas season surprise for family and friends too.

The ingredient list from the Heart Association site:

2 slice pineapple, each 1/2 inch thick, patted dry
1 tsp. canola or corn oil
1 cup whole strawberries (diced)
3-4 Tbsp. chopped, fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1-2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 medium lemon

Continue reading “Another low-salt chicken recipe — Grilled chicken with strawberry and pineapple salsa” →

December 16, 2017 1

A Low-salt chicken recipe —Tomato & basil chicken with zoodles

With the holiday season in full swing, it’s a sure bet you’ll be cooking more for the various people who will be showing up on your doorstep this time of year. So I’ve been busy clipping recipes that are low-salt, low-sugar and low-fat, are quick to make, and sound pretty tasty too to share with you.

This post is about a recipe for something called tomato & basil chicken with zoodles.

I saw this in a magazine but it’s also on the Foster Farms (a poultry brand) site.

Ingredients you’ll need are:

4	chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper
2 tbsps	olive oil, divided
1 tsp	chopped fresh garlic
½ cup	balsamic vinegar
2 cups	cherry or golden tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsps	fresh basil, chopped
•	salt and pepper [leave out the salt]
¾ lb	zucchini, cut into spirals

Continue reading “A Low-salt chicken recipe —Tomato & basil chicken with zoodles” →

December 15, 2017 0

Know what a paillard is? Me neither, but this one sounds tasty

Chicken has become my go-to meat choice now that I’ve had two stents put in during the past five years. And I’m constantly searching for more ways to cook it, as you can see on my recipe page. I recently saw this recipe for chicken paillard and I thought, what is a paillard and is it tasty?

Bon Appetit magazine seems to think it is, and for the record, a paillard is simply a piece of meat pounded flat, usually between two pieces of wax paper. Continue reading “Know what a paillard is? Me neither, but this one sounds tasty” →

September 5, 2017 0

Simple can be delicious, try this no-salt chicken recipe

Finding new chicken recipes is an obsession of mine that began shortly after my 2012 angiopasty when I cut down on red meat and substituted more chicken and fish meals. So I’m always on the lookout for new chicken recipes.

Cooking Light recently sent me an e-newsletter with a top story entitled One-Dish Chicken Recipes, so I immediately dove in to see what it included. Of the three recipes, only one is suitable to become a no salt, no sugar no fat recipe which I’ll eventually list on my recipe page. Continue reading “Simple can be delicious, try this no-salt chicken recipe” →

February 2, 2017 3

No salt, no sugar Memorial Day recipes — barbecued chicken

Memorial Day weekend is the official start to the summer cook-out season, so naturally every food site and publication has been posting Memorial Day barbecue and grilling recipes. But most are loaded with salt and sugar because most prepared barbecue sauces are as well.

Chicken rosemary skewers were wonderfully flavorful and easy to make. — Time to put some chicken on the grill for Memorial Day?

So for the next four days, I’ll be posting no salt, no sugar, low-fat variations on what everyone else is telling you to make. some times I’ll be referring back to past recipes fo mine, like my salmon done five ways on the grill. Continue reading “No salt, no sugar Memorial Day recipes — barbecued chicken” →

May 27, 2016 2

Low-salt, low-sugar barbecue chicken with a garlic kick

My quest for low-salt, low-sugar ketchup led me to try Doc’s a while back but I’ve written about how it was too spicy for my tastes. Rather than throw out the bottle, however, I’ve been saving it to use as a barbecue sauce, figuring the spiciness would work better for such usage.

Ingredients for my barbecue garlic chicken.

I thought about it as I was preparing to bake some chicken breasts recently and, after looking to see what else was in my pantry and refrigerator, hit upon the idea of mixing it with a Localfolks barbecue sauce that I’d found tasty but quite mild. Continue reading “Low-salt, low-sugar barbecue chicken with a garlic kick” →

April 8, 2016 2

Tag: chicken