Easy Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Our friends Josh and Katie just celebrated the birth of their second daughter, Natalie Grace, born last week. We took over some dinner on Saturday night. I held Natalie for almost two hours after dinner. She just slept right in my arms. I even dozed off a few times to the aromatic, perfect baby smell.

This casserole is adapted from a recipe found on allrecipes.com. I was skeptical that it would turn out runny, but all of the comments were correct in saying that this casserole had almost no extra liquid. It all soaked up into the tortillas and tasted so good!

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Southwestern seasoning
16 (6 inch) flour tortillas, quartered
1 (16 ounce) can green chile enchilada sauce
1 (16 ounce) can red chile enchilada sauce
1/2 packet taco seasoning mix
1 (8 ounce) package 2% shredded Mexican cheese
1 (8 ounce) container reduced fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish. Season chicken with southwestern seasoning. Arrange in the prepared baking dish. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Cool, shred, and set aside. You can also grill the chicken, which I did, since our dishwasher is on the fritz and I didn't want to have extra dishes.

In a bowl, combine the shredded chicken, sour cream and taco seasoning.

Pour about 1/4 inch enchilada sauce in the bottom of a medium baking dish (I used 9 x 13), and arrange 6 tortillas in a single layer.

Top with 1/2 the chicken mixture, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Repeat. Coat remaining tortillas thoroughly with remaining enchilada sauce, and arrange on top of the layers.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and top with any remaining enchilada sauce. Cover, and bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly before serving.

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Oh yummy! This dish took 5 hours to make in a slow cooker and it was so delicious. All of the flavors melded together to create the perfect harmony. I found this recipe on The Crockpot Lady's A Year of Crockpotting blog, one of my absolute favorite blogs to peruse. *Sorry for the blurry picture above. We were up at Lake Charlevoix with some friends and I offered to make this for dinner. The blurry picture is no indication of the deliciousnes of this dish*

The Ingredients:
1 lb cooked, shredded chicken
28 oz can of enchilada sauce
1 colorful bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't use these but I bet they would make a great addition!)
1 can sliced black olives
1/2 red onion, chopped
8 fat free flour tortillas
2 C 2% shredded cheddar cheese
Lite sour cream

Combine the shredded chicken with the enchilada sauce.

Starting with 2 tortillas, layer ingredients into crockpot insert. Here's the order I went with
tortillas
chicken mixed with sauce
chopped pepper
red onion
black beans
olives
1/3 C cheese

Repeat layers. Finish with a handful of cheese. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. This is a no-peeking recipe. A lot of times it's okay to peek and to stir, but for this one it's best left alone for the flavors to meld properly and for the edges to get that yummy crispy cheese texture.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Chicken Fajita Enchiladas

Matt made these for dinner while I was at a meeting. How nice to come home and have this fantastic dinner ready to eat!

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 packet enchilada mix
1 can of green enchilada sauce
1/2 cup 2% cheese (cheddar, colby, or colby jack work great)
5 fat free flour tortillas
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/4 sweet onion, diced
Lite sour cream (optional)

Dice the chicken breast and cook in a skillet. Add the peppers and onion and sautee until veggies are slightly soft.

In a saucepan, mix 1/2 cup water with 1/2 of the can of green enchilada sauce and1/2 of the enchilada seasoning packet. Bring to a boil, then simmer to reduce to about half.

Fill the tortillas with the chicken, pepper and onion mixture and spoon the sauce mixture on top. Place seam side down in baking dish

Cover the enchiladas with remaining 1/2 can of the green enchilada sauce.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and top with the cheese. Cook for an additional 5 minutes until cheese melts.

Top with sour cream.

Fish Tacos with Chili Lime Cream

First, I must say how much I LOVE my new lightbox that Matt and I made tonight. The fish tacos tasted amazing, but the lightbox makes them look even more incredible! OK, back to the fish tacos. This was just about the quickest dinner I have ever made. I was able to put it all together while Matt played with the lightbox as evidenced below.

Ingredients (serves 2):
1/2 pound tilapia filets
2 tsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 fat free 6" flour tortillas
Shredded cabbage or package of cole slaw
Shredded pepperjack cheese (optional)

For the chili-lime cream (from BHG, February 2009):
1/4 C reduced fat sour cream
Juice from half a lime
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap the tortillas in tin foil and place in the oven until warmed through.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the tilapia filets and salt and pepper the side that's up. Sautee for 2-4 minutes per side, until fish is flaky.

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the chili-lime cream.

When the fish is fully cooked, flake with a fork. Assemble the tacos with the fish, cabbage, chili-lime cream and pepperjack cheese, if desired.

WW points per serving (two tacos, without cheese): 7 points

Back to the lightbox. Here are the two websites I used for help:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Inexpensive-Photography-Lightbox
http://freshfodder.wordpress.com/2007/01/03/diy-ebay-photo-studio-0/

Below is the finished product and, as mentioned above, Matt's professional photograph... ha! I couldn't have done it without his help, though!

Veggie and Bean Quesadillas

This is one of our quick and easy staple recipes. It is also WW-friendly.

Ingredients (enough for 3 quesadillas; 1 for me, 2 for Matt)
6 six-inch fat free flour tortillas, preferably with a healthy amount of fiber
1 cup fat free refried beans
1/2 package of taco seasoning
1 cup 2% mexican cheese (or other 2% cheese variety)
1/2 of a zucchini, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1/3 onion, chopped
3-5 large mushrooms, chopped
Olive oil for sauteeing
2 Tbsp. reduced fat sour cream per quesadilla

Chop all of the veggies and sautee with a small amount of olive oil. Meanwhile, mix the refried beans and taco seasoning. Heat for about 1 minute in the microwave to soften the bean mixture.
Assemble by placing 1/3 of the bean mixture on one of the tortillas. Add 1/3 of the veggie mixture and 1/3 cup of the cheese. Top with the other tortilla. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat. Place the quesadilla on the skillet. No oil or spray is needed. When the bottom tortilla is golden brown, flip and brown the other side.

Serve with 2 Tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream.

I love the way the toasty tortilla tastes. It's hard to believe this is mostly guilt-free!

WW Points per quesadilla: 7 points.

TIP: You can also add in some ground turkey, seasoned with the taco seasoning. I suppose you could use soy crumbles, too, if you're into that sort of thing...