Super Easy Skinny Minnie Chip Dip

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Skinny Minnie Chip Dip

A dip one can feel good about? Yeah, I’m all over that!
Potato chips are the conventional vehicle for consumption, but a multi-grain GF chip is nummy also.

The base for this yummy concoction is Penzey’s Spice Company: ‘Chip & Dip‘, which to my knowledge is Gluten Free. (Celiacs, check their website) Conventional chip dips have sour cream and mayo, loaded with fat and salt. Mine, however, is 0% non-fat, plain greek yogurt (I prefer Fage) and low fat cottage cheese. A nice little side benny to your enjoyment is the protein hit you’ll get.

Simply combine about 1 cup of yogurt with about a 1/2 cup cottage cheese. Add chip dip powder to taste. Mine took between 1-2 tablespoons. Let this sit in the fridge for at least an hour, up to 24 hours. This is a great make ahead appetizer.

If you are going for the no-carb plan, then use thick cucumber or radish slices instead of potato chips or GF multigrain chips.

Then sit down and manga, scarf, gobble, heck…go ahead and pig out! It’s as guilt free as one is going to get with food! When your loved one (or you) sits down for a movie, sports game or board game, set a bowl out of this guilt-free snacking dip. You’re family will never know they are eating something good for them!

The old saying is ‘You can have your cake and eat it too’. Maybe that should be modified to ‘You can have your dip, and eat it too’!!

Note: This dip would be a delicious topping for a grilled burger, turkey or beef. Served on a bed of lettuce, it reminds me of the old Diner ‘low-calorie’ meal consisting of a hamburger patty and cottage cheese!

Peanut Butter and Jam.

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Peanut Butter and Jam.

Finally!
The breath of spring is in the air after a dreadfully long and brutal winter, a winter I feared would never end!
But at long last, it is here.

Peanut Butter and Jam?

I know you are all thinking: ‘What does a Lilac tree and peanut-butter have in common?’

Well to me, Lilacs and Spring go together like Peanut Butter and Jam.

With the arrival of spring, the windows of my house are thrown open, blowing out the doldrums of winter and infusing it with the fresh scent of spring. And it is not spring without the pungent smell of lilac wafting through those wide open windows.

With the late snows my tree is not yet in bloom, but it soon will be. And soon my house will be steeped in the aroma of spring.

Maybe I’ll have a PB&J just to celebrate.

Springs’ First Breath: Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

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Well, it finally came, Spring.

After such a long hibernation, trapped house-bound, it is marvelous to be able to sit outside on the patio and have dinner. This is that brief period of Minnesota spring where the snow is just behind us and the heat of the spring has not yet manifested in the feasting hordes of mosquitoes.

Tonight was a simple dinner of Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps, set out for assembly, and fresh fruit. Delish.

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Simple Curried Chicken Salad

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup mayonnaise (you can use light to reduce the calories)

1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped dried cherries or mixture of both.

1 cup grapes, sliced in half (optional)

1/4 cup diced white onions.

2-3 tbsp sweet curry

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

Mix the first 6 ingredients together. You can add more of any one to suit your taste. My family likes it very curry flavored and crunchy, so I add more  curry andcelery. Then add the chicken and fold gently to mix. I also prefer to have the grapes in there, along with the the tartness of the dried cherries, but if you dont have the fresh grapes on hand, this is just as good without them.

You can serve this right away, but it tastes best after it has had a chance to rest.

This salad can be served as pictured, on lettuce leaves, which is naturally Gluten Free. It can also be served on whole grain bread, in pita pockets, or on a bed of salad greens with radishes and cucumbers, dressed with a simple vinaigrette.