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.

Valentine's Day Treats!

Happy Valentine's Day! I spent all day yesterday baking and making these delicious treats to take into the office this morning. I felt a little like a crazy person since there were way more cake balls than I anticipated and ended up bringing in just under 100 of them, but most of them were gone by the end of the day, so I think they enjoyed them. Recipes will be posted later!

Red velvet cake balls in chocolate and powdered sugar

Cinnamon and sugar biscotti

Rice krispie treats

Oreo truffles

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!

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!