Chicken Enchilada Casserole for Diabetics

Have I ever mentioned how awesome my husband is?!!?  When we discovered that I had gestational diabetes, he spent hours online finding websites, recipes, and other resources to make sure that I would be happy and healthy.  It's hard to tell someone who loves to cook to cut out carbs -eek!  I especially love Mexican food, but tortillas are just not that great for me.  So, when he found this recipe we both agreed that we needed to give it a try.  It was actually quite good, and I would definitely serve it again.  This recipe was posted by Annacia here.

What You'll Need:

3/4 c. water

1/2 c. chopped onions

1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon, instant granules

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 c. fat free sour cream

2 Tb. nonfat dry milk powder

1 Tb. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c. chicken breasts, shredded cooked (abt. 8 ounces)

1 (8oz) can no-salt-added tomato sauce

1 (4oz) can diced green chili peppers, drained

2 Tb. fresh cilantro, snipped (or 1/2 tsp. ground coriander)

nonstick cooking spray

4 corn tortillas, 6-inch, cut into 1-inch wide strips

1 c. black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. reduced-fat Monterrey jack cheese, shredded

Fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

What to Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F

2.  In a medium saucepan, combine the water, onion, bouillon granules, garlic, and black pepper.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer about 3 minutes or until onion is tender, DO NOT DRAIN.

3.  In a small bowl, combine sour cream, nonfat dry milk powder, and flour; add to onion mixture.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Remove from heat; stir in chicken.  Set filling aside.

4.  In another small bowl, combine tomato sauce, chile peppers, and snipped cilantro, set aside.

5.  Coat a 2-qt baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Arrange tortillas strips in the baking dish.  Top with chicken filling, then top with beans, and finally top with tomato sauce mixture.

6.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through.

7.  Sprinkle with cheese.  If desired, garnish with cilantro leaves.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutritional Note:  This recipe makes 6 1-cup servings, with each serving having 151 calories, 1.7 grams of fat, 8.8 grams of protein, and 25.9 grams of Carbs - quite impressive!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This recipe is based on one that I found at allrecipes.com, but altered a bit using many of the user suggestions.  We really enjoyed it, and homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu is actually a lot healthier for you than the stuff you buy premade.  

What You'll Need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

6 slices Swiss of Provolone cheese, divided in half

4 slices cooked ham (possibly more!)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 c. seasoned bread crumbs

Butter

1 can Cream of something soup (can be mushroom, chicken, celery....  whatever you prefer)

1/2 c. sour cream

1 Tb. lemon juice

What to Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*F.  Coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  Slice the chicken breasts through the center to create 1/4 inch thick chicken fillets.  (Or, if you prefer to take your aggressions out on the chicken, pound it down to that depth instead!)

3.  Sprinkle each piece of chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place 1 cheese slice and 1 ham slice on top of each breast.  Roll up and secure with a toothpick.  

4.  Take each chicken roll and cover it with the egg wash, then place in baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs.  Place a small pat of butter on top of each chicken roll.

5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.  Remove from oven, and place 1/2 cheese slice on top of each breast.  Return to oven for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.  Remove toothpicks, and serve immediately with sauce.

To Make the Sauce:

Heat together the Cream of Something soup, sour cream and lemon juice.  Serve on top of the chicken cordon bleu!  Yummy!

Here's an inside peek at what your roll should look like when finished!

Omelets in a bag!

Having gestational diabetes has really limited the kinds of foods that I can eat, but there's one food that is a definite go-for-it, and that's eggs!  See this yummy omelet?

I bet you'd never guess that it was made in a bag!!!!  This is the greatest shortcut to making many omelets at once, and it's also a great idea for a camp out (all you scouters out there).  

For each omelet you will need the following:

1 freezer Ziploc bag

2 eggs

1/4 c. milk

Any filling you desire (we like cheese, olives, ham, etc....)

Here's what to do:

1.  Place all ingredients into the Ziploc bag. (If you are making more than one omelet, be sure to put each person's name on the outside of their bag.)

2.  Seal the Ziploc bag and mix up ingredients by squishing the bag with your fingers.

3.  Boil a large pot of water.  Place the Ziploc bags (make sure they're still sealed tightly) into the boiling water.  Cook in the water for 13-15 minutes.

4.  When they are done cooking you will have a perfectly cooked omelet ready to eat - yummy!