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.

Quick Lunch: Sweet Salad and Soup

Salad nutritional breakdown

Today was another snow day which is crazy. It's not supposed to stick around until tomorrow, but it was nice having another work from home in my pajamas day. It's always dangerous to hang around the house all day though because there's the temptation to snack on things laying around the house. I did really well today and landed under 1300 calories with the help of my delicious lunch! I hunted for things I had around the house (including some of Wendy's pomegranate vinaigrette that I need to find in a store or online somewhere so I don't have to keep the leftover packets like a hoarder). I came up with two cups of organic baby greens, half a granny smith apple, 1/8 cup of craisins, 1/8 cup of goat cheese crumbles, and that packet of pomegranate vinaigrette. I ate it with a cup of jarred tomato basil soup and it was fantastic.

I also have to give a shout out to La Madeleine. Not only do I love their fat free Caesar dressing, they just came out with a low fat version of their tomato basil soup. That soup is pretty much the only reason I ever go to La Madeleine, but with the regular version, a cup has 340 calories and 32 grams of fat, so I would definitely have to save it for a special treat. The low fat version that they also sell in jars is 150 calories and 11 grams of fat for a cup, so I am thrilled. The best part? It tastes just as good as the regular fat version! They sell them online, and if you order some, you might as well pick up some of the Caesar dressing as well.

The Best Recipe Ever: 5 Ingredient Taco Chili

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write a post about one of my favorite recipes ever: my five ingredient slow cooker taco chili. I think it took me longer to type the name of it than it did to make it this morning.

Yield: 4 servings (The pictures are from my mini-crockpot, so I just halved the recipe, I put the half cans of beans in the freezer to use next time I want some yummy chili!)

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen Morningstar Farms Meal Starter Crumbles, 12 oz (or if you want to use a pound of beef or turkey, that's fine, just brown it first)
2 cans diced tomatoes, you can use the ones with chiles or green peppers, but do not use Rotel
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili/red kidney beans with gravy
1 packet of taco seasoning mix

Preparation:
1. Dump everything in your crockpot, give it a stir, and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. That's it!

You can top this with cheese, low fat sour cream, tortilla strips, fritos, put it over a baked potato...pretty much whatever you want. You can also add other canned veggies, like a can of corn or some chopped onions and bell peppers, even some jalapeños. Like I said: Best. Recipe. Ever.

Sunday Splurge: 10 Minute Steak Night!

So I haven't posted lately, but my granma died last weekend and I'm just now getting back into cooking every night and working out. However, that has not slowed down my weight loss! I am about 8 pounds down since Jan. 1 and one pound away from my goal weight for January. If I do lose that last pound, it means I get a fancy new set of pajamas. If I lose MORE than that for January, I get to pick from a list of little treats for meeting my goal early. I think I'm leaning towards a hair blowout kit, but I'm not sure.

I decided to have steak tonight because I haven't had it since my birthday in September, and it sounded so good! I have a George Foreman so it's really simple to cook for me, and I oven roasted some asparagus and popped a potato in the microwave. Voila, a steak dinner in 10 minutes!

As I said, this was a splurge because it topped out at just under 700 calories, but this was a BIG steak. I probably could've split it and had it for lunch tomorrow, but...I was hungry. I listed every little step out in the directions because I wanted to prove that I made this in exactly 10 minutes. Mmm!

Yield: 1 serving (multiply as desired)

Ingredients: 
Olive oil cooking spray (like Pam, 0 calories)
Asparagus, about 10 medium stalks
Baked potato
2 tbsp low fat sour cream (or margarine) for potato topping
New York strip steak, about 8 ounces
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Turn on the George Foreman and warm it up.
2. While it's heating, wash and dry the asparagus, and then cut off about 2 inches of the stalks with a sharp knife. Spray a pie plate with the cooking spray and lay the asparagus in a single layer in the pie plate. Spray with cooking spray again and sprinkle with black pepper and sea salt. Put the asparagus in the preheated oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. By the time the asparagus is done, everything else will be too.
3. Season the steak as you like it, I just use a little sea salt and cracked pepper, but I think next time I'll try some cajun seasoning on it.
4. Wash the potato and poke some holes in it with a fork. Put it in the microwave and use the potato setting for one potato, plus an extra 30 seconds or so. This usually takes about 5 minutes and 30 seconds to cook, just in case you don't have a potato button on your microwave.
5. By now the George Foreman should be ready to go, so put the steak on it and set it for 4-5 minutes (depending on how you like your steak cooked). I cooked mine for 5 minutes and there was almost no pink in the middle, but it was still nice and juicy.
6. Take the potato out of the microwave, split it open, and top as desired. I used 2 tablespoons of low fat sour cream, so that's what the nutrition shows.
7. Plate the asparagus and the steak, serve!