BBQ Green Chili Chicken

Here is Oregon, we were treated to some pretty good weather over the weekend which gave me the itch for BBQ. I love BBQ, I love the sweet tangy sauce and the act of cooking outdoors. However, BBQ sauce in the traditional sense is full of sugar and salt which is a big no, no on the PINK method. When I got around to it this week, I decided to try to create my own BBQ sauce that is PINK friendly. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to making a BBQ sauce, it was raining again here in Oregon so I had to cook indoors and come up with a Tex-Mex BBQ fusion which turned out great.

PINK Friendly BBQ Sauce (makes about 2 cups)
1/2 sweet onion chopped
3-4 medjool dates
3-4 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup water
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid smoke (I use the Stubb's brand, mesquite flavor)
Salt and Pepper to taste
water to thin the sauce if needed, I ended up adding about 3/4 cup

Method

Add the chopped onions, Medjool dates, garlic and 1/2 cup water to a bowl and microwave for about 3 minutes until the onions and dates soften.

Add the onion and date mixture to the blender and blend until a smooth puree is formed

Add the onion puree, tomato paste, mustard, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to a sauce pan

Stir to combine, at this point if the sauce is super thick, add more water to it until you get a BBQ sauce consistency, like I said above I added about 3/4 cup of water but only add 1/4 cup at a time because you don't want it to get to soupy. At this point if you like a super sweet BBQ sauce, you could add a few stevia drops, I like mine more tangy so the sweetness from the dates was a perfect sweetness level for me.

Turn heat on medium and cook the sauce until it has thickened slightly and all the flavors have married. Turn off the heat and let cool. At this point you can put it in the refrigerator and save for about a week, using it whenever you BBQ.

BBQ Green Chili Chicken (Serves 5)
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts weighing about 4 ounces each (truth be told mine were about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1 can roasted green chilis
1/2 cup PINK Friendly BBQ sauce

Method

Trim your chicken breasts of any fat and using a knife you are going to cut into the chicken breast as if you were filleting it but do not cut all the way through, you just want to create a pocket to hold the onion and green chili mixture.

When the chicken is prepped, add the onion and green chilies to a saute misted with a little olive oil.

Cook until the onions have softened and browned slightly.

Take the onion/chili mixture and stuff it into the pockets you created in the chicken breasts.

Brown the stuffed chicken breasts in the pan you sauteed the onions in.

Top the chicken breasts with a smear of BBQ sauce

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the chicken has cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes or so depending on how thick your chicken breasts are.

I served mine along side some mashed baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli and carrots.

Enjoy!

P.I.N.K Reset Friendly Enchiladas

Wow, I thought I would get back here sooner. Life got busy and finding the time to sit down and post the recipe for these reset friendly enchiladas just didn't happen until now. I promise you they are worth the wait.

Ingredients

1 20 ounce package ground turkey (you could use lean ground beef but our family doesn't eat beef)

1 head of regular cabbage, no Napa

Onion

carrots

bell peppers, any color

1/4 cup chili powder

• 1 3/4 cup water
• 10 ounces tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Seperate your cabbage leaves

Start by separating your cabbage leaves, this is really easy to do if you follow this method. 

First bring a large pot of water to a boil. 

While you are waiting for the water to boil remove the core from the head of cabbage.

Next, drop the head of cabbage into the pot of boiling water.

After sitting in the water for a minute or so, the outer leaves will begin to slide right off the head of cabbage.  A pair of tongs is helpful to pull the leaves out of the water.

• You will get to a point where the center of the leaves on the head of cabbage are just to small to use as wraps, at this point, pull the remaining head out of the water and let cool. When it is cool, chop the remaining cabbage head to add to your enchilada filling.

Prepare your enchilada sauce

Put your tomato paste into a sauce pan, along with about 1 3/4 cups of water, cumin, chili powder and oregano. Whisk so that the tomato paste is smooth and the seasonings are mixed in. Simmer for about 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and reduce a little.

Prepare your enchilada filling

Brown your meat, either turkey or beef. Add in your desired amount of onions, carrots and bell peppers and cook until they are softened. 

Measure out your portion of the filling mixture, that should be 4 ounce or 8 if you are doubling your portion. Remember to make a double portion so that you have lunch for the next day. It will save time and possibly keep you from being tempted to cheat if you have your meal at hand. 

Take the remaining ground meat and set aside to make enchiladas for the rest of the family.

Now take your 4 or 8 ounces and return them to the pan. Then add your chopped left over cabbage and add it to the pan with a little salsa or a little enchilada sauce. You want just enough sauce or salsa to moisten the mixture a bit. 

Fill your cabbage leaves with the filling and fold into a little package. Place a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and put your folded enchilada sauce, seam side down into the pan. Smear a little bit more of your enchilada sauce on top of your cabbage rolls and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the cabbage softens to your likeness.

Of course ladies, if you are on Phase 1, you could add in some Spanish brown rice...just add a little salsa to your water while you are cooking your rice, nice and easy and oh so yummy.


For your families meal


Add a little sauce to your left over filling and anything else you want, I also added a can of re-fried beans.
Heat your tortilla shells if you are using corn so that they are soft and pliable. Fill with filling and place in a baking dish with a little enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is full, top the enchiladas with more sauce and some cheese. 

Chicken Fajitas

When I step on the scale every morning, I am amazed that I am seeing the numbers get smaller and smaller. Why? Mostly because I can't believe I can eat as much as I am and still be losing weight. I have never been this excited about a diet before and I have tried lots of them. I'm sure it isn't just the diet, I have changed my attitude regarding diets and wanting to be healthy. I feel great and I want to sing it from the roof tops!

I know that many people are struggling though and I did too the first 3 days so I want to tell you about a few things that have helped me. On PINK you can have all the vegis you want, so I add them to everything. I use them as a filler in everything to make my portion bigger. I like to eat and I want to fill satisfied when I eat don't you? Don't be a slave to the suggested meals in the book, they are just suggestions, you can also follow the blueprint for reset of 1 LP (low calorie protein) + LCV (low calorie vegetable) and come up with so many more satisfying meals that you will be amazed just like I am.

The other secret I will share with you that has helped is I make a double portion of everything so that I don't have to be constantly in the kitchen. When I make dinner I measure out 8 ounces of protein and double whatever it is I am making so that I will have lunch on hand the next day. If it is right at hand, you a less likely to grab something unhealthy. I know kind of a no brainier tip but it helps.

So onto what I had for dinner last night and lunch today.

Chicken Fajitas
Boneless skinless chicken breast
Vegetables and kind you want
   - I used zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms, and mixed bell peppers

Salsa (as natural as possible)
   - I use the Trader Joe's brand, ingredients are tomatoes, yellow chile, vinegar, salt, onion and spices)
   - I know it as added salt but I didn't use a whole lot so I didn't worry to much about it.
Head Lettuce/Iceberg Lettuce
   -This is what we will wrap our fajitas in.

Really easy to make saute you chicken in a little Pam. I like to cook my chicken until it has bits of brown on it, it adds so much flavor.

Once the chicken is browned, add in your vegetables and cook until softened and starting to brown.

Add in your salsa, just enough to coat everything and mix together.

Tear off whole leafs of lettuce for your shell and wash.

Fill with your lettuce leaf or leafs with the fajita mixture.

Wrap your lettuce around the filling just as you would a burrito and enjoy.

This can be a family friendly meal. My kids and hubby ate them like you would normal fajitas, flour tortilla, re-fried beans, cheese, sour cream etc. I did however have to just pick out the chicken for the kids. They prefer their vegetables raw. So they had a side of fresh carrots, snap peas and cucumbers.

Cheesy Kale Chips and "Lemonade"

Many of us following the PINK Method know about Kale chips. They certainly have saved me a few times when all I wanted to do was snack, but I must admit I found them a little boring. Well, that just changed. I was wasting time over on Pinterest yesterday when I came across a recipe for cheesy kale chips. I thought "cheesy kale chips, what are those?" When looking at the recipe, it called for something called nutritional yeast which it said gave the chips a cheesy flavor. Boy was I intrigued so off to the PINK book I went to see if it was allowed. Low and behold it is allowed, yippy! Off the Fred Meyer to see if they had it in their health food section. They did and I was home in no time making cheesy kale chips. Here is how you can too.

Wash your and dry your kale

Prepare your yeast paste, the original recipe called for you to make a paste out of the yeast, raw cashews, red pepper and water. While, nuts are allowed while in reset, I opted not to use them as I wanted this to be a "free" snack and I was all out of red peppers so I just chose to mix the yeast with a little water until a thin paste was formed.

Pour the paste on the kale and mix like you were dressing a salad.

Spread the kale out on the cookie sheet, sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt and bake at 350 for about 10 to 12 minutes. I turned my kale over about half way through to get even crispness.

Take out of oven, let cool a few minutes and enjoy all the "cheesy" goodness.

So my review, I enjoyed these and will make again. The cheesy flavor isn't really cheesy like a Doritos is cheesy but it added a little more interest to my kale chips which I appreciated.

As a bonus, I wanted to share a product with you that I have been enjoying. I picked up some herbal Meyer Lemon tea at the store and while good warm, it is excellent chilled with a tiny bit of stevia as a faux "lemonade" I enjoyed it with my cheesy kale chips today as a fun little snack while watching the NY Giants/Packers game with my hubby.