Recipe Share! Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Its been awhile since I've shared a healthy recipe, so here's a new one for you all! Yummy yummy! I got the idea from a recipe from Eat Better America. If you haven't checked out that website, you should!!


Chicken Tortilla Casserole

1	can (10 3/4 oz) 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1	can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
1	container (8 oz) fat-free sour cream
1/2	cup fat-free (skim) milk
1 1/2	teaspoons chili powder
1/2	teaspoon ground cumin
2 1/2	cups shredded cooked chicken breast
8	yellow corn tortillas (6 or 7 inch), torn into bite-size pieces
1	medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
1	large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
1 1/2	cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend (6 oz)

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix soup, chiles, sour cream, milk, chili powder and cumin until blended. Stir in chicken, tortillas and bell pepper. Stir in tomato and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon and spread mixture in baking dish.
2.	Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 270 (Calories from Fat 100); Total Fat 11g (Saturated Fat 5g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 60mg; Sodium 610mg; Total Carbohydrate 22g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 4g); Protein 22g

Thoughts for Tuesday...and a Recipe!

Thoughts for Tuesday...

Monday was yet again another crazy work-filled day for me and I chose not to workout during my break and instead take a much needed physical and mental break since it was a long 12 hour work day. Today however, I got much done. Bella is still going back and forth in her naps and cannot decide if she wants 1 or 2 naps, so we're just going with the flow and the last few days, she has taken 2 naps. During her morning nap, I got a leg and short interval workout in. I also got her newborn, 0-3, 3-6M and most of her 6-9 month clothes all in bins to be more organized. Bella was trying to help me, but instead she was pulling all of the clothes back out of her bins, haha! It was sad putting the clothes away. Remembering how tiny she was-- brought tears to my eyes. I am feeling very nastalgic this week as we approach Bella's first birthday. I canNOT believe its been a year in less than a week. I've also found myself thinking about more children. If you would have asked me when B was 3 months old if I was going to have another baby, I would have probably laughed at you. But now, I can definitely tell you that the answer is yes. We definitely want more children, and I cannot wait until we are ready financially :-)

I will finish this post with my workout from today for those who enjoy following. I also have a recipe to share today.

Crockpot Turkey Feta Meatballs
*one of my favorites but for the crockpot!

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
garlic to taste
basil to taste
oregano to taste (i admit to not measuring out these 3 things...can you really have too much?)
1/2 package of reduced fat feta cheese
1 egg

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Shape into meatballs and place into sprayed crockpot. Top with 1 can of reduced sugar tomato sauce. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve hot! YUM!


Tuesday workout
Training: Legs & Shoulders

Steps Ups: 20#/15r, 25#/10r (per leg) x 4 sets
DB Deadlifts: 40#/15r, 50#/12r, 60#/10r, 70#/8r x 2 sets
DB Shoulder Press: 20# (total wt)/15r, 30#/12r, 40#/10r, 40#/8r x 2 sets

Widestance squat: 35#/15r, 40#/12r, 45#/10r x 3 sets
Front Squat: 35#/15r, 40#/12, 45#/10r x 3 sets
Front Raise (total db weight): 20#/15r, 24#/12r, 30#/10r, 30#/8r x 2 sets

Reverse cable lunge: 50#/15r, 60#/10r x 2 sets
Upright Row: 30#/15r, 40#/10r x 2 sets

Cardio: 20 mins elliptical intervals: 1 min sprint, 30 sec recovery

Recipe--Crockpot Soft Tacos!

Chicken Soft Tacos--Crockpot Style!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16 oz jar of salsa
4 oz can diced green chilis
15 oz can black beans
15 oz can sweet corn
2 tbsp lime juice, or whatever you get from 1 lime

Put salsa, chicken and lime juice in the crockpot. Cook on high about 6hours or low all day. Shred the meat with 2 forks (it will pull aparteasily) and return to crockpot. Add the drained corn, rinsed blackbeansand diced green chilis. Cook another 1/2-1 hour on high until heatedthrough. Serve with tortillas and toppings of your choice. Serves 6.



Nutrition Info for 1 taco (not including tortilla) 230 calories1g fat 34g carbs 24g protein 9g fiber

Spaghetti Squash Pasta Primevera

Spaghetti Squash Florentine
Ingredients:
4 pounds spaghetti squash (halved lengthwise)
1 cup part skim or nonfat ricotta cheese1
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
2 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute), beaten
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (crushed)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup nonfat mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1 3/4 cups spaghetti sauce (I recommend those with less than 5g sugar perserving)
1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (shredded) (Do not use fat freemozzarella - it will not melt!)

Directions:
STOVETOP: In 6-quart Dutch oven over high heat, in boiling water, cooksquash 20 minutes or until fork-tender. Remove from water. Halve squashlengthwise; remove seeds.
MICROWAVE: Halve squash lengthwise. Scrape out seeds. Place cut-side downon a microwave-safe dish and cook for about 20 minutes on HIGH or untilfork-tender, turning over once and covering with wax paper.Cool squash slightly and with a fork separate into strands. Set aside.Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, spinach, eggs, andseasonings; mix well.
Spread evenly in a 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spreadthe Parmesan and nonfat mozzarella cheeses over the spinach mixture.In a large bowl, combine the squash and spaghetti sauce; toss to coatwell. Arrange squash mixture on spinach mixture; top with the part skimmilk mozzarella cheese.Cover with foil; bake at 375° F. for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Makes 6 servings.

Recipe of the Week

Crockpot Carrots

Put all of these ingredients in crockpot and cook for 4-6 hours.. TADA! No more boring veggies!!

Serving size: 1 cup

1 32oz bag baby carrots
1tbsp brown sugar
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp whipped light butter
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
2 tbsp low sugar apricot preserves

Optional: nutmeg, pepper

Recipe of the Week

Sloppy Joes with Turkey

An oldie but a goodie... I give credit to  Hungry Girl  (Sloppy Janes) for the inspiration to these :)

4 servings

4 whole-wheat buns

1 pound extra lean ground turkey

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

2 tbsp steak seasoning

1 tbsp Splenda or sweetener of choice

1 tbsp Worschire sauce

1 tbsp red wine vinaigrette

salt and pepper to taste

diced onion and green and/or red pepper ( I use a bag of frozen mix of the 3)

In a sprayed skillet, brown turkey. Add steak seasoning and splenda. Then add onions/peppers and cook till soft. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and rest of ingredients and cook until bubbly. Serve warm on whole wheat buns.

Recipe of the Week

Eat your veggies! I OFTEN get asked for yummy veggie recipes.. so here's one for ya!

Curried Baby Carrots Serves 2

1/2lb baby carrots

2 tbsp fat free mayo

1 tbsp nonfat sour cream

1/2tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp skim milk

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp honey

Steam carrots, covered 7 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Combine mayo, and remaining ingredients in a saucepan; place over medium heat until hot. Serve sauce with carrots. 

Per serving: 92 calories, 2g fat, 2g protein, 4g fiber, 15g carbs