Chicken & Black Bean Flautas

Chicken and Black Bean Flautas

6 10 inch flour tortilla's or 10 8 inch flour tortilla's
1/2 C. Chopped Onion
1 Clove garlic, minced or 1 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp cooking oil
2 C. Shredded cooked chicken
1 C. Canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 C. Corn
1/2 C. Salsa
1/2 C. Shredded Mexican Cheese, blend
2 Tbls. Snipped fresh cilantro or oregano. (or one small cilantro cube)

Cooking oil for Baking.

Preheat oven to 350. Wrap for tortilla's in foil. Heat in oven 10 minutes. Mean while in large sauce pan cook onion, garlic and if using cilantro cube, until tender.
Stir in chicken, black beans, salsa, cheese and fresh cilantro if using.
For each Flauta spoon 1/2 C. filling.
Roll tightly and secure with wooden tooth picks.
Place Flauta's on a large baking sheet & brush with 1 tbsp. cooking oil.
Bake in a 350 oven for 30-40 min or until golden brown.

Serve and enjoy!

Really we made this last night and it is now in my favorite collection. Its that great!

BLT on English Muffin's

BLT

Turkey Bacon

Lettuce

Tomato

Cheese

Mayo

&

English Muffins

Cook or toast then assemble!

Grilled Chicken Salad

Grilled Chicken Salad
Makes two salads

1 1/2 C. Chicken (I used precooked southwest chicken strips)
1/2 C. Corn
1 tsp. Green Onion (sliced)
1 C. Black beans
1/4 C. Black Olives
1 head of lettuce

Take the chicken, corn and onion and grill lightly on high. Once grilled add onto the top of half a head of lettuce shredded. Use dressing of choice.
Optional shred cheese or add grape tomato's.

~~~

Also up coming in a week or so I will be posting a dye free Valentines Day Menu. So far it looks amazing, healthy, tasty, no added dyes. So stay tuned ;)

Taco Salad

Taco Salad
Makes one Salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce cut
1/2 C. Black beans
1/4 C. Ground Beef pre-cooked
1/4 C. Shredded Cheese (personal favorite is colby jack)
1/8 C. Slice Olives
1 Tbsp. Sliced Green Onion
1 small handful of Cherry or Grape Tomatos
1/4 C. Spicy Ranch Dressing
Garnish with Corn Tortilla Chips

Line bottom and sides of bowl with chips, lay cut lettuce on top of the chips, then add the rest on top of the lettuce.
Eat and Enjoy.

To make it meatless - remove ground beef and add more beans and olives.
To go full vegan find a vegan friendly dressing and also remove the cheese.

Sweet Indulgence

Greek Vanilla Yogurt 

Frozen Blackberries

The thick rich cream of the fat free yogurt is perfectly balanced with the sweet and sharp taste of the blackberries.

A perfect pairing of the two flavors.

Nothing else is needed

No sweeteners

Just a few minutes for the blackberries to thaw out

and the juices to mix into the cream yogurt.

Enjoy!

The best part of the treat is how guilt free and good for you it is!

Meatless Navajo Tacos

Navajo Tacos are standard Utah fair food - even our amusement park Lagoon sells them!
They are delicious - the bread is amazing!
The only major con is that they are very messy! (but oh so worth it!)

When looking up recipes the other day I couldn't find any meatless ones. So I tweaked one and made my own "healthier" version. No meat and whole wheat ;).

Navajo Fry Bread

4-5 C. Flour (going whole wheat you use 2 C. Whole Wheat flour & 2-3 C. White)
1/2 C.  Instant milk
3 1/2 tsp.  baking powder
2 C. Water
1 tsp. Salt

Oil for frying (veg oil best ~ 1 inch deep in a 10 inch - 12 inch fry pan.

Mix all ingredients (save oil) in a large bowl - pour in water last and mix well.
Knead dough lightly cover and set aside.
Heat one inch worth of veg oil in large skillet.
Pinch off dough into thin 8 inch circles.

Fry until golden on both sides
Drain onto paper towels.

Add topping of choice -
This time I cooked up refried beans, seasoned potatos, black beans and corn (grilled), lettuce, tomato, cheese, olives.
Spicy ranch dressing as a light topping.
I also recommend guacamole or avocados -  I just didn't have any on hand!

 Note: making these with whole wheat does change the taste and texture - if you want a lighter - tastier version use all white flour.
I had two reasons for going whole wheat - first off its better for you - second - I didn't have enough white flour left in my house! LOL

Breakfast Shake!

 

Shakes are one of the best or worst drinks you can have for breakfast.
If you add tons of sugar, shake packets or high fat products a shake every morning is not going to help you out.

However if you have an immersion blender/magic bullet or even a regular blender a shake a morning can be quick, easy and healthy!

First off is stocking up on the right products.

I change up my liquids - I float normally between, milk, pineapple juice or horchata.
Sometimes I will even combine them.

Fresh & frozen fruit with no added sugars.

Non fat Vanilla Greek yogurt (must - really its amazing!)  


Then comes my "secret" ingredients. The ones you can't taste, see or smell once they have been blended together.

1-2 tsp of Flax seed oil

1-2 tsp. Lecithin Granules

& 1/2 dropper of Ginkgo

Add a bit of this, a dab of that, frozen items on top - always the last items in and voila - sweet, thick, rich, creamy and healthy!

This does so many things for your body! Skin, muscles, blood, intestinal track... amazing! 

Also if you are anything like me, starting off my day with such a sweet treat curbs my desire for sweets later on - also helping keep me moving forward on a healthier path!

With my immersion blender (that I love!) this literally takes two minutes. One to assemble and one to blend and pour!

I am also of thinking of adding in a tsp of gelatin for nail & hair health. Will let you know how that works out!

Edit 9/14/12

I love adding in half a packet of gelatin! Really helps my nails and thicken the shake.

I also have started to add 1/4-1/2 tsp of Chia seeds - they are amazing and very healthy! Its best if you soak them in your base liquid for at least 10 minutes before making the shake so that they absorb enough to digest better in your tummy.

Foil Baked Veggies & Fish

Spray foil sheet - layout veggies along it in layers. I like the potatoes on the bottom for several reasons. 1. it give stability to the rest of the piece & I like them browned and slightly crispy.
I am practicing my fancier presentations for when I have parties - throwing veggies in the packet works just as well.

cook at 350 for 20 min then add in your foil wrapped fish (spray, fish, seasoning &/or lemon) cook for another 20-25 min then eat!

Yummy goodness very minimal prep!

Provolone Potoato Soup

This is a very amazing vegetable soup, also easy, tasty & cheap!

First I started with Storage Powdered Potato Soup Mix, then I cut up several carrots, added in crushed garlic, yesterdays leftover potatoes, & some frozen broccoli.
You can toss in almost anything. Timing is what is important. I used fresh carrots - so I had to throw them in first so that they would cook fully by the time the rest of the soup was done. The leftover potatoes I tossed in during the last five minutes - too early and they would turn to mush.

Soup - taste wise is one of the most flexible foods you can find. Knowing how to cook what you put in & when to put it in is key!

When everything was all cooked up and ready I poured it into my Ikea individual soup bowls covered the top with provolone cheese microwaved each one for 1-2 minutes and voila!
A meal worthy of any Home Style Restaurant!

30 minutes from pot to table and all food I had in my fridge! Leftovers fit for royalty!

Snacks & Insane Foodie Trends

 

Blue Cheese Dressing

Lettuce

Red Onions

Tomatos

Provolone Cheese

Crutons

Tortilla Chips 

Colby Jack Cheese

Olives

Tomatos

Red Onion

Now a blogger that I love who writes Stark. Raving. Mad. Mommy

She wrote a post titled, Not enough Ketchup in the world!

Where she goes OFF on the foodie community for the food trend predictions for this coming year.

I would write it ~ but how she wrote it ~ WAY to funny!

My take on it - I want to see each predictor EAT the foods THEY predicted!

I wouldn't!

EVER!

Breadless Sandwich

Honey Turkey

Cheese

Broccoli

Pickles

Olives

&

Ranch Dressing

Home Made Honey Mustard Dressing

First and foremost I want to thank both I Am Mama Hear Me Roar and Picnik for helping me find and use this great photo site!
One day and I am addicted!

As for the Dressing
It has equal parts
Veggies Oil
&
Honey
and 1/6 parts
lemon juice
&
Honey Dijon Mustard

The flavor is incredible without being over powering - an instant new family favorite!

Home Made Lemonade

Sorry I am just learning how to make my own photo montage in a cheap program!

The key to making lemonade is math. Having the right equations. Squeeze your lemons - add equal amount of sugar as lemon juice then add 3 to 4 times the amount water depending on taste.
If you like a thicker sweeter use three times the water if you like a thinner but refreshing tasting add four times the water.

Kids take on it? - They love it and both begged me not to sell it on the side of the road as they wanted to drink it.
My question is have they ever seen me sell anything off the side of the rode?
Didn't think so!

Dinner tonight

Lettuce

Cheese

Home made crutons

Honey Mustard Dressing

Tortilla Salad and A Cheat!

Flour tortilla

Lettuce

Cheese

Boiled Egg

Sliced Turkey

Ranch Dressing

(eating for B)

NOT eating for B! 

Tasty though!

Turkey and Feta Lettuce Salad

Lettuce

Honey Turkey (sliced deli meat - 2 slices)

Feta Cheese

Sweet Peas

Dried Cranberry

Croutons

Honey Mustard Dressing

YUM!!!

As always good for B! I have not lost anymore weight but have maintained.

I have also cheated a few times - like at the hospital while my daughter was in surgery.

I think the stress and the bad eating have kept me from losing more but thankfully I have not gained!

Eggs and Turkey

For breakfast or dinner Eggs are amazing!

Eggs

Turkey Bacon

Smoked Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Green Onion

Parsley

Salt

Always cook eggs in a hot pan

I have cooked eggs since I was 4 and its only been the last few years that I have cooked them

according to all the cooking shows rules (hot pan) and I have to say - Incredible!

Quick, fast and fluffy!

  

Breakfast for Two or dinner for one 

Tastes great and follows diet for B!

Cranberry and Feta Cheese Salad

Lettuce

Spinach

Dried Cranberries

Feta Cheese

Green Onions

Crutons

Sweet peas

Dressing of choice

YUM 

Next time I will add sliced Turkey as well as sliced oranges

(works for B blood diet)

"B" Snack Time

2 slices of honey turkey by healthy one

broccoli

carrots

sugar pears

finishing off the last of my blue cheese dressing

following eating for blood type B I am supposed to avoid blue cheese

Everything above save the dressing is good for B.

Four days of weighing myself and I have lost 2 pds!

Right now I am doing more and feeling more awake.

I am trying to only allow 1 or 2 "poison" foods a day 

as I transition my pantry over for my needs.

Apple Dressing & New Blender

Immersion Blenders are all the rage

so how do you choose?

For me when trying out a new item

I start out at the bottom

This is my new 21.00 dollar 

and I LOVE it.

When I need to replace it, it will be replaced according to its USE.

The more its used the higher value I will spend  and the more research I will do

yes  I read product reviews!

equal parts Apple cider vinegar & olive oil

half of the chopped apple bits

a few cubes of pineapple & mango ( I used frozen)

and enough sugar to take the bite from it.

Yummy!