What if I told you there is a way to make chicken wings healthy without giving up flavor? Really.

My mother made a healthy version last weekend that can compete with any wing on the block. Besides being healthier than its deep-fried counterpart, these zesty wings are cheap to make at home. Soaked in a brine followed by a spice rub, they are marvelous for any party, served hot or cold. Mother says that you can use wings or drumettes and even chicken legs wonderful choices too.

Zesty Chicken Wings
Wilma Kitchens

14-16 wings, drumettes, or chicken legs

Brine: 3/4 cup of sea salt, 1 cup apple juice, 1/4 cup whole peppercorns, 8 cups water, 5 to 6 cloves of crushed garlic.

Mix in a large dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then allow to cool for at least 10 minutes or longer. Put wings/drumettes/legs in to soak overnight in the fridge.

Dry Rub: 6 tablespoons of Italian herb seasoning, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of sea salt, 2 teaspoons of black pepper.

After soaking overnight, drain brine and discard. Divide rub mixture between two large Ziploc bags. Divide chicken between two bags and shake to coat.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray or coat with olive oil.

For wings, broil for 8 minutes, then turn over and broil an additional 8 minutes. For drumettes and legs you will need to increase the time. Make sure chicken is cooked through.

Do you need something new  for dinner this week?  Today we’re going on a blogging tour to add some fun, fresh, and yummy recipes to our menus. Gals from across the web submitted their favorite summer recipe for us to try out. Come one, let’s get going…

Our first stop is Molly’s mouth-watering Vietnamese Chicken Salad at CounterCulturalMom. Molly says the combination of chicken salad, rice noodles, and veggies is the perfect girl’s night out meal.

Carla at Married Single Moms shares not only her wonderful Tomato Feta Salad but tips on garnishes and pretty plates.

Katharine at Just a Thought shares her beat-the-heat Summer Fruit Crock-pot Cobbler.  Fresh berries combined with nuts and a lemon cake mix sounds like a winning combination!

Ms. Baker at The Better Baker shares her winning recipe for home-made from scratch Strawberry Pizza.  Cool, refreshing and sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Nothing says summer better than a smoothie. Cyndejoy at Cyndejoy’s Blog shows us how to make her refreshing Summer Cool StrawPeachy Smoothie.

Wrapping up our tour of favorite summer recipes is some of MMCW oldies but goodies. If you haven’t had a chance to check out our Recipe Box you may want to. Our Recipe Box contains all the recipes posted on MMCW. Some of our favorites are:

Lori’s Maple Glazed Salmon, perfect for summer grilling.

Loi’s Marinated London Broil is super-simple and marvelous.

My mother-in-law’s Apple Dumpling recipe is one of the top viewed posts at MMCW. This is perfect for a summer evening with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

What’s your favorite summer recipe?
Let’s keep the carnival going–share your recipe via our comment section!

Jiffy pie crust mix helps make this quick and easy dessert.  I got this recipe from my mother-in-law several years ago, she uses vanilla instead of the almond extract.

2 (29 oz) cans sliced peaches in heavy syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla

2 boxes Jiffy brand pie crust mix

½ cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Mix peaches (do not drain), sugar and extract and pour into baking dish. Prepare pie crust mix using the box directions ( I like to use milk instead of the water). Roll out the dough and place on top of peach mixture. Pour melted butter evenly over the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream or cool whip.

*** for a nicer presentation you can roll the dough into strips and form a lattice pattern***

Quick and easy, these scalloped potatoes are a marvelous side dish. My personal favorite is pairing the potatoes with either grilled beef or chicken. Since there is no milk or cream, butter bastes the potatoes as they cook for a yummy flavor.

9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

1 Idaho potato per person

1/2 stick butter or maragine

Real Black Pepper bacon bits (or make your own)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Optional: chives, chopped onion, cheese

Thinly slice potatoes and place in baking dish. Add as many bacon bits and optional items as you would like.  Add Sea Salt and pepper. Add butter. If you are cooking a large amount, adjust butter as it is the only liquid (once melted during cooking). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

This is one of my favorite recipes for a potluck dessert.  It can be adapted from Triple Chocolate to Lemon Blueberry to White Chocolate Strawberry just by changing the cake mix, pudding mix and add-on flavors. The cake in the photo is the coconut version.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1 boxed cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1 package instant pudding

1 cup chosen add-on ingredient (white or chocolate chips, blueberries, coconut, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix first 6 ingredients together.  Stir in the add-on ingredient.  Bake one hour in a greased Bundt pan or other large cake pan.

I like to slightly warm a carton of prepared frosting for a few seconds in the microwave and drizzle it over the cooled cake.

Possible variations:

chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting

lemon cake mix, lemon pudding, blueberries, lemon frosting

strawberry cake mix, strawberry or vanilla pudding mix, white chocolate chips, vanilla frosting

yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting

spice cake mix, vanilla pudding, raisins, cream cheese frosting

white cake mix, coconut cream pudding, coconut flakes, cream cheese frosting (sprinkle top with coconut)

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While I’m certainly no Julie of Julia and Julie movie fame, I do enjoy cooking my way through a fun cookbook. My latest venture is Weight Watchers From Pantry to Plate picked up for $1.50 in excellent condition at Goodwill a month ago.  Not one to leave well enough alone, I adapted the Cucumber-Orange Salad to give it a bit more crunch.

Orange Cucumber Salad
1 large orange, juiced
1/2 lemon or lime, juiced
1 garlic clove, minced (if you love garlic, feel free to add more!)
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
Sea Salt to taste

Combine in a bowl and stir.

1 orange peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cucumber peeled and diced into small pieces
1 mini sweet red pepper diced
1 mini yellow pepper diced
1 mini orange pepper diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup diced red onion

Toss with dressing and serve.

This spring salad is marvelous with grilled chicken and fish. In fact, From Pantry to Plate doubles the liquid recipe and uses 1/2 for a marinade and 1/2 for the salad. The burst of citrus with the crunch of veggies makes it a salad that will be making many return appearances this spring and summer.

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This is a recipe that even my sons like to make on their own. It’s easy, cheap, and quite healthy. The green wrap might take a bit of getting used to if it is new to you and your family, but with great fillings just about anyone can learn to love these.

4 sheets of nori–seaweed (easy to find at your local supermarket or local Asian market)
3/4 cup sushi rice (or sticky rice), rinsed
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsps rice wine vinegar

For filling:
1/2 small cucumber, halved lengthwise
1/2 long carrot peeled and halved lengthwise
1/2 red pepper, sliced thinly
1 boiled egg (optional)
1 slice ham (optional)
2-4 slices smoked salmon (optional)
1 slice leftover roast beef (optional)
1/2 small avocado (optional)
Cheese (optional)

Use your imagination for other sushi fillings.

To assemble:
1. Add the rice and water to a pan and cover with a lid. Stir. Bring to a boil, stir for 20 seconds, then reduce heat. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Let the covered rice stand for 10 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed.

3. Warm the vinegar, sugar, and salt until dissolved. (About 20 seconds in the microwave.)

4. Pour the vinegar mixture over the rice and stir. Let it cool.

5. De-seed the cucumber, then slice the half cucumber into 4 equal long strips. Cut the half carrot into 4 long strips as well.

6. Place a Nori sheet, shiny side down on a bamboo mat, flexible silicon mat, or plastic wrap.

7. Dip your hands in the water and pat a quarter of the rice so that it covers two-thirds of the sheet.

8. Lay a piece of cucumber, a piece of carrot, a piece of pepper, and a similarly sized piece of anything optional you choose to, width-ways along the center of the rice.

9. Holding the mat or plastic wrap, roll the nori over and over, to the edge of the rice. Be sure to keep the roll firm under your hands for a uniform shape. Don’t squeeze too hard though!

10. Tuck the rolled edge of the nori firmly under the filling. Dampen the remaining nori with your fingertips and roll it up. Smooth the edge of the nori onto the roll with dampened fingertips so that you cannot see the edge.

11. Put the rolls onto a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour or more.

12. To serve, cut each roll into 5 or 6 pieces with a sharp knife dipped in cold running water.

13. Many people like to dip their sushi into soy sauce. If you are very daring…try dipping it in soy sauce with a little wasabi paste!

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For these cupcakes, I altered the recipe for Caramel Lightning Cake from The Joy of Cooking (75^th Anniversary Edition), by Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker.

For truffle filling:
1 ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup flavored creamer (I used eggnog flavor, but any would be great) or half-and-half
10 large marshmallows

Begin melting chocolate chips in 30 second increments in microwave, stirring thoroughly after each interval.  As chips begin to melt, stir in creamer and marshmallows and continue to heat. Stir carefully until blended.  Set in refrigerator to cool.

Whisk together in a large bowl (I use my stand mixer)
1 ½ cups flour (we often use half whole wheat):
½  cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Add in and continue to blend:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp espresso powder
1 Tbsp coffee liqueur (optional)

Beat in and continue to blend until light and airy (about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down bowl halfway):

½ cup salted butter, softened

Fill cupcake cups ½- ¾ full (I use a large ice cream scoop).  Carefully place a small scoop, approximately ½ tsp, of the ganache onto each cupcake, trying not to drop it to the bottom.

Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 16 minutes, watching carefully.

Allow to cool and frost with:

Espresso Mocha Buttercream
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
3 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp dark cocoa
1 tsp coffee liqueur (optional)
Beat until light and fluffy.

Choose the vegetable of your choice and make homemade soup tonight!

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk or half and half
3 cups chopped veggies  (carrots, broccoli, celery, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.)
1 large onion
1 tsp salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth

Melt butter.  Add onion and saute.  Slowly add flour, salt and pepper, stirring until well combined.  Slowly add milk.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook the vegetable in the chicken broth.  When the vegetables are cooked through, combine with the milk mixture.

If you want a smooth soup instead of a chunky one, process everything together in a blender or food processor before serving.  I often double this recipe to have leftovers.

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We all know any recipe that includes a bag of Hershey Kisses is going to be a keeper.

This is one of those recipes.

I’ve had it so long I’ve forgotten exactly who gave it to me although I know it was a co-worker years ago. When I brought it out earlier in the month and made it for breakfast my kids just about had a fit (that’s Southern for real excited). It was their first time to eat a chocolate coffee cake.

If you’re looking for a wonderful Valentine’s breakfast / brunch coffee cake, give this one a try. You can easily adapt this coffee cake to the size you want it to be. For a coffee cake that fills your bundt pan, double this one.

Chocolate Kisses Coffee Cake
16 Hershey Kisses
1 can of refrigerated biscuits (8 count)
1/2 stick melted butter
Cinnamon to sprinkle
Powdered sugar to sprinkle

Remove Hershey Kisses from wrappers. Divide each biscuit dough in half to create 16 biscuit pieces. Flatten dough and put one Hershey Kiss in the center and wrap dough around it. Make sure the dough seals good so the chocolate does not seep out. Put each ball into a sprayed bundt pan. Drizzle melted butter over coffee cake and sprinkle with cinnamon to your taste.

Bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits are brown in a 350 degree oven.  Allow to cool for a few minutes then turn out onto a serving plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy biting into the flaky biscuit dough to find warm melted chocolate.

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