Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is one of my favorite dips ever. I don't think I've been to a restaurant that serves it where I haven't tasted it. It's surprisingly easy to prepare at home and can even be low fat with a few modifications. I used an artichoke dip that was just like marinted artichoke hearts except already chopped. I will give you my regular and lowfat recipes as they cook the same.

Regular

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
12oz bag chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
10-13oz jar or can marinted artichoke hearts, chopped if needed
6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
2cu shredded white cheese, swiss or parmesan are good divided into 1 1/2cu and 1/2cu
Red pepper flakes
Seasoning

Low-Fat
1 8oz package low fat or Neufatschel cream cheese, softened
1 can navy beans, rinsed and mashed
12oz bag chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
10-13oz jar or can marinted artichoke hearts, chopped if needed
2cu low fat cheese, divided into 1 1/2cu and 1/2cu
Red pepper flakes
Seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 375*. 2. Combine all ingredients using 1 1/2cu cheese. Season to taste. 3. Sprinkle remaining 1/2cu cheese on top and place into oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and browned on top. 4. Let sit for 5 minutes. It can be served warm or cold with a choice of dippers.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders

BACON!!!! Now that I have your attention, join me for a delicious dish that features a meat which has inspired countless products that should not taste or smell like it (bacon scented bandaids anyone?). Bacon wrapped about bonless skinless chicken breast tenders are great to serve for dinner with the family or at your next party. They're also super easy to make. You can get away with just two ingredients, but I'm all about punching up flavor, so I take it a step further.

3 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 24 pieces
8 slices of bacon cut into thirds
Brown sugar
Spicy seasoning of choice

1. Preheat oven to 425* and fit a baking sheet with a baking rack. If you don't have one, that's ok. You can still bake straight on the sheet, but you might want to drain the chicken on a paper towel before serving to remove excess bacon fat.

2. Wrap each piece of chicken in a piece of bacon. If the pieces are smaller you can just wrap it right around the piece and place into the pan loose ends down. If the chicken is longer wrap it around spiral style and place with both loose ends down. Sprinkle with seasoning if using. I left the seasoning off the pieces I was feeding my anti-spicy kids.

3. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and flip over. Sprinkle brown sugar and more seasoning. Rotate pan and place back into oven for another 15 minutes. The bacon should be nice and crispy. Enjoy!

These are the three spicy seasonings I have in my cupboard. I used my Jim Beam Spicy Bourbon tonight.

This is how big I cut the chicken and bacon.

You can see the smaller pieces at the top have the bacon just wrapped around them. The larger pieces have the bacon going around in a spiral style.

This is what the chicken should look like after 20min when you're ready to flip. The ones in the bottom left do not have spicy seasoning on them.

Flip them over and sprinkle with brown sugar and more seasoning if using.

All done!

Crab Wontons

Tonight is Asian night here, so I decided to make my favorite appetizer crab wontons. These are much easier to make than you would expect. I try to eat semi-healthy, so instead of deep frying them I bake them. They have a satisfying crunch to them still, but there's much less fat to them. And please, use the real crab. You can get some pretty cheap canned crab from the same aisle your tuna is on. It taste much better than the imitation crab! Don't worry about the filling oozing out of my wontons in the final picture. Remember, I cook using lactose substitutes and vegan cream cheese isn't the same texture as "real" cream cheese when it's heated. My 5yo described these as scrumptious so they're definitely kid approved!

2 6oz cans crab meat, drained
8oz softened cream cheese
Few dashes of soy sauce
Sprinking of garlic salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup green onion
Wonton wraps

1. Preheat oven to 425* and spray baking sheet with oil. Season the cream cheese to your personal taste with garlic salt and soy sauce. Not too salty, but with some flavor.

2. Fold in the crab meat. Place a tablespoon of the mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper,  rub a moistened finger along the edges and fold according to instructions. It doesn't matter how they look. You just want it so the delicious filling won't ooze out.

3. Place onto baking sheet and spray with oil. Bake until golden brown and enjoy! I like mine served with sweet chili sauce on the side.