Faux Fried Shredded Chicken Chimichangas

WOW! I have not posted anything in awhile. I have been so busy tending to that big ass garden and then processing the vegetables. Whew, I am beat. Anyways, I LOVE Mexican food... Okay, I LOVE ALL types of food. I decided to try to make one of my favorite Mexican restaurant favorites, chimichangas but with fewer calories. AND I DID!!! It was AMAZING and tasted very close to being fried.

Ingredients:

1lb chicken breast
1 can rotel (or 3 roma tomatoes and 3 jalapenos diced)
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbls. cumin
1 tbls. chili powder
1 tbls. garlic
1 tbls. salt 
4 flour burrito size tortillas (I prefer white but you can do whole wheat)
2% cheddar jack or four mexican cheese
Olive oil spray
1 package low fat sour cream
shredded lettuce
salsa

To Make:

Take the chicken breast, rotel/tomatoes and jalapenos, and chicken broth and put them in the crock pot. Simmer on low for 8 hours or until chicken  is shreddable. 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bottom of baking sheet with olive oil spray. Take a flour tortilla and fill it with 4oz of the chicken and 1/2 cup cheese. Fold it on the sides and then again to make a square. Place it seam side down. Spray with olive oil spray. Do the next 3 tortillas the same way. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, top with 2 tbls. sour cream, lettuce, and salsa. YUM!

Calories: 525

My little, uh bigger than little, garden.

I have had a garden now for 3 years. The first year was kind of a bust but the last 2 have been pretty good and I learn so much year after year and I am always willing to try new things with it.

 I tried green peas again this year but in the past, I have not received a bounty of them. So in less than a month we will see how well they turn out. RC (my husband) added a trellis made out of metal posts, metal wire, and string.

In this section of the garden with the peas, I planted green, purple, and yellow bush beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and green leaf lettuce. This is my first year doing lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower. So far they are all doing amazing. I planted early (second week in March).

In the next area, I have 1 row of burpless cucumbers, 2 rows of pickling cucumbers, and 1 row of zucchini. RC put up trellises for the cucumbers the same way he did the peas.

My next plot is my tomato/tomatillo/yellow squash section (yellow squash and tomatillos have not come out of the ground yet. I have 57 tomato plants; roma, cherry, better boy, homestead, and my favorite, german johnson. I didn't do well last year with tomatoes but then again nobody in Apex did :-( I hope for a better outcome this year. We have 30 tomato cages made of concrete wire. (all of RC's hard work)

My last plot is my potatoes. I have red, yukon gold, and russets.

Mediterranean Crock Pot Chicken

I had some chicken that NEEDED to be cooked and I was craving something Mediterranean. So, I came up with this recipe using the crock pot :-)

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs chicken breast
1 can diced tomatoes
15 kalamata olives sliced
1 can whole artichoke hearts
1 packaged of any kind of mushrooms
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 medium sized zucchini (slice)
1/2 cup dried lentils
2/3 cup whole wheat Israeli cous cous (found at Harris Teeter)


How to Make:

Add chicken breast, tomatoes, zucchini, olives, artichokes, mushrooms, and olive oil in crock pot. Put on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Add lentils 2 hours into cooking. Then during last 30 minutes add cous cous. (or you can cook the cous cous by itself according the package directions and have it on the side)

SO EASY!!!!

I would add a picture but because of the lentils and whole wheat cous cous it looks very brown :-) Trust me though when I say it's amazing.

A Little Slice of Country Life: Chicken, Shrimp, and Turkey Sausage Gumbo

A Little Slice of Country Life: Chicken, Shrimp, and Turkey Sausage Gumbo:

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 lb. chicken breast or tenders 1 package turkey sausage (I use butterball) 1 lb. peeled shrimp 2 green peppers ...

Chicken, Shrimp, and Turkey Sausage Gumbo

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast or tenders
1 package turkey sausage (I use butterball)
1 lb. peeled shrimp
2 green peppers
1 large yellow onion
1 32oz. container of chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes 
2 cups fresh or frozen okra
2 cups fresh or frozen black eyed peas
1 boil in bag brown rice
I like a lot of seasoning but add what tastes good to you:
4 tablespoons cajun seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's)
1 tablespoon old bay
2 tablespoons garlic powder

 To Cook:

Cut chicken into chunks. Slice sausage. Cut onion and green pepper. Get a large dutch oven, set on medium high heat, and add olive oil. Add chicken sausage, onions, and peppers. Saute for 5 minutes and then add shrimp. In a smaller sauce pan boil water for bagged brown rice. When water boils, cook rice for 5 minutes.  Add chicken broth, tomatoes, okra, peas, and seasoning. Allow to cook on medium high heat. Add rice to the gumbo and continue to simmer for 20 minutes. DELICIOUS! Add hot sauce if you like it HOT.

Servings: 8
Calories: 279 per 1.5 cups

Shrimp and Sausage Creole Stew

This is such a yummy, low calorie recipe.

2 teaspoons olive oil 
1 cup chopped green bell pepper 
1 cup thinly sliced turkey smoked sausage (about 6 ounces) 
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic 
3/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth 
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (such as Rotel) 
8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp 
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. 1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add bell pepper, sausage, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until bell pepper is tender, stirring occasionally. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in shrimp and beans; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until shrimp are done. Sprinkle with parsley.

This is the Eighth Month Y'all!

On April 16th, it will be my eighth month of losing weight and reconstructing my body with exercise. It's been a hard process but a much rewarding one. I have officially lost 45lbs and I can actually start to see some muscle forming :-) Losing the first 40lbs. was fairly easy but the last 3 months, I have been losing weight at a much slower pace. At first, I was so disappointed and getting upset with myself for not losing the weight at a quicker rate. I have realized now that I am just happy keeping the weight off that I had allowed myself to put on and losing a .5 lb a week is better than nothing at all.

At the gym, I am always trying to push myself. I have been running now for 6 months at a pace of 5-5.5 mph which is a comfortable pace for me to run for distance. However, I watched a snippet of the Biggest Loser and one of the trainers made one of the women run at 10mph for 30 seconds. I thought I can try that! I got on the treadmill and began running at 5.5mph and decided to give it a try. I wish there was a video camera that recorded that moment so I could show everyone how hilarious that was. If that treadmill had not had hand bars at the top, I would flew off that thing! So, I attempted 8mph and realized that was a good speed to push myself and not fly off the treadmill. But, my running has had to be slowed down, because of shin splints. So, I have had to do intervals of 10 minutes of running and 5 minutes of walking. My shins still hurt but I am NOT giving up running! Yesterday while out the gym, I pushed myself to run 8.2mph for 45 seconds. I was breathing very heavy and I must have freaked out one of the trainers because he came by and said "are you ok?" I replied, "yes but running that fast does take a lot of energy!" and it does.

I am happy to say that I enjoy a much healthier lifestyle!