{TASTEday} - Chicken Chilaquiles

Yay, it's Friday! I love Fridays, as I am sure most of you do as well. I promised when I wrote the post time to get {HEALTHY}!! that I would still try lots of new recipes and post recipes on Fridays. Just because I am following WW doesn't mean I am going to eat salads all day everyday.  yuck. I do like a good salad now and then, but I like real food, specifically, Mexican food! Yesterday I was browsing Martha Stewart and found this easy and delicious look recipe for Chicken Chilaquiles. I like recipes that are: 1. easy, 2. don't take FOREVER and a day (especially during the work week!) and 3. minimal ingredients. This recipe was all three. I did make a few adjustments though (based on the reviews I read & ww)

Here is my version of Martha's  Chicken Chilaquiles.

Ingredients

1 tbsp Peanut Oil (I was out of olive oil, but normally that's what I would have used!)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes in puree

2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped (about 1 heaping tbsp)

1 tbsp of adobe sauce (from can of chipotle chiles)

salt

1 can of black beans, drained

1 1/4 lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs*

1/2 c lightly packed cilantro leaves, chopped

tortilla chips

light sour cream

** i LOVE chicken thighs. They have so much more flavor. I buy the Just BARE Chicken which is already 1.25 lbs and boneless/skinless **

Directions

1. Place chicken thighs in a saucepan and fill with water just over the height of the chicken. Sprinkle in salt & pepper. Cover until boiling. Remove lid and let boil for 12-15 minutes. Remove Chicken from pot. Once cool, shred the chicken. Place aside.

2. Combine oil and garlic in a large (3-to-4-quart) saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and sizzling, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes with their puree (breaking tomatoes up), chipotles and adobo, black beans, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil; season with salt. Reduce heat and simmer rapidly until lightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.

4.  Add chicken and cook, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in chopped cilantro.

5. Place a handful (or so) of chips at the bottom of a bowl. Top with the chicken/tomato mixture. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream.

Makes about 6 servings.

It was fantastic! One of my new favorite dishes. It's easy and the chipotle peppers and adobe give it great flavor that I'm not used to cooking with! I did change a couple things from Martha's recipe. She has you use a small rotisserie chicken. That would have actually make the recipe only 4 steps and easier, but I wanted to boil the chicken (healthier) and save a little money. (Rotisserie Chicken - $5.99, Chicken Thighs, $3.99) Also, the original recipe says to add feta cheese as an additional garnish. Because I am trying to be healthier, I cut that out, but I promise, it's SO good without it! Lastly, when I was reading the reviews on the original recipe, people said they added black beans for extra protein. I thought the beans were great!

{TASTEday} - Grilled Steak Tacos w/ Poblano & Mango Salsa

Friday's have OFFICIALLY been assigned as {TASTEday} , aka recipe day! Since this blog is a mixture of life, love & food, I wanted to make new recipes a new weekly tradition!

{TASTEday} recipe | Grilled Steak Tacos w/ Poblano & Mango Salsa

I found this recipe in an unlikely source. I was reading Parenting Magazine and there was an advertisement for Beef. It was titled "A Recipe from My Family to Yours".  It looked good & was something new so we tried it last night! Here is the recipe for you to try as well!

Grilled Steak Tacos with Poblano-Mango Salsa

1 lb top sirloin steak, cut 3/4 -inch thick

2 medium poblano peppers

1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-in slices

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 medium mango, peeled and diced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp. salt

8 small corn tortillas (6-7 inch diameter)

* Fresh cilantro sprigs, lime wedges (optional garnish)

Directions

1. Place peppers and onion slices (over medium heat) on the grill. Grill, covered for 15-20 minutes, or until onion is tender and pepper skin is blackened, turning occasionally. Place peppers on a place and set aside to cool.

2.  Meanwhile, combine garlic and cumin; press evenly onto beef steak. Place steaks on grill (over medium heat). Grill, covered, 13-16 minutes for medium  or 8-13 minutes for medium rare, turning occasionally. Remove, keep warm. (Let set atleast 15 minutes to let juices settle before slicing.)

3. Once cool, remove the skin, stems and seeds from peppers. Dice onions and peppers into small pieces. Combine chopped veggies, diced mango, chopped cilantro, lime juice, and salt into a bowl. set aside.

4. Place tortillas on grill. Grill, uncovered, 30 seconds on each side, or until heated through and lightly browned.

5. Carve steaks into thin slices. Top tortillas with equal amounts of beef and salsa. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges, if desired.

They turned out pretty good! I had hoped the peppers would have been a spicier through. I also I also never realized how hard it was to peel the skin off the pepper. Oh well! Next time I think I'll make a creamy avocado sauce to top the tacos with, or maybe add some avocado and jalapenos to the salsa.

Of course, after typing the entire recipe from the magazine ad I found, I thought, "oh, I should google it"...sure enough, I found the recipe online. Figures! Here is the link to the recipe as well...

Grilled Steak Tacos with Poblano-Mango Salsa 

Enjoy!

no. 9 Have a garage sale & get rid of all the crap stored in our house... {a change of plans.}

Back when I created the eleven before 2011 list I had a basement full of crap (boxes, clothes, odds & ends, etc.) that I needed to go through, organize and put in a garage sale. Well, after the ridiculous amounts of rain we got last Thursday and Friday, our basement flooded. I should first clarify that once in a while, after heavy rain storms we get a little water that come through the foundation and other areas. This time though, it was much more. We had puddles in some areas, water leaking in from around a pipe and all of the crap we had on the flood was soaked. We have lived in our house for just short of 2 years, and much of the crap was from when we moved in. If we haven't needed it in 2 years, we should through it away.  I wish I had taken a "before" picture, so the after picture is more effective. Lets just say you couldn't see the floor at all. Seriously, not at all.

 Since we had to get rid of almost everything we don't use from the basement, I kind of feel like no. 9 was accomplished. I know, it didn't get sold in a garage sale, but it's out of out house and the basement is less of a mess, which was the original goal. Hmm.. am I cheating? Heck, who cares, I made the list up! haha!