Enchiladas

I love Mexican food. How can you go wrong with chips, salsa, guacamole, lots of cheese and delicious sauces? I have made these enchiladas with ground beef, chicken and beans. I am sure shredded pork or beef would work well too. If you are looking for an easy way to prepare the meat, use a crockpot. Take 1lb of chicken breasts, pork shoulder or beef and put it in the crockpot with a jar of salsa and a cup of water. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and shred the meat with 2 forks before filling the enchiladas. Cooking ground beef or cubed chicken in a pan before filling also works.

8-10 flour or whole grain tortillas
28oz can of mild red enchilada sauce
1lb of cooked beef, chicken or pork
1 can of fat-free refried beans
2-3 cups of shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13 pan, spread a few tablespoons of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan. Take a tortilla, spread with beans, a few spoonfulls of meat, sprinkle with cheese and roll up. Place in the pan and continue assembling the remaining tortillas. When the pan is filled, pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas and top with cheese. Bake uncovered for 25-30 min.

Coconut M&M Brownies

I came up with these yesterday and they were a hit!

1 box of brownie mix and eggs, oil, water per package directions
1 cup of M&M's
Sweetened coconut flakes
Chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare brownie mix in a bowl according to package directions. Add M&M's and a few handfuls of coconut. Spray the bottom of a 9x13 in dish and add brownie mixture. Bake 25-30 min or suggested time on box. After brownies have cooled, frost and sprinkle with additional coconut.

Mexican Chicken Salad

I created this for yesterday's lunch and it was so good. I love spinach but feel free to use your favorite greens. You could even sautee green peppers and onion to make a fajita salad. No picture this time because I was starving!

Boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
Fresh organic spinach
Salsa
Ranch dressing
Cheese
Cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini
Seasoning for chicken- I used blackened seasoning and paprika but chili powder, cumin and taco seasoning would work well.

Cook chicken in seasoning in a pan for 7-8 min. Assemble salad with spinach, veggies, chicken, cheese, salsa and ranch dressing. Enjoy!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love making stuffed chicken breasts because you can use whatever meat, cheese, veggies and herbs you like and it will taste good. These can be cooked in the oven or on the grill. My favorite cheese to use when making these is goat cheese because it's so smooth and creamy. If you don't like goat cheese and are looking for a creamy texture, plain or flavored cream cheese works well too. I've tried pepper jack, provolove and the other night I used fresh mozerella. You can serve these with or without a sauce. This recipe includes a marinara sauce. If you would like to roast your own red peppers on the grill, you can but I think it's a pain in the ass removing the charred skin and prefer to buy them in a jar.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
4 slices of cappicola or prosciutto
4 tsp of goat cheese
8 basil leaves
3 cups of Marinara sauce
salt and pepper
toothpicks, skewers or kitchen twine for wrapping the chicken

Preheat oven to 350 or the grill on medium heat. Put chicken breasts in between plastic wrap and pound out. Salt and pepper each breast and layer with meat, peppers, basil and cheese. Secure chicken with toothpicks, skewers or kitchen twine. If you are baking in the oven, bake at 350 for 20-25 min. On the grill, cook on medium and rotate occasionally for 15-20 min or until done.

Texas Caviar

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 small red onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
2 jalapeno peppers seeded and chopped
1 8oz bottle of zesty italian dressing
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
Pinch of salt and pepper

Drain and rinse black beans and corn and add to a large bowl. Drain tomatoes and add to bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and chill for 2 hours. Add cilantro before serving. If you are taking this to a bbq, here's an easy to way to keep the cilantro fresh-place the cilantro in between 2 damp paper towels and then place in a plastic bag. Now your cilantro is all ready to go! I love serving this dip with Scoops.