Pineapple Barbeque Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients: 

1 ½  pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, thighs or combination of both (I used breast)

1 cup chopped onion (small dice)

½ can (20 Oz. Size) crushed pineapple (drained, juice reserved)

1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice

2 cups BBQ Sauce Of Your Choice (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Whole wheat sandwich buns

To Freeze: Place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag. Seal and freeze!

To Prepare: Thaw overnight. Empty contents of bag into crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, high 4-5 hours.  1-2 hours before done, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to crockpot and stir. Finish cooking. This will allow the chicken to soak up the sauce.

To Serve: Serving size is approximately ½ cup on bun, top with coleslaw if desired.

Classic Coleslaw:

1/2 cup nonfat Greek-style yogurt, or 2/3 cup regular plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bag shredded coleslaw mix (16 oz)

Note: We found the flavor for both the chicken and coleslaw better the next day!

Avgolemono Chicken Soup

I am bringing a bag of soup and a bag of rice.   To serve after it has been frozen, defrost the soup - (either in the fridge or a sink full of hot water).  Heat in a saucepan on med-low (Do not Boil!) Open the rice about a fourth of the way and heat in microwave for 3 minutes.  Add to soup - enjoy when warm.

Makes 4-6 Servings

4 cups chicken broth (2 cans) or 4 cups water and 4 chicken bouillion cubes
1/2 pound chicken breast
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 cups hot cooked rice
Pepper, to taste

1. In a large saucepan, bring the stock and chicken to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 5-7 min.  Remove the chicken and, when cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size pieces.

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and lemon juice until frothy; gradually whisk in 1 cup of the hot stock.

3.  Add the spinach to the stock in the saucepan; bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low; stir in the rice.  Slowly add the egg-stock mixture, whisking constantly to avoid curdling; continue whisking until thickened, 3 minutes (DO NOT BOIL).  Stir in the chicken ahd heat to serving temperature.  Season with pepper and serve.

Nutrition info:  (1/4 of soup - which is a lot!): 261 cal, 7 g fat, 28 g Carb, 2 g Fib, 22 g Prot

My family has been eating this soup for years - it's one of our favorites! 

Enchilada Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 package (8 ounces) fat-free cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can (10 ounces) enchilada sauce
• 6 whole wheat flour tortillas (8 inches)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
• Salsa and sour cream, optional

Directions

• In a large skillet, cook the turkey, onion and peppers over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in cream cheese and chili powder.
• Pour enchilada sauce in a shallow bowl. Dip tortillas in sauce to coat. Place two tortillas in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray; spread with half of the turkey mixture. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese.
• Cover and freeze for up to 3 months or bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.
• To use frozen lasagna: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake as directed. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Facts1 piece (calculated without salsa and sour cream) equals 282 calories, 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 57 mg cholesterol, 697 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 22 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

Recipe found here:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Enchilada-Lasagna-3

This is the recipe I am planning on making for the March 16 get together!

Italian Chicken Soup

Hi all, here's the Italian Chicken Soup recipe. Unless a lot of people request the stirfry I think I'll bring this in March.

1 t olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausage links with skin removed
1T dried minced onion
1/8 t garlic powder (heaping)
1/4 c dried barley
1/2 c dried green lentils
1/4 c dried garbanzo beans
1/2 breast chicken
1T dried parsley
1 1/2 chicken buillion cubes
1/2 (12 oz) bag of frozen spinach

Freeze

To prepare defrost. Add 3 1/2 c water. Cook 6-8 hrs. Add 1/2 c salsa.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

for our february share i made spinach lasagna rolls. i got this recipe from skinnytaste.com. you can click on the site link or look below for their posting. i increased the number of rolls from 9 to 12 for the freezer meals (maybe because i'm eating for two right now so i wanted more food...yea, i'm going to go with that). so that meant increasing the other ingredients a little also.

i did learn that while this is a simple recipe for doing a few meals at a time.....i DO NOT recommend making more than a few recipes in one setting. cooking the noodles is very time consuming for doing that. limit it to 2-4 recipes in one setting. your back and feet will thank you later. :) also, we did not make sure that all the noodles were dry before slapping the filling on them and rolling them up. i think we stopped doing this after the first couple recipes when the back and feet were starting to voice their unhappiness with us.

i will be honest that you all are guinea pigs with this recipe so i hope it worked out well!!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Spinach Lasagna Rolls
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 6 ww pts
Calories: 224.9 • Fat: 5.1 g • Fiber: 3.4 g • Protein: 13.0 g • Carbs: 31.5

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
• 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• salt and fresh pepper
• 32 oz tomato sauce
• 9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Rollcarefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle 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, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos with Mexican Rice & Black Beans

TAQUITOS

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic, or garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 C shredded cooked chicken (I used canned.)
1 C grated pepperjack cheese small corn tortillas (I used cheddar.)
kosher salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or are coming unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

Makes 12-16

Freezer Instructions: Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 and place the taquitos on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

MEXICAN RICE

1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice (I used brown)

1 14 1/2 ounce can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and cut up finely
1 14 ounce can chicken broth1/2 cup water1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

In a large saucepan, stir together rice, undrained tomatoes, broth, water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Stir in mixed veggies. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving. If desired, garnish with lime wedges.

BLACK BEANS

1/2 large onion diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 cans black beans (feel free to substitute w kidney or pink)
2 packets of Goya Sazon seasoning (with Arichote, the one in the orange box)
Cilantro
Cumin

Saute onions, add diced tomatoes, cook until 1/2 liquid is gone. Add drained beans and cook until somewhat thick. Add Goya seasoning, cilantro and cumin to taste. If desired, mash 1/2 the beans to get desired consistency.