Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas

Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas

Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies
1/4 cup picante sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups cooked brown rice
8 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed
1 cup salsa
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the green pepper, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the beans, tomatoes, picante sauce, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until heated through and mixture thickens. Add rice; cook 5 minutes longer or until heated through.

Spoon a rounded 1/2 cup down the center of each tortilla. Fold sides over filling and roll up. Place in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon salsa over each tortilla. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese and cilantro. Bake 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 enchilada equals 271 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 638 mg sodium, 43 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 12 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 starch, 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable.

Made on Sept 17, 2010.

Variations: I didn't have a small can of black beans and I thought that the recipe as written would be too spicy for Aaron and Jared with the ro-tel. So, I used ranch style beans (not drained) and 4 fresh roma tomatoes. I think that was an excellent choice. There was still a bite to the burritos because of the salsa, but it wasn't so spicy that it wasn't edible. I really liked the cheese and cilantro on top. Sour cream would have made another nice edition, but ours had gone bad. Oops.

Review: Aaron didn't touch them, but everyone else seemed to like them. This was perfect because it used up the rice in the fridge from the stir fry I made at the beginning of the week. I also had used all the chicken in the pasta dish from last night, so the meatless aspect worked. Although, Matthew was expecting chicken so that was a bit disappointing for him.

Chicken Pasta Primavera

Chicken Pasta Primavera

Ingredients

6 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 package (16 ounces) frozen California-blend vegetables, thawed
4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the soup, water, lemon juice, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in vegetables; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in chicken; heat through. Drain spaghetti; add to chicken mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1-1/3 cups equals 342 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 78 mg cholesterol, 526 mg sodium, 36 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 35 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 4 very lean meat, 2 starch, 1 vegetable.

Made on Sept 16, 2010 for missionaries. I doubled the amount of veggetables because the four cups of chicken was a LOT of chicken! Apparently it was a good thing because the missionaries absolutely DEVOURED it! Everyone seemed to like it - except Aaron who is going through a phase where he's against chicken (at least boneless/skinless cubed chicken).

Family Pleasing Sloppy Joes

Family Pleasing Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 sandwich buns, split

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey and onion over medium heat until turkey is no longer pink; drain if necessary. Add garlic; cook for 1-2 minutes or until tender.

Stir in the sugar, flour and pepper. Add the ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until heated through. Serve on buns. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 sandwich equals 388 calories, 11 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 60 mg cholesterol, 969 mg sodium, 52 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 22 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3-1/2 starch, 2 lean meat.

Made on Sept 15, 2010. I used venison instead of turkey because that is what I had in my freezer. I really enjoyed these. Sloppy joes are one of those meals that everyone makes differently. I LOVE my mom's and it is always a treat to have them. So, I wasn't sure how these would fare, but I found myself craving them every day since then. We'd ate them on bread with cheese on top. YUM!

Light and Tasty 2006 Menu

Under Construction

Almost There

On the last leg of our roadtrip, we started calling our potty stops 'Mandatory Potty Breaks' requiring all passengers to go potty - including Aaron. Amazingly, Aaron complied and thus began our journey on the potty training path once again. It helped that he got a really bad diaper rash and Matthew told him that in order to avoid getting an owie diaper he needed to go potty in the toilet. We have some good days and bad days, but way more good days than bad. He is still unwilling to poop in the toilet, but he did get to a point where he'd tell us he needed to go potty. Although, about two days ago he all of a sudden developed a phobia with the toilet. It turns out that the idea of pipes in the toilet were scary to him. Guess who introduced him to pipes? The same person who is trying to train him to be an airbender or waterbender or whatever bender he feels suits him at the moment :p Anyway, today I finally got him to tell me it was the pipes that were worrying him, so I explained that pipes were helpers. And I'd give him chocolate if he went. Chocolate is magic :) We seem to be making our way back from the pipe scare.

update

I know I've been bad about updating. My life has been consumed by resuming piano lessons and school schedules. When I have felt like I had something to write, I didn't want to take the time it would take it to actually get it up on the blog. So, the moment passed and now I don't even remember what it was I had to say.

On August 31st I officially cancelled my WW subscription. I realized that losing weight was no longer my top priority, so there was no point in paying for a service I wasn't utelizing. I am still interested in losing weight, I am just not going to devote the energy to it that I had before. My hope at this point is to really not gain any more. Thankfully I've been doing well with that. Last Sunday my weight was the exact same as when I returned from vacation. I'm sure eating the free breakfast at Chik-fil-a every day stalled any hopes of weight loss, b/c this week there was no Chik-fil-a and I am pleased to report that I weighed in at 150.1!! Today I was back down to my end of school year weight. So my weight has caught up, but the inches haven't. I still have some extra fat that I acquired from my lack of discipline, but the daily exercise seems to be keeping the growth at bay at least. My SIL's biggest loser competition #3 started again today so I'll have some form of accountability.

I did really well with providing dinner the first week of school. This week was the pits. I really need to get a menu prepared and do some shopping. S inspired me this week. It's so nice to have a fridge full of leftovers to choose from, I want that again. I think menu planning would make a fine Sunday activity, don't you? :p