I know I’ve said before that I’m thin and so is my daughter. I know I shouldn’t use that as an excuse for not eating healthy, but the truth is I sometimes do. I do eat healthy sometimes, although clearly not evidenced by the recipes I’ve shared so far! When I do eat healthy it’s along the lines of a salad, or steamed veggies, or baked plain fish, and I just haven’t made anything special enough to share with you since I started blogging.

Even though, one of my favorite TV shows for years now has been The Biggest Loser. Simply because I love watching the contestants transform themselves! I think it’s amazing how different they all look at the end of the season. So, among my somewhat large cookbook collection is The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. I’ve made several of the recipes in it over the couple of years that I’ve had it.

A big part of my diet, or why I eat the way I do, is that I won’t use artificial sweeteners at all. I never liked the taste of any of them, and then since I’ve cooked for my daughter’s Godmother and her sister, who have PKU and can’t have Nutra Sweet,so I’ve never used them. Plus, I’m not too into chemical laden fake stuff!  I don’t like a lot of low-fat products either. Skim milk? Yuck! There are some that I find good, like low-fat crackers, light cream, etc. Lean ground beef, chicken, turkey are all good, too!

When I saw this Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf recipe in The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook it sounded like something I and my husband would love, only with a few modification to better suit my tastes. The original recipe calls for old-fashioned oats in place of bread crumbs, fat-free milk, egg whites instead of whole eggs, and reduced fat blue cheese. You can of course use those instead of my recipe below if your watching your diet. I honestly don’t mind To each their own, right?

Buffalo Chicken Meatloaf- adapted from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook

1 pound ground chicken

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 1/2- 3 tablespoons buffalo wing sauce, or more if you want it spicy

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*F. Spray a 9 x 5 x 3 or slightly smaller nonstick loaf pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl combine the ground chicken, celery, carrot, onion, eggs, salt, and wing sauce. Mix well using clean hands, then add the blue cheese and gently mix again.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf pan and spread flat. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Makes about 8  1 1/2 inch pieces.

I’ve made this many times with ground turkey instead of chicken, and both are just as good!

Which would you be more likely to try, the healthier, lower fat version, or this version? Do you agree with me about artificial sweeteners? I’d rather eat both good for you foods, and no so good for you foods, than chemically modified foods all the time!