Recipes #7 & 8: Burrito Bowls & Enchilada Casserole

LOVE "healthy" great tasting food!!!

Recipe #7:  Bursting Burrito Bowl

Ingredients:
-1/3 cup sliced green and red bell peppers
-1/4 cup sliced onion
-1 tablespoon canned diced green chiles
-3 oz. cooked boneless skinless lean chicken breast, chopped
-1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
-1/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
-2 tbls pico de gallo
-1 tbls fat-free sour cream

Directions:
-Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat.  Add bell peppers, onion, and chiles and, stirring occasionally, cook until onion is mostly translucent, about 3 minutes.

-Add chicken and cook and stir until hot, about 2 minutes.

-Place lettuce in a bowl and top with black beans and chicken-veggie mixture.  Sprinkle with cheese, and then top or serve with pico de gallo and sour cream.

Makes 1 serving.  Per serving (entire bowl):  264 calories, 2g fat, 714mg sodium, 22.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 7g sugars, 39g protein.
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Recipe #8:  Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:
-One 10 oz can 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained and flaked
-One 10.75 oz can 98% fat-free cream of celery condensed soup
-2/3 cup frozen bit-sized mixed veggies
-1/2 cup salsa
-Six 6-inch corn tortillas
-1 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
Optional: Salt and black pepper
Also optional:  When the casserole was done cooking, I simply laid it on top of some shredded lettuce and topped with a little bit of fat-free sour cream.

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-In a large bowl, combine chicken, soup, veggies, and salsa.  If you like, add salt and pepper.  Mix well and set aside.

-Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.  Break tortillas into pieces about the size of tortilla chips.  Lay half of the tortilla pieces along the bottom of the baking dish.

-Evenly layer half of the chicken mixture over the tortilla pieces.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese.  Lay remaining tortilla pieces over the cheese.  Top evenly with the rest of the chicken mixture, followed by the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

-Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until edges are brown and crispy.

-Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, until sauce thickens.

Makes 4 servings.  Per serving (1/4 casserole):  260 calories, 4g fat, 1,166mg sodium, 27g carbs, 4g fiber, 3g sugars, 27.5g protein.

Recipes #5 & #6: Enchiladas & Stir-Fry

Recipe #5:  Lean Bean 'n Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
-2 medium-large corn tortillas
-2/3 cup enchilada sauce
-1/3 cup fat-free refried beans
-1 slice fat-free cheddar cheese, halved
-1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup chopped onion
-1 tablespoon taco sauce
-1/2 teaspoon dry taco seasoning mix
-Optional toppings: fat-free sour cream, chopped scallions

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-In a pan sprayed with nonstick spray, cook onion over medium heat on stove until it begins to brown (about 2 minutes).

-In a small dish, combine onion with refried beans, taco sauce, and taco seasoning until mixed well.

-Spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

-Heat tortillas in the microwave until slightly warm.  Lay tortillas flat and spread about 2 tablespoons enchilada sauce onto each one.

-Place on half of the cheese slice in the center of each tortilla.  Evenly distribute bean mixture in the center of each tortilla.

-Wrap tortillas up tightly and place them in the baking dish, seam sides down.  Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas.  Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until enchiladas are hot.

-Remove dish from the oven and sprinkle shredded cheese over the enchiladas.  Return to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until cheese has melted.

-Plate 'em and top with sour cream and/or scallions if you want.

Makes 2 Servings.  Per Serving (1 Enchilada): 187 calories, 2g fat, 976mg sodium, 29g carbs, 4g fiber, 5g sugars, 12g protein.
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Recipe #6: Santa Fe Cheesy Chicken Stir-Fry

Ingredients:
-4 ounces raw boneless skinless chicken breast (chopped)
-2 tablespoons canned black beans, drained and rinsed
-1/2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
-1/2 teaspoon lime juice
-1/8 teaspoon chili powder
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-2 dashes ground cumin
-2 dashes black pepper
-1/4 cup frozen corn
-1/4 cup thin sliced onion
-1/4 cup thin sliced red bell pepper
-1/4 cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

Directions:
-In a bowl, combine raw chicken, beans, cilantro, lime juice, chili powder, salt, cumin, and black pepper.  Mix well and set aside.

-Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat.  Add corn, onion, and bell pepper.  Stir frequently.  Cook four to five minutes, until onion softens.

-Add chicken mix and cook for five minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Stir occasionally.

-Add cheese and tomatoes and stir until the cheese starts to melt.

Makes 1 serving.  Per Serving: 256 Calories, 2 g fat, 693mg sodium, 19.5g carbs, 3.25g fiber, 4.5g sugar, 38.5g protein.

Recipe #4: Bacon 'n Cheese Bell Pepper Skins

Delicious!!  Pretty much stuffed peppers but not quite... obviously =)

Ingredients:
-2 bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
-6 slices extra-lean turkey bacon
-3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup chopped scallions
-1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Cut peppers in half.  Remove stems and seeds.  Slice each pepper into quarters and set aside.

-Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray.  Place pepper slices on the sheet cut side up.  Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until slices are soft.

-Meanwhile, bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove.  Cook bacon on both sides until crispy.  Let cool and then chop into small pieces.

-Once pepper slices are done, remove from the oven and let cool slightly.  Don't turn off the oven.  Blot away any excess liquid from peppers.

-Sprinkle pepper slices evenly with shredded cheese, scallions, and chopped bacon.  Return to the oven and bake until cheese has melted (5 to 10 minutes).  Serve with sour cream.
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Makes 4 servings.

Per Serving (2 pieces):  119 calories, 5.5g fat, 378mg sodium, 6.5g carbs, 1.25g fiber, 3.5g sugars, 11g protein.

Recipe #3: BLT Quesadilla

To somebody who does not enjoy tomatoes (like myself) this may LOOK too tomato-ey for you... but let me assure you, IT IS DELICIOUS!!!  TRUST me... I do not like tomatoes, but I really really really enjoyed this recipe!!

Ingredients:
-1 large Tortilla (recommended:  Use La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Low Carb/High Fiber tortilla)
-2 tablespoons fat-free shredded cheese (I used cheddar but mozzarella works too!!)
-2 slices extra - lean turkey bacon
-Half plum tomato diced (recommended:  Use a Roma Tomato)
-Half cup shredded lettuce

Sauce:
-1 tablespoon fat-free Mayonnaise
-1 tablespoon Ketchup

Directions:
-Cook bacon according to the package directions, either in the microwave or in a pan sprayed with nonstick spray.  Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop bacon and set aside.

-Bring a pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat and lay the tortilla flat in the pan.  Top evenly with cheese.

-Once cheese begins to melt, cover half of the tortilla with bacon and tomato.  Using a spatula, carefully fold the cheese-only side over the other half, pressing down with the spatula to seal.  Cook side 1 for about a minute.  Flip and continue cooking for about 1 minute or until both sides are toasty.  Remove from heat.

-To make the sauce, combine mayo and ketchup in a small dish.  Cut quesadilla into triangles, top with shredded lettuce and serve with sauce on the side. 

MAKES 1 SERVING

PER SERVING (entire quesadilla):  175 calories, 4.5g fat, 1,026mg sodium, 26.5g carbs, 12.5g fiber, 7g sugars, 18.5g protein.

Recipes 1 & 2: Stuffed Chicken & Stuffed Peppers

I'm going through this phase lately where all I want to do is try new recipes and test the cooking skills.  So far, so good... minus the fire alarms going off the night I steamed veggies on the stove.  Anyways, I thought I would start sharing recipes!!!  Here are the first two I have tried that taste fantastic!!!  I, of course, change them a little or leave some ingredients out... but I will let you know what I change or what can be added.
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Recipe 1:  Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients:
-4 chicken cutlets, split (8 pieces)
-1 8oz package cream cheese
-Chives

Coating Mix:
-1 cup of bread crumbs
-1 teaspoon of garlic powder
-1/2 a teaspoon of basil
-1/2 a teaspoon of oregano
-2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

-Lay 8 pieces of chicken flattened on wax paper.  Divide cream cheese into 8 slices, placing a slice on each piece of chicken.  Sprinkle with chives, roll up, and secure with a toothpick.  Roll chicken rolls in coating mix and place in a slightly greased baking dish.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Shake on the Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

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Recipe 2:  Super Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

-1 large red bell pepper

-1/2 a cup of browned ground beef

-1/4 of a cup of chopped onion

-1/4 of a cup of chopped green bell pepper

-1/4 of a cup of tomato sauce

-2 tablespoons shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

-1/2 a teaspoon of dry taco seasoning mix

-1/4 of a teaspoon of minced garlic

(I substitute ground beef for the 1/2 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles; I also leave out the 1 deseeded and chopped plum Roma tomato and the 1/2 a cup of chopped mushrooms.)

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

-Slice off the top of the red bell pepper and slice it in half length wise.  Remove seeds and place in a lightly greased baking dish with the cut side up.  Place in the oven for 25 minutes.

-While peppers are baking, bring a medium pan to medium high heat on the stove.  Add the onion and pepper (and mushrooms if you so choose) and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.  Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Move the ingredients to a bowl and add the beef (or soy crumbles), tomato sauce, cheese, and taco seasoning (and tomatoes if you want them).  Mix thoroughly.  Remove the pepper halves from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees.  Soak up any excess moisture with a paper towel.  Evenly spoon mixture into the peppers and bake for 20 minutes.

Per Serving (2 stuffed pepper halves):  303 calories, 5 grams of fat, 407 grams of sodium, 21 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, 21 grams of protein.

A New Blog

Hey all!!! My new blog is http://wonderfullybeautifulyou.blogspot.com . I added this for some of my newest posts/thoughts. Hope you enjoy it!!! Thanks!!!

Operation Africa

So I'm working on going through Operation World..... starting from the beginning and daily reading about countries with my Bible nearby. Today was part 3 of a week on Africa. It went through the "Trends to Watch" in Africa. Now, I love Africa. Been there, left a chunk of my heart there, and the rest of my heart is wrapped in an African blanket. But it is so sad when I'm reading. Lately, my trip to Africa has been on my heart. I've struggled with lately with the rather bad and selfish attitude I had when I was there. Granted, I had only accepted Christ 2 short years before going and was still growing and learning (and still am) but I can definitely say there has been more maturing in the last year of my life than there was those first 2 years. Africa just sticks in my heart. I wanted to share what I wrote this morning as a reflection from reading through trends in Africa... and partly a reflection of the past few weeks of Perspectives and some things that were said recently about a trip to Kenya taken by some friends of mine.

There is so much that we could do but so little that has been done by us. There is so much that we, as "rich Americans", Christians and non, so much we can do so why don't we do it? We live "lavish" lifestyles here even though society says some of us are "poor". We have medical needs that are met instantly if needed. Education on EVERYTHING is so readily available and we have a "stable" government that is TECHNICALLY not stealing from its people... at least not stealing and taking advantage of its people the way some of the governments in other countries do. We are blessed and by the "world's standards" we are free.

Man, do we take advantage of that in innocent, selfish ways. I say innocent because we don't know what it is like to be truly "poor" with political corruption, HIV/AIDS/Malaria running rampant. On average, malaria takes the lives of one child every THIRTY SECONDS. Innocent because of the "religious freedom" any way you can have it. I say innocent because for the most part it is how we are raised, brought up, and taught in our culture and therefore we don't necessarily know any better and we don't always recognize it. I know I didn't. God is showing me so much NOW from a trip to Africa that I took almost two years ago. I say selfish because we are. There is enough food available to feed every single person on the face of this planet 4.3 POUNDS of food every day, and yet there are still elderly, mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews.... babies.... dying of hunger every single day. More than 25,000 people die DAILY from starvation. Selfish because we could do so much and yet we do so little.

Open my eyes Lord. What can I do? Take care of the poor, impoverished people that we ignore until you open our eyes to do more. Open our hearts to shatter the "social stigma" associated with AIDs and HIVand tell the world how to take care. Provide a was for us to care for malaria ridden countries and countries corrupted by the love of power and money. Raise up people to start a revolution, laborers to work for your glory in the corrupted politics in Africa. Only you, God, can work the hearts of the "advantaged" to go and work for you good in the "disadvantaged". Sustain and strengthen them daily. Keep them safe and reach out to those who need you as a shelter. Work out your will for those people in need. What CAN I do? More than I can probably even imagine. What WILL I do? On my own, nothing. With God, whatever He wants me to do because He can do anything and everything for anyone. I pray for humility. I pray that we, as a selfish and rich country, humble ourselves. If we don't, then the truth is, God will humble us in one way or another.