Healthier Chicken Enchiladas

I have been making these chicken enchiladas for years. They are my go-to when company is coming. Unfortunately, the recipe I have been using is full of fat. I used to use an entire tub of sour cream, a can of cheese soup, and an entire bag of shredded cheese. It was yummy, but not heart or gall-bladder friendly. I have modified the recipe a bit to make it MUCH healthier with the same great taste.

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts
2-5 oz cups of Oikos non-fat plain Greek yogurt.
1 can reduced-fat cheese soup
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 can diced green chilies
1 can sliced black olives--drained
1 avocado--sliced
1 C 2% cheddar cheese or blend
whole wheat tortillas

Obviously there are more ingredients than this :)

Cook chicken until no longer pink in the middle. Dice into 1 inch cubes and set aside.

I seasoned the chicken with cajun and garlic pepper.

Mix Greek yogurt, cheese soup, 1/4 C enchilada sauce, chilies, black olives, and avocado slices together.

Stir in chicken.

Spoon mixture into tortillas, sprinkle with cheese and roll them leaving the ends open.

Line up the rolled tortillas in your baking dish and cover with any remaining mixture.

Drizzle a little sauce over if desired.

Top with cheese and desired amount of enchilada sauce.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

These are fantastic! Even my picky husband liked them.

If you like things on the spicier side you can use medium or hot chilies and season the chicken with some chili powder.

Enjoy!
~Macy

Healthier Apple Crisp (also dairy-free!)

Ingredients:
10 C sliced apples.
1Tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 C Splenda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 C water
1 Tbsp honey

1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats
1/2 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 C melted vegan margarine (I used Better Life)

Directions:
1. Place apples in a 9 x 13 pan. I left the peels on mine because that is where most of the fiber comes from. Feel free to peel your apples if that is how you prefer them.

2. Mix 1 tbsp of flour, Splenda, cinnamon, honey and water together. Pour the mixture evenly over the apples.
3. Combine 1/2 C flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, brown sugar, honey, and melted margarine. Stir together and crumble over the apple mixture.

4. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

I didn't get a chance to take a pic of the finished product, but it was yummy. This would be especially good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or almond ice cream for all you dairy-free folks out there.

Enjoy!
~Macy

Crockpot Meat Sauce Remix

I had another "Throw a bunch of stuff into the crockpot and see what happens" night last night. I knew it was going to be delicious, or an epic failure. To my surprise it was fantastic and HEALTHY! I call it Meat Sauce Remix!

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 5.3 oz cup of Dannon Oikos greek yogurt-plain

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped green peppers

+

1/4 cup kidney beans

1/4 garbanzo beans

1/4 cup chopped red peppers

1/2 italian cup green beans

1 sliced carrot

chopped up broccoli

(You could take the lazy route and use a fiesta blend of frozen veggies to save time).

1/2 jar spaghetti sauce

Place the ground beef at the bottom of your crock pot. If your ground beef isn't extra lean I would recommend browning it and draining the grease before placing it in the crockpot.

Top the beef with the entire cup of greek yogurt and pour your veggies on top.

Cook on LOW for 5 hours.

Pour the spaghetti sauce into the mix and stir. Cook on LOW for 1 more hour.

Serve over rice or noodles. I served mine over whole grain noodles.

Sorry for the awful picture. I remembered to take a pic half way through dinner.

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If you have any leftovers you can put it on a hamburger bun for a super-healthy sloppy joe.

*If you have a bigger family or want more leftovers just double the recipe*

This meal was a hit with my family and I felt good knowing that I was giving them something really nutritious.

Let me know if you try this and what you served it over!

Happy cooking!

~Macy

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Cardio 4 Crafting--Friday Progress Report

Calling all crafty chicks (and dudes)! Yeah...you! I know you would rather hot glue something than work out, so would I, but we need to get healthy for ourselves and our families.

I have a proposal for you: For every 20 minutes of cardio, you get an hour of crafting. I think that sounds fair. And hey...if you are REALLY talented, maybe you can craft while you do cardio...just nothing with knitting needles, ok?

While we're at it, let's just make this a little support group. Every Friday we can share our progress. I'll go first.

Starting weight: 157 lbs

Cardio today: None...but I've got my workout shoes on. :)

Crock Pot Taco Spaghetti

I just threw this recipe together and it turned out awesome, so I had to share!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey breast

1 can refried beans

Half to a full jar of salsa

2 cups water

half jar of spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

spaghetti

Throw the ingredients (except the spaghetti) into a crock pot, stir, and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.

Sprinkle with cheese and cook on LOW for another 20 minutes.

Cook spaghetti and drain.

Stir the spaghetti into your meat sauce and enjoy.

I used low fat turkey breast and fat free beans to make this a healthy, high protein meal.

You can also use whole grain spaghetti to make this even healthier.