Another success with El Dorado!

We LOVE this recipe! You can eat it like a casserole or eat it with some tortilla chips like a dip. This made TONS of leftovers and is one of our favorites! The ingredient photo shows 2 lbs of meat, that's because I doubled it this time :)

1 pound extra lean ground beef or ground turkey breast

1 onion, chopped (I used half an onion and it tasted fine)

1 cup (8 oz) fat-free ricotta cheese (I used "part skim")

1 package (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chile peppers

1 can (4 oz) black olives, chopped and drained

4 cups coarsely broken baked tortilla chips

3/4 cup shredded reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese

3/4 cup shredded reduced fat Cheddar Cheese

Salsa (optional)

*Preheat oven to 375*F. Coat a 13" x 9" baking dish with nonstick spray

*In a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef/turkey and onion, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

*In a large bowl, combine ricotta, cream cheese, peppers (with liquid) and olives.

*Spoon half of meat into the prepared baking dish. Top with half of ricotta mixture. Top with 2 cups tortilla chips. Sprinkle with half of Monterey Jack and half of Cheddar. Repeat layers with remaining meat mixture, ricotta mixture, chips and shredded cheeses.

*Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve with salsa, if using.

*Makes 8 servings

*I suggest skipping the layer of chips and sprinkling them on top towards the end of baking. The chips got soggy during baking, which didn't affect the taste, but there was no crunch.

*Bobby ate his with hot sauce and LOVED it!

Unfried Crunchy Chicken

Didn't get an ingredients photo on this one, whoops!

I ended up putting everything together, then we got the news that Bobby got a job and he wanted to celebrate, so I ended up freezing the chicken breasts for a few days and it still tasted fine!

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbsp. lime juice

2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

4 skinless, bone-in chicken breasts or thighs (we used boneless)

1 cup (8 oz) fat-free plain yogurt

1/2 cup unbleached or all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp fat-free milk

1 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs (I used Progresso ones)

*Preheat the oven to 375*

In a small bowl, mix garlic, lime juice, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Rub into chicken and refrigerate 30 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, combine yogurt, flour, garlic powder, milk, remaining 1/4 tsp pepper. Spread bread crumbs on waxed paper.

Dredge chicken in yogurt mixture, then press into bread crumbs on all sides. Place on the rack of a roasting pan and coat generously with nonstick spray.

Bake 45 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 170* and juices run clear.

We ate it with sourdough bread from Target's bakery, yum! It was tasty and very easy!

408 calories, 38 g protein, 49 g carbs, 6 g fat, 74 mg cholesterol, 760 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.

Breakfast for dinner? Yes please!

Along with "Eat Up Slim Down", I have also been a member of SparkPeople for about 2 years now. It's a great website with a country-wide community of people trying to lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle. The site is www.sparkpeople.com, and I recommend it if, for nothing else, the recipes! Tonight I made Cheesy Egg and Hash Brown Bake for dinner. Here are the ingredients I used:

5 cups shredded hash browns (uncooked)

1 1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used Marble Jack)

6 eggs

1 1/2 c milk

2 c diced lowfat ham (I used 1/2 lb turkey breakfast sausage because neither of us are big on ham. I made little patties, cooked it in a skillet with a little butter then cut it into smaller pieces.)

*Preheat oven to 350*, spray inside of 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.

*Spread the hash browns in bottom of pan.

*Mix together the eggs and milk and pour that over the top of hash browns.

*Layer the meat then cheese.

*Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Here is the result!

This was really easy and yummy, BUT I would recommend adding some salt, pepper and even a little onion salt to the egg/milk mixture. I realize that may defeat the purpose of low-sodium, but there isn't much flavor otherwise. Also, I would suggest layering the cheese in the hash browns and also on top, otherwise you're not getting cheese throughout each bite. Otherwise, delicious and it made a TON, so I have a couple days worth of breakfast this week!

Some photos to back that up....

I've been asked to upload some photos to accompany my recipes. Every time I make something and I come on here to share the recipe I realize I didn't take a photo! Here are a couple that I found either from "Eat Up Slim Down" or from where I got the recipe.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes from Martha Stewart

Whole Roasted Chicken from kraftfoods.com

Orange-Almond Chicken from "Eat Up Slim Down"

(keep in mind the sauce will be more of a brown color from the soy sauce so don't freak out when it's not this nice orange color!)

The other recipes I've made either don't have a picture in the book or the picture is really old and it makes the entree look gross. I'll be making a few more recipes this week so I'll be sure and include photos of the results :)

Dun Dun Dunnnnnn

Starting weight: 228 lbs

Friday December 31: 225 lbs

Friday January 7: 223 lbs

I had actually weighed myself earlier in the week and was at 222 lbs, however, I let things go a little on Wednesday, and now I'm seeing the result of that. I'm still happy that I've lost 5 lbs in a little over a week, it's progress!

Whole Roasted Chicken and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Now, this was probably not the healthiest recipe, but it was SO fantastic! I didn't follow the book tonight. I happened to have a whole chicken in the freezer from a stop at Fare For All before the holidays. Even though it may not be the most healthy dinner, I'm starting to realize when I'm getting full so now I know when to stop, which is good.

Whole Roasted Chicken

1/4 cup olive oil

1 envelope Good Seasons Italian or Garlic & Herb Dressing Mix (we used the Italian one)

1 large roasting chicken (6 lbs)

*Preheat oven to 350*F. Mix oil and salad dressing mix; brush under skin and on outside surface of chicken.

*Place chicken on rack in roasting pan.

*Bake 1 1/2-1 3/4 hours or until chicken is cooked through (180*F when tested in the thickest part), brushing occasionally with salad dressing mixture.

-The only thing that's not convenient about this is the length of time to cook, but you brush it and stick it in the oven, no problem.

While the chicken was cooking.....

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

1/2 cup half-and-half

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp light-brown sugar

Coarse salt and ground pepper

*Set a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Fill with enough water to come just below basket, bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Place sweet potatoes in steamer basket and cover, steam until tender, 15-25 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan.

*Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes and mash until smooth, season with salt and pepper. (This step only takes a few minutes)

Like I said, both were SUPER easy and DELICIOUS! There was enough chicken leftover for me to mix with some pasta and sauce for lunch tomorrow.

Chicken and Rice Italiano

This one was not Bobby's favorite but was really easy and convenient to make on a busy night.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 jar (16 oz) pasta sauce with garlic and peppers (I used Prego Garlic & Red Pepper)

2 Tbsp (1/2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning (I used Tastefully Simple Italian Garlic Bread seasoning, but any will work)

1 can (14 1/2 oz) fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth (used to cook the rice in, I did a half water, half broth mixture, read the rice cooking instructions for measurements)

3/4 cup Arborio or regular long-grain white rice

*Preheat oven to 450*F

*Place chicken in a shallow baking dish. Spoon sauce evenly over the top. Sprinkle with cheese and Italian seasoning. Cover dish with foil and bake 18 to 22 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 160*F and juices run clear.

*Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat broth to boiling. Stir in rice. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

*Divide rice among 4 plates. Top with chicken and sauce.

*We have a rice cooker and just used that, and it was still good. If you know how to cook rice, cook it the way you know, it'll still turn out delicious!

*The sauce will taste like it's low-sodium, because it probably is, but that's kind of the point. The Prego sauce is "heart smart" but it was still good, I think. I had extra sauce and used it later in the week over bow tie pasta for lunch.

Per Serving: 381 calories, 24 g protein, 51 g carbs, 7 g fat, 48 mg cholesterol, 602 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.