Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This is one of my most asked for dishes, and pretty tasty.
You will need 4-5 skinless/boneless frozen chicken breasts, or fresh ones if you can afford them.
one large can of cream of chicken soup (low fat preferred)
one large can of cream of mushroom soup (low fat preferred)
One large pack of white corn tortillas
one large bag of low to non fat shredded cheese
one large can of stewed (seasoned) tomatoes

2 small cans of green chili's chopped (mild or hot whatever you prefer)
optional : can of sliced olives, chopped green onions, sour cream, guacamole

First of grab a big pot and add water, when boiling add 4-5 chicken breasts (skinless/boneless)
cook until done. They should look like this :

Set these aside to cool.

Grab your bag of white corn tortillas.

You will probably use 3/4 of the bag. You will want to chop them in long strips like this:

I like to cut these in half but it's really up to you.

You will want a glass casserole dish if possible but this can be made in a corning ware pan as well.

I usually line mine with foil because I hate scrubbing the dried food later on.

Now set the tortilla strips aside and grab a large mixing bowl. Empty the two cans of soup into the bowl and both small cans of chili's

Stir these together and set aside.

Grab another mixing bowl and start ripping the chicken into shreds like so :

Add the cans of stewed tomato's and stir until the chicken is coated.

now on to the easy part. Grab your bag of shredded cheese :

Sprinkle a small handful of the tortilla strips on the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle a thin layer of shredded chicken on top of that and then drizzle some of the soup mixture on top of that. Sprinkle a handful of cheese and keep repeating this until you have a final layer of tortillas on top.

Sprinkle the last of your cheese on top and bake at 425 until the cheese bubbles and browns. I usually let mine bake about 30-35 minutes the most. Depends on how much you like your cheese browned.

This serves easily 6-8 people. I like to have one decent sized square with steamed veggies.

If you like olives I suggest you mix the olives in with the chicken mixture, and the green onions to the soup mix if you like those.

It's almost like a chicken enchilada lasagna when it's a finished product.

Like this! 

Sorry for the bad picture, but I blame the lighting. This is a smaller dish I made just for a few servings, but the recipe above can fill two this size, or one really large one.

I hope you guys try this, it's one of my favorites! If you balance it out with steamed veggies, it's not so bad for you with the carbs. And it's full of protein!

You can substitute the chicken for beef, or turkey. Go crazy :)

Add sour cream or guacamole as a garnish!

Sorry for not posting lately

Hey all, I recently started a job and it's been wearing me out since I haven't been working in a while.
I promise soon that I will start posting recipes again as soon as my body adjusts to the change.
Sorry for not posting anything lately but there will be more to come. I hope you guys understand!

Smoothies

I had a request for smoothie ideas.
So, I'm going to tell you right now. In my experience of smoothies, you need a blender.
I've tried stick blenders, and they don't work as great as a real blender.

You can do smoothies several ways.
I prefer to use frozen fruit, instead of fresh for a few reasons.
You don't have to add ice because the fruit is frozen, which gives you more options. Not to mention the blades sometimes have a hard time chopping the ice and it dulls the blade.

For a basic smoothie. I use one cup of frozen fruit, a scoop of protein powder if I'm going to make a meal out of it, agave nectar, or honey
A spoonful of peanut butter works good in case you don't want the taste of the protein powder.

One of my favorite smoothies I created, is:
one cup frozen blueberries
one small container of low to nonfat yogurt ( i like vanilla or blueberry but you can mix flavors if you like)
3/4 - 1 cup Minute Maid Pomegranate Blueberry blend juice (they have a few types) or any kind of juice works.
Just blend until smooth and pour into a cup

Another I like is:
one cup of tropical fruit (frozen) (this medley usually has strawberries, mango chunks, papaya chunks, and pineapple chunks)
One cup pineapple juice
One small container of pina colada yogurt (or I just use plain vanilla)
Blend and pour into a glass :)

These smoothies are NOT sugar free, but they don't boost my blood sugar up that much, especially if I add a good heaping of fresh ground cinnamon.

Speaking of cinnamon.. If you like fresh baked apple pie..

Caramel Apple Pie Smoothie
One apple cored (if you don't like the skin peel it)
1 graham cracker broken up
one small container vanilla or apple yogurt (freeze first)
dash of cinnamon
sprinkle of agave nectar or spoonful of brown sugar splenda
Blend until smooth and serve it up


Strawberry Banana smoothie
One cup frozen strawberries
One whole banana
One cup orange juice or strawberry banana juice (any kind of juice works)
One cup vanilla or plain yogurt
Blend and serve

Get creative. Try to use frozen fruit, and yogurt together.
You can add protein powder with it or in it's place.
Agave nectar adds a good healthy sweetness.
Juice is okay but full of sugar. Try to water it down before adding it if you are diabetic.
I like to use fresh coconut milk when I can.
You can add cinnamon to reduce sugar generated in your body.
Let me know if you try any of these :)

High Protein Breakfast ideas

So I'm not a huge breakfast person. But I know some of you are. One of you asked me to post some High Protein stuff, so besides the usual protein shakes, here are some tasty alternatives to high protein low carb stuff. Let me know if you try them and like them :)


On The Go Breakfast Cookies


**Flax Seed Meal (ground flax), 16 tbsp (remove)
*Splenda Brown Sugar Blend, 8 tsp (remove)
*Peanut Butter, chunk style, 1 cup (remove)
Baking Soda, 1 tsp (remove)
Egg, fresh, 2 large (remove)


Directions

Pre heat oven to 350 . Mix flax and baking soda together then add egg and cream together with peanut butter . Teaspoon onto and bake on a no stick baking pan for 12 mins. 2 cookies per serving.

Number of Servings: 12



Breakfast Yogurt Parfait


Ingredients

8 oz Plain or Vanilla low fat yogurt
1/4 cup cooked Wheat Berries
1/2 T Honey
1/2 Cup Strawberries sliced
1/4 Cup Blueberries


Directions

Mix yogurt and honey together. In a large glass layer 1/3 of the yogurt then wheat berries and fruit. Repeat ending with the fruit.
You can add vanilla to the yogurt if you desire and feel free to switch up the fruit with what ever you have on hand.

Number of Servings: 1


Soy Protein Pancakes



Ingredients

1 Whole Egg (*2 egg whites or 1/4 C. Egg Beaters)
1/4 C. Fat Free Cottage Cheese
1/4 C. Old Fashioned Oatmeal (powdered in blender if preferred)
1 Tbsp. Soy Protein Powder
Vanilla or Maple Extract to Taste
Ground Cinnamon to Taste
Water



Directions

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until it forms a batter like consistency.

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray & cook batter into 3 pancakes.

Optional: Top with sugar-free syrup, fruit or applesauce.


Number of Servings: 3



Peanut Butter and Egg Sandwich (doesn't sound good but is quite tasty)


Ingredients

Egg substitute or if you prefer the real thing is okay too, egg whites would also work (1 egg or equivalent)
2tbsp Reduced fat Peanut butter
2 slices Sara Lee 45 calorie bread.


Directions

Makes one sandwich. Cook egg or egg substitute fully. Toast two slices of bread and spread on peanut butter add egg to middle and enjoy

Number of Servings: 1


Oatmeal Yogurt Delight


Ingredients

1/2 cup of Quick Cooking Oats
1 4 oz Dannon's Vanilla Carb Control Yogurt (you can also use other flavors if you want)
1 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon to taste
a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries. Also can use cut up peaches or apples in season instead of blueberries.
The recipe is sweet enough for me--but you can add a packet of Splenda if you want it sweeter.


Directions

In a microwave safe container, add quick cooking oats, water, cinnamon, and blueberries. Cover with wax paper and microwave for 2 to 2.5 minutes on high. Before serving stir in yogurt. It makes a large, hearty breakfast that will stay with you for the whole morning.

Number of Servings: 1


Peanut Energy Bars


Ingredients

Peanut Butter, smooth style, .75 cup
Liquid Honey, .75 cup
Brown Sugar, .75 cup, packed
Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened, .5 cup
Quick-cooking oats, 1.5 cup
Rice Krispies Cereal, 1.25 cup
Raisins, 1 cup (not packed)
Peanuts, coarsely chopped, unsalted, 1 cup, shelled


Directions

Spray 13 x 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray.

In saucepan, combine peanut butter, honey, brown sugar and cocoa. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes, stirring often, or until smooth.

Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in oatmeal, cereal, raisins, and peanuts. Press batter firmly into prepared pan. Cool before cutting into 32 bars.

Makes 32 servings. For a change, use dried cranberries or apricots instead of the raisins.

Number of Servings: 32

Does anyone have any new requests for recipes? Post them here and I'll put something up for ya!

So the last week of training at my new job has totally drained my brain.
I'm frustrated and think I'm totally going to crash and burn when I start, but at the same time I'm totally excited and ready to take new responsibility on.
With this new feeling I've totally lost my brain. So because of this I'm not sure what to post for you guys to cook.
If you have suggestions or desires, please comment here and I'll try to post something to match it.
For now, I apologize in advance for lack of posts, or lack of energy to brain things. Thanks for understanding and request away!

Sorry!

I apologize for not posting for a few days, but as some of you know I just started a new job after searching for a few years.
So I'm focusing on that right now, and have FOUR weeks of training.
I will post when I can but the last few days have been exhausting.
I hope you understand and will check back for more yummy food!

Chili recipes

Fat: 12.6 g

Carbohydrates: 10.0g

Calories: 196.5

Protein: 12.3g




1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup diced celery
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 small can diced green chilies
1/4 cup chopped raw onion
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
3 tsp ground Cumin Seed
6 tsp Chili powder




Brown ground beef and drain.
Add all ingredients to crock pot and stir. Set on HIGH for 2 hours or LOW for 4 hours so the spices have a chance to really stew.

Serve hot with cheese if you would like.

Number of Servings: 8


That was for Kristi since she requested a crock pot chili recipe.
I like to substitute ground beef with pulled pork, chicken or turkey.


Regular stove top chili


Ingredients

2 onions, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 pasilla peppers, diced
3 lbs beef chuck (cut to 1-inch cubes)
2 Serrano peppers, diced
4 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp Del Arbol chili powder (or Mexican Red)
6 garlic cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 (28 oz) cans whole tomatoes, crushed
1 can beef broth
3 tbsp canned chipotle chile, diced

Optional Garnishes
grated pepper jack
cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
dollop of sour cream

Preparation
In a large pot, heat half the olive oil with the diced onions and peppers. Cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the onions begin to caramelize.

In a separate skillet, use the other 2 tbsp of olive oil to brown the cubed beef. After the beef is browned, use a spaghetti strainer to drain off the beef renderings into the trash (Hint: Wad up about 5 paper towels into your trash, pour the renderings into the towels. Otherwise there is a chance the renderings will melt the trash bag.)

Add the browned meat to the onions and peppers, and cook for another five minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except vinegar): paprika, coriander, oregano, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, garlic, tomatoes, beef broth, and chipotle. Kick the heat up to high, until the chili is boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer (usually lowest heat), cover and cook for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

After 1.5 hours, remove meat, shred with a fork, and add it back to the pot. Cook for a final 10 minutes uncovered, and add the red wine vinegar right before serving. Garnish as desired. Serves Six.