Low-cal Chicken Fajitas

I'm determined to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight before swimsuit season, so I've been counting calories and upping protein recently.  This has made meal planning even more of a nightmare than before- which unfortunately has coincided with a monumental lag in posts from all the rest of you (come on ladies!  don't leave me hangin'!)  So I've come up with a couple protein rich recipes for the calorie challenged on my own lately.  Here's one of them:

Chicken Fajitas

Makes about 6 8" fajitas, 273 calories, 30 carbs, and 23 grams protein per fajita

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into thin strips)
• 1 medium red bell pepper, and 1 medium yellow bell pepper (seeded and cut into strips)
• non-stick cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream, thinned with 1-2 Tbs low fat milk
• 1-2 tsp ranch dressing mix
• six 8' tortillas
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/3 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
• 1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:

Spray skillet with non stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle chicken w/ spices.  Cook chicken and pepper strips over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes until strips are tender and chicken is cooked through (or use leftover grilled or baked chicken from a previous meal- cook peppers in spices for 5 minutes, throw chicken in during last minute or two of cooking to reheat).  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat at 350 for 10 minutes before serving.  While tortillas are heating, mix sour cream, milk and ranch seasoning together.  Top each warm tortilla with 1/6 chicken/pepper mixture, 1-2 T ranch sauce, lettuce, tomato, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of cheese.  Enjoy!  For more protein, try adding some black beans too.

My Dad's Taco Casserole

I remember one very distinct time that my dad made this. I must have been about 4 years old; my dad, brother and I were living in condo in Orem and we were having someone over for dinner. The casserole went around the table and everyone helped themselves. When it came to my turn, I dished some of the casserole onto my plate then promptly stuck the serving spoon into my mouth, not wanting to miss out on the good stuff that was left on it. I then received a very stern lecture from my dad on why we do not put the serving spoons in our mouths. My dad left the table to get a clean serving spoon for our guest. I felt pretty silly, needless to say. Anyway, I really enjoy this casserole and hope that your family likes it as well.

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp crushed garlic

18 5 1/2 in round corn tortillas

1 bag frozen corn

2 cups shredded cheese (I use either cheddar, colby jack, or Monterey jack. If you want some heat, pepper jack would be good.)

Chopped tomotoes

Shredded lettuce

Salsa

Sour Cream

Guacamole

Preheat oven to 375.

Cook the ground beef with the spices and garlic until cooked through. Drain Add the two cans of tomato sauce and re-season if necessary.

Spoon a little of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Lay down 6 tortillas on the top of the sauce (they will overlap). Add about 1/3 of the remaining sauce on top of the tortillas, sprinkle on some frozen corn and cheese and the next layer of 6 tortillas. Add another 1/3 of the sauce, more corn and cheese and a final layer of tortillas. Cover the top layer with the remaining sauce and cheese and put it in the oven for about 20-30 minutes.

Serve with your favorite taco toppings, and don’t lick the serving spoon.

This recipe could easily feed 8-10 people. I always cook too much. So, if you don’t need that much, just cut it in half and put the casserole together in a smaller dish.

Chicken enchiladas

I haven't been a faithful poster on this blog (or on any blog for that matter), but I'm stepping out today for my first blog post on this site.

I get so many of my recipes at allrecipes.com, and as long as I stick to the 4-5 star rated recipes (that have more than 3 people rating them) I've been pleased with the results. If you are not familiar with this site, you should be. You can even (all free) create your own recipe box on the site with your favorites so you don't have to search each time for that great cookie recipe you make last summer.

Anyway, one of the very best recipes I've found is Angela's Awesome Enchiladas found here: Angela's Awesome Enchiladas

I used green enchilada sauce instead of red enchilada sauce that the recipe calls for and I can't imagine anything yummier! It's the spices in the chicken that make it so delicious, too! Enjoy!!!

Weekly Meal Plan

My meal plan last week ended up being awesome, so I wanted to share.  I made:

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers (Mel's recipe w/ a few tweaks)
Amy's Crock Pot Roast and Corn Bread
Mackenzie's Enchiladas (sort of)
Chicken Cordon Bleu (Mackenzie's recipe)
Corn Chowder
Steak Tacos and Nacho Libre Corn
Greek Chicken Souvlaki Pitas

Click on "read more" for the recipes!

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Fiesta Tater Tot Casserole

Okay- so I like posting a great picture as much as the next girl, but let's face it-- there are no appetizing pictures of tater tot casserole so Dave suggested this as a good alternative.  Normally, I'm not a fan of this 1950's June Cleaver-esque dish- ground beef, cream of mushroom soup and tater tots?  Blech!  But I ended up with a bunch of leftover taco meat this week and in google searching I came across someone's idea to use it for tater tot casserole.  I realized I had some Ragu cheddar sauce I could use instead of soup, and since that meant I already had everything but the tots, I decided to try it for my budget's sake.  I served it to David wearing a frilly apron while proclaiming "Yum! Tater puffs and cheese whip!  I found it in Suburban Homes Magazine.  Enjoy!"  But all joking and artery clogging ingredients aside, it actually turned out so good, I think I will make it every time I have leftover taco meat.  So here's what I did:

Leftover seasoned taco meat (i use ground turkey instead of beef)

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Chicken Fajitas

My sister-in-law sent me this recipe from www.cooks.com. It has become one of our family favorites. When I am in a bind or can't think of what to prepare, this is a go-to recipe. Enjoy!

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CHICKEN FAJITAS
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4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 stick butter
1 cap full Mrs. Dash (regular or chipotle)
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1/4 brown sugar
lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, tortillas

Slice chicken into long strips, place in pan with half of the butter and Mrs. Dash.  Cook until done and lightly browned. Stir in a small amount of water or chicken broth and the brown sugar. Cook until caramelized.

Chop the pepper and onions into strips and rings, sauté in a separate skillet with the remaining butter. Cook until onions are caramelized and peppers have crispy edges.

These fajitas are really easy to make and a little different because they're sweet and spicy.

Salsa Verde Soup

Salsa Verde Soup

SOUP
1 15 oz jar La victoria "Thick & Chunky" salsa verde, medium (I couldn't find this exact brand, but just used another brand of salsa verde and it worked just fine.)
3 cups shredded chicken (can buy and shred a rotisserie chicken {saves time and adds more flavor}, or boil and shred frozen chicken breasts)
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained (white kidney beans)
3 cups chicken broth

GARNISH
2 green onions, chopped
sour cream
grated monterey jack cheese
tortilla chips

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Fire Roasted Salsa

My husband's family are from Mexico, so I have gleaned some killer Mexican food recipes off of them over the past few years. One of my goals for my contributions to this blog is to share some of those traditional recipes in an easy to shop for/ easy to make format. A lot of traditional Mexican dishes are impossible to shop for if you don't speak Spanish or know your way around a Latin market, and they are definitely impossible to cook if you don't have a little abuelita showing you step by step how it's done.
This recipe is for salsa, pico de gallo style. Every time I make it people ask me for the recipe, so here you go! The greatest salsa recipe in the world.

Fire Roasted Salsa
6 large Roma tomatoes
1/2 medium white onion
1 average-sized bunch of cilantro, stems removed
3 Anaheim chiles
6 Serrano chiles (but only if you like it HOT! I leave these out altogether for mild salsa, and only throw in 2 or 3 for medium salsa)
1 tsp garlic powder
Juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste

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