Jenn's chicken enchiladas

The quick method I used, was I took 3 big boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of any fat and just cut them up into bite size pieces. I cooked them in a skillet with a little oil and sprinkled cumin and chili powder of the chicken. Cook until the outsides are browned, but so they aren’t cooked all the way through. Since you are going to bake it, it will finish cooking in the oven. After the chicken was done, I just took a tortilla, filled it with some chicken cubes, and folded it up and placed it seam side down in a 9×13 dish. Cover with the green salsa and some chihuahua cheese and bake for about 20 minutes. It tuned out so good! Between my family of 5, this whole dish was gone, not a drop left!

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So in addition to making the green salsa, I made a batch of my sister’s salsa yesterday. The only difference is I roasted the veggies instead of charring them on the grill.

On a cookie sheet, I put 7 firm tomatoes, 4 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a white onion (my sister doesn’t add the onion!) and 2 serrano peppers. After about 30 minutes, (@350 degrees) and they are softened enough. Then place all the ingredients in a blender and puree.

Biz's baja fresh salsa

There was just one tiny problem…..after I pureed it and tasted it, it was SUPER spicy!! I called my sister on the phone. Turns out serrano peppers are spicier than jalapeno’s, I thought they were less spicy, so I left the seeds in! To try to remedy it, I added a can of diced tomatoes and a small can of tomato sauce and it balanced it out. Phew!

So, since I had a ton of salsa, I was trying to think of a deluxe breakfast to make with it. I ended up making a fried egg quesadilla!

I have a non stick pan, so no oil is necessary

I added 1 egg and 1 egg white in a non stick skillet and cook on both sides. Set egg aside. Back in the skillet, I added 1 low carb tortilla, the fried egg, 1 oz. of chihuahua cheese, some fresh cilantro and cooked on both sides until the cheese has melted. I dipped the quesadilla in the salsa and it was amazing!

Yum!

These are tomatillos. The look like green tomatoes except they have these paper skins on them. Once you take the paper off, the skins are kind of sticky, so you just have to wash them really well before starting. After I made this salsa and I tried it, I thought it tasted like it was from my favorite Mexican restaurant, I was so excited! Green salsa is my favorite and I would choose that over red salsa any day. And the best thing is it takes no time at all. And for the amount of money you pay on buying jarred salsa, you can make it from your home.

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves (fresh)
1TB. lime juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, or serrano peppers, stemmed and seeded and chopped (if you want it spicier, keep the seeds in).
salt to taste

First, I roasted the tomatillos in my broiler. Cut each tomatillo in half and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil (I used my silpat). Place under the broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Place the tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers and sugar in a food processor or blender (I used my Magic Bullet). Season with salt. Cool in the refrigerator. It makes about 3 cups. How easy is that? And, its only 5 calories per tablespoon!

My only advice, is go easy on the fresh lime, a little goes a long way and I’ve made the mistake before of adding too much and it’s a little overpowering.

Do you make your own salsa?

Have you tried my sister’s salsa she makes on the grill? This is her salsa!

Another idea with the salsa verde, is making chicken enchiladas. Just take shredded cooked chicken and wrap with a corn tortilla. Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 baking dish, pour the salsa verde on top and sprinkle either cheddar cheese or a white mexican cheese (like chihuahua cheese or queso fresco) and bake for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is heated through and cheese has melted. Garnish with fresh avocado, a little sour cream and serve with Mexican rice. It’s a quick and yummy dinner!

I love the articles about the recipes the most, because the person creating the recipe tries so many different variations to come up with the perfect recipe.

I actually downsized the recipe to make just one, because based on the ingredients, I thought my family would hate it when they saw what was going into it!

But, after I started cooking it, and my kids started wandering into the kitchen asking for a taste AND loving it, I knew next time I would make the whole recipe!

Here’s what you will need:

Serves 6

1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 TB. unsalted butter (you could lessen that if you want!)
1 TB. worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
3/4 cup fresh cilantro (I didn’t have that so I left it out)
1 tsp. yellow mustard
12 flour tortillas

The recipe in the magazine calls for poaching the chicken. I just sauteed it in a skillet and then shredded the chicken.

Once the chicken is done, take out of the skillet and set aside for later.

Using the same skillet, melt the butter and add the garlic and chipotle and cook for about 30 seconds.

Stir in the orange juice, worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup of the cilantro. Add the mustard. Add back the chicken and simmer, until heated through.

Serve with tomatoes, lettuce, and avacado.

It was the best chicken taco I have ever made! It sure beats the dry packet seasoning I usually make it with!

This is what the picture looked like in the magazine. Don’t be scared by the unusual combination of ingredients, it was fantastic!

Do you make chicken tacos??

Any fun plans this weekend?

If you haven’t tried Mission low carb tortillas, they are great. Super soft and yummy!

You have to try these, they are so good!

Ingredients: Serves 1

The ingredients!

2 Mission 6″ low carb tortillas
3 oz. grilled chicken, cut into chunks
2 TB. diced celery
2 TB. diced red onion
A few tablespoons of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 avocado, diced

Directions:

1. Fill each tortilla with half the chicken, red onion, cheese and celery. Place fillings down the center. Roll up tightly like a taquito. Place seam side eown on a preheated grill or skillet and baste the outside with bbq. sauce.

2. Cook for about 3 minutes, then turn over, baste again with BBQ sauce if necessary and grill for another 3 minutes or until the inside is heated through. Then serve!

This BIG portion is 465 calories, lots of fiber, some veggies and SO GOOD! I loved the crunch of the celery and onion, the tang of the blue cheese and the creaminess of the avocado, it was amazing!

BBQ Chicken Rollers!

Check out Tricia’s blog today for a chance to win some cool sunglasses!

Makes 4 servings (2 ½ cup serving: 343 calories, 10.1 fat, 45.4 carbs, 6.4 fiber and 19.3 protein)

Ingredients
3 large carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
8 cups chicken broth, low sodium
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, diced
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
3 yellow peppers

My sister charred her peppers on her grill. I just charred them on the stove.

Charred yellow peppers

Then, in a big pot I added the garlic, carrots and celery and cooked that for about 10 minutes.

Saute carrots and celery

Next, I peeled the potatoes and actually cooked them in the microwave to expedite things. After the potatoes are cooked, add the rest of the ingredients. Just take the stem off the pepper and take out the seeds, but leave the char ON the peppers. Cook for about 25 minutes. I transferred it to a blender (make sure you have the middle part of the top off the blender so the soup doesn’t explode on you!) and just blend in batches.

With it, I just made grilled cheese sammy’s which I cut into stix.

So good!

With grilled cheese stix!

So, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have a salad club at work. Everyone brings a bag of greens and a veggie or fruit to share. There is so much stuff, most of us get to have it the next few days. This was my salad yesterday. I ended up cooking a few chicken tenders to add to it. My salad had grapes, strawberries, onions, carrots, celery, apple, pecans, etc… SO GOOD!! It makes me so happy to be eating such great food!

Salad Club!