Chicken and waffles may sound like an odd mix of food for people who have never had it. But the sweet and savory blend makes perfect sense. The dish is very popular in the South, at church breakfasts nationwide, and of course, at waffle houses. We have a healthier chicken and waffles recipe below, using frozen waffles.

Here’s a flavorful jerk spiced interpretation of classic chicken and waffles. It’s healthier and less labor-intensive because it does not call for dredging and deep-frying the chicken. We made the recipe with Smucker’s Snack’n Waffles, sent to us by Smucker’s so that our consulting chef, Eric Dantis, could spin his culinary magic. He turned the Snack’n waffles into a family-favorite main course and dessert.

For the main course, Chef Dantis made Chicken and Waffles (the recipe is below the video); for dessert, he made Peanut Butter & Jelly Ice Cream Waffle Sandwiches.

Chef Dantis chose Smucker’s Maple Flavored Waffles for this recipe, and the Chocolate Chip Waffles for dessert. Other flavors include Blueberry and Cinnamon. There’s a store locator on the Smucker’s website.

National Chicken & Waffles Day is October 20th.
 
 
CHICKEN AND WAFFLES RECIPE
 
There are numerous ways to enjoy chicken and waffles: topped with gravy and onions and/or mushrooms, or gravy with chicken livers or giblets. Popular sides include biscuits, candied yams, cornbread, fries, greens, red beans, and scrambled eggs. We had ours with a big, green salad.

This recipe serves 4.

The topping is also delicious on from-scratch waffles from your waffle maker.

Ingredients

[1] Another way to serve this recipe is with sliced grilled chicken (photo © eMeals).

[2] Instead of the melted butter garnish, you can use maple syrup (photo © Runamok Maple).

1. DEFROST Smucker’s Maple Snack’n Waffles.

2. MIX all spices except salt and pepper and sprinkle over both sides of chicken.

3. MARINATE the chicken for 20 minutes and up to 45 minutes.

4. HEAT a pan over medium heat with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the pan is hot…

5. SEASON the chicken with salt and pepper and place it skin-side down in the pan. When browned…

6. TURN the chicken over and finish cooking until done. When the chicken is cooked…

7. REMOVE it from the pan and let rest.

8. TOAST the waffles. Place the chicken over toasted waffles.

9. MELT the butter in the same pan that the chicken was cooked in, and drizzle butter over the chicken. You’re ready to eat!

If you avoid smoothies because you have a bit of lactose intolerance, there’s an easy solution:

Make your smoothie with soy-based yogurt! You’ll be more than happy with this easy substitution.

(If you typically get abdominal pain within 30 minutes to two hours after eating any dairy-based product, don’t blame it on the sour cream [or whatever]—get tested for lactose intolerance.

If you’ve never made a smoothie, watch this video to see how easy it is. You’ll wonder why you haven’t made one sooner. The Blueberry Banana Smoothie in this recipe uses frozen blueberries, fresh bananas, plain yogurt, honey, vanilla extract, and ice. Just pop the ingredients into a blender and press Liquefy: Out comes the smoothie!

Recipe Tips

 
Let us know your favorite fruit combinations.

More yummy smoothie recipes, which add egg whites for a protein boost.

Corn grows in various colors: the ubiquitous yellow and white varieties, as well as red, white, purple, bicolor and tricolor. The latter colors are mostly grown as decorative corn (our mom always hangs an assortment on the front door during harvest season).

But more recently, agricultural colleges and corn breeders have brought sweet red corn to market as a treat for the eyes and the taste buds. Sweet red corn also has 20% more protein than white or yellow corn. The outer layer (pericarp) is red; The flesh underneath (the endosperm) is white.

Exceptionally sweet in flavor, the corn’s red pigment (anthocyanin, an antioxidant) deepens in color when cooked, turning blue when boiled, purple when microwaved and purple and maroon when roasted.

Sweet corn (maize) is grown for human consumption. Grain corn is fed to livestock and made into products. According to Purdue University, about 75% of the grain corn grown in the U.S. is used for animal feed. Another 12% to 15% of the annual crop is processed into corn oil, corn oil meal, corn sugar, corn syrup, gluten feed and meal, starch, whiskey and processed human food such as corn flakes, corn meal, hominy and grits. About 10% of grain corn is exported as grain or corn products.

Goodness gracious, great balls of ice!

These ice ball molds from Prepara beg you to unleash your inner ice artist.

The individual plastic ice molds create jumbo, three-inch-diameter ice balls for pitchers and punch bowls, letting you add flavors and visuals.

 
The large size of the ice ball means the ice melts more slowly, keeping drinks colder longer.

As you can see from the photo, the effect is “Wow!”

A set of four ice ball molds is $9.99 at Prepara.com.

Make ‘em or buy ‘em. Photo courtesy MannPacking.com.

When we’re out of the house, we buy cookies, muffins, pizza, candy—high-calorie empty carbs.

During periods of focus, we buy bags of baby carrots and throw them into our backpack along with a water bottle. But we recently discovered a more diverse alternative: Healthy Snacks On The Go™ from Mann Packing.

For people on the go, Mann’s, a pioneer in the fresh-cut vegetable business, offers a variety of fresh-cut vegetables with a light ranch dip: low in calories and rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber. The veggie assortments are washed, preservative free and ready to eat:

If you want healthy snacks, it’s cut up or pay up. If you don’t want to spend money on pre-packaged veggies, try this tip:

Set up a time every week—Sunday night, perhaps—to wash and cut your raw veggies for the week. Bag them and stack them in the fridge, ready to go. If the cut veggies start to dry before the end of the week, reserve a portion in containers filled with an inch or two of water, and bag them at midweek.