Mexicali Salad

Ntina and I made this when she stayed with me. Huge portion sizes and it is pretty easy to tweak into whatever you want it to be. We had some leftover grilled veggies from the night before that we added. Mmmmm yummy!

Ingredients

3/4 c. salsa
1/4 c. fat free ranch
8 c. chopped romaine lettuce
1 large tomato - diced
1 small jicama - peeled and shredded
1 c. reduced fat shredded cheese
1 c. canned black beans - rinsed and drained
2 c. diced cooked chicken breast
12 baked tortilla chips - broken up

Instructions
1. Stir together the salsa and ranch dressing in a serving bowl. Add the lettuce, tomato, jicama, cheese and beans. Toss to coat.

2. Divide the salad evenly among 4 plates. Top the salads evenly with the chicken and sprinkle with the chips.

Serving size - 3 c. salad, 1/2 c. chicken, 3 chips - 8 points

Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic

This is a Food & Family recipe that turned out pretty well. I paired it with roasted carrots and potatoes. Ben liked it. Nick liked it. I liked it. Success.

Ingredients

4 small chicken breast halves (1 lb)

20 cloves of garlic - peeled

3/4 c. chicken broth

1/4 c. caesar dressing

1/4 c. grated parmesan

Instructions

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet on med/high heat. Add chicken and garlic and cook 4 min. Turn chicken after 2 min.

2. Stir in broth and dressing. Cover with lid. Cook chicken 4 min on each side or until done.

3. Sprinkle with parmesan. Remove from heat and let stand, covered for 1 min.

Chicken Curry Saute and Curried Cauliflower

Weight Watchers curry style. It was pretty good but I didn't find it very spicy. I ended up adding a bunch more curry to my personal plate. I am always on the lookout for low point high volume dishes and the cauliflower dish is one to add to the list. 2 cups is only 4 points. 2 cups is A LOT of cauliflower. Also, my mom gives me a hard time about not cooking a lot of carbs for Nick. She thinks he is going to wilt away to nothing. So anyway, I made some instant brown rice to serve this over. Rice is about 4 points per cup.

Chicken Ingredients

4 tsp. olive oil

1 lb. chicken breats - cut into strips

1 onion - chopped

2 garlic cloves - minced

2 tsp fresh ginger - peeled and minced

2 carrots - sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 tsp. curry powder

3/4 c. reduced sodium chicken broth

1 TBSP. tomato paste

1 c. grape tomatoes - halved

1/4 tsp. salt

Chicken Instructions

1. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large skillet over med/high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until browned and cooked through, about 3 min. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

2. Heat the remaining 2 tsp. oil in the same skillet over med/high heat. Add the onion, garlic andd ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 2 min. Add the carots andd curry powder. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 min. Stir in the brooth and tomato paste, bring to a boil. Boil until the liquid starts to thicken and the veggies are crisp-tender, about 2 min. Stir in the chicken, tomatoes and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 1 min.

Cauliflower Ingredients

1 large onion - chopped

1 TBSP. fresh ginger- peeled and minced

2 garlic cloves - minced
2 TBSP curry powder

6 c. cauliflower florets

1 1/2 c. canned chickpeas - rinsed and drained

1 Golden Delicious apple - peeled and chopped

2 c. veggie broth

1/2 c. plain greek-style yogurt - I couldn't find greek style so I just bought fat free plain yogurt

Cauliflower Instructions

1. Spray a large nonstick saucepan with nonstick spray and set over med heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 min. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant, about 30 sec. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant, about 20 sec. Add the cauliflower, chickpeas, and apple. Cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 2 min.

2. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits with a spoon. Reduce the heat and cook, covvered, until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 min.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the yogurt and stir until blended. Let the curry stand, covered, until the yogurt is heated through, about 5 min.

Serving size - chicken - 3/4 c. - 4 points. cauliflower - 2 c. - 4 points

Hunter Style Chicken

Another Weight Watchers recipe. Nick made this one while I was with my mom at a wedding florist consultation. I walked in the door to candles and this yummy smelling dish. He served it over elbow macaroni so you would need to add 4 points per cup of pasta to the total or 3 points for the ronzoni pasta. Very good!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts - cut into big chunks

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

3 tsp. olive oil

1 onion - chopped

3 garlic cloves - minced

2 bell peppers - we used red but orange or yellow are fine - seeded and chopped

1/4 lb. white mushrooms - sliced

1 celery stalk - chopped

28oz can diced tomatoes

small can tomato paste

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the chicken with the salt and pepper. Heat 2 tsp. of the oil in a large, nonstick skillet over med/high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned - 3-4 min on each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

2. Heat the remaining 1 tsp. of oil in the same skillet over med/high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened,, about 3 min. Add the peppers, mushrooms and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-6 min. Return the chicken to the skillet, add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir to coat and mix everything. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are tender - about 20 min.

Serving size - 1 piece of chicken with 1/2 c. veggies and sauce - 4 points

Cheesy Chicken & Salsa Skillet

Another Food & Family recipe that turned out pretty good. Nick made this one and he was quite proud. The thing I love about the Food & Family recipes is the fact that they are super easy to make. Plus, a lot of the time you can make the entire recipe out of things you have in your fridge already!!

Ingredients

2 c. multigrain penne pasta - I think I mentioned this before, but I use Rozoni Smart Taste pasta which is a white pasta but has extra fiber in it which translates to 1 less point per cup than regular pasta

1 lb. chicken breasts - cut into bite sized pieces

1/4 c. salsa

1 c. frozen corn - thawed

1 green pepper - cut into short, thin strips

1 c. reduced fat mexican style shredded cheese

Instructions

1. Cook pasta.

2. Meanwhile heat a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on med/high heat. Add chicken, cook and stir 2 min. Stir in salsa, corn and peppers. Bring to a boil. Simmer on med/low heat for 10 min or until chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally.

3. Drain pasta. Add to chicken mixture, mix lightly. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand 1 min or until cheese is melted.

Chicken and Biscuits

Another Food & Family recipe. Over the holidays I sacrified eating extremely healthy and instead opted for food that was quick and easy to prepare. That and it wouldn't take hours of convincing Ben to eat it. He really liked this one and I was able to throw the veggies in there to ease my concience. Definitely not a friendly food for those trying to lose weight.

Ingredients

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 c. sour cream

2 c. cooked chicken - chopped

16oz. frozen mixed veggies - the carrot, peas and corn combo

1 c. shredded mild chedder

1 c. bisquick

3 TBSP. milk

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375. Mix soup and 1/2 c. of sour cream in 8 inch square baking dish. Add chicken, veggies and cheese. Mix.

2. Place baking mix in medium bowl. Add remaining 1/4 c. sour cream and milk. Stir until stiff dough forms.

3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls into 6 mounds over the chicken mixture. Bake 35 min or unti biscuits are golden brown and chicken mixture is hot and bubbly.

Chicken Teriyaki with Broccoli

Another Weight Watchers recipe. They have you steam the broccoli separate but I wanted it to take on the flavor of the sauce so I threw it in with the chicken when you are just simmering the sauce. I served it over brown rice.

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves - minced

1 lb - chicken breasts - cubed

4 med. scallions - chopped

1/2 c. chicken broth

2 TBSP teriyaki sauce

4 c. broccoli

Instructions

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over med/high heat. Once heated, add garlic and cook, stirring often about 1 minute. Add chicken and cook until golden brown on all sides - stir often - about 5 min.

2. Add scallions - cook until soft - stirring - about 2 min. Add broth and teriyaki sauce - simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce reduces slightly - about 5 min (this is where I added the broccoli) Serve over rice.

Chicken Fajita Skillet with Avocado Salsa

Another weight watchers recipe. The good news is Nick didn't believe me, which means not only is it not bad for you but it tastes good too! I ate the leftover salsa for lunch the next day and just added black beans to it. Excuse the steam in the picture.

Ingredients

1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes - quartered

1 med. avocado - peeled and cubed

2 TBSP. fresh cilantro - chopped

1 TBSP lime juice

1 lb. chicken breasts - cut into strips

1 onion - sliced

1 red pepper - sliced

1 green pepper - sliced

1 tsp mexican seasoning - I used taco seasoning from the package

2 TBSP reduced sodium soy sauce

Instructions

1. Combine tomatoes, avocado, cilantro and line juice in bowl.

2. Heat oil in skillet over med/high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate.

3. Heat oil in the same skillet over med/high heat. Add onion and peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are very soft - about 5 min. Add the chicken and seasoning. Cook, stirring frequently - about 1 min. Stir in the soy sauce and cook until liquid almost evaporates - about 30 seconds. Serve with the salsa.

Chicken Stuffing Bake

This recipe came from the Food & Family magazine put out by Kraft. It's a free magazine and I love just about every recipe in it. I would definitely recommend it!

Ingredients

1 pkg stuffing mix for chicken

1.5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into bite size pieces

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/3 c. sour cream

16 oz. package frozen mixed veggies - thawed and drained

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing mix as directed. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and veggies in 13x9 inch baking dish. Top with stuffing.

2. Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Super Easy!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

There are about 5 million recipes out there for chicken tortilla but I figured I'd add mine to the mix. It's super easy to make and tastes awesome.

Ingredients

1 onion - chopped

1 red pepper - chopped

2 garlic cloves - minced

3 c. chicken broth

14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with chilis

10 oz package frozen corn - thawed

1 tsp. chili seasoning or any of the taco/fajita seasoning packets

1.5 c. cooked chicken breast - chopped - I use the precooked whole chickens and shred them

1/4 c. fresh cilantro - chopped

tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over med/high heat. Add onion, pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until softened and lightly browned - about 5 min.

2. Add the broth, tomatoes, corn and seasoning mix. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken and cilantro. Reduce heat and simmer until heated through. Serve with crushed tortilla chips on top. Of course - always can be topped with cheese!