Well yesterday I was ready with a recipe that I had just tried that night. But I didn't get around to it and I think you'll all be glad that I didn't, because tonight I tried a recipe that was yummy, very easy and family friendly. The other one was good, but more complicated, and not one I had any hope of convincing Ella to eat (hint, it was fish). This recipe had us all (minus Catherine, she's just a lost cause right now) asking for seconds!
Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
From My Kitchen Cafe
1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)
1/2 red or green pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese
Sour cream (optional)
6 burrito-sized flour tortillas (I had enough filling for at least 9)
Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.
Two options with the sour cream. You can add a few dollops to the cheese and chicken/rice mixture (original recipe) OR, you can do what we did, which was leave it out and use the sour cream as a garnish.
Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray.
Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down, in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve.
We made the first round of them, ate, and then I cooked up the second round. We like them best when they are hot and crispy.
Another great thing is that you can easily adjust this according to your tastes. Like it spicier, add more chili powder or add some hot sauce. More veggies? Add some corn. Dislike sour cream? Just leave it out and maybe serve with some salsa. This is definitely easy, healthy and most importantly, tastes great! I hope you give it a try!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tonight's Dinner
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways!
I'm not talking about my husband or my precious girls, even though it is definitely true about each of them.
In this case I am talking about something very different, something with which my relationship (if it can be called that) is entirely one sided.
And no, I am not talking about Edward Cullen. Although I may have thought it would be fun to reread the Twilight series and may have gotten so caught up in it again that I asked Matt to scoop me up in his arms like I was light as a feather (i.e., no grunting or groaning) and then walk a few miles with me like that. His response brought me back to reality when he said he couldn't walk just himself a few miles, let alone while holding me. Of course, that is if that scenario really happened.
I figured I would get my once a week food post in and share my love for this baby....
Around Christmas an Aldi's opened up near us and has helped us reduce our weekly grocery bill. One of the great deals I am able to get there is a bag of three avocados for $2.50! That's pretty cheap and pretty exciting! So basically every time I shop, I pick up a bag of avocados, because you never can have too many and it would be a tragedy to have none.
I basically look for an excuse to add avocado to anything and everything. I really do love it that much. Before I share all the ways I indulge, I figured I should look up some nutritional aspects that I could share with you as well so I don't feel bad about consistently eating something so high in fat (but it's good fat people, good fat! I swear it is so hard for me to move on from the low fat craze of the 90's. As I read how much fat is in one avocado I got the chills and not the good kind.)
So here are a few fun tidbits about the avocado and why you should love it too!
- It has three times the amount of potassium as a banana and is also filling and acts as a slow burning fuel.
- The high potassium content helps balance our body's electrolytes, aids muscle activity, nerve function and energy metabolism
- It is also one of the richest source of fiber among all fruits and vegetables. Packed with vitamins A, several B-complex, it also contains powerful anti-oxidants like vitamins C and E.
- The avocado is one of the best natural mouth wash and a remedy for bad breath (pretty cool, huh!)
- An avocado contains oleic and linoleic acids that are effective in lowering the LDL cholesterol and increasing the healthy HDL cholesterol.
- Regular consumption of avocados strengthens the body's immune system.
- For you pregos...The vitamin B6 helps relieve nausea and queasiness associated with pregnancy. The high folate content is important and necessary for healthy fetal cell and tissue development.
I have to laugh because as I was reading different bits about avocados and how awesome they are (one article described it as a superfood here to save the diet), it did address the high fat content and how the majority of it was the healthy fat that our body needs, but even so not many people eat a whole avocado at one sitting so it's not like you're getting all that fat at once! Now I promise you that I don't eat a whole avocado in one sitting, a half is usually pushing it, but I may have eaten a whole bowl of guacomole made out of one avocado in one sitting - I guess that counts!
Instead of taking multi vitamins, I eat avocados! Ok, perhaps I'm going just a bit overboard here so now I'm going to share some ways you can enjoy avocado as well....
Guacamole! Seriously, it is so easy and so much better to just make your own. Grab a nice ripe avo, slice it open, scoop out the fruit (Ithink that's what it is called), mash it up with a fork, add a minced garlic clove or a pinch of garlic powder to taste, a bit of salt, some lime juice...and there you have it. I like to add a handful of diced tomatoes and onion if I have it and maybe even some chopped cilantro. But the great thing is, you don't need to - it's tasty just with a bit of salt and garlic (or even no garlic).
Another thing I've been doing is adding it to a turkey sandwhich in place of cheese - healthier and tastier!
Ell and Matt made me breakfast in bed the day after Mother's Day (Matt has to leave to be at church early on Sundays so we can't really do a big breakfast that day. Catherine just decided she'd rather hang with me in bed than help. Smart girl!). My requested breakfast was scrambled eggs topped with fresh salsa (pico de gallo), avocado and cheese. And some turkey bacon on the side. If you like to add a little southwest flair to your eggs, you definitely should try it. Little shout out to my sis in law Chrissie for opening my eyes to this!
Only two more I promise.
A great option for a delish lunch. Make a salad with lettuce, tomato and cucumber (go crazy with the veggies - those are what i prefer and often have), add some....wait for it....avocado and if you have some grilled chicken (either left over from the night befoe or the Perdu precooked chicken strips) that's a nice touch as well. Mix light ranch dressing with some barbecue sauce and you've got yourself a tasty lunch that is healthy without a ton of work and is interesting. Sometimes I just can't get excited about a plain old salad for lunch!
Finally, what I ate for dinner last night.. Tomato Avocado Salad! I just made it up but it's not at all unique or complicated. Basically 1-2 tomatoes cut into medium sized pieces, not diced. A half of an avocado in chunks. A little bit of corn, some black beans, (1/2 a can of each, if that), some diced red onion, throw in a handful of fat free Feta, some freshly ground salt and pepper, a few shakes of Balsamic vinegar. Voila, easy, healthy dinner. I toasted a pita and cut it into wedges and ate the salad alongside it. This is similar to a black bean salsa that I make, except the focus was on the tomatoes and not the beans and a whole lot less vinegar and bigger pieces.
So there you have it. Now you are more aware than you ever wanted to be about my one sided love affair with avocados.
I wonder if Elizabeth Barrett Browning is turning in her grave?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Earth Day
In honor of Earth Day I figured I would post some pictures of what's growing around our house these days! Last year we had our first garden and I'm excited to have a little bit of the learning curve behind me and to feel slightly less clueless this time around!
We plan on growing some things in our yard again, but also are planning a type of community garden with some other folks over at our church. I decided I wanted to start as much as possible from seeds this year so I have more control over how they are grown and save even more money. So a few weeks ago we planted some seeds...here is how they looked on Saturday...
You might have to click this picture if you want to see the two tiny little green bean seedlings that are just starting to peek through. I was so excited because that is the container that Ella accidentally knocked off the counter. I wasn't holding out much hope that the would sprout - for all I knew the seeds were in the trash with the rest of the soil that was all over the floor.
Here is a picture of them that I took today!
I love how quickly the seeds are now starting to grow - at this point it looks like we'll have a lot of zucchini and cucumbers. The bottom right of the above picture is green beans - I think all but two have sprouted.
The very back container are the green pepper seeds. Not much going on there. I'm still hoping that with the cilantro I plan on starting later in spring, the tomatoes we always grow and hopefully some fresh green peppers, I'll be able to make a yummy pico de gallo! Come on green peppers! (and yes, that is a picture of newborn ella (i think!) just laying there - i must have missed it as I was moving pictures back into the rooms)
My windows are decorated by basil! Is there anything better than the smell of fresh basil?
My lovely husband picked up two pots of my favorite flowers and they have been providing a splash of color to our dining room.
Hello there beautiful!
This is the third year in a row that I've made dirt dessert on Earth Day - it's just a fun tradition, ever since I scared Catherine at 18 months when she thought I was really eating a big bite of dirt!
