Man Approved: Chicken Enchiladas

I’m not sure there’s anything authentic about these chicken enchiladas (hint: there isn’t), regardless they are easy, delicious, healthy, and a total crowd pleaser. They do take advantage of some processed, canned food, but sometimes you just need easy. I’ve made these the last two times we’ve had company for dinner and people always go back for more. Even my mexican friends! That’s not a bad sign at all. So, authentic or not, make them!

Plus, they get a high fork rating.

Here’s the other thing: there are some easy shortcuts you can use to make these even faster to make. When I was really short on time I made them with rotisserie chicken breasts that I shredded, and a packet of store bought taco seasoning instead of my own.  Shhh!

Of course if you don’t want to use the condensed soups you could make a roux and add fat free half and half for the base but…in this instance, I’ll stick with the cans.

Man Approved: Chicken Enchiladas

1/2 cup chopped onion, any kind you have on hand
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
2 (10.75 ounce) cans 99% fat free, low sodium cream of chicken soup
1 cup light sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast meat
taco seasonings (I use salt, pepper, red pepper, paprika, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder) OR 1 packet store bought taco seasoning
1 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese
6 (12 inch) flour tortillas (I use the Mission low carb – no one knows!)
1/4 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute the onion until tender. Stir in the green chiles, cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Season with your taco seasonings. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.

Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the baking dish.

In the bowl of the reserved 3/4 of the sauce add the milk. Spoon this over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes.

Man Approved: Homemade Lighter Pizza

HP and I are both big fans of pizza. I’d like to say that I’m a pizza snob and, of course, I’d choose a true New York style pizza over your typical delivery any day. But, the truth is that we’ll pretty much eat any decent pizza. True New York pizza is damn hard to come by (if you live in San Diego and seek NY pizza, you must MUST IMMEDIATELY go to Bronx Pizza in Hillcrest. They import their water FROM NEW YORK. The pizza is amazing.) Anyway, I’ve yet to find anything around here worth the “NY” label and, let’s face it, pizza may be “man-friendly” but it’s not by any means “light”. When we do order pizza we usually order from Z Pizza because I can get healthier options – low fat cheese, wheat crust, organic sauce, grilled chicken, etc.

I was ready to tackle homemade pizza that was lighter, but still man-approved. I don’t have the patience for yeast doughs so I sought out a pizza dough that was fast, easy, and would taste good. SUCCESS!

Man Approved Lighter Pizza

Toppings: 2% milk mozzarella, homemade pizza sauce (or your favorite jar sauce), turkey pepperoni, chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces and sauteed. (I also added sliced jalapenos to mine -yum!)

No Yeast Pizza Dough:

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 c skim milk
1/4 c olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Put all ingredients in a bowl, stir until the dough pulls away from the sides. Form dough into a ball and knead 10 times.

Lightly spray a cookie sheet. Roll dough into one large pizza crust or two smaller crusts. Spray dough lightly with cooking spray. Top with sauce and toppings.

Cook about 10 minutes. Dough will be crisp and more biscuit-like than chewy like a yeast dough, BUT!

He said he preferred it over delivery!!

Man Approved Rating Scale

I told HP he had to come up with a rating system so I can give his rating score for each Man Approved Recipe. He said forks, so forks it is.

5 forks = Make again! I’ll give you a backrub! And do the dishes! And walk the dogs!
4 forks = I want this every week!
3 forks = It’s good, Baby, but maybe needs a little “something” extra.
2 forks = I’m in the mood for takeout, you?
1 fork = I still think you’re pretty!

Man Approved: Chili

This is, by far, HP’s most favorite meal I’ve made so far. It’s also the cheapest and probably the easiest. Hooray!

Man Approved: Chili

1.25 lbs 96% lean ground beef
2 – 14oz cans kidney beans, drained
1 – 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
.25 cup finely chopped onion
salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes
Franks Red Hot

Saute onion and garlic in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Add beef and season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes. Break up the meat with spoon or fork and brown (you shouldn’t need to drain if you use 96% lean beef, but if you feel the need or you used higher fat content meat, go ahead and drain here.) Add the tomatoes and beans and season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat all the way down. Simmer on lowest setting for a couple of hours.

Top with Frank’s Red Hot just before serving. Tastes even better the second day!

Man Approved: Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Well we’ve had a couple of weeks to enjoy dinner at the dining room table (can I just tell you how nice it is to have a meal at the table?) and we’ve had some very good results with figure-friendly, man approved meals.

This meal I got from Ashlee’s blog (I made little, tiny modifications in the prep and cooking but it’s essentially her recipe using the flour, sauce, panko method.)

Man Approved: Buffalo Chicken Tenders

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
Old Bay
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Place a cooling rack on top of it and spray with cooking spray. Chicken will be cooked on the cooling rack so the bottoms don’t get soggy.

Cut the chicken breasts into strips (I prefer this way over using chicken tenders because tenders have that cord of sinewy-fat down the center and it grosses me out). Line up your assembly stations of 3 plates: flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and Old bay; Red Hot; Panko.

Get a light dusting of flour on the chicken, then roll in hot sauce, then press into the bread crumbs.

Bake on the rack for 9-12 minutes, or until cooked through but still moist.