Achieving Happiness: May 2014

Monday, May 5, 2014

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To help you celebrate (the healthy way) I cam across a HEALTHY version of Chicken Enchiladas that are 21 Day Fix approved!

Chicken Enchiladas | What you’ll need:

1 Red container shredded chicken (braise or roast your own chicken breast and shred it yourself)

1 tsp 21 Day Fix southwest seasoning

2 – 6″ corn tortillas

1 Green container baby spinach (optional)

1 Green container homemade enchilada sauce

1 Blue container shredded cheese

1 Orange container sliced black olives (optional)

What you’ll do:

1. Add shredded chicken, seasoning, and spinach to small frying pan with 1/4 cup of water and simmer together until spinach is wilted and seasoning coats chicken.

2. Soften tortillas in microwave for 15 seconds.

3. Roll each tortilla with half of chicken mixture. Place in oven safe baking dish.

4. Pour Enchilada sauce over top of tortillas in dish

5. Sprinkle with cheese and olives

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees, or until cheese is melted and enchiladas are heated through.

7. Enjoy!

Counts for 2 enchiladas (made with optional ingredients) – 1 Red, 1 Orange, 1 Yellow, 2 Green, 1 Blue. (I also count 1/2 tsp for the coconut oil used in the sauce).

This recipe is easy enough to make a single serving, or a whole batch with no extra work. The hardest part is making the enchilada sauce, and even that isn't very hard.

You could make a large batch of these and portion them out for lunches, or serve them to your family for dinner. No one will know they are eating healthy! Just be cautious about sticking to your portions.

21 Day Fix - Enchilada Sauce

21 Day Fix Recipes – Enchilada Sauce

This recipe is to go with the Chicken Enchilada recipe I posted.

Be forewarned, this sauce is truly a labor of love. It’s a weekend recipe that freezes exceptionally well, so make a big batch to have on hand during a busy week when you need to throw together some enchiladas.

Enchilada Sauce | What you’ll need:

8 dried Guajillo chiles and 8 dried Ancho chiles (or any combo of dried chiles you may prefer) seeded and deveined.

5-6 ripe roma tomatoes

2 cups water (or beef stock, following your 21 Day Fix)

1 – sweet or yellow onion

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp cumin

2 tsp Mexican oregano

2 tsp refined coconut oil

21 Day Fix Recipes – Enchilada Sauce | What you’ll do:

1. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray (or use a paper towel and some extra virgin olive oil to grease the cookie sheet). Place quartered onion, and tomatoes under the broiler for 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and stir ingredients as needed. Get some good char on the veggies, but not to burn them. Allow to cool.

2. ****Rinse chile’s under warm water. Remove stems, seeds, and ribs (for a more mild sauce). Place into a heat proof bowl.

****SAFETY NOTE: Do not touch your eyes, nose, or any other sensitive part of your body after touching chiles. If you happen to have latex or nitrile gloves in the house please use those while preparing this part of the recipe.

3. Bring water/stock to a boil. Pour over chiles and let steep for 45 minutes to an hour, or until cool. Strain through fine mesh strainer, saving chile liquid.

4. ***Add strained chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic and 1/2 of the chile liquid to blender or food processor. Gently blend until combined. Add remaining liquid and blend thoroughly.

***SAFETY NOTE: Be mindful of how full you fill your appliance with hot food items/liquids. When blended these items will expand and can burn you if you’re not careful. Never fill your blending receptacle more than 1/2 way full for safest results.

5. Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a skillet large enough to hold your entire mixture, or do this in batches. When oil is warm, but not hot, add spices and stir until fragrant (3-4 mins). Be careful not to burn them. Add strained chile mixture. You can expect some sputtering, but this step is crucial for best flavor! Simmer sauce for 5-10 minutes to allow flavors to combine. If sauce is too thick you can thin it out with water.

And, Voila! This recipe is ready to be used with your 21 Day Fix enchiladas. Please use your Green container to portion out your sauce while assembling your little beauties.

When tallying your meals for the day I would recommend accounting for the coconut oil in the recipe, though the amount is miniscule when the sauce is portioned out. I count it as 1/2 a tsp per green container, just to be safe.