I love, love, love Mexican food.  So naturally, I’ve got to make a Mexican dish or eat out Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo!  I decided to make some simple tacos for dinner after I got off work last night and was trying to decide what to pair with them.  Usually, we’ll just do fruit or if I have some canned Mexicorn (corn with peppers already in there), we’ll have that.  But I didn’t have that, so I decided to be creative and made a concotion I am calling “fiesta corn!”  It was pretty darn good!  I just used a small pot and put in frozen corn kernels with a little water.  Once the corn was hot, I put in a half block of cream cheese, and about a 1/4 cup of salsa.  I mixed it all together and let it gurgle for a bit.  Tasty!  A great new alternative to pair with any Mexican dinner from tacos to enchiladas and fajitas.

Kudos to Floyd for picking up some strawberry margaritas to go along with our Cinco meal~!

 

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As you know from one of my last posts, I had quite a crew over for Easter weekend!  I decided not to make the traditional ham and go for something a little different.  I recently found a recipe for a blue cheese stuffed eye of the round roast from Hy-Vee’s Seasons catalog, so I decided to make it for Easter supper and it turned out delicious–so wanted to share my variation of the recipe with you!

1 (2 lb) eye-of-round roast  ( I used two of them about 1.75 lbs each for my crew!) 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp salt 4-6 oz crumbled blue cheese (a whole container–some are smaller than other brands) Butcher’s twine  (I used toothpicks instead) 1 tbsp thyme 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp olive oil

All you do

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Butterfly your roast(s) make a lengthwise cut down the center, cutting to within 1/2-inch of opposite side of meat.  Make a similar cut on either side of first cut.   Open meat flat.

 

3.  Sprinkle cut surfaces with pepper and salt; sprinkle with blue cheese liberally. Roll up roast tightly and secure in 3 places with twine.  (Or securely push toothpicks through the top side of the roast.  Place rolled roast in greased baking dish.

4.  In a small bowl, combine thyme, garlic, olive oil and remaining a bit more salt and pepper. Use basting brush to apply the oil mix to the outside of the rolled up roast.

5.  Roast 7 minutes per pound to sear.   Then, reduce heat to 250 degrees and roast, without opening oven door, 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees for medium doneness.  (I did right about 1 hour 40 minutes and it was perfect!)

6.  Remove from oven; cover and let rest 10 minutes. Remove twine or toothpicks and slice into 1/2- to 3/4-inch slices to serve.

ENJOY!  I served with fresh asparagus spears, garlic bread, deviled eggs, and fresh fruit salad.

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I absolutely love pretty much any kind of Mexican food.  So when I came across this recipe, I was stoked.  It’s super easy and can be served as either an appetizer, snack, or meal!  (I made it a dinner!)

Chicken Fajita Bites (a modification of a Pampered Chef recipe)

4 medium bell peppers, any color

3 green onions

1/4 cup fresh style salsa (with cilantro, chunky tomato, onion–pico de gallo style)

1/2 cup part-skim shredded cheese (any kind really)

Approx. 2 cups finely diced cooked chicken breast

1/3 cup  fat-free mayonnaise

2 tbsp chipotle or chili lime seasoning 

Fat-free sour cream for topping

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Cut off tops of peppers and scoop out seeds.  Wedge peppers into slices and arrange them on a baking tray or dish. Cut up and mix all the rest of yoru ingredients, minus the sour cream, in a bowl together.  Use a spoon and scoop this filling into your pepper wedges.  Bake 5–7 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream when you serve.

These are awesome and just 50 tiny calories per wedge!  I served with black bean mexi corn and some fruit.  We really liked them!

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Floyd & I recently had some friends over for supper and I decided to make a family favorite:  continental chicken.  This is one of my grandma’s recipes, and was published a few years back in my hometown’s PEO cookbook.  My friend asked me for the recipe, and I said, “Sure!”, then decided I should just share it with all of you as well!  Head’s up–this is a slow cooking recipe so it’s a good company dish or one to make on a weekend–definitely not a throw-together in-a-hurry kind of supper!

Continental Chicken

6-8 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6-8 slices of bacon

1 pkg. dried beef slices

1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 oz.)

1/4 c. sour cream

1/4 c. flour

Arrange dried beef on bottom of large greased casserole dish.  Wrap each piece of chicken with a strip of bacon and lay on top of the beef slices.  Mix the soup, sour cream, and flour, then pour it over the chicken.  Bake in oven at 225 degrees for 3 hours.  May be served over rice or buttered noodles.  (We like it with wild grain brown rice.)

 

ENJOY!

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Yesterday, I took a couple of pork chops out of the freezer to make for dinner and had no clue how I was going to prepare them.  So when I got home from work, I literally Googled “pork chop recipes” and was just hoping to stumble upon something that sounded good and SIMPLE.  Lucky me, I found just that, courtesy “Taste of Home”!

Apple Pork Chops

-1 tsp cornstarch (I didn’t have any so used flour as thickening agent and it worked fine)

-1/3 cup chicken broth

-2 boneless pork loin chops

-1 tsp. canola or olive oil, or similar

-1 small to medium sized apple, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

-1/4 cup finely chopped onion (again, didn’t have so I used a couple tablespoons minced garlic which worked great)

-3 tbsps. apple juice

-1 tsp. Dijon mustard

-1/2 tsp. thyme or Italian seasoning

In small bowl, mix starch and broth, set aside.  In skilled, brown chops in oil.  Remove and keep warm.

In the same skillet, saute apple and onion until apple is crisp-tender.  Stir in broth mix, apple juice, mustard and thyme, and simmer 8-10 minutes or until pork is cooked to 160 degrees.

Just 224 calories!  I served with low-fat whipped potatoes.  Enjoy!

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I’m on a kick lately of trying new recipes!  I found this one in a recent issue of Farm Bureau’s newspaper.  It sounded really good and tasted great.  And you know me–I love simple, healthy choices, and this fits the bill!

Zucchini Casserole

-1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey sausage

-3 roma tomatoes, diced

-1 package wild grain brown rice

-2-3 zucchini squash cut into pieces

-It calls for one small onion cut into pieces but to make it easier on the tummy, I used 1 tbsp. onion powder, 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

Brown the beef in a skillet.  Use the drippings to cook your zucchini al dente.  Cook brown rice according to package instructions.  Mix all those ingredients in a casserole dish, then add in your seasonings and the tomatoes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  YUM!!  I layered all the ingredients minus the tomatoes ahead of time, went to church, came home and added the tomatoes, then baked.  It was terrific!

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My parents visited this weekend, and literally wined & dined us most of the time they were here (thank you!).  So Saturday evening after a fun, long day in Amana (more on that to come), I decided to whip up a new, healthy recipe and it was a hit!  “Chipotle Chicken” comes from Hy-Vee’s Seasons catalog.  It was simple to make and tasted great!

1/4 c. buttermilk 1/2 c. light sour cream 1 tbsp minced fresh chives 1 tsp salt, divided 1/4 tsp pepper 2 tsp chipotle seasoning 2 tsp  paprika 1 tsp packed  brown sugar 1/2 tsp onion powder 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts To make buttermilk chive sauce, in a small bowl combine sour cream, buttermilk, chives, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. For rub, stir together chipotle seasoning, paprika, brown sugar, onion powder and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Rub about 1-1/2 teaspoons onto each chicken breast.  (I put an even coating on each side). Grill chicken over direct medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Serve chicken with buttermilk chive sauce.  (I did it on the George Foreman grill and that worked out great.)

Great news–less than 200 calories per serving!  I served it with a nice green lettuce salad, and some whole wild grain brown rice.  The buttermilk chive sauce helps “cool down” the spicy-ness of the chicken.  I wasn’t sure how that part would be, but it was terrific.  Enjoy!

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My mother-in-law posted this Halloween themed treat idea on Facebook a few days back, and I decided I had to make this sometime for my small group.  It was super simple, and they turned out cute and yummy!

You just take apples and cut them into narrow slices.  (If you have a slicer that cuts out the core, like I do, I cut those slices in half.)  Then splash a little lemon juice over your apple wedges to keep them from browning.  Then you just spread a little peanut butter on the insides of two slices and sandwich them together with mini marshmallows.  It’s a low calorie treat you can really BITE into!  Enjoy!

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I love try to simple salad recipes–healthy & different than a bag of lettuce with dressing on top!  I found this one recently on the New York Times website and really like it, so thought I’d share!  I added crumbled fat free feta cheese–which my husband said made this a salad even he could tolerate!

Black Bean & Quinoa Salad with Cumin Vinagerette

1 cup quinoa (like rice, but higher protein, lower fat–often in the grocer’s health foods section )

—Boil and prepare according to box instructions, set aside when done

 

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon garlic (minced or garlic seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix all the ingredients together, add in the quinoa & voila!  Sprinkle with the feta cheese for extra zing.  Enjoy!

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This recipe was so yummy I just had to share!  Kudos to my awesome sister-in-law Shannon for sharing it with me.

It’s simple & fast–guilt free pizza!

You just take whole grain 90-calorie “Flat Out” pita style wraps, drizzle with olive oil.  Add slices of fresh tomatoes on top, add on some minced garlic or garlic seasoning, then sprinkle on some low-fat mozzarella and reduced fat or fat free feta cheeses, and top with a little Italian seasoning.  Bake at 375 for about 7 minutes or until lightly golden with cheese melted.  It’s a great snack or lunch meal!  ENJOY!

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