Monday: Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake

This is a revamp of my BlackBean Enchilada Casserole; mainly because I have loads of chicken and even more peppers at this very moment. Although there are vegetables contained within (sounds cage-y), I'm gonna add a salad at suppertime anywho. This is so creamy and YUMMY, you gotta try it.

 

You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb chicken, boneless, skinless, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp chili powder, salt, pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, also chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces (are you sensing a theme?)
1 c brown rice, cooked
1 c light sour cream
1 tsp cumin (optional if you have a husband named Steve)
3 oz light cheese, grated (or purchased pre-shredded cause that is awesome), divided
4 large whole wheat whole grain tortillas / wraps
1 425ml jar enchilada sauce (Safeway!)

Prep! Chop your peppers and onion, slice up your chicken. Start pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Measure the rice and sour cream; spray a 10 x 18 pan with oil. Pour 1/4 c of the enchilada sauce into the pan, warm the rest in a pan on the stove. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a sauté pan, add in the cut up chicken and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-5 minutes, until the pink is mostly gone. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp chili powder at some point.

Add in the peppers and onion, cook for 3 more minutes until they are somewhat softened.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl mix the sour cream, rice, half of the cheese, the rest of the chili powder and the cumin.

Add the chicken mixture to the rice, stir to mix.

Start dredging the tortillas through the warmed enchilada sauce; laying two on the bottom of the pan.

Dump half of the chicken & rice on top, smooth the cover.

Dredge the remaining two tortillas, place and cover with the remainder of the chicken mixture. Drizzle on whatever is left of the enchilada sauce and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, should be a-bubbling. You're gonna want to let that stand for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. I know, make a salad!

I cut this into 6 servings, at 349 calories per. With said salad (did I suggest that often enough? because I can totally ramp that up), we will still be around the 400 - 500 calories suggested by Weight Wise. Yay for casseroles and ovens!

Enjoy!

Meal Plan: Fall Means I Can Use My Ovens Again!

It's officially fall! On the calendar and everything! That means I can bake to my heart's content and won't get the stink-eye from the ol' hubba-roo. I love this season because it is so pretty and I can wear sweaters alla time, shortly before switching to parkas and much, much swearing. If you aren't familiar with Canadian seasons, I will break it down for you:

Winter: January to April
Spring: May
Summer, aka Road Construction: June to July
Fall: Mid-August to September
Winter again: October to December

Anywho, back to the meal plan. Now that things have sorted out with school and preschool and all the different programs, including the hubb's Wednesday nights out (Vegetarian Wednesday returns!), I am ready to get back at it. With the "it" being:

The Plan

Monday: Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie - the "No Lamb Ever" Version
(Vegetarian) Wednesday: Slow Cooker Dal
Thursday: Barley Chicken Bake
Friday: Audrey's Steamed Fish
Saturday: Pork Chops A La Ziggie
Sunday: Shrimp & Veggie Stirfry

The Shopping List:

Monday: Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Casserole
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 425ml jar enchilada sauce
4 large whole grain whole wheat tortillas
1 c brown rice
1 c light sour cream
1 tsp chili powder
3 oz light shredded cheese


Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie - The "No Lamb Ever" Version
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
1 medium onion
1 c canned / frozen / fresh green beans / peas
1 c canned / frozen / fresh corn
1 large carrot
2 Tbsp whole grain whole wheat flour
2 c beef stock
Thyme, salt, pepper and Montreal steak spice
3/4 lb potatoes, around 375 g -ish
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp milk
1 oz light cheese


Vegetarian Wednesday: Slow Cooker Dal
1/2 head cauliflower
1 large parsnip
1 apple - Granny Smith if you got it
1/2 small onion
1 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 1/2 c lentils
1/2 c barley (it's barley week!)
Ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, salt
2 dried chilis
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp ghee
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds


Thursday: Barley Chicken Bake
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion
1/2 c pearl barley
2 c chicken stock
2 c cooked chicken breast
1 red pepper
Salt, pepper


Friday: Audrey's Steamed Fish
1 lb white fish fillets (you know, whatever Safeway has lots of)
1/4 c reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 green onions
1 inch piece fresh ginger
2 c cooked brown rice


Saturday: Pork Chops A La Ziggie
1 lb centre-cut bone-in pork chops
1 tsp vegetable oil
Salt, pepper, thyme
2 Tbsp ww/wg flour
1/4 c red wine
3 c beef stock


Sunday: Shrimp Stirfry
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 c chicken stock
2 Tbsp fresh ginger
Chili flakes
2 tsp sesame oil
3 garlic cloves
4 c broccoli
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 bunch green onions
1 lb shrimp
2 c brown rice


As always, I will be aiming to have complete meals in the 400 to 500 calorie range, as per the Weight Wise guidelines. I am currently tracking protein content as well, if anyone would like that information, I can certainly throw that right on in there.

I am also gearing up for Christmas baking (stockpiling butter); that should start within the next week, so brace yourselves.

I hope everyone had a great summer, talk to you tomorrow!

Curried Beets: Sounds Weird, Trying Anyway

You may remember my awesome neighbour? Not only is she an amazing photographer, she has a lovely garden that she lets me pillage on occasion. I was a little leery of the beets she gifted me with, but I found a recipe (in an old Chatelaine cookbook) that sounds interesting: Curried Beets. If anything can get me to love beets, it is a combination of Chatelaine and curry. What I really liked about this recipe is that it got rid of the "dirt" taste that I always associate with beets but kept the nice firm texture and undertones.

Also, me big seester gave me a metric tonne of spices and a spice encyclopedia back on my birthday, so I am going to make a different kind of curry, just for kicks. And on!

For the curry (massale), you will need:

2 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cardamom pods
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 piece cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground chili (or flakes)
1 tsp grated nutmeg

I like this curry blend because it tastes very similar to the Rogan Josh mixture, without the crazy Thai chili heat. It is super easy: dry roast the whole spices - coriander, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom (normally I would advocate for removing the seeds from the pods, otherwise it gets a little bark-y up in there, but dry roasting them makes them brittle and they break right down) in a frying pan at medium heat until they smell and gain a little bit of colour, set aside to cool. When cool, process in a spice grinder then stir in the chili and nutmeg. If you are using chili flakes as I am, throw them in the bottom of the spice grinder and add in the roasted spices on top before processing. Done!

Measure

So pretty

Just in the warm pan, about 30 seconds to a minute is enough

Little bit of colour...

Grate the nutmeg

Grind cooled spices then add to nutmeg

For the curried beets, you will need:

1 1/2 lbs beets, unpeeled and stems trimmed
1 medium onion, sliced
2 tsp butter
1 tsp curry powder (see above!)
1/2 tsp cumin
Cinnamon, salt & pepper
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Not much prep here, just slice your onions and trim the stems of the beets. You can use the beet greens as you would spinach, they wilt about the same and have lots of nutritive benefits. Do NOT use them the same way you would kale, nooo bueno.

Back to the beets themselves! Place the trimmed beets in a pot full of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, until slightly underdone. That is a super lame descriptor, but it's all I got. Time it! Set aside and run some cold water over.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add in the sliced onion and cook until almost soft, about 3 minutes.

I'm using my new sauté pan so that it knows what it's in for

Sprinkle on the curry and cumin, cook for 2 more minutes. Turn off and set aside.

The beet skins should just rub right off, fingers crossed, then cut them into a small-ish dice.

Return the pan to heat, add the beets and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring to coat the beets in the buttery, curry-y goodness. Serve!

Since I pretty much followed the recipe in the book, I will use their calcs for calories, minus a teaspoon of butter (a whole tablespoon seemed obscene): 45 calories per serving, six servings total.

Neaaaarrrrr

Far!

Enjoy!

Lasagna: SHV

Technically, this should be called the Somewhat Healthier Version Made for Someone That Doesn't Like Lasagna, i.e. SHVMFSTDLL. That's a little wordy, even for me. Basically, it means that I don't (can't) use onions in a visible form or any ricotta cheese whatsoever. And here we go!

You will need:

8 oz extra-lean ground beef
Salt, pepper, oregano and dried basil
1 medium onion, grated or chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-156 ml can tomato paste
1-796 ml can diced tomatoes (or two lbs fresh)
6 whole grain whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 oz light mozzarella cheese
1 oz parmesan cheese (NOT the powdered stuff)
1 oz light mixed cheeses

Not pictured: Cheese!

Not pictured: More cheese!

This is one of those handy recipes you can prep as you go, yay! So, first brown the beef and drain. Usually I start with onions, but you just can't never tell how much fat is in ground beef, even if it's marked extra-lean. Drain all that off! After you have, sprinkle on some salt, pepper and oregano. Break the meat up as much as you can. Unless you like a lumpy lasagna, in that case fill yer boots.

I am grating my onion into the pan, should you not have a spouse that cannot stand the texture of said onions, you could just cut them into a small dice. Either way, cook them for about 3 minutes until they are almost soft. Add in the garlic, cook for another minute. Just one!

When you can smell the garlic, add in the tomato paste and sprinkle on some more dried oregano. Cook for 5 minutes more.

Add in the diced tomatoes. If you are using fresh, you would probably have wanted to have chopped them into a small dice by this point. This is also a good time to start cooking your noodles! To the sink for water!

Season with oregano, bay leaves and dried basil; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Drain the cooked noodles and put them in a bowl of cold water, set aside.

Spray a 10 x 13 pan with spray and pour 1 3/4 c of sauce into the bottom.

Place 3 of the noodles in an overlapping layer across the sauce. Mix the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses together. Reserve a little bit of the parmesan for the top. Sprinkle half over the noodles.

Repeat with the rest of the sauce, top with the last three noodles and then the rest of the cheese. Bake for 45 minutes in the 350 degrees oven, I added the final ounce of cheese 10 minutes before it is done.

I cut this into 6 pieces at 265 calories each. Add a salad, maybe a slice of garlicky toast and bam! Under 500 calories! We rock!

Enjoy!

The stuff that fell out the sides I threw on top