Detox Apple Cinnamon Water

I've seen this pinned several times by different people since I had pinned it, so I thought I would give it a try.  The description from my pin said "Apple Cinnamon Water. You will drop weight and have TONS OF ENERGY!" but, I've also seen it as "Lose 25 LBS by NEW YEARS with this ZERO CALORIE Detox Drink! Ditch the Diet Sodas and the Crystal Light, try this METABOLISM BOOSTING APPLE CINNAMON WATER and drop up to 10 lbs PER WEEK! Best part...... you get to eat! Check out the PROOF: www.facebook.com/loseweightbyeating

*Note: Don't believe these claims since losing that much weight in such a short period of time is impossible.  Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week, and this pin was pinned 2 weeks ago.  Cinnamon does boost your metabolism, so overtime it can help you burn extra calories, but you can't lose 25 pounds in a few weeks!

The directions from the original recipe:

1 Apple thinly slice (Whatever your favorite is)
1 Cinnamon Stick

Drop apple slices in the bottom of the pitcher (save a few to drop in your glass later) and then the cinnamon stick, cover with ice about 1/2 way through then with water. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes before serving.

I used about 3/4 of a Fuji apple in my pitcher (since it's pretty small) and opted to not use ice; I just filled the pitcher with water and stuck it in the fridge.  

I tried it a couple hours later...and it was wonderful!  Tastes just like apple pie without all the added sugar!  I was very pleased with this water, and will definitely continue to make it.  Maybe it will help me burn some extra calories, but if not, I will still enjoy the taste of this no calorie drink! 

Bottom Line: LOVED IT!

"OMG chicken"

This pin kept getting pinned by the users I'm following on Pinterest, so I decided to pin it too and try it out so you all know if it's worth making! Is it really the best chicken ever?

Here's what the pin said:

"OMG Chicken" Just mix Sour Cream or Yogurt (1/2 c) and parm cheese (1/4 c). Spread over chicken breast in a baking dish, sprinkle italian bread crumbs on top and bake for 20-30 minutes. SO moist and tasty!

I also saw different descriptions on the same pin claiming this was the fastest and tastiest chicken ever.

I looked at the original recipe from a blog post.  These were the ingredients listed: 

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
4 boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets
4 teaspoons of Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs


Notice that it's different than the pin's description?  It called for mayonnaise instead of yogurt/sour cream.  Later in the post, the blog author noted that others have tried the recipe with greek yogurt and got good results, and suggested adding lemon, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Here's what I used:  

1/2 cup of 0% Greek yogurt
1/4 cup of Shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of garlic & herb bread crumbs
A dash of salt and pepper
1 packet of chicken tenders

I mixed all the ingredients together, expect the breadcrumbs:

Then spread it over the chicken breasts and sprinkled it with the bread crumbs:

I put it in the oven at 425F for 20 minutes.  My thickest breast wasn't cooked and it didn't look crispy, so I put it back in for five more minutes.

It came out fairly crispy and golden brown:

And the verdict? Tasted just like any other Chicken Parmesan I've eaten, and it was healthier! (No eggs, not fully covered in bread crumbs, and no mozzarella or sauce).  I love Chicken Parmesan with tomato sauce, so I dipped mine in about 2 Tablespoons of canned tomato sauce, which only added a few calories.  Delicious, easy, and healthy!

The bottom line: LOVED IT! 

Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos

Don't get me wrong, I like Mexican food but I'm not obsessed with it like so many of my friends are.  What made this recipe stand out was the ranch in it; I am a firm believer that ranch makes everything better!

Here's the description from Pin I found:

Chicken Ranch Tacos...These come out amazing in the crock-pot! Use 2 lbs. of raw (not frozen) chicken breast, 1 packet of dry ranch dressing, 1 packet chicken taco seasoning & 1 can of chicken broth. Put that all in the crock-pot and cook on low for 3 hours then shredded the chicken and let it cook on low another 30 min. Tasty and easy!

Turns out when you click on the Original Recipe, it's nothing like the description on the pin. It called for pre-cooked chicken and gave instructions for adding seasoning and cooking it on the stove; this was definitely not what I expected when I thought I had pinned a crockpot recipe.  I decided to follow the directions on the original pin I had found on Pinterest because I really wanted to use my crockpot and I am not a fan of pre-cooked chicken.  I ended up making a 1 pound batch just in case it didn't turn out well.

The meat turned out to be super tender and juicy.  Here's what it looked like after the 3 1/2 hours of cooking: 

When I assembled the tacos, I used a hybrid flour/corn tortilla that I bought at Trader Joe's and topped each taco with shredded Coby and Jack cheeses, lettuce, and sour cream.  I tried it with ranch on top instead of the sour cream, and the sour cream was a much better choice...I guess too much ranch can be a bad thing.  Who knew?

My final taco creation:

Maybe not as pretty as the original picture but oh so delicious!  I will be making these tacos again!
 
Bottom Line: LOVED IT! 

Crustless Mini Spinach Quiches

I'm not a fan of any kind of crust, so when I found a recipe for crustless mini quiches, I knew I had to try it.

The Original Recipe

The recipe called for:
8 eggs
1/4 cup cream
1 10-oz package spinach (thawed, drained and squeezed dry)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of crumbled feta cheese

I opted to use fresh spinach over the frozen variety.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Mix together eggs, cream, garlic, nutmeg and salt. Add spinach. Grease mini muffin tins. Add about a teaspoon of feta cheese to each cup, and fill with egg/spinach mixture about 2/3 of the way to the top.

The recipe said that it would make 3 1/2 dozen quiches. I got 3 dozen exactly.

Here are my quiches before baking them:

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set. You may want to finish under the broiler for a bit to brown the tops a little.

I baked mine for about 20 minutes. This is what they looked like:

And after taking them out of the pan:

They tasted good, but had a spongy texture. Maybe because I over-cooked them? I set the timer for 20 minutes because the original recipe said 25-30 minutes, but I think they were done sooner. They reminded me more of a breakfast item than a quiche that I would serve at a cocktail party. The miniature quiches you can buy in the freezer section at Costco are ten times better!

Bottom Line: NOT WORTH IT

Welcome to my Blog!

You have a million recipe pins on Pinterest, but which ones are worth trying at home?  I created this blog so I can share with you the recipes that I have made.  I'll let you know which ones are worth making for you and your family and which ones are not worth your time!