Sweatin’ Out Onions

This morning’s training included a 5 mile run which turned me into a hot sweaty mess. My shins were really hurting again during today’s run so I want to spend a little time researching the possible reasons why. Am I running incorrectly? Am I deficient in a certain nutrient?

On the drive home from the gym I asked Dana if he smelled onions. He said “no, but you’re probably sweating them out from last night’s dinner.”  Huh, he’s probably right! That’s gross and funny at the same time, and totally worth it because last night’s dinner turned out wonderfully! I hope you are ready for this oh baby baby.

Yesterday I gave you a little sneak peak of the ingredients I was going to be using for part of the dinner.

After some chopping, mixing, and seasoning, those ingredients turned into this:

Melanie’s Cowboy Caviar

Ingredients

  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, chopped
  • 10 mini bell peppers (or 1.5 medium-sized bell peppers), diced
  • 1 ripe avocado, chopped
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 1-15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all ingredients gently making sure to cover avocados with lemon juice to prevent browning. Serve as a salad/side dish or with baked tortilla chips.

Holy moly this was goooood.

Next up was the main dish: Chicken Enchiladas

This was my first time ever making enchiladas I think and I decided to wing it. I started off sautéing 2 small yellow onions and 4 mini bell peppers.

Next I added 1-7 oz can of diced green chilies, 2.5 cups of cooked pulled chicken, cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon garlic powder.

I removed from heat then added 1/2 cup of Mexican style reduced fat shredded cheese to the mix. The next step is to stuff the tortillas. I sprayed a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray and stuffed each tortilla with approximately 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture. This made 9 enchiladas.

I rolled them up like burritos and lined them in the pan. I topped them with about 1 cup of non-fat plain greek yogurt, then a layer of red salsa, then finished with a layer of the Mexican style shredded cheese.

They cooked for 20 minutes covered at 350°, then removed the cover and broiled on high for 2 minutes to start to melt the cheese.

And helllllloo cheesy healthy goodness. I plated up and topped the enchilada with a little more salsa, because I love saucy. Apparently I need to work on my plate presentation because this picture DOES NOT do the dinner justice.

I loved every bite of this dinner and my family really loved it too! See, look how happy they are.

I love them.
Brother Kevin

We hung out for a little while after dinner and heard all about mom and dad’s wonderful trip to Florida. I am so glad they are home.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

  • 2 small onions, diced
  • 4 mini bell peppers, diced
  • 1-7 oz. can diced green chilies
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • freshly cracked black pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
  • 1 cup Mexican style reduced-fat shredded cheese divided into 1/2 cup portions
  • 9 whole wheat tortillas (La Tortilla Factory Low-Carb)
  • 1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
  • 1 cup salsa (plus more to top post baking if you like your food saucy like me)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Saute onions and peppers.
  3. Add green chilies, chicken, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir, remove from heat.
  4. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.
  5. Stuff 9 tortillas with 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken mixture, roll into burritos, and place in 9 x 13 pan coated with non-stick cooking spray.
  6. Top with a layer of yogurt, then a layer of salsa, and finish with the shredded cheese.
  7. Bake covered for 20 minutes.
  8. Remove cover and broil on high for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
  9. Serve warm with extra salsa on top (or hot sauce if you like it SPICAY)

 

I am off to find something to eat for lunch and enjoy some time with my husband.

Adios muchachos!

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Southwest Salad Recipe

Today’s lunch was canned soup. A little high in sodium, BUT it was really tasty. I don’t do it often so I don’t feel too bad about it. With the soup I had some Kettle Brand Baked Salt and Pepper Chips, a golden delicious apple, and some carrots.

It warmed me up on this gloomy day and then I headed back to work for a few more hours.

After work I snacked on some roasted almonds and Craisins as I headed to the gym. I climbed through 35 minutes on the elliptical, catching up on Today’s Dietitian Magazine and Runner’s World Magazine. I finished the workout off with pushups and some ab-work. I can honestly say I have a hard time with strength training. I know the importance of it and the great benefits, and every now and then I will be super motivated to incorporate it into my week of workouts, and then the next week I am done with it. I would REALLY like to amp it up! You are all my witnesses. Pump, pump it up!

After the gym I came home and snacked on some more of those darn chips while I pondered what to have for dinner. I had decided to make a salad and as I started putting it together I realized the lettuce had gone bad. Yuck, so I had to get creative. I chopped up some tomato, broccoli, carrots, and added in green peas and pinto beans. I topped it with my favorite honey mustard dressing and reduced fat cheddar cheese.  Kind of random, yes. Delicious? YES! For dessert I had a handful of dates.

I cleaned up the kitchen, and now I’m snugglin on the couch with Dana and watching his favorite show (kidding), The Bachelor.

How about I leave you with a recipe for one of my favorite salads? Give it a shot! Enjoy!

Southwest Salad for Two

This is one of our “go-to’ salads. It’s easy, delicious and satisfying. We usually it meatless, but feel free to top the salad with grilled chicken.

Ingredients

  • Mixed greens
  • 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
  • 1/2 cup red onion, diced
  • 1 ripe avocado, diced
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1/4 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
  • low-fat or fat-free ranch dressing

Directions

Pile mixed greens on two plates and top with remaining ingredients. Drizzle with dressing.

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Crock-pot Black Bean Mushroom Chili

Good morning!

Here is the chili recipe from last night’s dinner. With it being a whopping -11 degrees outside right now in beautiful Minnesota, this would be a perfect lunch or dinner to warm the soul.

Crock-pot Black Bean Mushroom Chili

Recipe adapted from Eatingwell.com Black Bean Mushroom Chili

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound dried black beans, (2 1/2 cups), rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons mustard
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/8 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
  • 1-8 ounce container mushrooms, sliced
  • 1- 16 ounce jar salsa verde
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 5 1/2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth would work too)
  • 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 1 1/4 cups grated Monterey Jack, or pepper Jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

PREPARATION

  1. Cook dried beans according to package directions.
  2. In large fry pan, combine oil, mustard, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, allspice, and cinnamon. Stir over medium heat for 30 seconds.
  3. Add onions, mushrooms, salsa verde and water. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes.
  4. Uncover and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Add broth and tomato paste; mix.
  5. Place cooked beans and vegetable mixture into large crock-pot. Turn heat to high.
  6. Cook covered in crock-pot 5 to 8 hours.
  7. Top with fresh cilantro, cheddar cheese, or a dollop of nonfat plain greek yogurt.
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Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Tonight we made homemade pizza dough in the bread maker for the first time and holy cow it was delicious! I made a whole wheat dough recipe that I adapted from Cooking Light. Instead of going through the processes of covering, rising, kneading, punching which is what this recipe called for, we put the dough in our bread maker and set it to the dough setting. Easy peasy! Once it’s done in the bread machine, I baked it in the oven with all of the toppings I had on hand and waited, waited, waited impatiently.

The crust came out pretty thick which was delicious, but I read the recipe once we were done stuffing our faces and read that it was actually supposed to make two 12 inch pizzas. This would make for a thinner crust which is usually what I prefer! But I am not complaining, because this was one delectable pizza. I enjoyed and savored every single bite. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Adapted Recipe (Cooking Light) http://search.cookinglight.com/ck-results.html?Ntt=pizza+dough&x=0&y=0:

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • small handful of corn meal

Directions

  1. In bread machine add water and oil.
  2. Next add dry ingredients except corn meal
  3. Set bread machine on dough and let it do its thing
  4. Once dough is done, set onto pizza stone lightly coated with corn meal*
  5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
  6. Knead from the center out to the edges
  7. Top with whatever toppings you have on hand (I used pasta sauce, onion, zucchini, mushroom, green olives and spinach)
  8. Bake for 20-22 minutes

* Recipe called for cooking spray but I omitted because honestly I didn’t think you needed to coat a pizza stone. I was wrong. Dough was sticking a little bit once I took it out of the oven but I used a spatula to loosen it right out. Next time I will use cooking spray, then corn meal.

I will definitely be making pizza crusts homemade from now on in the bread maker. Winner winner! The rest of the night will consist of hanging out with my boys and watching a little bit of the Golden Globes. Have a great night everyone!

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