Beef Enchilada Casserole...BIG BITE

Okay, this casserole is AWESOME! The best part is you can make it in less than 30 minutes! The recipe comes from Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Dinner.

1lb ground beef- lean if you want so you don't have to drain it
1tbsp Southwest Season Mix (this is PC seasoning but you can sub taco seasoning)
1 can enchilada sauce (I use mild but you can use spicier if you like)
3/4 cup water (I leave this out and add extra salsa)
1/2 cup medium thick and chunky salsa (you really need the thick and chunky!)
12 yellow corn tortillas (do not use flour, it will not work well)
1/4 cup snipped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend (more if you like it cheesy)
Sour cream and lime wedges optional

Okay, this is how easy it is:
Put your beef and taco seasoning in a pan and brown it while chopping into little pieces (PC's Mix-n-chop works great for this step). while your beef is cooking take your corn tortillas and stack them about 6 high and cut into 1 inch strips. Grate your cheese and snip your cilantro.

Once your beef is done, drain it if you need to then add the enchilada sauce, water, salsa to the pan and let it simmer then remove it from the heat. Take 1/2 of your tortilla strips and layer the bottom of a microwavable deep dish baker. Put 1/2 the meat mixture on, then 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the cilantro and repeat.

Stick it inthe microwave for about 5 minutes.

That's it! The serve it w/ sour cream and lime if you choose.

I hope you like it.

Bite Sized Chicken

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I am trying my best to get away from serving my family processed foods. It is hard when you need something quick and easy. It is simple to pull out a bag of frozen nuggets and pop them in the oven and have dinner in 15-20 minutes.

I think I have perfected my chicken nuggets and Corbin even told me they were better than Wendy's nuggets and McDonalds so I take it as high praise from the 4 yr old expert on chicken nuggets.

By making them yourself you control the amount of sodium, fat, and quality of chicken.

Ingredients

2-3 Chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (can use whole wheat or soy flour to boost nutrition)
1/4 cup milk
bread crumbs or crushed crackers
oil

beat the egg and add flour and milk to make your batter. You want the batter to cling to the chicken so if it is a bit runny add more flour. Put oil in a deep pan (I use my stock pot to avoid splatters). Put the crackers or bread crumbs in a gallon sized ziplock bag (you can crush them in here). put the chicken bites in the batter at once and stir around until all coated. Take them out a few at a time and put them in the ziplock bag w/ the crumbs. Shake them up and take them out. continue until all the nuggets have crumbs on them. I often will put them all in the bag at once and shake then pour them out in a colander. Once your oil is hot put the nuggets in one at a time until the pan is full. I use a slotted spoon or strainer spoon to turn the nuggets over and around. Once they turn a little darker than golden remove them and place on a napkin to drain the grease off. Then enjoy!!

This has become a family fav and really doesn't take that long to make. I hope you try it and if you do let me know how it turned out.

A Nutritional Chocolate Bite

The one thing in my garden that has done well is zuchinni! There is only so much you can do with zuchinni before you get sick of it: stir fry, batter and fry (my fav), grill, make baby food, put it in a bread.

I was searching for a way to make nutritional zuchinni muffins and found this recipe. Who doesn't love chocolate. Okay, I know there are some people but it must be a defect. I like the idea of muffins better than bread because it is an easy way for my kids to have a portioned out treat. The base for the muffins came from Allrecipes.com but I made alterations to boost nutrition and decrease fat.

Chocolate Zuchinni Muffins

Ingredients
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar / you can use less
1 cup vegetable oil / I substitued homemade applesauce to decrease fat and calories (replace 1 for 1)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour/ here I did 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup Soy Flour (adds protein), and 1 1/4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Spices: I didn't use any of these except a little cinnamon. I am not a spice cake kind of a person so I didn't think I would like these
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large bowl beat the eggs. Beat in the sugar and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla, zucchini and stir well.
Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.
Pour batter to fill cups 2/3 of the way full and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy