Positively Pre-Cooked

If you've read my blog entries before, you know I love to use pre-cooked chicken breasts that I keep in my freezer.  I buy a large package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and bake them for 45-60 minutes at 350.  Then I place them, usually by threes, into freezer bags.

This solves a lot of my dinnertime dilemmas.  I mean, A LOT.

I believe that by keeping staples at the ready - chicken broth, canned tomatoes, canned beans, onions, garlic, seasonings - that you have the ability to make any dinner easy and quick.  Please remember my first rule... (other than wash your hands before you cook)...KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Tonight's dinner is a product of this belief system.  YEA!!!!!

I didn't even defrost the two chicken breasts all the way, that's how simple it was.  The link of chorizo sausage is pre-cooked by the manufacturer.  I used the seasonings and veggies that existed already in my kitchen, and you should employ the same theory.  Don't have potatoes?  Use rice and cook it on the side.  Don't have the same seasonings?  Use ones you do have.  Some of my recipes are not versatile, they need to be made to the letter.  But most of my posts, such as this one, include recipes that you can make any which way but loose.  Give this meal a shot.  It's gonna spice up my Thursday quite nicely!


Chicken & Chorizo Stew
Serves 4


Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (I used a poblano)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tsp. oregano
1 link Aidell's chorizo
1 & 1/2 cups Dutch Yellow Baby Potatoes, halved
2 pre-cooked chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 pinch of saffron threads
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. Bijol powder
(If you can't find Bijol, use a mix of cumin and turmeric)

Heat a Dutch oven on medium, adding olive oil.  Saute onions, oregano and pepper until soft.  Add garlic for one minute.  Add chorizo and potatoes.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add chicken and saffron.  Stir well.  Add in tomatoes, broth, paprika, and Bijol.  Cook on medium to med-low until potatoes are fork tender.

This can be served with Queso Fresco (white crumbly Mexican cheese), Feta, or even a sharp Cheddar.  A nice piece of hard bread, a glass of wine, and you've got a meal that is more than worthy of the effort and the eating.  Bon Appetit!

The Perfect Pozole

I've been craving soup quite a bit this winter.  Odd, considering I've never been a fan of soup.  Too much slurping, usually not at all filling, and many times over, it's too salty.

Or, in some cases, reminds you of when you had the flu.  Not at all appetizing.

But tonight's soup was very appetizing.  My youngest daughter loves it and has deemed it in her top two (the other being black bean soup).  It's a bowl full of spicy, sassy, steamy goodness.  I've combined a Yucatan Lime Soup with a Chicken Pozole.  Please feel free to leave out the cloves and the seeds in the Serrano pepper if you do not enjoy either, but please leave the cinnamon stick in as well as the hominy.  Without the cinnamon and hominy, this soup would be a sad mess.  I used canela instead of common cinnamon sticks and I also used Mexican oregano.  Try your Food Lion or Asian market for the canela.  I found mine at the Asian market.  Most supermarkets have the McCormick brand of Mexican oregano, and I like the whole dried leaves so I can crunch them myself.  Invest in both if you can, it does make a difference, a difference your taste buds will appreciate.

Before I  post the recipe, let's talk about one of the more important savory staples - GARLIC.  I am going to rant here.  Do not, whatever you do, buy jarred garlic.  Please.  If you love yourself and those you cook for at all, you'll put that jar you have straight into the garbage.  That is disgusting.  It looks as though someone has chewed up perfectly good cloves of garlic and once made into mush, spit them into a jar full of funky chemicals.  And you're going to dare to put that in your food and serve it???  If you hate peeling cloves, buy them pre-peeled in your produce department.  Heck, even garlic powder is better than jarred garlic.  And do not kid yourself - those in the know will always be able to flag a dish that has been made with the sour, bitter, foul-smelling, half masticated bits of jarred garlic.  Use fresh.  They cost less than a buck a head and they keep rather well in a dark cabinet.

And while you're at it, toss that plastic lemon out.

Thank you.  No - really.  Thank you.

Maggie's Chicken Pozole
Serves 6 Large Bowls


Ingredients:

1 tbsp. Safflower or Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 Serrano chile, sliced thin (leave seeds out for less heat)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 stick Canela or Cinnamon Stick
8 black peppercorns
6 whole cloves
Cheesecloth
32 oz. carton chicken broth
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
Juice of one lime, use only FRESH LIMES
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, roasted and shredded
1 can corn niblets, drained
1 can hominy, drained

In a large Dutch oven, heat oil and then saute onion and Serrano.  Cover and cook on med-low until soft, about five minutes.  While this is cooking, make a pouch from the cheesecloth for the peppercorns, canela, and cloves.  Tie into a bundle.  

After onion and pepper are soft, add the garlic, cumin, chili powder, and oregano.  Combine and toss in the bundle, sauteing for one minute.

Add broth, tomatoes, lime juice, and cilantro.  Stir well. Simmer on medium or med-low for 30 minutes.  Discard bundle.  Use a stick blender (if you do not want a chunkier soup) to make contents smooth.

Add in chicken, hominy, and corn.  Stir well and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.  

Maggie and I enjoyed ours with Quesadillas made from low-carb tortillas and a few thin slices of queso blanco.  This soup, I believe, has the magical ability to turn any frown upside down and gray skies into sunshine.  For you vegetarians out there, skip the chicken broth for veggie and add a can of chickpeas in place of the shredded chicken.  It's the perfect Pozole either way. 

I Can't Go For That

That's what I thought when I began making my grocery list this afternoon.  I can't go for that.  I can't go for any of that.  The last place I wanted to be today was grocery shopping.  Man, does that get old.

But not going meant I had to come up with something marginally nutritious and filling for at least two people.  This is where I'm grateful for pre-cooked chicken breasts that are in the freezer and at the ready.  The possibilities were endless, but the words, "sloppy joes" kept echoing in my brain.

So I came up with Sloppy Joe Casserole.

Shredded chicken, Manwich Bold, roasted and sliced Dutch baby potatoes, and some reduced fat cheddar.  Top it all off with diced bell pepper and pickled jalapenos and you've almost got Sloppy Joe Nachos.

While this won't top my "love it" list of things to make or eat, it was a good way to use up what I had and I avoided the dreaded supermarket.  Now I can go for that!

Chicken Sloppy Joe Casserole
Serves 4


Dutch "baby" potatoes, a small bag
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper
1 tsp. EVOO
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 can Manwich Bold
1 cup shredded 2% milk cheddar cheese
Diced bell pepper (optional)
Pickled jalapenos (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.  Line a small cookie sheet with non-stick tin foil.  Slice enough baby potatoes to make 1 cup of slices per person.  For manly appetites, add an additional cup.  Sprinkle onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and the teaspoon of olive oil onto potatoes.  Toss and bake for 15 minutes on each side or until browned.

While potatoes are cooking, add shredded chicken to a small saucepan and combine chicken with Manwich sauce.  Simmer and heat thoroughly.  

Heat oven to broil.  Prepare 4 individual-sized baking dishes or one 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray.  Line each dish with 3/4 cup cooked potato pieces.  Add 1 cup chicken mixture.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup (each) of the shredded cheese.  Place dishes on a cookie sheet (or simply place larger baking dish) and place under the broiler.  Not too close, but enough to melt the cheese.  Top with bell pepper and jalapenos.  

An easy weeknight meal that is kid friendly, too.  Bon Appetit!!  

Weight Watchers Points Per Serving: 8

Buffalo With A Twist

My youngest daughter (she's almost 14) loves buffalo wings.  It's a mighty good thing that there are two excellent wing joints within 20 minutes of home, otherwise, my kitchen would smell - like that restaurant where the girls wear the teeny orange shorts - on a regular basis.  While my kiddo is healthy and active, I'm not fond of feeding her greasy chicken wings where she's getting more sauce and slop than protein.

So this mom made Super Bowl Sunday a healthier version of Buffalo Wild Wings meets On The Border.

No, I won't make you ask how I did it.  The answer is - Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas! JACKPOT!

Low-carb tortillas, roasted boneless/skinless chicken breast meat, reduced-fat sharp white cheddar.  All the flavor you could ask for without any of the guilt.

I got the idea for this recipe first from Pinterest, then I find out a registered dietitian named Nicole had originally created the specific recipe, posting it to her website.  I didn't have blue cheese as in her recipe, but my hubby and I agreed it would have been perfect on the top of these enchiladas.  Next time, for sure!

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas
Serves 4, Two Enchiladas Per Person


8 whole grain/low carb flour tortillas
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded
10 oz. can of red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
2 cups 2% milk reduced fat white cheddar cheese
(or, 1 & 1/2 cups cheese plus 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola)
1/3 cup sliced/chopped bell pepper
Sliced black olives
Chopped cilantro

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a 9x13 dish with non-stick foil.  In a medium bowl, combine enchilada sauce and wing sauce.  Stir well.  Add 1/2 cup of the sauce to the chicken.  Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to chicken.  Mix well. If you're using the bell pepper, add to chicken mix now.

Drizzle some sauce in the bottom of the foil-lined dish, then begin to prepare the 8 enchiladas by placing a spoonful of the chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla.  Keep one end open while rolling up.  

Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas.  It won't completely cover, and that's good. Sprinkle 1 & 1/2 cups cheese over, then black olives. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes. Top with cilantro and enjoy!

Sorry...it was too good to wait and "plate" it for you...

Weight Watchers: 3-4 Points+,  Per Enchilada

Thai Chicken Pizza

If this pizza doesn't convince you to make homemade pies, then I'm thinking you should stick to delivery-style.  I've been wanting to make a healthier version of Thai Chicken Pizza, and Trader Joe's offered me the perfect inspiration!

(Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck Merlot)

I love Trader Joe's.  It's a no-frills store with truly good and mostly healthy foods.  I feel for those who don't live within at least an hour of these fab stores.  I say take some coolers and make a day trip out of it!  It's worth it!

Anyhow, their recipes aren't too shabby, and I borrowed their Thai Chicken Pizza recipe to help create my own.

You can get all you need to make this at TJ's, but I make my own dough and I use pre-cooked chicken breasts that I cooked and then stored in the freezer.  If you can get Peanut Satay at your store (grocery, Wal-Mart, Target, World Market), then really, the rest is easy as pie.

Thai Chicken Pizza

Makes 3 Pies

For dough:

1 cup warm water

2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast

Pinch of sugar

3 to 3 1/2 cups 00 Flour or Bread Flour

1 tsp. sea salt with iodine (like Morton's Sea Salt w/Iodine)

For toppings:

2 jars TJ's Peanut Satay (enough for 16 oz.)

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

4 cups 2% milk mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded (diced) carrots

1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper

1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1/3 cup unsalted, dry roasted peanuts

Cracked black pepper

1 Serrano, thinly sliced (optional, these are HOT)

Chopped cilantro (optional, but yummy)

Instructions for dough:

Dissolve yeast in warm water in bowl of mixer.  Add pinch of sugar.  Let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.

Add in flour and salt, mix and let stand for 5 minutes.  Chemistry is happening!

After rest period, use dough hook to knead dough for about 5 to 10 minutes.  Dough should be elastic and smooth.  Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Leave in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour until doubled in size.

After dough has risen, use the poke test to make sure dough is ready.  By sticking the handle of a wooden spoon (or your finger) into the dough, if the indentation remains, it's ready!

Punch down and leave on a floured surface.  Allow to rest for 10-20 minutes while preparing the toppings.  Pour 1/3 cup of satay on shredded chicken.  Allow to sit until ready to top on pizzas.  Gather cheese and veggies.

Place pizza stone if you have one in the lower rack of the oven.  Preheat to 440.  Divide dough into thirds, then roll them out, one at a time, and divide toppings for three pies. (I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to spread the satay on the pizza dough)  Bake, one pie at a time, for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Wait a minute to cool, then slice into 8 to 10 slices.  

My pre-cooked chicken made this super easy, but if you have access to pizza dough (as in your local pizzeria), then this just got easier!  My hubby likes Sriracha sauce on this, but I feel the Serrano chiles give it quite enough kick for me!  This Tuesday night meal was a Thai treat!

Weight Watchers Points +

4 points per slice, depending on how heavy-handed the toppings are applied

Shoe Shopping With Leftovers

Leftovers.  I have a love-hate relationship with them.  They come in handy when I don't want to cook, I just grab from the freezer and defrost.  But at the same time, my freezer is full of forgotten leftovers.  I'm a housewife, but leftovers usually are not high on my list of things to remember!  Anne Taintor makes me feel a tad better about this.  Apparently, I'm not alone!

Almost all kidding aside, the leftovers that have puzzled me the most are tortillas.  What do you do with them other than junk 'em?  You can rarely buy a pack with just enough for one meal.  It seems the manufacturers want you to make enough tacos to feed the world. I simply cannot feed the world.  Mama has shoes to buy.

Priorities, people.  Priorities!

Luckily, I've solved the problem - Chilaquiles.  And no, those are not shoes.

Normally, Chilaquiles is a casserole made with turkey and the tortillas are fried in oil, then portions of the ingredients are fried in the remaining oil.

I'm not ok with this, as all that frying is unhealthy and very messy.  I bake the tortillas for a few minutes - watch carefully, they burn, I know - and once they've cooled, I can begin to build this lasagna-like meal.

Once again, please give using pre-cooked chicken a try.  I grabbed two pieces from the freezer this morning and it took less than five minutes to shred them as the tortillas baked in the oven.  Getting into the habit of cooking the chicken beforehand will suddenly make cooking a breeze!

Chica's Chicken Chilaquiles
Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
12 corn tortillas (6-inch size)
2 tsp. olive or safflower oil
2 chicken breasts, shredded
½ red bell pepper, diced or small slices
½ tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. onion powder
Several cracks of fresh black pepper
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 cups tomatillo salsa
¾ cup cotija or crumbled feta cheese
1/3-1/2 cup sliced scallions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.  Line two cookie sheets with foil.  Place 6 tortillas on each sheet.  Drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil over six tortillas, repeating for the second sheet of tortillas.  Using fingertips or pastry brush, distribute oil over the tops of each tortilla.  Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes, turning halfway through.  Reduce heat to 375.

In a medium bowl, mix chicken through cilantro.  Add ¼ cup salsa and ¼ cup of cheese to chicken mixture.

Spray a 11x7 baking dish with cooking spray or line with non-stick foil (easy clean up!).  Place ¼ cup of salsa in bottom, then 4 tortillas on top.

Add half the chicken mixture, then 4 tortillas.  Add second half of chicken mixture, then remaining 4 tortillas.  Pour the rest of the salsa (1 ½ cups) over the top and sprinkle with ½ cup remaining cheese.  Top with scallions.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

Ok, so maybe food isn't as nice as the rush in buying a new pair of kicks, but this comes pretty darn close.  Also, by using feta and not a fattier cheese, your legs will look fab in your next new shoe venture! Don't underestimate the power of leftovers.  More leftovers = more shoe shopping!