Quick & Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Do you know that feeling when you are making something different for dinner,

and your family is a little unsure, but ends up totally loving it?

My husband wasn't sure what to think when I told him I was making

chicken enchiladas for the first time for dinner. We are use to eating fish and mashed potatoes and I've made tacos until I'm sick of them, but I was itching to try something different.

I looked at recipes online that were lower in fat but still full of flavor 

and ended up throwing this recipe together when I couldn't find what I was looking for.

The recipe is super easy and the ingredients and recipe are listed below.

First you start with your shredded deli chicken, Rotel, and seasonings in a pan.

Place the chicken mixture in the tortillas and wrap them up.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and dinner is served!!

I knew it was good when my husband turned to me and said 

"Ohhh this is so good.  Kim you can make this any night!"

as my 5 year old son was gobbling it up too.

(my 8 year old daughter wouldn't touch it, but that's typical!)

Yummy side dish!

Quick & Easy Chicken Enchilada Recipe

2 cups shredded chicken (I used a deli chicken)

8 oz. can enchilada sauce

6 tortilla shells

1 cup shredded mexican cheese

1/2 can Medium Rotel

3 green onions

garlic powder

cumin powder

salt & pepper

Side Dish Mexican Rice 

Old El Paso Mexican Rice

can of black beans, corn, and Medium Rotel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Spray pan with oil and heat shredded chicken, 1/2 can Medium Rotel, 

cumin, garlic powder, and salt & pepper. 

(all seasonings were to taste, I used just a sprinkle of each)

Pour half the can of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.  

Wrap tortilla shells with chicken mixture, spoon in some enchilada sauce, and sprinkle of cheese.  Place in casserole dish until all are tortillas are wrapped.  Drizzle the rest of the enchilada sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with cheese and green onions.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until heated through and the cheese is melted.

For side dish, cook rice in microwave as directed.  Heat rice, 1/2 can of black beans, 1/2 can corn, and 1/2 can Medium Rotel until heated through.

Kim

Be Healthy

Was your New Year's Resolution to lose weight or to make more healthy food choices?

What are you doing to accomplish your goals?

I am not good at self-sacrificing, so dieting does not come easy to me.

I try to make healthy food choices, if I cut my daughter up an apple, I make sure to eat one to.  

My problem is I LOVE chocolate, I crave it!

I am trying to make small changes like in the picture below.

By eating a low fat, whole grain waffle, substituting 1/2 of a banana for butter,

and using low calorie syrup, I am saving calories and cutting down on my fat intake.

With out sacrificing the yumminess!  

I find the key to weight loss is keeping track of your food intake, 

substituting high calorie, high fat foods for lower ones,

and exercising.  Of course for me this is all easier said than done.

I love to eat, I crave chocolate, and I would rather sit here 

and write a blog post than run around the block!

I am working on it, slowly.

If your resolution was to lose weight, what are you doing to make it happen?

You can follow my "Be Healthy" Pinterest page by clicking on this link:

http://pinterest.com/MakeupbyKimP/be-healthy/

Kim

Pinterest Love~ Frozen Yogurt Bites

These look yummy right?!!

Reason #571 why I love Pinterest.  

Last night my sister-in-law pinned this picture below. 

I clicked on the site and didn't see anything else, so I Googled frozen yogurt bites

and found directions on how to make these cute little treats.

There really aren't many directions.

Take yogurt and a baggie with the tip cut off or a frosting bag

and squeeze bite sized drops onto a cookie sheet with wax paper.

** update, if you are using a yogurt with fruit pieces you will want to strain the yogurt first.

They should be left in the freezer for at least 3 hours or until frozen solid.

This morning I had my kids try one and they LOVED them!

They were begging for more!!

These are strawberry and today I am going to make some blueberry ones.  

I could totally see eating these when you are craving something sweet.

So much more fun than eating yogurt with a spoon!!

Kim

Brunswick Stew~ A Mrs. Fearnow's Knock off

I love to eat Mrs. Fearnow's Brunswick stew, in the yellow can, which is surprising because 

I despised lima beans when I was growing up.
I would take every lima bean that I was forced to eat,

stick them all in my mouth and drink my water until I had swallowed them all whole!  

But I love this stew and I really start to crave it when the weather turns cold.

A few weeks ago, I had a can of the stew for dinner but since then

our local grocery store has been sold out.  

I started looking at recipes online and was surprised to see recipes 

made with V8 Juice or 3 sticks of butter.  

I know that V8 juice was NOT around at the time that Brunswick Stew was invented!!

I wanted to get as close to the original recipe as possible but

with the modern conveniences of already cooked chicken, frozen vegetables, and canned tomatoes!

My adaption of Mrs. Fearnow's Brunswick Stew

http://www.mylifeincolorblog.com/2013/01/brunswick-stew-mrs-fearnows-knock-off.html

This is what I came up with, with the help of my Mom who's family has made

Brunswick Stew for as long as she can remember.

From George Fearnow:

"We sold the business in 1999, and I retired after 30 years of making Brunswick Stew. My Grandmother, my mother & father, and my aunt & uncle made the stew from about 1929. Comment on history. Brunswick stew origin lies with the spices used. Williamsburg was most likely the start of Brunswick Stew but Brunswick County, VA and Brunswick, Georgia will protest that.

Recipe suggestions: 1.) Use white shoe-peg corn 2.) Use a whole chicken to get the best broth. 3.) Save the lesser fatty pieces of skin to be minced and added back in. 4.) Use salt & sugar in equal amounts but maybe less if you use sea salt. 5.) Use red pepper & black pepper. 6.) Use whole tomatoes but crush and dice in a 50/50 mix. 7.) Use russet potatoes (thickness increases directly by stirring). 8.)Onions & carrots should minced. 9.) Okra can be used but it can be bitter sometimes. 9.) Oregano & poultry seasoning were never in Brunswick Stew of colonial times. 10.) Yes – The original recipe calls for squirrel or wild game."

My adaption of

Mrs. Fearnow's Brunswick Stew recipe:

2.5 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 small yellow onions, diced

24 oz. bag frozen shoe peg white corn kernels

24 oz. bag frozen baby lima beans

28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes

28 oz. canned diced tomatoes

1 cooked deli chicken, shred white and dark meat

1/2 stick salted butter

 can chicken stock

sea salt

sugar

black peppercorn

crushed red pepper flakes

Worcestershire sauce

Boil potatoes and onions until almost tender, drain.  

Melt butter in large (8 quart pot) and add corn, lima beans, cooked potatoes and onions.  

Stir vegetables in butter then add 1/2 can chicken stock.

Add both cans of crushed and diced tomatoes.  The seasonings get a little complicated to break down because I literally added 1/2 tsp. and 1 tsp. increments of salt, sugar, black peppercorn, and crushed red pepper flakes until it tasted right.  I added 2 splashes of Worcestershire sauce at the end because it seemed like something was missing.  

I heated on medium/high heat until boiling, then reduced heat to a simmer.  

The longer it simmers the better it tastes!

*I added the rest of the chicken stock as the stew cooked down and became thicker.  

Ours cooked all morning and afternoon.

**I know the original recipe calls for all the chicken parts but I'm not a big fan 

of raw chicken, so I like the cooked chicken and chicken stock version.

***My Mom says to add bacon grease, but I didn't have any.

Everyone who ate is said is was great, 

so I feel like I hit pretty close to what the original tastes like.

If you try this recipe I would love to hear what you think!

Kim

Tortilla Soup

  I've had some requests for my Tortilla Soup recipe, so here it is!  I did not actually use tortillas for this because I'm trying to be good, I also left out the cheese.  Sad but true.  But it's still really delicious and you can kind of put anything you want into it, for instance my recipe does not call for green peppers but I added them because I have them.  Also, I did not cook the chicken, I just bought an already cooked chicken from the deli and shredded it.  Easy.

  No one in my family will eat this so I really have no idea how many people it will feed, but I usually have enough to eat off of for days and some to freeze.  Should feed a family of 4 pretty easy.  You could always add more chicken stock if you like it less chunky.  Enjoy!

1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin powder
1- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
1- 10 oz. can Rotel original
1- small can corn kernels
1- 15 oz. can black beans
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
shredded chicken
salt & pepper, to taste

garnish:
shredded taco cheese
avocado slices
green onion
crushed tortilla chips or
if you really want to do it up, deep fried flour shells!

Happy Eating!!!

~  Kim :)