Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Avocado Sauce

Adapted from The Holzmanns

Approximately 400 calories each. I think next time I will use even less sour cream and try it vegetarian.

Ingredients

• • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• • 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• • 2 Serrano peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced
• • 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
• • 8-10 flour tortillas
• • 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
• • 2-3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
• • optional garnish: fresh cilantro, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese
• Avocado Cream Sauce Ingredients:
• • 2 Tbsp. butter
• • 2 Tbsp. flour
• • 2 cups chicken broth
• • 2/3 cup sour cream
• • ½ tsp. cumin
• • ½ tsp. salt
• • ½ tsp. garlic powder
• • ¼ tsp. pepper
• • 2 California avocados, peeled and pitted
• • ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• • juice of one lime
• Instructions
  1. First make the avocado cream sauce:
  2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.
  3. Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisking if necessary to remove any lumps.
  5. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender or food processor. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids — the heat will expand! So be sure to remove the lid occasionally so that the heat can escape.)
  6. Season with additional salt or pepper if needed.
  7. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, Serrano and jalapeno, and saute for 5-6 minutes until the onions are cooked and translucent.
  8. Remove from heat.
  9. To assemble the enchiladas, place a tortilla on a flat surface.
  10. Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some of the vegetable mixture, shredded chicken and cheese.
  11. Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in the baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
  12. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
  13. Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, then cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes, or until tortillas are heated through and begin to harden.
  14. Remove from the oven, then serve individual enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream.

Lighter Sweet and Sour Chicken

From Iowa Girl Eats but I changed a few things.

Serves 4. I doubled it.

About 250 calories per serving

without rice

For the Stir Fry:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. coconut oil, divided
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large white onion, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into coins
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• sesame seeds (if desired)
• white or brown rice, for serving

For the Sauce:

• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 3 Tbsp. red pepper chile sauce
• 3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (or orange juice, or any kind of citrus juice)
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Instructions

• Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large deep-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then add to skillet. Saute for about 5 minutes, flipping occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink on the inside. Remove chicken and set aside.
• Add an additional 1 Tbsp. oil to the skillet, then add in the onion, peppers, carrots. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for another 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender yet still a bit crisp. Remove vegetables and set aside.
• Add ketchup, red chili pepper sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and white pepper to pan, and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the fruit juice and cornstarch until it has dissolved. Then add the mixture to the sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Add back in the vegetables and chicken, and stir until evenly coated.
• Remove from heat and serve over rice, garnished with sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately, or refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days.

No Sugar, No Butter Cookies

These are from the Bread Geek. These makes about 12 so I would double this.

Heat oven to 350

2 tsp ground flax seed

6 Prunes

1/4 C. Golden Rasins

1/4 C. Pecans

1/3 C. shredded coconut

Process these together in a food processor. Put in bowl and add 1/4 C.  natural yeast starter (thebreadgeek.blogspot.com she has some great classes and you can get your own starter for wonderful breads and desserts, or you can get a starter by mail), 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 egg, and mini chocolate chips to taste. 

Drop gold dollar sized bits on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

I forgot to use the egg and parmesan and it was great. That would lower the calories if you want to try it like I did.

Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 10 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Old Points: 4 pts • WW Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 258.5 • Fat: 8.4 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 11.5 g • Carbs: 30.5 • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium: 208 g (without salt)

Ingredients: 

• 10 (9 oz dry) lasagna noodles, cooked
• 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• 5 cups spinach, stems removed, chopped fine
• 8 oz mushrooms, chopped fine
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 15 oz part skim ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, whisked
• salt and fresh pepper
• 3 oz (10 tbsp) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse a few times until chopped.

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden, about a minute. Add spinach, salt and pepper and sauté about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to the pan, cook until soft, an additional 5-6 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper.

Combine cooked spinach, mushrooms, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out cooked lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of mushroom spinach mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.
Ladle 1 cup of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, until cheese melts.

Paleasagna

from whatrunslori.com with a few changes

• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 pound of extra lean turkey, or ground sirloin
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes, low sodium
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp Italian spice blend
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 pound of zucchini and/or yellow squash, cut into medallion rounds
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 2 cups Greek yogurt
• 1 head broccoli, roughly chopped
• 1 egg

Directions:

In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the diced onions. Sautee on medium-high until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, canned tomato and tomato paste, spices, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. Continue to cook all ingredients until the turkey is cooked through. Set aside when done.

In a medium bowl, combine cheese, Greek yogurt, broccoli pieces, and egg. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a 13 x 9 Pyrex glass baking dish. Place a layer of zucchini and squash rounds evenly across the bottom, making a sort of liner.

Add a layer of turkey-tomato sauce on top of the zucchini. Top that with some of the broccoli and yogurt mixture, as shown above. Continue with this layering process until you have used all of your ingredients.

Top the entire dish with more shredded cheese, if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Skinny Mushroom Stroganoff

Skinnytaste.com 
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 268 • Fat: 3.5 g • Carbs: 52.5 g • Fiber: 7 g • Protein: 12.5 g • Sugar: 4.5 g
Sodium: 312 (without salt) 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth (or beef if you're a carnivore)
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 5 oz sliced Cremini mushrooms
• 8 oz sliced baby Bella mushrooms
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp white wine or sherry
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 8 oz uncooked noodles 
• 1 tbsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Directions:

Cook noodles in a pot of salted water according to package directions, I like to under-cook them a bit so I can mix it with the sauce and let it finish cooking.

Meanwhile, while the water starts to boil for the noodles, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Melt butter over medium heat and add onions to the pan. Cook 2 - 3 minutes over medium-low heat.

Add flour; stir with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds. Gradually add broth, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste, stirring constantly. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper; stir and cook 4-5 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. 
Add wine; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 30 seconds. Stir in sour cream; add noodles, mix well and garnish with parsley if desired.

Egg, Kale, and Mozzarella Bake

This is from Kalyn's Kitchen

Ingredients:
5 oz. mixed baby kale or chopped baby kale leaves 
1-2 tsp. olive oil 
1 cup low-fat grated mozzarella cheese 
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
8 eggs
1 tsp. Season Salt 
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Spray an 8 1/2 inch by 12 inch glass or crockery casserole dish with  nonstick spray.  

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the kale all at once, and stir just until the kale is wilted, about 1 minute for baby kale or 2-3 minutes for chopped kale.  Transfer the kale to the casserole dish, spreading it around so all the bottom of the dish is covered.  Layer the grated cheese and sliced onions on top of the kale.

Beat the eggs with Seasoning salt and salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Pour the egg mixture over the kale/cheese combination, and then use a fork to gently "stir" so the eggs, kale, and cheese are evenly combined.

Bake about 30 minutes or until the mixture is completely set and starting to lightly brown.  Let cool about 5 minutes before cutting.  (The egg bake will settle down some as it cools.)  Serve hot.

9 servings at 109 calories each