I love chicken, but need ideas how to jazz them up -- that is, what kinds of sauces do you all use to flavor them so you don't feel you are eating the same thing all the time. I tried the low fat cream of mushroom soup thing, but am bored with that. Any ideas????

I love chicken too and I never get tired of have it
I have marinated it in non fat Italian dressing (0 points) for a few hours and just grilled them, or cook a chicken breast and pour some salsa and some N.F. cheese and there you have a fast and tasty meal, all you have to do is have a green salad with some balsamic vinegar as your dressing. Or maybe have a chicken breast cut up on a baked potato with some sliced carrots, a little margarine or ICBINB sprayed on it, then some teri sauce, green onions and a dollop of N.F. sour cream. MMMMMMMMMM good My DH makes that for us ALL the time and we just love it. We have found at Sam's (same as Costco)breasts of chicken that have already been cooked with teri sauce and I think that they are 3 or 4 points each, all you do is warm them up in the microwave for 3 min. and they are ready for anything. Make them as a filling for a tortilla wrap, along with some lettuce and some salsa and veggies. Hope that I have given you a few EASY ideas for chicken. Enjoy!!
googies

This actually makes a lot of sauce, so you could put in more chicken and adjust points accordingly.

This is quick, easy, DH and kid-friendly!!

Enjoy, we did!
Diane

CRANBERRY CHICKEN Makes 6 servings. WW POINTS: 8
6 boneless, skinless chicken (I put in frozen)
1 can (16 ounces) whole berry (or jellied) cranberry sauce
1 bottle (8 ounces) fat-free French, Thousand or Catalina salad dressing (I used fat-free Catalina)
1 package (1 1/2 ounces) dried onion soup mix (optional) (I used 1/2 package)

Spray the crockpot with Pam. Mix together all ingredients in crockpot except for the chicken, then added the chicken and mixed to coat the chicken with the sauce. One pot cooking = less dishes :-)
I cooked it for approximately 8 hours.

Great over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles?? (These would be extra points)

Could replace the chicken with pork chops, hotdogs, or ???

Can also be done in the oven:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. Pour mixture over the chicken and bake, 45 minutes for boneless chicken or
1 hour for bone-in chicken. 342.28 Cal (12.10% from Fat, 42.40% from Protein, 45.50% from Carb); 35.62 g Protein; 4.52 g Tot Fat; 38.19 g Carb; 0.95 g Fiber; 30.69 mg Calcium; 1.37 mg Iron; 534.07 mg Sodium;
40.46 IU Vit A; 1.52 mg Vit C; 96.74 mg Cholesterol

Diane,
I made your crockpot recipe recently with a turkey breast instead of chicken. It was WONDERFUL!
Thanks!
Stephanie

Easy... and tasty bbq chicken.

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 can of diet cola
1 cup of ketchup

Place chicken breasts in pan. Pour ketchup and cola over the chicken breats. Simmer for 45 minutes covered. After
45 minutes, turn the heat up to high and cook until sauce thickens like bbq sauce.

When we lived in Hawaii for a short time, too short!, our neighbor shared a great marinating recipee w/us. His family is from the Islands and says you can't go wrong w/this.

Use equal parts of:
Italian Dressing (I use f/free)
Soy Sauce (lite/low sodium)
Sugar (sugar substitute)

0 Points if you use the substitute and f/free dressing - I used to always use the real stuff, but now am not wanting all the sugar and sodium, so I substitute where I can!!

I use it on my chicken before & during on the grill and have even used it in the crockpot. So Good!

Nona

Check out the current issue of Cooking Light - it's got several great looking chicken recipes in it.

Dharma - You are so right about the Cooking Light recipes. I made the chicken thighs with the marsala and mushrooms, omitted the cream sauce and liked it lots. Tonight I am making the one with lime on the same page.

I use lots of chicken too, and marinate it in lime juice or lemon juice before grilling. I add chicken to lots of salad as well.

Liza

One of my favorite (and easy ) ways to make chicken is to sprinkle each side with a bit of thyme, then saute in a nonstick skillet with some minced shallot. When the chicken's done, I remove it and deglaze the pan with a slosh of balsamic vinegar. Then I stir in a couple of tablespoons of raspberry preserves, and heat until the preserves are melted. Couldn't be easier---and even my picky kids love it. (It also works well with pork chops and other preserves/jellies, such as cherry or cranberry.)

Liza, thanks for the review on the chicken with marsala - perhaps I'll try that one on Thursday night - I've got meals ready for tonight and Wednesday and stuff in the fridge for Tuesday. I make Monday & Wednesday's dinners on Sunday as I have my karate class on those days and want dinner instantly when I get home.

Good thread! Thanks for the new ideas.

Stephanie - Glad you liked it!

Nona, that glaze sounds good.

BetsyBG - mmmm. Sounds good and quick and easy!


Thanks again!
Diane

I kind of make recipes up as I go along, but one thing that I do a lot with chicken goes well over pasta and is pretty easy.

I saute onion and garlic in a non-stick pan with cooking spray. Season with salt, pepper and whatever spice you like (I use different things -- cayenne or curry or oregano or herbes de provence, depending on my mood). Then toss in diced chicken breast (fairly big dices so they don't dry out). Once they start to brown a bit, I add little bits of FF chicken broth so there's always a little moisture in there until the chicken is cooked. Then I add a bunch of chicken broth and a squirt or two of double-strength tomato paste. Pour over pasta, make a good salad to go along side, and voila!

For another variation, you can also toss the chicken dices in either flour or reduced fat Bisquik before sauteing, which will make the sauce thicker. Or add a blop of FF sour cream at the end, which gives it a different consistency.

Laura~