Friday Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite finds:

My parents introduced me to Noosa yogurt and a container has not been absent from my fridge since.

Noosa yogurt is divine!  It tastes like cheesecake.  The yogurt is thick, rich, and creamy.  My two favorites are honey and raspberry.

 

 

My mother-in-law had these dark chocolate sea salt caramels at her house for Christmas.  They are from Trader Joe’s, so unfortunately it is a bit of a trip, but if you are there you MUST pick these up.

They have the best ratio of caramel to chocolate to salt.  Sometimes the salt does not have a prominent taste in these types of candies, but these do.  You taste the salt mixing in with the sweet caramel and the slightly bitter dark chocolate.  Oh yum! 

I’ve had my EOS lip balm for a year now and have loved it.  Yes, it’s just lip balm nothing magical there.  The magic happens in the packaging.  Ladies, the roundness of the container makes it so easy to locate in your purse.  It also comes in fun colors and who doesn’t love that?

I get asked often about what I eat since I now have to be gluten free.  There’s a lot I can’t eat, but there’s a ton of natural food that I can eat.  Also, the gluten free craze has made it very easy to find gluten free packaged food, although I try to avoid that because it’s just not great for you. 

The one thing I do LOVE and will buy more often than any other packaged gluten free snack are the glutino brand pretzels.  Chris even likes them better then regular pretzels.

They are buttery, salty, crunchy bites of deliciousness.  SO GOOD!

I tried these pretzels because I wanted to make a new recipe I had found for pretzel crusted chicken bites.  Basically, chicken bites are covered in pretzel crumbs and baked.  They are amazing and the whole family loves them.  So, I’ve also included that recipe because it’s a new fav!  (I just substitute to have gf pretzels and gf flour).  Oh and be sure to use honey as a dipping sauce it just completes the taste.

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts or tenders
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups finely crushed Rold Gold Pretzel Thins (or more, as needed)
• nonstick spray like PAM, olive oil spray, or coconut oil spray (found mine at Trader Joes)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or coat heavily with nonstick spray.

If using chicken breasts, pound down and cut into little 1-1.5 inch pieces. If using boneless, skinless chicken tenders (chicken tenders are the lean strips of meat found attached to the underside of chicken breasts - they can also be purchased separately.) - simply cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces.

Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Beat eggs in another shallow dish. Pour pretzels into a third shallow dish. Coat each chicken piece in flour, shaking off any excess. Then, dip in egg and let any excess drip off. Then generously roll in the pretzels, shaking off any excess. Add more crushed pretzels to the dish if you are running low. Place the chicken bites on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray each with nonstick spray to "seal" the breading, which will prevent the breading from staying raw and allows it to bake onto the chicken fingers.

Bake for 8 minutes. Turn each piece over and continue baking until the outside is crisp and the centers are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes more. Baking times may vary, just make sure yours are cooked through. If you like them more brown, bake longer. Serve chicken bites with toothpicks (if using as an appetizer), honey mustard, or this kicked-up cheese sauce. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. I chopped them up and put on top of a salad. It was so good!

Baked chicken fingers freeze well, up to 2 months. Bake frozen for about 15 minutes (flipping once) at 300F degrees.

(recipe from http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/)

Those are a few of my favorite things right now.  If you haven’t tried some of them go out and try some…really, go, try, enjoy