Skinny Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These enchiladas were amazing. So different than the regular enchiladas that I normally make and these ones are a tad bit healthier :) They were a family hit!

Ingredients

• 16 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked + shredded (about 2.5 cups shredded chicken)
• 8 oz reduced-fat sour cream
• ¼ cup skim milk
• 10¾ oz can Campbell’s® Healthy Request® Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 10 oz can Rotel® Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 8 Large La Tortilla Factory® Smart & Delicious™ Low Carb, High Fiber Tortillas
• ½ cup reduced-fat Mexican shredded cheese
• 4 oz can diced green chilies

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, mix together sour cream, soup, milk and cilantro. Heat through and set aside. (This will boil quickly and make a huge hot mess if you don't keep stirring. I learned the hard way. Twice.)
3. Combine the chicken, Rotel®, onions and green chilies in a pan sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Heat until onions are transparent.
5. Warm the tortillas until flexible. (I microwave them for 10 seconds sandwiched between two damp paper towels.)
6. Fill each tortilla with about 2 Tbsp of the chicken mixture.
7. Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down (or they will unravel) in baking dish.
8. Pour/spread the sour cream sauce over enchiladas and top with cheese.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Nutrition Information

Per Serving: (2 enchiladas)

Calories: 374

Fat: 19g

Carbohydrates: 38g

Fiber: 16g

Protein: 27g

BBQ Chicken Salad

OMG this salad was AMAZEBALLS!  Everyone knows that you can ruin your healthy salad with the dressing, but this salad is healthy and you get to use ranch dressing lol And a little goes a long way with this salad, especially since you're pairing it with BBQ sauce.  One of my favorite mixtures when I was in high school was Ranch and BBQ sauce, so when I came across this salad recipe on damndelicious.net (love that name lol), I knew I had to try it.  It was another big dinner hit in the Erickson household.  My 5 year old hates lettuce, so I left that out and mixed everything else together for her and she devoured it.


INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 boneless, skinless thin-sliced chicken breasts

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1 Roma tomato, diced

3/4 cup canned corn kernels, drained (I used frozen corn)

3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

1/4 cup BBQ sauce

1/4 cup tortilla strips

 

 

 

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.
• Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces.
• To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with chicken, tomato, corn, beans, onion and cheeses. Pour Ranch dressing and BBQ sauce on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.
• Serve immediately, topped with tortilla strips.

 

Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Yesterday I had quite the dilemma.  Brown sugar pork chops or parmesan crusted pork chops?  Both sounded amazing and I knew that either way, I was going to try them both.  With that said, due to sheer laziness I went for the brown sugar ones bc they are easier to make and all I had to go to the store for was the pork chops then.  Let me tell you, these things were delish and so juicy. Not to mention, INCREDIBLY easy to make.  Make sure that you cover them when you bake them so they stay moist and I always line the bottom of the pan with water.  It keeps them from drying out and mixed with the sugar to make a nice glaze to bake it in.  I served mine with baby red skin potatoes mixed with broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans.

 

INGREDIENTS: (this is for 2 pork chops.  I doubled the messurements for 4 chops)2 pork chops (I used boneless)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
minced/chopped garlic

 

DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the brown sugar, chili powder, and garlic powder in a bowl.
3. Rub the mixture onto both sides of the pork chop, coating it really well.
4. Transfer to a shallow oven safe pan. Add a little garlic on top of the pork chop and put into the oven. Let them roast in the oven until the internal temperature registers at 140-145 degrees. Depending on how thick they are will determine the cook time.  Mine tok about 25 min

5. ENJOY

 

 

Spicey Boneless Buffalo Wings

Here is another heathier meal that I came across on eatingwell.com.  Adam and I are HUGE wing fans, so having the healthier alternative is GREAT!  We both really enjoyed them.

Even though boneless Buffalo wings are made with healthy white-meat chicken, they're usually deep-fried and drenched in hot sauce laced with butter. The solution: chicken tenders are dredged in seasoned whole-wheat flour and cornmeal, pan-fried in only a small amount of oil and then drizzled with a tangy hot pepper sauce. With a fraction of the fat, calories and sodium

Critique from another person who tried the wings and I couldn't agree more :)

"These were a tasty alternative to buffalo wings... but I think in the future I'd drizzle more sauce over them... that's usually my favorite part. I also had trouble with the breading sticking to the chicken and would cut back on flour in favor of my cornmeal the next time I make them as I know this works fine from other recipes I've made. They were a hit for Monday Night Football...even with the breading falling off!"

Ingredients

Spicy Blue Cheese Dip

• 2/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

Wings & Vegetables

• 3 tablespoons nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
• 3 tablespoons hot sauce, such as Frank's RedHot, divided
• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, divided
• 2 pounds chicken tenders, (see Ingredient Note)
• 6 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
• 6 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 2 cups carrot sticks
• 2 cups celery sticks

Preparation

1. To prepare dip: Whisk sour cream, blue cheese, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. To prepare wings: Whisk buttermilk, 2 tablespoons hot sauce and 2 tablespoons vinegar in a large bowl until combined. Add chicken; toss to coat. Transfer to the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, whisk flour and cornmeal in a shallow dish. Whisk the remaining 1 tablespoon hot sauce and 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl; set aside.
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade and roll in the flour mixture until evenly coated. (Discard remaining marinade and flour mixture.) Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, placing each piece in a little oil. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and chicken, reducing the heat if necessary to prevent burning. Transfer to the platter. Drizzle the chicken with the reserved hot sauce mixture. Serve with carrots, celery and Spicy Blue Cheese Dip.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: The chicken can marinate (Step 1) for up to 1 hour.

• Tip: No buttermilk? You can use buttermilk powder prepared according to package directions. Or make “sour milk”: mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.
• Ingredient note: Chicken tenders, virtually fat-free, are a strip of rib meat typically found attached to the underside of the chicken breast, but they can also be purchased separately. Four 1-ounce tenders will yield a 3-ounce cooked portion. Tenders are perfect for quick stir-fries, chicken satay or kid-friendly breaded “chicken fingers.”

Nutrition

Per serving: 256 calories; 10 g fat (4 g sat, 4 g mono);83 mg cholesterol; 12 g carbohydrates; 31 g protein; 2 g fiber; 353 mg sodium; 248 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (120% daily value).
Carbohydrate Servings: 1
Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 3 1/2 lean meat
I am NOT a celery fan, so I replaced mine with cucmbers :)  I made a seperate, NON spicey batch with ranch for Mya and the leftovers made for a nice little lunch for her at school tomorrow! Please excuse my "fine china" lol

Tortellini Primavera

I have been trying a lot of great recipes lately, all of which are SO easy to make and are healthy.  This one has to be one of my faves though.  In fact, it was a family favorite.  I found the recipe on eatingwell.com and since I'm a HUGE pasta lover, I just had to give it a try :)
 
Makes: 5 servings, about 1 1/4 cups each
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
 

Ingredients

• 1 14-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 cup shredded fontina cheese or 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, dill or chives or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups chopped vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots and snap peas, or 16-ounce bag frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 16-ounce package frozen cheese tortellini

Preparation

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk broth and flour in a small bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until just beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broth mixture to the pan, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese, tarragon (or dill or chives) and salt.
3. Add vegetables and tortellini to the boiling water; return the water to a simmer and cook until the vegetables and tortellini are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain; add to the pan with the sauce and stir to coat.

Nutrition

Per serving: 424 calories; 15 g fat (8 g sat, 4 g mono);68 mg cholesterol; 55 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 14 g protein; 5 g fiber; 566 mg sodium; 321 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (126% daily value), Calcium (20% dv), Vitamin C (17% dv), Folate (16% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 3
Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 1/2 vegetable, 1 high-fat meat, 2 fat