Bacon Ranch Wrap

It's not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but it was awesome!

Bacon Ranch Wrap
Makes 4 Serving
Recipe adapted from Hungry Girl

4 tbsp light ranch dressing
4 tsp taco sauce
1 bag Boca crumbles
4 tbsp salsa
4 slices butterball turkey bacon
4 large La Banderita tortillas
2 oz. Cabot 75% reduced fat shredded fat-free cheddar cheese, divided
1 avocado
1/4 cup shredded lettuce

To make the sauce, combine ranch dressing with taco sauce in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside. Heat boca crumbles and salsa over medium heat in a large skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray for about 9 minutes, stirring frequently. In the meantime, cook bacon in the microwave per package instructions. Lay tortillas on a flat, dry surface and spread with sauce. Top with cheese, bacon, avocado, lettuce, and boca crumbles. Roll up and serve.

Nutritional Information: 438 calories, 49 carbs, 15 fat grams and 33 protein grams.

Review: YUM –loved the ranch/taco seasoning sauce, as well as the crunchy lettuce with avocado and bacon. Could have easily done without the cheese – couldn’t taste it! But the boca went well. If anything, you could do less boca to make sure the wrap stays together easier! Super easy, ready in under 15 minutes, and very filling. If you’re looking to take down the calories, reduce/remove the cheese or take down the boca a bit – I wouldn’t mess with the sauce – it was the best part!

BBQ Ranch Chicken Pasta

BBQ Ranch Chicken Pasta
Recipe adapted from Picky Palate
Makes 4 Servings

1 pound defrosted chicken tenders
3 tbsp barbecue sauce
½ tbsp olive oil
8 oz. spaghetti (dry)
1 cup red onion, diced
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning
3 tbsp cilantro leaves

Set two pots of water to boil. In one, cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain. In another, add chicken and cook 7-8 minutes until cooked. Remove from water, shred and stir in barbecue sauce. While chicken and pasta are cooking, place olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute red onions until softened and golden. Add now cooked spaghetti to onions; mix and add dry Ranch Dressing seasoning and cilantro leaves. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Place noodles onto serving plates and top with warm shredded BBQ chicken. Garnish with cilantro leaf and serve.

Nutritional Information: 402 calories, 50 carbs, 5 fat grams and 37 protein grams.

Review: At first I was like what? BBQ ranch pasta? But alas, I had a TON of red onion that needed to be used, so this was a perfect way to not waste an onion! The BBQ sauce combined with the carmelized red onions was great, and I loved the ‘cool’ that the ranch and cilantro brought to the recipe. This reheated well, and we froze/reheated, too, and it was great! Like so many recipes, the only downside was that it used 2 pots and a pan – I heart my one-pot meals – less cleaning afterward! Still a quick, easy recipe that you can have done in under 20 minutes.

Loaded Scalloped Sweet Potatoes

Loaded Scalloped Potatoes
Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.com
Makes 4 Servings

22 oz. peeled, raw sweet potato, sliced
3 tsp olive oil
2 tsp paprika
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
Sea salt to taste
4 slices turkey bacon
1 tsp minced garlic, jarred
6 oz. raw sirloin, diced into tiny pieces
2 oz. Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese
4 tbsp green onion
1 tbsp diced pickled jalapeno, jarred
2 tsp jalapeno juice (from jar)
4 tbsp reduced fat ranch, divided

Preheat oven to 400. Line two baking sheets with foil for easy clean-up. Lightly coat with cooking spray. Add all potatoes, olive oil, and spices (down to sea salt) to a gallon size bag. Toss to coat. Place potatoes in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake uncovered for 12 minutes; flip each potato over, then bake for another 12 minutes or until tender crisp. While potatoes bake, heat a large pan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick spray and add bacon. Cook about 2 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and add garlic to pan. Stir for 30 seconds, then add steak and cook for 3 – 5 minutes until no longer pink. Add to plate with bacon. Dice now-cooled-off bacon into bite-size pieces. Remove potatoes from oven; place them into two piles in one large ovensafe dish. Top each of the two piles with 1 oz. cheddar cheese, ½ tbsp. jalapenos, 2 tbsp green onions, 2 strips diced bacon and 3 oz. steak. Spoon jalapeno juice carefully over the top of each pile and return to oven for 2 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Serve each serving with 1 tbsp ranch.

Nutritional Information: 339 calories, 39 carbs, 12 fat grams and 18 protein grams.

Review: Tasted great! Loved the idea and it had a lot of flavor from the potatoes, jalapenos and spices. I will say that because I used the food processor to slice, it made it to where you almost had to eat it with a fork (even though the original intention was "fries" that would be eaten with your hands). Oh well - we made it work and loved the loaded scalloped potatoes (even if the original name was texas cheese fries. hehe).

Southwest Chicken Wontons

Southwest Chicken Wontons
Recipe inspired by Picky palate
Makes 4 Servings

1 tbsp olive oil
½ cup white onions, finely diced
½ red bell pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp minced garlic, jarred
1 12 oz. can chunk chicken, drained
¼ cup packed fresh cilantro, finely diced
¼ cup salsa (green or red)
2 tbsp light ranch dressing
32 wonton wrappers (half of pack)
1 egg white whisked with 2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 375. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions and bell pepper for 5 minutes. Stir in garlic for 1 minute and remove from heat. In a large bowl (or food processor), add onion mixture, chicken, cilantro, salsa and ranch. Mix (or process) until well combined . Lay out all 32 wonton wrappers on wax paper. Place 1 tablespoon chicken mixture in center of each wrapper. Dig fingers in egg white wash, fold over filling and press edges together firmly, forming a triangle. Repeat with remaining wontons. Lay each on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Brush tops with remaining egg white wash. Bake for 10 minutes, flip each over (brush with egg white wash again), then bake for 5 – 10 minutes or until crispy. Serve with salsa or ranch if desired.

Nutritional information (for 8 wontons not including dips): 311 calories, 37 carbs, 7 fat grams and 24 protein grams. To freeze, prepare as stated above (even cook them). Place wontons in freezer bag and freeze. To prepare after freezing, bake from frozen at 350 for 15 minutes.

Review: Um, YUM. I’m a huge fan of wontons of course, so these didn’t disappoint. I used my processor to mix the whole filling into a spoonable dip, and then spooned it on to each one, dipping into a tbsp of ranch. Fabulous! We each had 8 for the serving, then froze the last 16 to test the freezing. It froze wonderfully and tasted just as good as the first time. I’ll be making these again! Love that all 8 make a little meal, but you could also serve as an appetizer of course!

Before folding!

Slowcooker Buffalo Chicken Mac

Slowcooker Buffalo Chicken Mac
Makes 4 Servings

1 pound chicken, raw
2 tsp minced garlic, jarred
4 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Wings Sauce
4 tbsp Fat-Free Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley)
2 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
1 cup fat-free milk
2 oz. Cabot 75% reduced fat cheese
1 tbsp Frank's Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
8 oz. pasta (small shape)

Add chicken to slowcooker sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Mix garlic, Frank’s hot wing sauce, ranch dressing, milk, and parmesan cheese; pour over chicken. Cook on high for three hours. Remove chicken, shred it, and add back to slowcooker. Stir in cheese, frank's cayenne pepper sauce, hot sauce and noodles; stir until noodles are coated in sauce. Cook on high for 25 minutes until noodles soften. Top with diced green onions or blue cheese crumbles as desired.

Nutritional Information: 428 calories, 54 carbs, 5 fat grams and 42 protein grams.

Review: Great recipe! Loved that it didn't have any 'cream of' anything - nice sauce based on the milk. I will say that I used penne, and I'd prefer it with a smaller shape like macaroni. Next time! I think my favorite part was that the recipe was one pot - everything cooked in the slowcooker so it was easy peasy - tough to mess up. And the calories/fat grams were great for a filling serving.

Buffalo Chicken Wontons

Buffalo Chicken Wontons
Makes 28 appetizers

12 oz. raw chicken
4 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Wings Sauce
60 oz. Cabot 50% reduced fat jalapeno cheese (if you can't find this subbing for regular reduced fat cheese should be fine but this adds an extra kick!!)
4 tbsp Fat-Free Ranch Dressing (Hidden Valley)
2 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
28 Wonton wrappers (Nasoya)

Boil water. Once rolling, add chicken and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. In the meantime, add hot sauce, cheese, ranch and parmesan to a bowl. Stir together. Remove chicken from water; drain any excess water on chicken until mostly dry. Add chicken to bowl and, with two forks, shred chicken finely while blending into sauce. Stir well. Refrigerate for 2 hours until mixture is thick. When ready to prepare, heat oven to 375. Lay out sheets of wax paper, and spread wontons across the surface until all are out. Using your hands, add clumps (about 2 tbsp) of chicken mixture onto each until all have the same amount. Roll each up (to roll, turn into diamond shape with point facing you; fold point over to other point, tucking in mixture; tuck sides in and flip over). Use small bowl of water to seal each with your fingers/water. Lay all on baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Once all are on tray, spray tops with cooking spray. Cook for 18- 20 minutes until crispy.

Nutritional Information: Whole recipe – 1,332 calories, 153 carbs, 19 fat grams and 122 protein grams. 7 wontons each (for 4 people to split) – 334 calories, 38 carbs, 5 fat grams and 31 protein grams. Each single wonton – 47 calories, 5 carbs, <1 fat gram and 4 protein grams.

Review: LOVED. These were great, came together pretty quickly and went FAST. The boys loved them, and us girls had a couple, too, and they’re great. I told the boys they were low-fat/fat-free and they laughed. I don’t think they quite believed me. Oh well. These were great baked, still had a ton of flavor with the hot sauce/ranch and didn’t require dipping since the ranch was inside (still could have served with dip/fat-free dressing if you wanted to). I will absolutely be making these again – great bite-size poppers. Just note: they are SUPER hot out of the oven and need about 5 minutes to cool down. And yes, I will get a picture of the inside next time - sorry!

Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls

Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls
Makes 4 Servings
Adapted from Sweet & Savory

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
6 tbsp Frank's Cayenne pepper sauce
3 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
12 pasta wraps (egg roll wrappers)
8 tbsp fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 packet ranch seasoning

Preheat oven to 400. Combine shredded chicken, Frank's and parmesan cheese. Stir well. Combine softened cream cheese with ranch seasoning. Stir well. Lay out wax paper and place 12 pasta wrappers on top. Top each with about a 1/4 cup chicken mixture and a little less than 1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture. Roll up, sealing with water. Cook for 10 minutes, flip, then cook for 10 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per serving/3 wraps): 436 calories, 2 fat grams 56 carbs and 36 protein grams.

Review: Awesome. I loved that you got three wraps for one serving - lots of bang for your calorie count. The cream cheese/ranch mix added a great kick, and the buffalo chicken really was awesome - that parm/frank's paste gives it a  lot of flavor, which helped balance the plain, crunchy shell. These are winners - Austin is a HUGE fan. I haven't tried reheating yet, but plan to microwave for 30 second on medium, then "toast" on the George Foreman, so these will be best for dinner meals, rather than lunch (unless you're home for lunch - lucky!). OR just have the chicken mixture and cream cheese mixture ready/mixed, but don't wrap in roll/bake until you're ready to eat.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna (next time Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake)
Adapted from a Real Mom Kitchen recipe
Makes 6 servings

2 12-oz. cans evaporated milk
1 (1 oz) package dry ranch dressing mix
24 oz. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
12 no-boil lasagna noodles (next time 7.5 oz. barilla macaroni)
3.5 oz. 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated
75 grams fresh mozzarella cheese, grated

Combine evaporated milk and Ranch dressing in a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring frequently until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir in chicken and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Layer: 4 lasagna noodles, chicken sauce, ½ cup cheese, 4 lasagna noodles, chicken sauce, 4 lasagna noodles, remaining cheese in 9×13 pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Next time, cook pasta per box instructions then mix together all ingredients except for cheese. Wait and add cheese after 30 minutes. Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes.

Nutritional Information: 488 calories, 38 carbs, 14 fat grams and 47 protein grams.

Review: I really like the filling - the evaporated milk added a lot to this dish - it almost tenderized the chicken and mixed with the ranch it had a great flavor. I will say that I was NOT happy with how the top layer of the lasagna came out - too tough. I made notes above about what i'm going to do next time (make it more of a pasta bake instead of a lasagna so it cooks more evenly. I think this will make a huge difference.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Buffalo Chicken Salad
Recipe from Hungry Girl
Makes 4 Servings

16 oz. chicken, diced
2 tsp olive oil
½ tsp cumin
6 tbsp Frank’s cayenne pepper sauce
3 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
8 turkey bacon strips, divided
1 large tomato, diced
8 cups romaine lettuce, divided
8 tbsp fat-free ranch, divided

Spray large pan with nonstick spray and add olive oil. Cook chicken with cumin, stirring until no longer pink. While it cooks, combine Frank’s and parmesan, cook bacon in microwave and dice tomatoes. Once the chicken is cooked, add to sauce/parm mixture and stir until the chicken is coated, then cook in microwave for 1 minute. Then put ¼ lettuce in each bowl, and top each with ¼ chicken mix, ¼ bacon, and ¼ tomato mix, then 2 tbsp of fat-free ranch.

Nutritional Information: 275 calories, 18 carbs, 5 fat grams and 33 protein grams.

Review: To beef this up, I added a slice of nature’s own bread with a ½ tsp of light butter – your call! We LOVED it! I also thought it looked so pretty with the toppings organized in thirds. The little things, people.

Garlic Ranch Chicken Pizza

Recipe by Favorite Family Recipes
Garlic Ranch Chicken Pizza
Makes 1 Personal Pizza

4 oz. Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
2 tbsp fat-free ranch dressing
1 tsp minced garlic
28 grams Trader Joe’s Mozzarella cheese
2 slices butterball turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled
1.5 oz. chicken, cut into bite size pieces (rub with ¼ tsp olive oil and sprinkle with Montreal Chicken Seasoning on both sides; pan fry until chicken is cooked through)
3 slices tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely diced

Mix ranch dressing and garlic together. Spread evenly on pizza dough. Add chicken and bacon. Sprinkle cheese over that, then add tomatoes. Put in the oven at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until crust is a nice golden-brown. Top with parsley.

Nutritional Information: 492 calories, 62 carbs, 12 fat grams and 26 protein grams.

Review: It was so good you guys! So FILLING! I could only eat ¾ of it, so Austin ate the other quarter. Good stuff, added to my fave recipes for sure! I liked the "white" sauce and found that I didn't miss the red sauce as much as I thought. Great, solid non-traditional pizza recipe!

Taco Soup

Taco Soup
Recipe from my friend Monica’s friend Beth
Makes 6 Servings

1 pound lean ground beef (96/4) OR ground turkey
½ onion (simmer with beef)
1 can tomato sauce (14.5 oz)
1 can rotel
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 can corn
1 can black eyed peas, drained
1 can light kidney beans, drained
1 can dark kidney beans, drained
1 packet dry ranch dressing
1 packet taco seasoning
3 tbsp Cilantro
Optional: ¾ cup fat-free cheddar cheese and 60 grams of Trader Joe’s Organic Corn Chip Dippers.

**Put large pot over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add onions and cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add beef and cook until no longer pink. Add all drained vegetables and season packets. Once everything is combined and stirred up good, add cilantro, then turn heat to medium-high. Once it comes to a boil, move to simmer for 10 minutes and then serve topped with cheddar cheese and corn chips.

**Other option: put ALL ingredients (except for chips and cheese) in slowcooker. Put meat in raw. Cook on high for 3 minutes, then top with cheese and corn chips.

Nutritional Information per serving (including 1/8 cup fat-free cheddar cheese and 10 grams of Trader Joe’s Organic Corn Chip Dippers): 399 calories, 49 carbs, 8 fat grams and 30 protein grams.

Review: Family favorite! I make this all the time now. It's super hearty and even though it's a soup it's thicker like a chili. I seriously have this year round and it never gets old. I've thought about adding a jalapeno, but it really has enough kick to it without it. Sometimes when i'm feeling super lazy - I omit the onion and throw it all (including raw ground beef) in a slowcooker for 3.5 hours on high. Great recipe and super easy so long as you have a can opener! And note, I've subbed in ground turkey before - it's JUST as good!

Bacon Ranch Slowcooker Chicken

Adapted from My Once a Month Cooking
Bacon Ranch Slowcooker Chicken
4 Servings

2 butterball turkey bacon strips, cooked and shredded
1 tsp minced garlic
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 10.75 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup (98% fat free)
1 cup fat-free sour cream
16 oz. chicken breasts, frozen or defrosted/raw
8 oz. pasta (I used rigatoni), cooked

Combine the first five ingredients. Place frozen or defrosted/raw chicken in slowcooker sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and pour sauce over the top (do NOT include water like the can mentions). Cook on high for 3.5 hours. Shred chicken with two forks. Cook pasta per package instructions on stove. Serve chicken over pasta.

Nutritional Information: 456 calories, 61 carbs, 5 fat grams and 36 protein grams.

Review: This tasted like it was SO bad for me! I loved how creamy it came out - it almost tasted cheesy even though I didn't have cheese. I'm going to make this again immediately - wonderful comfort food! Edited to add 9/20/11: I've gathered some feedback via Pinterest and wanted to share: one reviewer mentioned that unless you really like ranch, the ranch flavor could be a bit overwhelming - she suggested not using the entire packet. Another mentioned that for them it was too salty, so using less of the packet may make a difference. We love it as is, but I saw these and thought they may help! I also tweaked the instructions to make it clear that you do NOT cook the chicken beforehand and you do NOT cook the pasta in the dish. I hope this helps, too! And please, if you try it and have recommendations for making it better/changes for next time, feel free to post in the comments below. Thanks!