Texas Caviar

This is a yummy bean dip! Via my Grandma via my Uncle Bill. I made it for Easter weekend and it was very good. I cut back on the sugar and it was still good. Excuse the cloudy pic taken from my phone.

Texas Caviar

1 can pinto beans

1 can black beans (or black eyed peas)

Drain and rinse beans

2 11 oz cans shoepeg corn (or 1 can of white corn)

1 cup green pepper

1 cup diced celery

1 cup onion

Boil over medium heat and cool

¾ cup oil

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

Marinate overnight: drain and serve with corn chips.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ok, so this is one of the tastiest things I have ever had...it's so good. I have had this recipe since freshman year of college.

Cheese & Chicken Enchilada Casserole (one of our favorites!)
Serves 4 (it serves more like 6-8)
1c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (I used lowfat)
1c chopped tomato
1 can black beans
1 c corn
3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1c cottage cheese (I used fat free)
1/3 c sliced green onions
2t chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
9 corn tortillas
1 c enchilada/taco sauce
1/4 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 T chopped green onions

Boil chicken and shred it with 2 forks.


Preheat oven to 375*. Combine 1st 9 ingredients.

Arrange 3 small tortillas or 2 large ones in bottom of greased 11x7 pan. Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture over
tortillas.


Repeat procedure w/ 3 tortillas and remaining tortillas.
Pour taco sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese.



Bake @ 375 for 20 min or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with 2T of
green onions.

Some of you may want to copy & paste it, so here's the recipe without pictures:
Cheese & Chicken Enchilada Casserole (one of our favorites!)
Serves 4
1c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1c chopped tomato
1 can black beans
1 c corn
3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1c fat free cottage cheese
1/3 c sliced green onions
2t chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
9 corn tortillas
1 c enchilada/taco sauce
1/4 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 T chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 375*. Combine 1st 9 ingredients. Arrange 3 tortillas
in bottom of greased 11x7 pan. Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture over
tortillas. Repeat procedure w/ 3 tortillas and remaining tortillas.
Pour taco sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese.
Bake @ 375 for 20 min or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with 2T of
green onions.

Garlic Lime Chicken

This is one of our favorites. It's so tasty, the TINIEST bit spicy, and just a good healthy meal.


¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon parsley
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons lime juice
In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, ¼
teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and parsley, Sprinkle
spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts. Heat butter
and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken
until golden brown, about 6 minutes per side. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons garlic powder and lime sauce. Cook for 5 minutes, tossing frequently to coat chicken evenly with sauce. Serve over corn chips if desired.

Quick chicken in wine

I got this recipe from Madison's Nana. It is really easy and super tasty.


Brown chicken breast in hot oil (I cut it into chunks and stirred it around in a skillet until it was all white). Place in baking dish. Cover with 1/2 cup white wine and 1 package dry onion soup mix. Add extra water if needed to over bottom of baking dish. Cover with casserole top or foil and bake approx. 1 hour for 350*F. Is desired, you an add 1 can cream of mushroom soup to the wine and dry onion soup mix (I didn't do this)

Enjoy!

Saute of Chicken, Corn & Snow Peas

Madison & I both do not like baby corn, so we omitted it. This is from my low fat cookbook again. It was really good! I would have added garlic and maybe a little bit more sauce, but other than that it was great!
I halved the recipe and it was just a bit more than we could eat.

INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
9 oz baby corn
9 oz snow peas (I just had a bag of them from the other day, I think I used more than it called for but it was good!)
2 T sunflower oil
1 T honey
1 T sherry vinegar
1 T light soy sauce
1 T sunflower seeds
pepper
rice or egg noodles to serve


1. Using a sharp knife, slice the chicken breasts into long, thin strips. Cut the baby corn in half lengthwise, and trim the snow peas. Set veggies aside until required.
2. Heat sunflower oil in a wok or wide skillet, and cook the chicken over a fairly high heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
3. Add corn and snow peas and stir over moderate heat for 5-8 minutes, or until evenly cooked.
4. Mix together the sherry vinegar, honey, and soy sauce, and stir into the skillet with sunflower seeds. Season with pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Serve the saute hot with rice or egg noodles.

Difficulty: Extremely Easy
Serves 4
Prep: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Cook's tip: Rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar makes a good substitute for the sherry vinegar used in this saute.

Delicious Salad

Crunchy Romaine Salad (our favorite salad!)

SERVES 4 -6
Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad

1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles – do not boil
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 head romaine lettuce
2 cups fresh strawberries
(I also add a small amount of feta cheese)
For dressing combine all ingredients in an air-tight container and shake.
Break Ramen noodles into small pieces, discarding the flavor packet. Brown the noodles and pecans in the butter in a skillet.
Drain on paper towels and cool.
Combine the noodles, pecans, broccoli, romaine and green onions in a salad bowl and mix gently.
Add dressing to coat.

Pad Thai

Even if you're not incredibly adventurous, you really should try this pad thai. It is SO good! I love it. I make it every so often. This is day 1 of our diet. I planned all of our meals out of my diet cookbooks (I have low fat cookbooks, etc.). This one is from my sister. It is really good and under 300 calories per serving. Even Madison loved it! I highly recommend it.
A hint: do all prep work before you cook everything in your wok or skillet...otherwise you will be stressed, trying to do stuff while things are cooking. Get lots of bowls out and prep everything ahead of time and place in the different bowls. I have little silicone prep bowls, but even cereal or small mixing bowls work well.

All these ingredients were at Kroger - I found most ingredients at Dominick's and Whole Foods when I lived in Wheaton. I know Wal Mart wouldn't have everything, but just about any grocery store will. It may sound gross, but I promise it is good :-)

Yield: 4 servings
----
2 quarts water
3/4 lb. mung bean sprouts
6 oz Rice noodles
----
Sauce:

3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons katsup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce or fish sauce (I use soy sauce...)
----
3 tablespoons Peanut oil or vegetable oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (or 2 teaspoons minced garlic)
1 tablespoon fresh chile (I used a jalepeno pepper) or 1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups carrots; grated (I use a food processor grater, but you can grate w/ a cheese grater)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
2/3 cup peanuts, chopped
6-8 scallions; chopped (about 1 cup)

In a covered pot, bring the water to a rolling boil.  Blanch the mung bean sprouts by placing them
in a strainer or small colander and dipping it into the boiling water for 30 seconds.
Set aside to drain well. When the water returns to a boil, stir in the rice noodles and cook for 3 to 5 minutes,
until tender but firm. These noodles stick easily, so stir often and put salt in the pot.
Drain the cooked noodles, rinse them under cool water, and set them aside to drain.       
Prepare the remaining ingredients and have them near at hand before you begin to stir-fry.
Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet.  Add the garlic and chile, swirl them in the oil for a moment, and stir in 
the grated carrots.  Stir-fry for 1 minute.  Push the carrots to the sides to make a hollow in the center.  Pour the
beaten eggs into the center and quickly scramble them.  When the eggs have just set, pour in the sauce mixture
and stir everything together.  Add the drained rice noodles and mung sprouts, and toss to distribute evenly.
Stir in the peanuts and scallions, and serve at once. Enjoy!!

Grating the carrots
 Patting the carrots dry:


Adding garlic & chile with oil in wok



Boiling the noodles:

Adding everything to the wok: