Fiesta Dip

Ingredients

• 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened (I pop that baby in the microwave for about 30 seconds.)
• 16 oz. container sour cream
• 1 can of shoepeg corn, drained
• 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained (I use regular Rotel)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning mix
• 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 packet Ranch dressing mix (optional)
• 1 cup shredded chicken (optional)

Instructions

1. Do all the pesky prep work (soften the cream cheese; drain the corn, beans, and Rotel; and shred the chicken if you're using chicken).
2. Dump everything into a big bowl and mix it up really good.
3. Put the dip into the serving dish you plan to use.
4. Decide if you would like to serve the dip hot or cold (it is absolutely amazing either way). If you go for cold, just refrigerate for a few hours before serving. If you decide to go for hot, bake it at about 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (or until it's bubbly and starting to brown) just before serving.
5. Serve with hearty chips. I like to use Fritos Scoops!
6. Get ready for compliments!

Originally found on Pinterest, then linked to site called Eat Cake for Dinner, then linked back to a recipe on Gooseberry Patch's Simple Shortcut Recipes... this aubieangel-adapted recipe is my "go to" party contribution, both because it is SO easy and always SUCH a big hit! Seriously, this is one of those "dump it all in a bowl and serve with chips" recipes, and nearly everyone raves about it, especially guys. I have a small cult following in my husband's Navy Reserve unit thanks to this stuff.

Mmmmexican Rice

• 1/2 small onion, diced into blendable chunks (the original recipe calls for white, but I prefer red onion because it's prettier)
• 1 tomato, diced 
• 1 garlic clove (I use garlic paste or minced garlic in a jar)
• 1 envelope Sazon Goya Seasoning con Culantro y Achiote (It will say on the box. You can find this either on the spice aisle of the grocery store or in the hispanic food section.)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 2 cups chicken broth OR water

• 1 cup white rice (I use Basmatti)
• vegetable oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)
• 1 can shoepeg corn (drained)

Start by making the sauce. Throw all but the last three ingredients into the blender and blend well. Set aside.

Fry uncooked rice in medium skillet in oil over medium heat. Fry until good and browned.  Be careful not to burn it. Drain off any excess oil.

Pour the contents of your blender (the sauce you set aside earlier) and the corn into the skillet with the rice. Bring it back to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until all liquid is absorbed (just like you make any other kind of rice).

Feeds about 6, but could be more like 4 or 8 depending on how big a portion you decide to dole out. I find this recipe to be better than any rice I've ever had in a restaurant. I like to serve it with a sprinkling of cheese on top or inside a burrito. Maybe one day I will remember to take a picture before I eat all of it.


The title of this recipe when I received it was "Eden's Rice." I got it from my fabulous cook-friend Bekah. Now that I've made it a couple of times, made whatever little tweaks I felt were good for my cooking style, and adopted it as my go-to Mexican rice recipe, I'm posting it here as part of my cook book.

Crock Pot Carne Asada Tacos

Ok, fine. So, I'm a shameless recipe thief. But here's the thing... if I try something, and it's perfect as is. Why go reinvent the wheel? So, I'm adding this easy and delicious meal from thedailydeelight.com to my cookbook.

• 2 lb chuck roast, cut into large chunks (I used a larger piece, more like 3 lbs, and I'm lazy, so I did not cut it into chunks. It worked out fine.)
• 1 onion, cut into large chunks. (I used about 3/4 of a white onion. More was not necessary.)
• 3-4 cups chicken or beef broth (I used 4 cups of chicken broth.)
• 1 c. white wine (I used plain ol' cooking wine.)
• 2-3 TBS red pepper flakes (I just used 2 TBS)
• 4 TBS garlic powder
• 4 TBS cumin
• tortillas, chips, or salad bowls plus any toppings you might like: cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, beans, etc.

Put the beef in the crockpot with the onions, and cover them with the broth and wine. Add the garlic powder, 2 TBS of chili powder, and red pepper flakes. Put the lid on, and turn the crockpot on low for 8-10 hours (Mine inevitably cooks for 10 hours then sits on "warm" for another 2 until I actually get home. This did not hurt the recipe, and may have helped it.)

When done, remove the beef and shred it in a large bowl. Then add about a cup of the liquid left in the crockpot to a smaller bowl. Mix in the cumin and 2 TBS of chili powder. Dump that over the shredded beef and stir it up good.

Serve on nachos, in tacos, as burrito filling, or topping a Mexican salad. I ate these as regular tacos with guacamole, cheese, and sour cream, and that was delish.  I'm planning to serve this meat as part of a taco/nacho bar for a party this weekend. 

The meat stores and reheats well, and can be enjoyed for several days in several different ways. The 3 lbs I made, fed 5 people 2 full meals.

OMG White Cheese Dip

First of all, it should be noted that I am shamelessly posting this recipe into my own cookbook. Someone at ya pins made me a very happy girl when they posted this. Also, the picture is not mine... it too came from the link. I should've taken my own picture of the batch I made, but alas no. I ate it too quickly to even consider stopping long enough to get the camera out. 

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/4 c. white onion, finely diced
• 1 large jalapeno, seeds and stem removed; finely diced (I used about a TBS of sliced jalapeno from a jar.)
• 12 oz white American cheese, shredded (I'm not sure where the original recipe creator found white American cheese in a block, but I wound up buying the Kraft brand slices and cutting them up into little pieces.)
• 4 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded (Don't use pre-shredded - again, this is part of the original recipe, so I don't know why preshredded won't work, but don't use it.)
• 1/2 to 1 c. cream, half-and-half, or whole milk (I used heavy cream, and the full amount, and it was divine.)
• 1-2 roma tomatoes, seeds removed and diced (I'm lazy, so I only used one roma tomato, and I didn't remove the seeds. It worked out just fine.)
• 1 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (I used about 10 stems, I think. You can't really over-cilantro this dip, so don't be shy with it.)

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onion and pepper until softened and reduce heat to medium-low. (I cooked mine until they were a little more done than just "softened." Mine were starting to brown, and I think it made the dip that much better.)

Stir in the shredded cheese and 1/4 cup of cream. Quickly stir until the cheese is melted. Add the tomatoes, cilantro, and additional cream a little at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Serve immediately.


Warning, this dip is highly addictive and can destroy willpower with a single taste.

I was alone when I ate it, and I still kept murmering little yummy nothings and OMG'ing every time my mouth wasn't full. Hence the renaming of this dip from its original "Queso Blanco" to "OMG White Cheese Dip."

Holy Guacamole

• 5 ripe avocados
• 1/3 c. chopped red onion
• 1 c. chopped cilantro
• 1 TBS chopped jalapenos (I use the kind in a jar)
• juice from 1 lime
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Peel and pit the avocados, then mash them up. Add all other ingredients, and mix well. Serve immediately or refrigerate briefly.

Serves 4-6, depending on how much your group likes avocado. I could eat the whole batch all by myself, but my tummy would probably hurt. I like to serve (and eat) this guac with Tostitos Artisan Roasted Garlic and Black Bean Chips.

Does not keep well overnight, so be sure to gobble it all up before bed.

Green and White Chicken Chili

Prepare the Chicken

• ~1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 TBS onion powder
• 5 tsp chopped garlic (I use the kind that comes in a jar)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (I use several pickled/jarred chopped peices of jalapeno)
• 2 TBS ground cumin
• 1 TBS ground coriander
• Cilantro: 1 cube, 1 tsp of paste, or 2 TBS fresh, chopped

Add the chicken to a pan and cover with water. Start cooking over medium-high heat. Add onion powder, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, coriander, and coriander. Boil together until chicken is fully cooked and tender.
Remove from heat and let cool a little. Cut up chicken breast into chunks and add to large pot or crockpot. There should be some yummy spices hanging out in the pan used to cook the chicken. Go ahead and empty everything that was in with the chicken into the new pot.  [Note: You could cut up the chicken before cooking it, but I hate touching slimey raw chicken, and doing it "my way" prevents me from having to touch it much while it's still raw.]


Cook the Chili

• 1 cup tomatillo salsa
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans (15-oz each) cannellini or Great Northern beans
• Cilantro: 2 cubes, 2 tsp of paste, or 4 TBS fresh, chopped
• 1/4 cup lime juice

Now, add the salsa, the chicken broth, 1 can of cannellini (drained), cilantro, and lime juice to the pot. Take the second can of cannellini and dump half into the pot. Smash up the remaining half of cannellini--to use as a thickening agent--and dump that in the pot.

If cooking in a pot on the stove, simmer on medium-high heat for at least 10 minutes before serving. If cooking in a crockpot, set for 8-10 hours on low heat and leave to cook all day. I've done it both ways. The stove way works great if  you want to eat immediately, but you get the best flavor out of cooking it all day.


Serve it Right

• Light sour cream (I only use Daisy Lite. All other light sour cream is too runny for my tastes.)
• Shredded cheese (I use 2% reduced fat.)\
Fritos corn chips

Fresh shredded cilantro

Before serving, add a tablespoon or two of light sour cream to each bowl and stir it up. This step makes the chili less watery and adds a nice creaminess.


Top with shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, and corn chips. Enjoy the best chili you've ever eaten. Seriously, it is delish.


Nutrition Info

Although I can never seem to eat just one bowl... let's assume it makes 8 servings. Given that assumption, you're looking at about 6 WeightWatchers PointsPlus (including the sour cream) per serving, plus however much cheese and fritos you enjoy with your meal.

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

Before I dive into the ingredients and how-to, let me just say that this meal was so delicious that after a couple of bites my husband said, without prompting: "This may be the best taco I ever ate."

Then, my parents unexpectedly stopped by and I fed them. And my dad, without knowing what my husband said, told me: "This maybe be the best taco I ever ate."

Yep, the exact same comment. Without prompting or collusion. What are the chances?! It's like a certified double-blind study. These really might be the tastiest tacos ever.

 Ingredients:

• 1.25 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (completely thawed)
• 20 oz salsa - I used Pace Picante (Medium)
• Juice from 1 lime
• Fresh, chopped cilantro - about 1/2 cup
• 1.25-oz package taco seasoning
• 2 TBS chopped jalapeno peppers (I used the kind in a jar, but fresh would be good too)

Directions:  
Throw all the ingredients in a crockpot and cook it for at least 6 hours on low. I set mine to cook on low for 8 hours, and since I was at work, it sat on warm for probably another 4.5 hours, which didn't hurt it at all. In fact, it made the chicken extra tender.

It made 5 servings (10 tacos).

Each person got two small/medium soft flour taco shells filled with some of the chicken mixture (smashed up with a fork to shred it a bit), shredded 75% reduced fat Cabot cheddar cheese, fresh cilantro, light sour cream, and lettuce.

For two tacos and all those fillings, it was 9 P+. You could reduce the point count a great deal by making a taco salad out of it or using small corn tortillas. However you serve it, if you like Mexican food, you'll like this chicken. I promise.

Angela's Enchiladas Verdes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb raw boneless, skinless chicken breast (not diced)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken condensed soup
• 1 TBS chili powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 4 oz. grated Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese (divided)
• 16 oz. green enchilada sauce (divided)
• 1/2 c. light sour cream
• 10 small/medium flour tortillas

Cook the Chicken.  Put chicken in single layer in a pot. Cover chicken with water, and add minced garlic.  Cook covered on medium-high heat until boiling.  Remove lid, reduce heat to medium, and cook until all water has evaporated and chicken is cooked through.

Make the Filling.  Shred chicken, putting it into a bowl.  Add cream of chicken soup, chili powder, garlic powder, and ground cumin. Mix thoroughly and set aside for at least 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. 

Fill the Tortillas.  Add half of the cheese to the chicken/soup mixture and stir it together until the cheese is evenly distributed.  Pour 1/2 c. of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Fill tortillas evenly with the chicken/soup/cheese mixture.  Wrap each tortilla and place tightly in baking dish (I can usually line 8 up and place 2 across the top).

Top and Bake.  Mix remaining 12 oz. of enchilada sauce with sour cream and pour over the filled enchiladas.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes until brown and starting to crisp on top.

A couple of weeks ago, I made Honey Lime Enchiladas, courtesy of Kelly's Healthified Kitchen (visit the link, you won't regret it).  They were the BEST thing I'd ever eaten, but husband didn't love them quite as much as I did, so I thought I would take the same concept and adapt it to a more traditional enchiladas verdes recipe.  Voila! Angela's Enchiladas Verdes were born.  I think I still liked them more than husband did, but they were fantastically delicious if I do say so myself. 

At only 11 PointsPlus per serving (for 2 enchiladas... 6 PointsPlus for just one), I really do LOVE this recipe!

Daddy's Perked-Up Picante

- 12 oz. Pace Medium Picante sauce
- 1 c. picked cilantro
- 1 tsp. garlic pepper
- 1 TBS Weber Roasted Garlic and Herb seasoning
- 1/4 tsp hot sauce


Put all ingredients in blender and grind til well combined.

Bekah's Black Bean Salsa

- 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
- 1 can shoepeg corn
- 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 purple onion, chopped
- 3 T chopped cilantro
- 1 pkg Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
- 1/4 c. white vinegar
- 1/2 c. canola oil (Bekah cut the oil to 1/4 c., and it was delicious!)
- lime juice & chopped garlic to tast (optional)
Mix all ingredients; best if refrigerated over night. Serve with your favorite chips or crackers.

I ate this on Baked Tostitos, and it was perfect!  Again, this is a fabulous Bekah recipe, and I am so grateful she shared it with me.  I can't wait to make this for my next get-together!