BEST Chicken Enchiladas

According to my husband and I'll admit they were pretty darn good.

Ingredients:

* 1 pound skinless chicken breasts
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, halved and sliced
* 1 green pepper, sliced
* 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
* 12 corn tortillas
* 1/2 cup low-fat Monterrey jack cheese, shredded


Sauce

* 2 cups chopped tomatoes
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 red Serrano chili pepper (seeds removed), finely diced
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
* 2 tablespoons lime juice
* Dash salt and pepper, to taste


Instructions:

1. Boil the chicken breast until cooked through. Remove from water, cool, and shred with two forks.

2. Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add onions and peppers and sauté until onions are translucent.

3. In a medium bowl mix together the shredded chicken, sautéed vegetables, and black beans. Season with cumin, garlic powder, and hot sauce. This is the filling for the enchiladas.

4. To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until finely diced.

5. Coat the bottom of a 9- by-13 inch casserole dish with about 1/2 cup of the sauce. Microwave the corn tortillas for about 30 seconds to soften them. Fill each with about 1/2 cup of chicken filling, wrap and place seam side down in the casserole dish.

6. Once all tortillas are filled, top the dish with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree F oven until the cheese melts.

7. Garnish with additional cilantro, chopped scallions, and nonfat Greek yogurt.

Serves: 6

Nutrition Content (per serving): 360 calories, 13 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 48 g carbohydrates, 11 g fiber, 16 g protein, 130 mg sodium, 160 mg calcium

No yolk!

Whenever I eat eggs which is not often, I usually do one whole egg and one egg white to make a scramble. I always heard and read that the yolk is bad and all fat. Well, maybe not according to research I read today. Read the following:

Number One: The cholesterol in eggs has virtually no effect on the cholesterol in your blood.

Number Two: The fat in the egg yolk is mostly monounsaturated fat, the same kind found in olive oil. Yes, you heard that right. Of the 5.3 grams of total fat in one large egg, only 1.6 grams are saturated.

Number Three: Many of the nutrients that make eggs so incredibly healthy are found in the yolk. Examples: Lutein and zeaxanthin, two members of the carotenoid family that are beneficial for eye health. The yolk also contains choline, which is important for brain health -- and vitamin D.

The idea that eating eggs is bad for your heart is a myth. No study has linked egg eating to greater risk of heart disease. In fact, quite the opposite. According to an article from Harvard Health (a publication of Harvard Medical School), "The only large study to look at the impact of egg consumption on heart disease ... found no connection between the two."

Research has also shown that eggs eaten at the start of the day can reduce your daily calorie intake, prevent snacking between meals and keep you satisfied.

However, not all eggs are created equal. Stay away from scrambled eggs at open buffets. While the cholesterol in eggs poses no real harm to you, when that cholesterol is "scrambled" and then exposed to air and oxygen for a long time (like on an open buffet), it becomes damaged. That's not something you really want in your body. Better to poach, soft or hard boil. If you do scramble eggs, eat them quickly and don't let them sit around all day long.

Just some food for thought...

Off to the races

Local racing has begun here in NC and I see many of our weekends spent at the track. Well, hopefully not EVERY...but it was a lot of fun this past weekend. It's always fun when you have good friends, food, and drinks. *note to self: BRING EARPLUGS AND A BLANKET!* I was freezing my tush.
Racing is a pretty big deal for Justin and we hope that real soon he'll be behind the wheel.

My first herb garden

I'm tired of buying herbs like basil and parsley only to use a little and throw away the rest so I've decided to plant my own herb garden. I started with basil, parsley, and cilantro. I had 3 little pots that Justin drilled holes into them so the water can drain. I used regular potting soil and seeds that I bought at Lowes. I cut out the label from each packet and taped them to the front of each pot. I filled the pots with soil and spread a couple seeds, pressed down the soil, and watered them with plant food in the water. Voila!



I also bought and planted a Geranium into a bigger pot. Pink flowers!


Someone else was enjoying the outdoors this afternoon. We live for these beautiful spring days :)

Spring Has Sprung!

Newlywed Joke

Justin comes home today with a couple of jokes he heard at work and this was my fav. Hope ya'll get a good laugh!

Two newly-weds went on their honeymoon and were getting undressed together for the first time. He took off his shoes and socks and his toes were all twisted and discoloured. “What happened to your feet?” his wife asked. “I had a childhood disease called tolio”. “Don’t you mean polio?”, “No, tolio, it only affects the toes.” He then removed his pants and revealed an awful looking pair of knees. “What happened to your knees?” she asked. “Well, I also had kneesles.” “Don’t you mean measles?” “No, kneesles, it only affects the knees.” When he removed his shorts his wife gasped and said…

“Don’t tell me, you also had smallcox!”

Puppy Alert!

Today I finally heard from the foster mom about her Yorkie pup. I still have to wait to actually meet her because she was taken from a shelter so they're waiting to make sure she doesn't have Parvo. It's a viral disease of dogs. Puppies are especially prone to it because they have an immature immune system. When dogs and puppies contract parvo, they often have diarrhea, vomiting and lethargy. Hopefully, she'll be ok. Also she's too little to be spayed right now. She looks pretty tiny. If everything works out we're going to have a puppy next month, yay!


She is soooo adorable. Check her out!

Unbelievable!

I guess adopting a dog is really hard to do. Or maybe when you're just so picky like me. We did't get Jayda because when we got to see her and her siblings, we fell in love with her sister Jillian. We stayed for at least an hour playing with both girls and Justin totally fell for Jilly. I sort of still wanted Jayda, but after we left I decided on Jillian too. Jayda was definitely all puppy, so social and spunky. Jillian was more chill and cuddly. I swear I could take both, but that wouldn't be the responsible thing to do.

Anyway it turns out an older couple in Connecticut wanted only Jillian, but the foster mom said since we were there we had first dibs. I have no idea if she emailed them after we left and said we had pretty much chosen Jayda, because when I called her to tell her we chose Jillian, she was going to see if this couple was willing to give her up. What happened to the whole first dibs thing?

Now this morning, foster mom calls me to tell me that her friend who has another rescue has a Yorkie girl, 10 weeks, 2lbs or something and would I be interested because this other couple won't adopt anyone but Jillian. I said sure I would love to see this puppy.

This must mean that Jillian will not be our puppy and now we're left waiting to hear from this other person about her puppies. I know I prayed that God will let things happen as they should and that we'll find the puppy meant for us. So I keep reminding myself that I'm not in control and He only has what's best for us. We'll get our little girl and she's going to be everything I wanted, I know it!

Puppy *Update*

Well, we didn't get Millie. She's in her new home now and I know she's going to be loved. The rescue called me about a male Yorkie that they just got in, but I've always wanted a girl so I turned them down. In fact the following morning after the call, I went down to the pet fair at Petsmart and he had been adopted. Everyone wants a Yorkie I guess.

I started my search again and I found some puppies in South Carolina. Here's Jayda


She's almost 8 weeks. Her mom was a purebred Yorkie, but dad's a no show, hehe. I have no idea what she could grow up to look like and that's what scares me. I have a picture in my head of the dog I want but because I feel so guilty buying one, I'm hoping Jayda will fit my picture. We're possibly going tonight to meet her, if not tomorrow.

I'll keep you updated!

Update on Millie

So as of last night Millie's adoption is closed to further applicants. She's so popular and everyone wants her :-( I mean I guess it's great that she's going to find a new family, but what if it's not us? I mean surely someone out there who owns a home and yard will get her. I'm usually very optimistic but I can't see how we would be chosen. So...my search may continue again if I don't hear anything from the rescue.
Fingers crossed!

We're wanting to expand our little family!

And not with a BABY but something little and furry. I've wanted a dog for the longest time but being in college and then grad school prevented me from getting one and really giving it the attention it needs. Now that the wedding is over and I have my life back I thought why not now? Luckily Justin's on board and wants to get one too. I really want to adopt and not buy a dog because I always stood for adopting pets. The only thing is NC doesn't usually have a yorkie or morkie in the kennels. I've started searching on petfinder.com and came across Millie.


She's here in town actually but I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for a Yorkie. I submitted my application today so hopefully the rescue gives me a call and we get to meet her. Wish us luck!