A little bit better

This weekend I tried out some more new recipes on my family. These were a little bit better than last weekend. Everyone, even the picky kids liked them. They complained a little at first - you know how it is, if it doesn't look good to them then it must taste nasty. Here are the recipes that I used. They came from the Kraft Food and Family magazine.

Maple-Glazed Baby Carrots

2 lb. baby carrots

1/4 cup KRAFT Light CATALINA Reduced Fat Dressing

1/4 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup PLANTERS Pecan Pieces, toasted

1. COOK carrots in saucepan in enough boiling water to cover, 12 to 14 min or until tender. Drain; set aside.

2. MIX dressing and syrup in saucepan; cook on medium heat until mixture is bubbly, stirring occasionally. Add carrots; cook until glaze is thickened to desired consistency, stirring frequently.

3. ADD butter; stir until melted. Stir in the pecans.

Creamy Rice, Chicken & Spinach Dinner

1/4 cup KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into wide strips

1-1/2 cups fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese, cubed

1 pkg. (8 oz.) baby spinach leaves

1 large tomato, chopped 2 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. HEAT dressing in Dutch oven or large deep skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. Add broth; bring to boil. Stir in rice; return to boil. Cover. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 5 min.

2. ADD Neufchatel cheese; cook 2 to 3 min. or until melted, stirring frequently. Add spinach. (Pan will be full.) Cook, covered, 1 min. or until spinach is wilted. Stir gently to mix in spinach.

3. REMOVE pan from heat. Let stand, covered, 5 min. Stir in tomatoes; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

(I used more rice than the recipe called for and ended up using the entire package of cream cheese. Cream Cheese is naturally a little dry and so the meal was just so. It did taste good though.)

I also tried my hand at making bread again this weekend. It went much better this time. I also discovered what I did last weekend. Turns out that I put too much water into the bread maker last weekend when I was trying to make the bread. This weekend I made the same bread and was even able to make it into a braid. It was super yummy and everyone LOVED it!!

Last but certainly not least...dessert. I made a Apple Crisp. The only things that I would do differently next time is a) cut the apple slices thicker than I did and b) use a bigger pan. Using the 8" square pan made the Apple Crisp too thick and the apples in the middle didn't cook. It was still extremely good. I will definitely make it again.

Nilla Apple Crisp

8 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apples (about 4 large/2 lb.)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided

2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

1/3 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats

1/4 cup cold margarine 25 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers, crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping

PREHEAT oven to 350°F.

1. Toss apples with 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1 tsp. of the cinnamon.

2. Spoon into 8- or 9-inch square baking dish.

3. COMBINE oats, the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add wafer crumbs; mix well. Spread crumb mixture evenly over apples.

4. BAKE 30 to 35 min. or until apples are tender. Serve warm or cooled. Top with whipped topping.

(I left off the cool whip)