Chicken and White Bean Enchilladas

It is supposed to be a cold and snowy night in Pittsburgh.  I had a long day at work, and something delicious was on the menu.  You know I love some Mexican, and this was no let down.  I pretty much followed the skinnytaste.com recipe to the T.. except those things I sort of forgot at the store.

Filling
Olive Oil
~1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 can chopped green chilis
1 can white beans (great northern) drained and rinsed
1-2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
abt 1.5 cups water
chicken soup base
1 tsp cumin

Sauce
1 tbl  of butter/oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbl flour
1 cup chicken broth
2 jalapenos, minced
1/2 cup light sour cream

tortillas
cheese

1. Start with oil, onion, an garlic.  Cook to soften. Add remaining filling ingredients and simmer to thicken sauce (~15 minutes).  

2.  Soften onions in butter/oil.  Add flour, stirring to prevent burning (~1 min).  whisk in water to fully mix. Cook about 5 minutes to thicken.  Stir in chopped jalepenos and cook for a minute.  Remove from heat an stir in sourc ream. 

3. Pour a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan.  Take filling and fill tortillas and lay seam side down.  I had large tortillas, so I could only fit 5 in the pan. Cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes and enjoy some ooy gooey yum.

Verdict:  Win.  I really did only eat 1, which was fine for me since it was a little on the late side for dinner.  The tortillas were my favorite super tortillas (whole grain, high fiber).  Add in the beans and chicken and there wasn't need for much more than one.  I did want to eat more because it was so darn good.  It wasn't hot at all since i de-seeded the peppers.  I would add the canned chilis to the sauce, I just had forgotten to get two cans during last weeks shopping trip. 

Definitely repeatable.  I think the human garbage can might even eat this.

Blueberry-Banana Baked Oatmeal

I took advantage of the extra weekend day over MLK weekend to make myself a fun and fancy breakfast for the week.  I had seen the recipe for Blueberry-Bannana Baked Oatmeal over at skinnytaste a few days ago when she posted it.  I've been thinking about it ever since then, so this seemed the perfect day to go for it.  I didn't exactly follow her recipe, but modified it with a few substitutaions based on all the things I forgot to pick up from Giant Eagle and my general disinterest in all things measured. 

Ingredients
2 bananas
the better part of a pint of blueberries
brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup old fashioned oats
fat free milk
1 egg
vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

What I did....

-Preheat oven to 375.

-Spray a 9x9 pan with canola oil

-I sliced the bananas and put them on the bottom of the pan.  Covered the banana goodness with about half the blueberries and covered the fruit with about 1 tsp of cinamon and about 1 tsp of brown sugar (I had no honey at home, oops).  I added a little water (like 1 tbl) and baked for about 15 minutes

-I mixed up the oats, 1 tsp of the cinnamon, baking powder, a handful of pecan pieces, and a dash of salt in one bowl.  In another bowl I mixed up 1 cup milk, 1 egg, about 1/2 to 1 tsp brown sugar, and vanilla extract. 

- After the fruit came out I spread the oats over the top and covered evenly with the liquids.  It seemed like a little more liquid was needed so I added some extra milk (the liquid didn't cover the oats and since I was using regular oats instead of quick cook I thought extra liquid would be needed).  Then i topped with more blueberries and pecans and baked for about 30 minutes. 

I ate this warm.  It was delish.  I love bananas and blueberries, but often am too lazy to eat them.  However, this was a great way to get them into my meal along with some good oaty fiber.  I plan to slice the rest up and microwave them in the morning for breakfast this week.  I would call it a win and be interested in trying with apples and cranberries. 

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Happy New Year

I swear I've been cooking the last  several mos... my pants prove it!  But, I'm back.  With a vengance.  or something :)

Spinach Torellini Bake

So I read about this yummy Tortellini Bake on Our Best Bites.  I do enjoy their blogs.  I'm not sure if its because the food is normal, its simple, or because its Kate and Sara blogging.  Either way, cheese, pasta, bacon, spinach:  sold.  I had been planning to make this since reading the recipe.  My original intent was to veggie it up with some asparagus I had in the fridge, but it was used in another manner.  I wound up pretty much following the recipe as it published, although i didn't really measure much - just the roux ingredients.  I still like the idea of throwing more veggies in there.  Serious win.  Definitely a re-do.  I could see prepping this the night before and just popping it in the oven when getting home from work for a quick and easy weeknight meal.  Looking forward to leftovers for lunch.

Ingredients
4-6 pieces of bacon,
1 bag spinach and cheese tortellini (12 oz)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbl flour
1 tbl olive oil
2 cups fat free milk
roughly chopped spinach -- about two handfuls
about 1.5 cups cheese -- mozzarella and parmesan mixed.
1 lemon
basil, pepper, salt to taste

Methods
1. I started off frying the bacon at a nice heat to make some tasty crumblies.  Meanwhile the pasta was cooking and the oven preheating.

 

2. After removing the bacon from the pan i wiped up most of the bacon grease and cooked the garlic for a minute or two in the leftover drippings in the bacon pan.  I used the leftover bacon grease and flour to make a roux.  (I actually took out too much grease, hence the added olive oil).  After adding milk, lemon juice, basil, salt, and pepper the sauce simmered until thickened slightly.

3. Meanwhile, with the oven preheating to 350F, I mixed the cooked pasta, chopped spinach, crumbly bacon, and cheese up in my pasta stockpot.  Finish by tossing and coating with the sauce and transferring to a baking dish.  I reserved a little cheese and bacon and threw them on the top before baking for about 25 minutes.  it was awesome, as shown below.

 T

Creamy Potato-Cauliflower Salad

It's memorial day!  -Which means cookouts and all the yummy food that comes with summer.  Naturally, David had people over for a little cookout and we burned things in the fire pit.  I took the opportunity to bring out a new potato salad recipe.  I guess this puts me at four different ones that I consider successful!  Each one is unique and I like them all.  Although, i notice most of them do have bacon as a featured taste :)

I saw a pretty interesting spin on potato salad while reading the June issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  This is my interpretation of that recipe.  I would say this one was pretty yummy -- and pretty healthy too! :) I liked the cauliflower in this, it was a different spin.  I also learned that my pupsters like cauliflower!  They were all about the pieces I gave them. 

Creamy Potato-Cauliflower Salad
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, June 2011

Materials
6 red potatoes, coarsely chopped
1/3-1/2 head of cauliflower, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
approx 1-1.5 cups plain yogurt
dill, lots of it. 
approx 1-2 tbl lemon juice
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
a handful (approx 1/3 cup?) Gorgonzola blue cheese
pepper to taste

Methods
I started with the potatoes -- cooking them until they were just fork tender and still fairly firm.  Once they were cooked I drained them and rinsed them with cold water. I did the same with the cauliflower -- steaming for a few minutes until fork tender but still firm. 

I mixed the yogurt, dill, and lemon juice together with some pepper.  I didn't add salt since I was adding the Gorgonzola and bacon to the salad later.  I tossed the yogurt mix with the potatoes and cauliflower and folded in the cheese and bacon and left it in the fridge too cool off. 

Chicken Rollatini with Proscuitto and Provolone

I know.. it has been a while.  The whole moving thing throws off the whole cooking thing.

however...

i'm back.  and i made some kicking chicken the other night!  and I have some good stuff on the menu this weekend already :)

I saw this recipe on Gina's Skinny Eats several weeks ago and have been planning to make it since!  Seriously.  I pretty much followed her recipe, although it has given me a bunch of ideas on spins.  Here is my slightly modified version.

Ingredients
6 chicken tenders
italian breadcrumbs
3 cheese grated blend
lemon juice
olive oil
6 slices proscuitto
3 slices provolone

Methods
I took the chicken tenders and gave them a few wacks with the meat mallet, mostly just because i could :)  Meanwhile I mixed up a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice with a tablespoon or so of olive oil in one bowl and a 2:1 mixture of breadcrumbs and grated cheese in another bowl.  I took each chicken tender and washed it and patted it dry.  The tender was dipped into the lemon-oil mixtue followed by the breadcrumb mixture.  I placed a slice of proscuitto and half a slice of provolone in  middle and rolled the chicken up around it. 

The chicken baked in a lightly greased (Olive oil) pan for 30 minutes at 450.  since I was using tenders it probably could have cooked for 25 min. 

Note:  this looks a little more crunchy and whatnot because its from reheating the leftovers today... I forgot the camera in my other bag on Thursday when i made these.  oops.  but look at that crispy cheesy hammy goodness.mmm

Verdict - Win
It really was good!  I like this idea of the double breaded rollatini rather than trying to wrap a chicken breast around a bunch of filling and securing with toothpicks.  it was soo much easier.  We each ate to tenders and were full, leaving me 2 for lunch today :)

I had actually intended to take a couple of them and wrap a couple of asparagus spears in the middle of the proscuitto-cheese center rather than the onion that Gina used.  I still plan to do that... I think it would be awesome.  Other people suggested a basil leaf, but i like the asparagus idea, I just didn't follow through.  I also meant to spray the tops with olive oil so the breading would be crunchier during baking.  Either way it was a win.  the proscuitto was nice and salty and crispy from baking and it made my tummy happy :)

Plus, this was surprisingly easy -- far easier than David thought it was.  The hardest part is the tiny kitchen at the new house.

Beef Fajitas

Another work week means another week of lunch!  I find that if I make lunch during the weekend I'm much more likely to eat healthy and have a good midday meal at the desk.  If I don't make lunch I'm quite likely to eat something unhealthy or enhance my lunch with something i shouldn't eat.  This week I'm doing fajitas, mmmm.  Fajitas are one of my favorite foods in the world!!!  They just make me happy.

Materials
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic chopped
~ 1 lb flat iron steak cut into strips
2 green peppers cut into strips
1/2 sweet onion cut into strips
3 roma tomatoes, quartered and de-seeded

Methods
I combined the lime, canola, oregano, cumin, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Afterwords I chopped the peppers and onions and beef.  Toss the beef and vegetables with the marinade, cover and let sit for 4-8 hours.  Later I heated up a skillet on high and cooked the meat.  I removed as much liquid as possible and to allow the beef to sear and get well seared on the outside.  I removed the steak once cooked and added the peppers, onions, and tomatoes to the pan, removing as much liquid as possible.  once cooked I tossed the veggies and beef together and prepared to enjoy.  I usually enjoy my fajitas with a fork as is, avoiding beans, rice, and tortillas.