Double-duty fajitas

I discovered, totally by accident, how easy it is to make fajitas one night and omelets the next morning.  Friday night, I realized I had forgotten to take the chicken breasts I was going to use for dinner out of the freezer.  I needed a back-up plan, and decided chicken fajitas would be easy enough.  I was starving, so I made enough for us to each have three fajitas, but as usual, I got full and didn't eat my last one.  Below is the recipe for 5 fajitas, which will generate some leftover fixings.  I will explain after.

Southwestern Chicken Fajitas

5 Whole Wheat Tortillas
1 cup chopped Perdue short cut chicken breast
3/4 cup Green Peppers, chopped (I used frozen)
3/4 cup Red Peppers, chopped (I used frozen)
1/2 cup Onions, chopped (I used frozen)
1 cup Yellow Sweet Corn, Frozen
5 tbsp Hood Low Fat Sour Cream
3/4 cup Sargento shredded, reduced fat 4 cheese Mexican
Chili powder, black pepper, etc. as desired

1. Spray a large pan with Pam and stir-fry the veggies on medium heat for about 5 min., longer if frozen.
2. Add the chicken and continue stir-frying for another 5 min. Add any desired spices.
3. Drain the mixture, then serve in wheat tortillas with sour cream and cheese.

Number of Servings: 5

 

Chef Shorty: 4 noms

Prof. Peanutbutter: 4.5 noms

Each tortilla contained about 2 tbsp. of the chicken and veggies mixture, and 1 tbsp. each of cheese and sour cream.  When I declared myself full, Prof. Peanutbutter stored the leftover mixture in the fridge and commented, "You know, you could put this stuff in an omelet tomorrow morning, I bet that would taste pretty good."  Did I mention I'm marrying a genius?

So the next morning I made this:

Chicken Fajita Omelettes

1/2 cup leftover chicken and veggie fajita mixture
1 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 cup Sargento shredded, reduced fat 4 cheese Mexican

1. Spray two small pans with Pam and place on medium-high heat.
2. When the Pam starts to brown, pour 1/2 cup Egg Beaters in each pan.
3. Flip when eggs are almost cooked through.
4. Add 1/4 cup each chicken and veggie mixture and cheese to each omelet.
5. Fold over and reduce heat to low until cheese is melted.

 

Each omelet is very low-calorie and delicious.  You may wish to serve them topped with a little low-fat sour cream (which I was going to do, but forgot).  We had whole grain white bread with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter - Light on the side.

Chef Shorty: 4.5 noms

Prof. Peanutbutter: 4.5 noms

This was such an easy way to make two meals, and now I will always have the ingredients on hand for last-minute food emergencies.  I especially like the frozen peppers and onions as they keep longer and are already chopped.  I always have frozen corn on hand.

Zomg moar cornbread

I seriously have a thing for cornbread.  Luckily, so does my sweetie.  But really, this was almost TOO nommy.  I just wanted to nom the whole darn pan.

Adapted from Cheese Jalapeno Cornbread on SparkPeople.com.  (She was waaaaay off on her calorie count, as noted by some in the comments.)

Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread

1 box Krusteaz Natural Honey Cornbread & Muffin Mix
1 cup Milk, nonfat
4 tbsp I Can't Believe it's Not Butter - Light
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
2  Jalapeno Peppers, diced
1/2 cup Sargento Reduced Fat 4 Cheese Mexican (or your favorite low-fat cheese)
1 4-oz. can Yellow Sweet Corn
1/4 cup Scallions, chopped


1. Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan/casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside. Heat oven to 400° and preheat the pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients well. Stir until moistened and all ingredients are distributed evenly.
3. Spread in the hot baking pan/casserole dish.
4. Bake for 22 - 27 minutes, until set and lightly golden brown. Cool in the pan on a rack.

Makes 16 rectangles

 

Oh.  My.  Nom.  It's too bad this isn't lower in calories cuz I could have nommed it ALL.  I had two slices with a bunch of veggies, and Prof. Peanutbutter had his with some leftover chili.  There's a lot of this cornbread left over and I can't WAIT to nom some more.

Chef Shorty: 5 noms

Prof. Peanutbutter: 4.5 noms (He would have liked it to be spicier.)

Mexican noms

Tonight I, Chef Shorty, delved into the world of Mexican noms, as my fiance, Prof. Peanutbutter, loves teh Mexican noms.  I found a couple of recipes on my fave fitness and diet site, SparkPeople.com, and adapted them slightly for a few less calories and to accommodate what I had on hand.

The best part?  One serving of each (chili and cornbread) totaled 454 calories, and I burned 466 calories doing 45 min. on the exercise bike earlier today.  Woot!


Adapted from Chef Meg's Taco Soup on SparkPeople.com.

Turkey Chili

18 oz lean ground turkey
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
1.5 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
14 oz tomato paste
14 oz diced tomatoes with green chilies
14 oz kidney beans, dark, drained
1 cup water
1 cup corn, frozen
4 oz green chilies, chopped
1/2 cup garbanzo beans, smashed

1. Brown ground turkey and chopped onion over medium heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally.
2. Drain mixture. Add spices and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add tomato paste and cook additional minute while stirring.
4. Add diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add corn, green chilies, and mashed garbanzo beans, simmer an additional 5 minutes.
6. Top with light cheese if desired (not in nutrition info).

Adapted from Low-Cal Cornbread on SparkPeople.com.

Healthy Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup Splenda
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
8 Tablespoons I Can't Believe it's Not Butter - Light, melted
1/2 cup Egg Beaters

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and spray a 9" round cake pan with baking Pam.
2. Mix in large bowl both flours, cornmeal, Splenda, baking soda, salt.
3. Mix milk in with the melted butter, then add the Egg Beaters. Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until very few lumps remain.  Pour into cake pan.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Verdict?

Chef Shorty: 
Cornbread - 4 noms
Chili - 3.5 noms

Prof. Peanutbutter:
Cornbread - 3.5 noms
Chili - 4.5 noms

 

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