Shredded Chicken Nachos (with Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips!)

Today was my first day back to work and I decided to have a really good dinner to clear my head. I'm feeling much better except for my ears, which are still stopped up (like that feeling you get when your ears pop on a plane), and I'm about to go nuts listening to myself breathe really loudly all day. Couple that with the fact that I could only hear about 80% of what people were saying all day -- you get the idea. I needed some good food.

This started out as tostadas and by the time I got done, it ended up as delicious nachos. Mmm!

Servings: Listed as serving 1, but of course multiply by as many as you want

Ingredients:

1/2 chicken breast, grilled and shredded (or really any protein you like...lean ground beef, steak strips, ground turkey, meatless crumbles, etc)

3 six-inch corn tortillas, each cut into six to make 18 pre-chips

1/2 c fat free refried beans

1/4 c Mexican blend shredded 2% cheese

1/2 c shredded lettuce

1/2 c chunky salsa/pico de gallo

1 tbsp diced jalapeños

1 1/2 tbsp light sour cream

Canola oil cooking spray

Salt and lime juice to taste (optional)

Preparation:

I almost burned these...

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and lay the tortilla pieces in a single layer. Make sure that there is space between the edges of each chip - if you put them too close together, they won't crisp up. Spray the tops of the chips with the cooking spray, and then sprinkle salt as desired. Once the oven is heated, put the chips in and bake for 8-10 minutes, until chips become crisp. Be careful not to let them turn brown, they can burn quickly!

2. While the chips are baking, heat the refried beans in the microwave for about one minute fifteen seconds, until hot. Get all your delicious toppings ready!

3. When the chips come out, scoop them on a plate and start layering. My order? Beans, chicken, cheese, lettuce, salsa, jalapeños, and sour cream, with a little fresh lime juice drizzled on the top. If you like your cheese extra melty, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds after the cheese goes on top, then finish with the cold toppings.

Takeout Swap: Chicken Fried Rice

This was a particularly rough Monday since I hadn't been to work in a week because of all the snow and ice. I didn't get to eat breakfast today, I had a pretty light lunch, I had to go grocery shopping on the way home, and by the time I got back I was starving. I really just wanted to stop and get takeout, but I made this instead and saved myself a LOT of fat and calories (an order of takeout fried rice can add up to 1500 calories, 10 grams of saturated fat, and 2,700mg of sodium)!

This recipe makes enough for leftovers the next day, and it's really a HUGE portion. You could probably get away with dividing this into 3 servings if you added a little more chicken.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 c uncooked jasmati rice
2 tbsp canola oil
6 oz cooked chicken breast, diced
1/2 c egg substitute (Egg Beaters)
2 scallions, sliced
1 small can of peas and carrots
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce






Preparation:
1. Cook rice according to directions on the package. I love my rice cooker since, for some reason, I can never cook rice over the stove.

2. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and pour in egg substitute. Leave on medium until completely cooked through and you have a sort of egg pancake. Remove from the skillet and cut into strips. Set aside.

3. Heat the chicken, peas and carrots, scallions, and oyster sauce in the skillet over medium heat until hot, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.

4. Heat the canola oil in the skillet over medium-high heat and empty rice into the hot oil. Stir to coat rice and let the rice crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken mixture to the rice and pour in soy sauce. Stir and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add egg strips and cook until egg is reheated.

Just as good as takeout but it saves almost 1/3 of the calories!

Broccoli Rice Cheese Chicken Casserole

I've had to get creative with the meals since I haven't been able to get to the store. I'm still at my mom's friend's house, so I've been raiding her fridge and pantry to come up with a few meals to tide us over. This is what I had to work with for lunch and dinner today. It turned out to be the perfect warm comfort food for a snowy day.

The way I had to make it I wouldn't call it low fat, but with some substitutions (2% cheeses, low fat cream of mushroom soup) it could be a dish that is in my regular rotation, and I don't think it would change the flavor that much, if at all. Note that the calories listed are for the full-fat version.

Yield: 6 servings, 1/6 of an 8x12 casserole dish each, so about a 4x4 inch square.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked white rice
10 oz cooked chicken breast
1 10.75 oz can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 tbsp margarine
1/2 c skim milk
1 12 oz package of frozen broccoli
6 oz Velveeta
1/2 c shredded cheese, cheddar or colby jack blend


Preparation:
1. Cook rice as instructed on package. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. While rice is cooking, steam the broccoli and chop it into pieces. You could use frozen chopped broccoli to make this step easier, but I prefer the Steam Fresh Florets; it seems like in the other packages all you get are stems.

3. Dice the Velveeta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes.

4. Dice the chicken breast into 1/2 inch cubes. All I had on hand was a bag of frozen, pre-cooked diced chicken from Kroger, so I just popped it in the microwave according to the directions. It was good! I am definitely putting it on my shopping list!

5. Once the rice is completely cooked, mix the rice, Velveeta, chicken, broccoli, cream of mushroom soup, water, and milk together in an 8x12 (13x9 is fine if that's all you have, just shave 10 minutes or so off the oven time) casserole dish and press down to even out the top. Put pats of margarine on the top. NOTE: If you want some additional texture, you can also put in a small can of water chestnuts or 1/2 of a small onion. I didn't have either of these on hand this time.

6. Bake for 25 minutes on 350 degrees. At 25 minutes, sprinkle the casserole with the shredded cheese and then return to oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbling. I put the broiler on for the last minute just to get a good crispy texture on the top.

Thai Tonight! Pineapple Chicken Curry

I made it three days on the diet before I started craving the delicious takeout from River Spice that is one exit up the tollway from my apartment. I love their curry and drunken noodles so much I saved them as a contact on my cell phone last month. Sad. Unfortunately, based on a very reliable source (Google), I estimated that 1 cup of the curry is 465 calories with 25 grams of fat...22 grams of saturated. Yikes...that's not even including the rice! And let's be honest, I'm not just eating 1 cup of the stuff. 

Luckily I anticipated the craving and last time I was at the store I bought a jar of Thai Kitchen Panang Curry simmer sauce. It's seriously my new best friend. It was a little pricey at around $5 for the jar that has 3 servings, but considering the fact that the curry from River Spice costs $11.73, I let myself splurge. So glad I did. With my final total for dinner tonight, I was at 517 calories and only 7.5 grams of fat -- including 3/4 cup of rice!! And it only took 30 minutes.

Yield: 2 servings (the whole jar will make 3 servings, and you can easily make this just for one...but it's so good you'll definitely want the leftovers!)

Ingredients:

1 cup (2/3 jar) Thai Kitchen Panang Curry Simmer Sauce

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices

3 canned pineapple rings, cut into bite-size pieces (in retrospect, pineapple chunks would be better)

1.5 cups sliced bell peppers (I used frozen Safeway Pepper Strips)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

3/4 cup (dry) Jasmati rice, cooked

Preparation: 

1. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
2. Put chicken slices in the heated sauce and simmer until half cooked. 
3. Add pineapple, peppers, onions, and red pepper flakes (optional), and continue to simmer until chicken is fully cooked. 
4. Serve over cooked Jasmati rice (if you put the rice in after you add the chicken, the rice will be ready just in time to serve).

This recipe is definitely going into my regular cooking rotation. And River Spice's phone number is definitely coming out of my speed dial. 

Enchiladas de Pollo con Salsa Verde (AKA Green Chicken Enchiladas for people like me who hate ordering food in different languages.)

My first recipe post! I decided to start the new year off right, so I made some green chicken enchiladas that I can eat on all week. I used a recipe from Cooking Light but modified it to make it easier and even lighter! Their recipe was titled that fancy name in Spanish, but I always feel so stupid ordering things in restaurants when they're in different languages, so I'm just going to call this green chicken enchiladas and avoid humiliation.

This took me about 30 minutes of prep time, but I think with a little practice I can get it down to 20. Cooking time was 3-4 hours for the chicken in the crockpot and then just 25 minutes in the oven. I'm hoping these freeze well. If so, I will plan to make a double batch next time.

Yield: 4 servings (2 enchiladas each)

Ingredients:

8  (6-inch) corn tortillas

Sour cream, if desired

Filling:

3  cups  water

1/4  tsp salt

8  black peppercorns (or 1/4 tsp regular black pepper)

1  yellow onion, quartered (at least big enough to make up 1/2 cup when chopped)

1  bay leaf

1  pound  skinless chicken breast

1 1/2 cup of 2% Mexican blend cheese 

Sauce:

2/3  cup  2% milk

1/4  cup  fresh cilantro

1/4  cup  egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)

1/8  tsp  salt

1  (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained (I found these in the Mexican section of the grocery store)

1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained

Preparation

1. To prepare filling, place all of the filling ingredients listed above except the cheese in a slow cooker and set on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Remove chicken from cooking liquid and shred with 2 forks. Remove onion from cooking liquid and dice to make 1/2 cup. Discard liquid and any remaining onion (or save it for a soup base).
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Combine chicken, 1 cup of cheese, and 1/2 cup onion in a bowl; set aside.
4. To prepare sauce, place all sauce ingredients listed above in a food processor; process until smooth. If you just have a tiny food processor like me, the only things that really need to go in are the tomatillos, the chiles, and the cilantro. You can stir in the rest of the ingredients out of the food processor.
5. To prepare tortillas, fill a medium skillet with 1 inch of water; bring to a simmer. Dip 1 tortilla in water using tongs. Spoon 1/2 cup filling in center of tortilla; roll tightly, and place in a 12x8-inch baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas and filling. 
6. Pour sauce over enchiladas. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with sour cream if desired. Enjoy!!

For the record, it is delicious. I made some quick Rice A Roni (the whole grain spanish flavor) and divided it into four portions. These will make the perfect lunches to bring to work this week -- don't they look better than a frozen dinner??