Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Salsa Verde

Let’s just dive right in. This recipe is super delicious, easy, and gluten free. How great is that?? I adapted this recipe from the new Betty Crocker cook book that I got for my birfday.

Ingredients for Enchiladas:

• 2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Salsa Verde (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup of cilantro; chopped
• 1/4 cup of parsley; chopped
• 6-7 gluten free tortillas (Udi’s is a good brand)
• 2 slices of lime and 1/2 sliced avocado for garnish (optional)

Ingredients for Salsa Verde:

• 2 medium-sized tomatillos; chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small onion; chopped
• 1 Serrano pepper; seeds removed and chopped
• 1/4 cup of cilantro; chopped
• 1 tbsp of lime juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. With cooking spray, coat a large, glass baking dish and set aside. In a food processor or blender, combine your Salsa Verde ingredients until semi-blended. You don’t want it to be chunky, but also not puree either. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, parsley, cilantro, 1/2 c of cheese and approximately 1/2 of the salsa verde mixture. Take a tortilla and put about 2-3 spoonfuls of the chicken mixture and roll it up. Place the enchilada seam down in the baking dish. Top with the remaining salsa verde and cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until enchilada is warmed. Serve with a squeeze of lime and creamy avocado slices

Oh and served with a Spanish Rice! Ok, the enchilada is tender and full of fresh flavor. I really couldn’t believe how good it was!

 

Plus it looks pretty and is very filling. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Asian-Inspired Burgers with Fresh Veggie Slaw

I could eat burgers for every single meal and probably never get sick of them. I love all burgers; meat, veggie, vegan-doesn’t matter I love them all. This recipe is a fun twist on your normal burger without cheese (no cheese on these babies!) and a great slaw as your side. I also served these burgers with Alexia’s potato pops (also known as Tater Tots). You can sub out the pork/beef for chicken and feel free to eat the burgers without the bun, like me 🙂 Just a personal preference these days!

Ingredients for Asian-Inspired Burgers:

• 1 lb of ground pork and 1 lb of lean ground beef
• 4 scallions; finely sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic; minced
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of hoison sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for Slaw:

• 1/2 head of napa cabbage; thinly sliced
• 1/2 red and orange bell pepper; julienned
• Approximately 1 cup of pea pods; julienned
• 2 cloves of garlic
• about 1 tsp of fresh ginger; minced
• 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp of sesame oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix pork, beef, onions, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, and hoison sauce together with your hands. Salt and pepper to taste. (If you have the time, let the burgers sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to build the flavors). With your hands, make little meat patties, place on baking sheet and bake for approximately 7 minutes per side. Remove from oven and cool slightly.

While burgers are cooking, make your slaw. Combine oil, vinegar, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and whisk together. In a medium bowl, toss your veggies with the dressing and set aside.

To plate, place your slaw down first, top with your yummy burger and garnish with a little Sriracha mayo (mayo, chili sauce, and a squeeze of lime juice). SRIRACHA ON ALL THE THINGS!!

The burger is full of amazing flavor; juicy and tender! The slaw has spice and tangy which balances out with the fattiness of the burger.

Seriously, some of the best tasting burgers I have made thus far, enjoy!

 

Weight Lifting Makes Me Want More Tattoos

After every workout, I feel way too re-energized for my own good. I mean, I am also really exhausted from exercising, but my mind is just way too excited for me to sit still. I feel like I am, bit by bit, getting a little piece of the old “me” back, which is kind of the reason I started this blog. I wanted to regain an old sense-of-self and self-worth, which is happening. Slowly, mind you, but it is better than nothing.

I am really excited about my personal wellness journey because after three years, I can finally see some improvement. Therapy certainly helped with that, but also a deeper commitment to eating healthy and exercising has really helped. Finding out that I love lifting and interval training has completed changed my life. Something about feeling strong makes me wanna…well, get more tattoos and piercings. I really don’t know the correlation, but I think about some really great tattoo ideas when I lift. I love it. 

Actually, finding out that I am experiencing true happiness is amazing to me, since that hasn’t happened in years. I have stuck to my guns with my work-life balance and don’t work on weekends or weeknights after I leave the office. Sure I feel guilty, but I have to continue to do this for my own sanity. I can’t be on call 24/7 for the rest of my employment when I am not saving lives. I just can’t.

I take time for myself every Sunday night to help myself relax and get ready for my week, and per my therapist, I blow of a little responsibility every now and then so I can let loose. That is real weird to experience, but I am getting better. All of this has made some of my personal relationships much better, especially with my fiance. Losing a bit of the control has been the best way for me to learn to relax. Who knew?

I am pretty excited to see where everything will take me now that I am committed to a lifting lifestyle I never thought I’d be in to. Maybe Crossfit? Maybe competitions? (way down the line, my endurance is like shot. Gotta build that up). It’s pretty awesome. It has reconnected the love I have for healthy cooking too

Parmesan garlic fried egg, brussel sprouts sauteed with a bacon and clementines. Perfect post-workout meal

Rolled oats with Icelandic Greek yogurt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a drizzle of honey. Filling and super satisfying breakfast

Anyway, lifting weight makes me feel like a beast (even if my muscles are still small). I can squat with 100 lbs on my back and I can deadlift the same. I think that is fine good start.