About Me

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Who am I? Wife. Mother of 2. "Newbie" to fitness. Personal Trainer-in-training. Lover of health. Fitness. Religion. Family. Gluten and refined sugar intolerant. Welcome to my journey. Learn with me.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Oven-Fried Chicken Chimichangas & Spanish Rice

We are Mexican people. That is all there is to it. We love Mexican food and I have a whole arsenal of recipes. This was a new one that I got from Campbell's Kitchen. They send me recipes daily. They turned out FANTASTIC and were so easy to make. I really liked the Spanish rice although Jake wasn't a big fan. I think I will try it again to see if I can improve it. I really liked it though - it was fast and easy and a great compliment to the chimichangas.

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN CHIMICHANGAS

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Pace® Picante Sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
2 green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 tbsp. butter, melted
fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Stir the picante sauce, cumin, oregano, chicken, cheese and onions in a medium bowl.

Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla. Fold the opposite sides over the filling. Roll up from the bottom and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Brush with butter.

Bake at 400°F. for 25 minutes or until they're golden brown. Serve with additional picante sauce. Garnish with cilantro.

Tip: For 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken, in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, in 4 cups boiling water, cook 3/4 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed, for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Drain and chop the chicken. Serves 6.

EASY SPANISH RICE

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup plain tomato sauce*
3 cloves finely chopped garlic *
1/4 of a medium onion*
2 tablespoons oil
4 heaping tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (optional)

Preparation:

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add in the fresh garlic and onion. Saute for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add in dry rice. Stir for about 5 minutes until rice becomes a golden brown color.

Add in broth and tomato sauce (Slowly into rice, not directly onto hot pan!) Add in the parsley if you're using it. Stir it up and bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat to low and cover. Let it simmer for 20 minutes and fluff with a fork.

*If you don't have fresh garlic or onions on hand you can use the equivalent in powder form. Do not saute the powder, just skip that step and add the garlic powder and/or onion powder when you add the liquids. If you don't have tomato sauce you can use unseasoned stewed tomatoes, or canned diced tomatoes with their liquid.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Best Meatballs with a Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

I got this recipe from my friend, Amy. (Posted on Facebook). We love pasta and so I wanted to give this one a try. I thought the meatballs were good, but what really made the dish was the sauce. SOOOOOOOOOOOO good! Jake absolutely went crazy about it and told me to DEFINITELY keep this recipe. Quick, easy, and easily adaptable to ingredients you have on hand.

The Best Meatballs

2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken (or Turkey!)
1- 1/4 cups water
2 eggs salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Mix ingredients until blended; shape into balls. Each meatball= 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture.
2. Place meatballs on each prepared pan. Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until done.
3. Freeze half or more of meatballs for later. Combine 16 meatballs with Tomato-Basil Cream sauce.

Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced (or 4 tsps. Minced garlic)
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (or leave them out if you don't like mushrooms)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
salt and sugar to taste
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

Heat oil in a skillet. Saute garlic and mushrooms until mushrooms are tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Heat through. Salt and sugar to taste. Stir in cream cheese and basil until cheese is melted and heated through. Add in meatballs. Cover and cook until heated through. Serve over hot pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Classic Repeat - Cheesy Lasagna Rolls

Wow. So it has been a long time since I last made these. But last time I mentioned that the meat we added was a bit too much and so this time we left it out. It was great! They turned out just wonderfully and we really enjoyed them. They are EASY to make although ricotta cheese is not something you would normally have on hand, so watch out for that! Vegetarians? This is the meal for you! Meat lovers? This is a nice change!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Brown Bag Burritos

I have no idea why this recipe is called brown bag burritos. Maybe because it would be really easy to take for a sack lunch? This recipe is exceedingly versatile. Jake ate the "sauce" in a flour tortilla, folded over like a quesadilla to avoid a big mess and I ate it over chips for nachos. It was definitely a different flavor but one that we both enjoyed immensely. This recipe will DEFINITELY be a keeper in our house! And yes, the recipe list surprised me at first too... but it really does work!

BROWN BAG BURRITOS
From Three on Food

1 lb. ground beef
1 can refried beans
2/3 c. enchilada sauce
1/4 c. water
1/3 c. minced onion (or sprinkled onion powder)
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 c. shredded colby/jack (or cheddar)
10 flour tortillas

Brown and drain meat. Add all ingredients, but tortillas. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes. Fill tortillas and roll up. Serve with shredded lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

My German Roots

Okay, so I don't REALLY have German roots. But with a Grandfather who went to Germany on his mission I have had my fair share of exposure to German foods. A classic staple in our house? Bratwurst (sausage) and sauerkraut! Talk about inexpensive - this meal could feed an entire family for, at most, $10. All you need to do is fry up a couple of these:

And serve them with some of this:


And dip in some of this:


And you are good to go!
SOOOO TASTY!!!!!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Honey Lime Enchiladas

We are BIG fans of enchiladas at our house and I was really excited to try this one out. Jake loved it a lot and it has been linked on so many blog lists that it is almost a sure fire hit wherever you take it! Not too hard with basic ingredients, but takes a bit longer to make because of the needed time for marinating. The picture and recipe are from the wonderful blog: http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

HONEY LIME ENCHILADAS
From The Sister's Cafe

6 Tb honey
4.5 Tb lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 lb cooked chicken, shredded
flour tortillas
colby or monterey jack cheese, shredded
10 oz. can green enchilada sauce

Mix first 4 ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken. Let it "marinate" for at least a half hour. Pour some green enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 10x10 casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese. Pour the rest of the can of green enchilada sauce over enchiladas then sprinkle with more cheese. (When using a 9x13 I like to use 1 1/2 10 oz. cans) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top.)

*NOTE: I used a mixture of monterey jack and cheeder cheese, and 2 full cans of the enchilada sauce (one on top, one on bottom). It was great! Also, when marinating make sure that the air cannot get to your chicken or it will dry out. I put mine in a ziploc bag and sucked the air out of it - chicken was nice and moist!

Classic Repeat - General Tso's Chicken!

I love Chinese food and I love this meal! It is SOOOO good!