Healthy Mexican Chicken Bake

I was feeling all creative n stuff…and I wanted mexican food without sabotaging all of my weight loss efforts.

A meal at a sit down restaurant averages about 1,300 calories. The whole pan of this is 2380 calories!!! Cheese and all!!! (But don’t eat the whole pan LOL) The pan can be broken into 5 servings at 476 calories per serving.

Ingredients:
5 skinless chicken breasts
1, 16 oz jar of Pace salsa, original
1, 16 oz jar of Pace salsa, fire    roasted tomato and corn
2 cups four cheese Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 can Campbell’s cream of chicken and mushroom (the combo in 1 can is alot less calories than buying 1 can of each
1 oz packet of Old El Paso fajita seasoning mix
Whatever various mexican spices you like (I used chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper)

Step 1
Season chicken with your various spices and fajita seasoning mux

Step 2
Cook chicken on the stove at medium heat (make sure it’s nice and tender)

Step 3
While the chicken is cooking, in a bowl combine both jars of salsa and the can of cream of mushroom and chicken. Stir.

Step 4
When chicken is done, put it in a pan. Pour your mixture in the bowl over the chicken. Top with cheese. Cover pan with aluminum foil and cook in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes.

Step 5
Serve!! Enjoy!!! And for your less calorie conscious friends and family (I hate you LOL) add over a tortilla, serve with a sweet cornbread, rice, or top with crushed nacho cheese doritos right before serving.

My plate

My boyfriend’s plate

Tell me how it turns out!

Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 8-10 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes  (I leave the skin on)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 TBS. freshly ground pepper
• 1 TBS. paprika
• 2 TBS. garlic powder
• 6 TBS. hot sauce

Topping:

• 2 c. Fiesta Blend Cheese or a mix of Cheddar & Monterey Jack
• 1 c. crumbled bacon
• 1 c diced green onion

Preheat oven to 500 degrees…Yes you read that right!

In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, hot sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder & paprika.

 

Add the potatoes and stir to coat.

 

Add the potatoes to a greased baking dish.

 

 

When scooping the potatoes into the baking dish, leave behind any extra olive oil/hot sauce mix.

 

Add the diced chicken to the “left behind” olive oil/hot sauce mix and stir to coat all the chicken.  Allow to marinate as the potatoes bake.

 

Roast the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and nice and crispy on the outside.

 

Once the potatoes are fully cooked add the marinated chicken.

 

In a large bowl mix all the topping ingredients together.

 

Top the raw chicken with the topping.

 

Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the topping is melted and bubbly delicious.  Serve with extra hot sauce and/or ranch dressing.

19 Dips You’ve Gotta Try!

Dips can make or break a party! It’s summer time so you can have anything from a get together at your house to a party for the playoffs. Either way a dip is usually a chip, easy, and delicious placeholder. The links to the dips are under the pictures. Give them a try!!

Bacon Double Cheese Burger Dip

Pizza Dip

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Chorizo Queso Fundido

Artichoke Bread

Taco Dip

Hot Cheesy Mushroom Dip

Greek 7 Layer Dip

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Hot Cheesy Corn Dip

Hot Cheesy Bean Dip

Hot Caramelized Onion Dip

Bacon Guacamole

Hot Cheesy Crab, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Reuben Dip

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Blue Cheese Guacamole

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Dip

Visit http://www.closetcooking.com for more things like this!!

Smokey Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower

 

 

Smokey Roasted Buffalo Cauliflower

Ingredients

6 cups cauliflower large chunks (about 1 large cauliflower)
3 Tbsp. Safflower Oil
3 Tbsp. Hot Pepper Sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp. smoked salt

Optional: 1 cup panko breading

Accompaniments:
Vegan Ranch salad dressing
Celery sticks
Carrots sticks

This roasted cauliflower has crunchy-spicy panko breading morsels on it.

1. Preheat oven to 425-450 F, depending on how hot your oven is.  Mine is not too hot so I used 450 F and put it in convection roast setting if you have one.
2. Combine oil, hot pepper sauce, sugar, smoked paprika, minced garlic, and smoked salt in a small bowl.
3. Put cauliflower florets in a large bowl and drizzle with hot sauce mixture.  Combine thoroughly.
4. If using panko breading, sprinkle the panko and if possible let them stick to the marinated florets.  Not all breading will stick to the cauliflower.
5. Prepare a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Spread cauliflower mixture onto the cookie sheet.
6. Roast for 20 minutes, stir and flip the florets, and roast about 10-15 minutes longer until the cauliflower is cooked but still firm.
7. Serve IMMEDIATELY or store in a container for salad when it is cold.

 

Cauliflower combined with spicy sauce before they are roasted.

Bacon and Bleu Cheeseburger Potato Skins

If anyone wants to make me these in, let’s say about a month…FEEL FREE! #Yummy

 

 

Ingredients

1. 4 whole Russet Potatoes, Cleaned
2. 6 slices Nueske’s (or Your Favorite) Bacon
3. 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, melted
4. 1 teaspoon Salt To Taste
5. 1 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper, To Taste
6. ¼ pounds Ground Beef, Browned
7. ½ cups Great Blue Cheese, I Used Hook’s Blue Paradise

Instructions

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 400 F. Poke the top of each potato with a fork and place on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 1 hour. Once cooked, remove potatoes from the baking sheet and place them on a plate to cool for about 15 minutes.
2. Cook your bacon in a skillet on low heat for about 15-20 minutes. The low and slow process, in my opinion, is the only way to cook bacon as it really yields perfect bacon every time. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain it on some paper towels before you crumble it.
3. Once your potatoes are cooled, use a sharp bread knife and cut them lengthwise. For each potato you’ll have three long segments—two nice rounded sections, one from each side for the skins and one thin cutout from the center. Place the middle slice in a bowl for later use, such as breakfast the following morning. Or heck for that matter, add some butter, salt, and cream, and make some rustic mashed potatoes.
4. Continue this cutting process with the rest of the potatoes. You should then have 8 skins. With a small spoon, carefully scoop out about 70 percent of the potato. You still want some potato near the skin, to hold the structure of your boat.
5. Next, melt your butter in the microwave. Get your broiler heated to high. Brush the butter on the inside and outside of each potato skin and place them back onto the baking sheet. Season the inside of each skin with salt and pepper.
6. Place them under the broiler for 8-10 minutes until the insides get a bit crispy from the melted butter. Pull them out of the oven and place generous amounts of the cooked ground beef into each skin, topping with bacon pieces and about one tablespoon of blue cheese for each skin. Place these back under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes until the cheese is nice and bubbly. Carefully remove from the oven, top with just a bit more blue cheese, and get ready for a flavor of explosion.
7. Serve on a platter and have your guests dig in. The subtle crisp from the exterior of the potato skin, with the tenderness of the potato on the inside will satisfy your french fry craving. Then your burger fix comes in with just the right balance of bacon and sharp creaminess from the blue cheese. Small in size and packed with flavor, these skins definitely satisfied my craving for a burger. If you are a fan of blue cheese on your burger, definitely make these. You will be happy you did!

 

 

Thanks SweetToothLove.com

 

Work Dinner for Him: Tequila Lime Tilapia

My hun works overnight. And if it was up to him…his dinner would be a hot pocket and key lime pie lol. So I try to make dinner for him to take to work as often as I can.

First you marinate:

 

 

The mixture is my tequila lime marinate: 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, a smidgen of vinegar, a pinch of salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/2 cup tequila, 1/4 cup cilantro

I let it marinate for about an hour then to the skillet it goes!

 

 

I added peppers and them boom, pow, kablam!

 

He also got broccoli and 2 little Hawaiian rolls. Aren’t I such a bomb girlfriend! Lol

 

NUM NUM NUM!!!

Dinner for the night: Broccoli and baked chicken

Dimner tonight was baked chicken and broccoli. The broccoli was Steamfresh brand. I heated the bag in the microwave for 6 minutes. It seasoned it with a little garlic salt. The chicken was seasoned and then topped with Stubbs Hickory Bourbon bbq sauce. I then coverd it with aluminum foil and baked it for about and hour and a half on 360°. Then I took the chicken out and covered it with a little more bbq sauce and cooked uncovered for 10 minutes. Then walaa! Deliciousness!!!

A Karyssa Meal: Lemon Bathed Tilapia and Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe

Hey y’all!!! This is my own tilapia recipe. Feel free to give it a try!! : )

Lemon Bathed Tilapia and Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe

 

Step one: Melt butter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step two: Add your spices. I used lemon pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and lemon juice. Mix. This would be a great time to add vegetables such as onion, minced garlic, or peppers. I was being a bit lazy today so I didn’t add vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step three: Put the tilapia in a plastic bag and add your homemade marinade. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that the fish can soak up all the juices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step four: While we wait for the fish to marinate…it’s salad time. I used spinach and topped it with sliced strawberries.

Step five: Back to the fish. Spray the bottom of your skillet (I used Pam) or use a nonstick skillet because easily sticks to the pan. Place the fish in the pan. Cook on a medium heat (6 out of 10). Flip as few times as possible so that the fish does not fall apart.

Step six: PLATE IT!!! Make it look pretty! Top tilapia with parsley and top salad with dressing (I used balsamic vinaigrette). This is the final result!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think! : )

Smooches  : *