I love to cook but sometimes time doesn't allow for it. I took one of our favorite recipe's and made it. Crockpot friendly! Let's just say my husband can't get enough of it!
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breast (fresh or frozen)
1 can of fire roasted tomato
1/2 packet taco seasoning
1 each green, yellow, red, orange pepper
Directions:
Place chicken into bottom of crockpot. Sprinkle taco seasoning onto chicken. Then pour can of fire roasted tomato around the edge of crockpot.
Cook on low all day.
1 hour before serving place sliced peppers on top (no need to stir) and cook.
After hour stud all together.
We serve ours over 1 cup of brown rice and I like guacamole with mine!
Total Calorie count without guacamole: 306!!!
(Picture to come soon!)
Monday, March 20, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Taco Bake
It has been almost a month of eating healthy and I am down 15 pounds over all. The struggle is real!!! I had a friend that posted a quote the other day and it seems so true for the struggles of weight loss.
"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end." - Robin Sharma
Thanks Nathan for posting that because I was having a moment of weakness and wanting to give up on this journey. Seeing that though made me realize it has only just begun and that with a little extra effort I can truly do this, and when I do the end will be beautiful!!!
So yea I am struggling to stay on track every day, and some days I fail, but for the majority of the time I am tracking calories and staying within my goal and making progress on becoming healthier and happier.
So on Saturday morning I set out to make a new recipe. I have been experimenting a lot and this new one was a creation that won over the stomachs of 2 picky 9 year old girls, my husband, who really will eat almost anything I make, and me... I loved it and it was less than 400 calories a serving, and I was FULL after my serving!
Here is the recipe for what we call Taco Bake!
Ingredients:
~ 6 whole wheat soft tortilla's (8.5 inch round)
~ 1 can (15oz) of tomato sauce
~ 1/2 pack of taco seaoning
~ 2 lbs of ground turkey
~ 3/4 medium onion (dice)
~ 9 oz can of red enchilada sauce
~ 4.4 oz of reduced fat fiesta blend cheese (reserve 1/2 for the top)
Directions:
First I browned my ground turkey over med/high heat and drained any grease off. Then I added the taco seasoning and continued to brown a little longer. Setting the meat mixture aside, I sauteed my onions in the same pan as the meat, but I use spray PAM, no oil or butter. The added the meat back to the pan, and the can of tomato sauce and let that simmer for about 15 -20 min.
Preheat oven to 350.
Meanwhile in a casserole dish I sprayed with PAM. Shout out to my momma, she taught me to do this when cooking in the oven, it makes for a super simple clean up. I took my sprayed casserole dish and started to construct my layers. First I put a small amount of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish and then placed two tortillas side by side. Then I put a 1/3 of the meat mixture spread out on the tortilla, poured some enchilada sauce over and then aprox 1 oz of the cheese, then I started the process over, tortilla, meat, sauce, cheese. 1 more round and this time the cheese was the remainder which would be about 2 oz or so for the top.
I covered with tin foil and baked for 30 min, uncovered, removed the foil and baked for another 10. Then I let it cool for 5 min. Cut each round into 4, so you get 8 servings from this 1dish and everyone loved it. Eliza (my stepdaughter) wants it on the menu every week.. we shall see, but mmmmm it was good!!!
Nutrition per serving: Yield 8 servings
Calories: 387
Carbs: 23
Fat: 21
"Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end." - Robin Sharma
Thanks Nathan for posting that because I was having a moment of weakness and wanting to give up on this journey. Seeing that though made me realize it has only just begun and that with a little extra effort I can truly do this, and when I do the end will be beautiful!!!
So yea I am struggling to stay on track every day, and some days I fail, but for the majority of the time I am tracking calories and staying within my goal and making progress on becoming healthier and happier.
So on Saturday morning I set out to make a new recipe. I have been experimenting a lot and this new one was a creation that won over the stomachs of 2 picky 9 year old girls, my husband, who really will eat almost anything I make, and me... I loved it and it was less than 400 calories a serving, and I was FULL after my serving!
Here is the recipe for what we call Taco Bake!
Ingredients:
~ 6 whole wheat soft tortilla's (8.5 inch round)
~ 1 can (15oz) of tomato sauce
~ 1/2 pack of taco seaoning
~ 2 lbs of ground turkey
~ 3/4 medium onion (dice)
~ 9 oz can of red enchilada sauce
~ 4.4 oz of reduced fat fiesta blend cheese (reserve 1/2 for the top)
Directions:
First I browned my ground turkey over med/high heat and drained any grease off. Then I added the taco seasoning and continued to brown a little longer. Setting the meat mixture aside, I sauteed my onions in the same pan as the meat, but I use spray PAM, no oil or butter. The added the meat back to the pan, and the can of tomato sauce and let that simmer for about 15 -20 min.
Preheat oven to 350.
Meanwhile in a casserole dish I sprayed with PAM. Shout out to my momma, she taught me to do this when cooking in the oven, it makes for a super simple clean up. I took my sprayed casserole dish and started to construct my layers. First I put a small amount of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish and then placed two tortillas side by side. Then I put a 1/3 of the meat mixture spread out on the tortilla, poured some enchilada sauce over and then aprox 1 oz of the cheese, then I started the process over, tortilla, meat, sauce, cheese. 1 more round and this time the cheese was the remainder which would be about 2 oz or so for the top.
I covered with tin foil and baked for 30 min, uncovered, removed the foil and baked for another 10. Then I let it cool for 5 min. Cut each round into 4, so you get 8 servings from this 1dish and everyone loved it. Eliza (my stepdaughter) wants it on the menu every week.. we shall see, but mmmmm it was good!!!
Nutrition per serving: Yield 8 servings
Calories: 387
Carbs: 23
Fat: 21
Friday, January 6, 2017
Spaghetti Sauce for Spaghetti Squash for the win!
Ah Spaghetti Squash how we love you so. I never thought the day would come when Eliza would actually ask for the veggie. I mean this is the child that didn't think that anyone but McDonald's could make a hamburger. We spent many of nights with her crying at the table because there were balanced meals on the table versus some frozen nuggets and tater tots.
So when the day came that I asked her what he wanted for dinner and she said Spaghetti Squash I almost wrecked the car. Now no, she didn't just come up with this out of nowhere. We had made it, and didn't tell her what it was, I disguised it under some yummy Italian Sausage tomato sauce and she ate it up. The next time she was with us when we bought it... she asked what it was, we told her, she knew we were having it for dinner, but I think she forgot because she asked if it was cheese. He father and I just went with it... Hey whatever it takes to get the kid to eat something healthy right?
So finally one day she helped me make it and that was it.. she was hooked.
So now I was tasked with the New Year, and needing to REALLY lose some weight, like a lot of weight, to change my sauce. It was no longer going to contain the yummy goodness of Italian Sausage but would only have ground turkey for the meat.
So here is how I pulled it off.
Ingredients:
~ 3 jars of Barilla Sauce (I used 2 tomato/basil and 1 marinara)
~ 48oz of Ground Turkey Meat
~ 1 med onion. finely choped
~ 2 tblspn EVOO
~ water
~ spices (I used oregano, garlic powder, and some salt free garlic and herb)
To start I heated up a large pot and added my EVOO, then after that was hot added my onion. I cooked those until translucent in color and then the turkey meat went into the pot. I browned this pretty good and added a little bit of my spices. After it was cooked through well, I drained all of the grease off.
Back into the pot my meat went and to it I added more oregano (maybe a couple of teaspoons) garlic (maybe 1.5 tablespoons) and some of my salt free garlic and herb. To that I put my three jars of sauce in and when my jars were empty I filled each about 1/3 full and put the lib back on, shook it around to get all of the yummy bits and then added that to the put. I stired it really well, added the lid and let it simmer for about an hour.
This created approximately 15 cups. 1 cup of sauce was enough for me and 1 cup is only 273 calories. I paired this with 1 cup of microwaved spaghetti calories and dinner was only 320 calories. YUMMO!!!!
So when the day came that I asked her what he wanted for dinner and she said Spaghetti Squash I almost wrecked the car. Now no, she didn't just come up with this out of nowhere. We had made it, and didn't tell her what it was, I disguised it under some yummy Italian Sausage tomato sauce and she ate it up. The next time she was with us when we bought it... she asked what it was, we told her, she knew we were having it for dinner, but I think she forgot because she asked if it was cheese. He father and I just went with it... Hey whatever it takes to get the kid to eat something healthy right?
So finally one day she helped me make it and that was it.. she was hooked.
So now I was tasked with the New Year, and needing to REALLY lose some weight, like a lot of weight, to change my sauce. It was no longer going to contain the yummy goodness of Italian Sausage but would only have ground turkey for the meat.
So here is how I pulled it off.
Ingredients:
~ 3 jars of Barilla Sauce (I used 2 tomato/basil and 1 marinara)
~ 48oz of Ground Turkey Meat
~ 1 med onion. finely choped
~ 2 tblspn EVOO
~ water
~ spices (I used oregano, garlic powder, and some salt free garlic and herb)
To start I heated up a large pot and added my EVOO, then after that was hot added my onion. I cooked those until translucent in color and then the turkey meat went into the pot. I browned this pretty good and added a little bit of my spices. After it was cooked through well, I drained all of the grease off.
Back into the pot my meat went and to it I added more oregano (maybe a couple of teaspoons) garlic (maybe 1.5 tablespoons) and some of my salt free garlic and herb. To that I put my three jars of sauce in and when my jars were empty I filled each about 1/3 full and put the lib back on, shook it around to get all of the yummy bits and then added that to the put. I stired it really well, added the lid and let it simmer for about an hour.
This created approximately 15 cups. 1 cup of sauce was enough for me and 1 cup is only 273 calories. I paired this with 1 cup of microwaved spaghetti calories and dinner was only 320 calories. YUMMO!!!!
Chicken Fajita Bowls
OH MY... that was delightful.
I just finished eating my lunch for today and it was leftover from last night. I started this week with trying to be better about cooking at home and also preparing health meals for me family. Now this isn't easy since my step daughter decides after eating something and liking it that she now doesn't like it, but we have some not so health things in the pantry for her if she really isn't eating what we put in front of her. Before you start telling me how we should make her eat what we put in front of her, or telling me that I should make her meals that she likes.... We do both of these. She knows that in our house she needs to eat what is in front of her, but this is a fairly new concept to her, she use to only have to eat chicken nuggets and hamburgers from McDonald's... So within reason we allow her to not eat what is in front of her some nights, but she does try it, and she had yogurt, fruit, and some not so healthy things for those 2nd night in a row she isn't going to eat.... I can't starve the child.
Ok, so on the point of this blog post. I made some super yummy chicken fajita bowls last night for dinner and I wanted to share with you how so you can enjoy too.
Ingredients:
~24oz of boneless skinless chicken breast cleaned and chunked into bite size pieces
~1 med/large Red Pepper
~1 med/large Yellow Pepper
~1 med/large Orange Pepper
~1 med/large Green Pepper
~1 med/large onion
~1 Tblsp of EVOO
~3 teaspoons of Taco Seasoning.
So first I took the steam and seeds out of all of my peppers and sliced them at aprox 1/4 inch, really you can cut them to whatever size you like though. Then I cut my onion at the same size.
I put the cut peppers and onions into a bowl and drizzled with EVOO and then used 1.5 teaspoons of taco seasoning and mixed together well.
Place the peppers into a casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam.
Place the chicken into the same bowl the pepper/onions were in, mix with the remaining 1.5 tsp of taco seasoning and mix well to coat the chicken. Then place the chicken chunks on top of the peppers and onion.
Place in a 400 degree preheated oven for arpox 20-30 min. Check the chicken between this time to make sure it is done.
When done... ENJOY!
Now the way I served this to my family was over 1 cup of brown rice. I love the ease of the boil in bag brown rice, so I boiled a couple of those bags, each bag yielded approximately 1 cup of cooked rice.
So 1 cup of rice, 1 serving of chicken and peppers/onions and then I topped mine with 4 tablespoons of salsa and a 100 calorie pack of guacamole. This total was 471 calories for my plate. It was so good that I am probably going to make it again this weekend. Even my husband loved it. The child... well you know, you Win some and Lose some.
#healthandhappy2017
I just finished eating my lunch for today and it was leftover from last night. I started this week with trying to be better about cooking at home and also preparing health meals for me family. Now this isn't easy since my step daughter decides after eating something and liking it that she now doesn't like it, but we have some not so health things in the pantry for her if she really isn't eating what we put in front of her. Before you start telling me how we should make her eat what we put in front of her, or telling me that I should make her meals that she likes.... We do both of these. She knows that in our house she needs to eat what is in front of her, but this is a fairly new concept to her, she use to only have to eat chicken nuggets and hamburgers from McDonald's... So within reason we allow her to not eat what is in front of her some nights, but she does try it, and she had yogurt, fruit, and some not so healthy things for those 2nd night in a row she isn't going to eat.... I can't starve the child.
Ok, so on the point of this blog post. I made some super yummy chicken fajita bowls last night for dinner and I wanted to share with you how so you can enjoy too.
Ingredients:
~24oz of boneless skinless chicken breast cleaned and chunked into bite size pieces
~1 med/large Red Pepper
~1 med/large Yellow Pepper
~1 med/large Orange Pepper
~1 med/large Green Pepper
~1 med/large onion
~1 Tblsp of EVOO
~3 teaspoons of Taco Seasoning.
So first I took the steam and seeds out of all of my peppers and sliced them at aprox 1/4 inch, really you can cut them to whatever size you like though. Then I cut my onion at the same size.
I put the cut peppers and onions into a bowl and drizzled with EVOO and then used 1.5 teaspoons of taco seasoning and mixed together well.
Place the peppers into a casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam.
Place the chicken into the same bowl the pepper/onions were in, mix with the remaining 1.5 tsp of taco seasoning and mix well to coat the chicken. Then place the chicken chunks on top of the peppers and onion.
Place in a 400 degree preheated oven for arpox 20-30 min. Check the chicken between this time to make sure it is done.
When done... ENJOY!
Now the way I served this to my family was over 1 cup of brown rice. I love the ease of the boil in bag brown rice, so I boiled a couple of those bags, each bag yielded approximately 1 cup of cooked rice.
So 1 cup of rice, 1 serving of chicken and peppers/onions and then I topped mine with 4 tablespoons of salsa and a 100 calorie pack of guacamole. This total was 471 calories for my plate. It was so good that I am probably going to make it again this weekend. Even my husband loved it. The child... well you know, you Win some and Lose some.
#healthandhappy2017
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