Veggie Chili Wraps/ Enchiladas

  So, there was a slight deviation from my weekly menu.  This happens sometimes when one forgets a key ingredient, item, or just doesn't feel like making the originally planned entree.  No need to stress or order take-out!  Just improvise.  If you read my weekly menu post, you may have noted and been hoping for a simple recipe utilizing wraps. Do not fret my dear(s) or whomever might be reading this blog, I will lead you in my thinking.  This weekend, I ran out of my stand-by gluten free wraps.  This was after the Bear (my husband) and I had taken our weekly trip to the grocery store.  Being it was Tuesday and I pre-made my veggie chili on Sunday, I simply forgot that the gluten free wraps were consumed on Saturday.  Thus, I had corn tortillas and a can of gluten-free enchilada sauce.  FYI, for those on a gluten free diet, Old El Paso finally listed what "modified food starch" they use...drum roll please...corn starch!  A winner if you can consume corn products!  So, I wrapped my veggie chili in my corn tortillas, topped with my enchilada sauce, baked at 350 degrees in the oven for 30 minutes, and topped them with some sour cream and jalapenos.  The Bear still had his version, only with a flour tortilla.  All is good in the Nickel house.  You too can enjoy these wraps, tortillas, or even turn them into a lovely chili inspired lasagna and layer your tortillas with some cheese if you so choose.  Let this veggie chili be your inexpensive culinary canvas for dinner in the very near future!

Veggie Chili Wraps (original recipe, minus Sara's extra improvising:))

Non-stick cooking spray

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 pressed garlic clove

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

1 dash cinnamon

1 coarsely chopped, small carrot (or 10 chopped baby carrots)

1 coarsely chopped stalk of celery

1 15 oz. can Great Northern beans, or any other white bean on sale

1 7 1/4 oz. can diced tomatoes with chilies (such as Rotel)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Tortillas or wraps (I would suggest something high in fiber, check the nutritional value before purchasing)

Sour cream (I use fat-free sour cream from Target.  It is the Market Pantry brand, they have the modified food starch listed)

Shredded cheddar cheese (again, I use the Market Pantry brand because they list the modified food starch)

Jalapenos (if you dare)

Spray a large pot or Dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray.  Add the oil and heat the pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery.  Stir occasionally and cook until softened (about 7-9 minutes). Add your spices, beans, and tomatoes.  Stir and reduce heat.  Simmer, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes to an hour.  This mixture will be thick.  This is so you can later scoop it into your wraps.

Spread 3/4 cup of the chili into the center of a wrap.  Top with 1 tablespoon sour cream and cheese, wrap and enjoy! 

Provencal Beef Stew

  How is your Monday going?  My Monday has been okay, but is getting better by the minute now that I am home, have gone on a brisk walk, and plan to eat this hearty bowl of goodness before yoga class.  Honestly, my mouth is watering just looking at it!  To make this Monday a little easier, I prepared this stew in my slow cooker. You can make your Monday night eats easier too with this simple recipe!

Provencal Beef Stew (inspired by Weight Watchers, tweeked my me:))

Non-stick cooking spray

1 pound lean beef cut into 1-inch cubes, I used lean pre-cut meat from my grocery store

1 small chopped onion

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 pressed garlic cloves (I use my handy garlic press from Pampered Chef, or you can finly mince your garlic)

2 large sliced carrots (or you can use 20 baby carrots and save yourself the time as I did)

1 large stalk celery, sliced

1 15 oz. canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups reduced sodium, organic beef broth

1 11 1/2 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

2 large bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Spray a 5 quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Place all ingredients into your slow cooker.  Stir, cover, and set your slow cooker on low for 7 to 8 hours.  This recipe should yield around 6, 2 cup servings.

First Post of the Year

I don't really have many New Year's resolutions that are too out of the ordinary. Of course I do have a little weight I need to drop from the holidays and a lingering 15 pounds that have crept up on me since turning 30. What is it about that? Anyway, I'm not going to stress about it because I know it will just require watching my diet a little more closely and going to the gym a litte more regularly. My goal for the gym is to go at least 3-4 times per week. That is totally doable. My other major goal is to make peace with myself. Last year, I attempted to just be content with where I was at in life. Finding content was a little more challenging than what I thought, but eventually just turned into laziness which later fuzed some major anxiety and frustration. So, this year, peace. Just saying the word peace calms me instantly. I like this goal.

Amongst goals and resolutions, I want to help people more. This not only will help bring peace to my life, but also help others to feel good. One thing people generally as me for help with is their health and diet. So, I'd like to try something. I will post my weekly menu and attempt to include pictures and recipes throughout the week. If you read my blog, just leave me a little comment if you try something, like it, feel it needs improvement, or whatever. While I do enjoy gourmet cooking, I really try to keep things very simple. I am afterall, trying to obtain peace:)

So, here is this week's menu. We are a household of two, so feel free to double any recipes if need be or make additions to your menu as you see fit. This week's menu is a cozy combination of winter comforts bulked up with extra fiber, protein, and veggies.

Sunday 1/8/2012 Provencal Beef Slow Cooker Stew (adapted from weightwatchers.com) with Gluten Free Baguette

Monday 1/9/2012 Left-overs

Tuesday 1/10/2012 Veggie Chili Wraps with Veggie Sticks and Dip

Wednesday 1/11/2012 Left-overs

Thursday 1/12/2012 Bacon, Onion, & Mushroom Pizza with Salad

Friday 1/13/2012 or Saturday 1/14/2012 Spicy Chicken Sausage Ragu over Polenta

Keeping with somewhat of a French theme this week, I also prepared a week's worth of lunches for myself using a simple French Potato Salad recipe inspired by an old Weight Watcher's recipe I had always wanted to try.

French Potato Salad

1 pound poached boneless, skinless chicken breast (see method below)
1 roughly chopped onion
2 roughly chopped carrots
2 roughly chopped stalks of celery
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
Water (enough to cover your veggies and chicken for poaching)
Cooking spray ( I prefer canola oil spray)
1 pound quartered red skinned potatoes
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1 cup sliced seedless red grapes
2 medium celery stalks, thinnly sliced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup organic, reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon tarragon leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

I simply poached one pound of boneless skinless chicken breast for 45 minutes in a large pot of water with one garlic clove, one onion, two roughly chopped carrots, two stalks roughly chopped celery, and one bay leaf. Simply put all ingredients into a large stockpot, cover with water, and bring to a gentle boil. After the chicken mixture comes to a boil, lower your heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon into a bowl. You can either chop or shred your chicken. I prefer to shred my chicken using two forks and pulling the chicken into shreds.

While the chicken was poaching, I roasted one pound of quartered red skinned potatoes and one half of a bag of frozen green beans on a large cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray in the oven at 350 degrees until the potatoes were golden brown (about 45 minutes). To crisp the potatoes slightly, I sprayed them with a light coating of canola oil, salt, and pepper. Cool for 5-10 minutes.

Next, add your chicken, potatoes, green beans, grapes, and celery to a large mixing bowl. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, broth, tarragon, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard and olive oil together until combined. Poor the dressing over the salad and mix until the salad is evenly coated. Finally, I portioned the salad into six Ziplock containers so my lunches would be ready for the week.

Tomorrow's recipe- Provencal Beef Stew. Enjoy!

Holiday Re-cap

It has been truly a lovely, wonderful holiday season this year!  We started the holidays off in Iowa for my stepmother's graduation.  Yes, another converted Iowa State member!  Brenda has worked so hard for her PhD and we are so proud of her accomplishments.  Christmas was celebrated by Erin and Todd in true Mr. and Mrs. Bubba Clause style at my father's house where Sylvie enjoyed helping Brenda with Betty's birthday cake.  We then traveled to Mason City where we spent some time with Justin's family.  Our niece, Ady, loved the pool!  We topped the Christmas weekend off with my mother in Des Moines.  Her new home is so lovely and was all decked out, including her little knome.  I love my mother's sense of humor:)

Thank you to all for the time, love, and many gifts we all exchanged.  I know 2011 has been the best of times and some of the hardest times for our families.  Through it all, we have remained strong and counted on each other for support.  May 2012 bring everyone peace, health, love, and continued happiness.  Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas to All

As I try to become increasingly tech savvy, I blog to you for the first time on my iPad via wi-fi from the Clarion Inn in Mason City. It is pretty amazing! As the blogs get fewer and fewer in between posts, I guess the Christmas spirit got to me this morning, so here is a merry post. I also thought it would be wise to take advantage of the free wi-fi since it is available. So, I wish everyone a lovely, warm, and merry Christmas! I hope to write a year in review post next week and hopefully rekindle my connection to the blogosphere in 2012. Until then, I wish everyone a very merry Christmas!

Still Here

I was beginning to feel a little guilty not posting since September. Life has been nothing short of exhaustion this fall. The school year was off to a crazy start with all sorts of curveballs I am still recovering from. Then the leaves began to drop. When you live in what my sister calls "Sherwood Forest" you are never short on raking leaves. Bags of leaves and excuses aside does not excuse my neglegence to my blog! Sorry poor blog for leaving you on the back burner!

So what is new? Not much. I joined a gym back in August which has been fantastic. I started religiously attending weekly yoga classes and have no regrets. Yoga has been amazing for my stress and body. This is the first year that I have started back to work and actually have remained toned. It amazes me after every class how relaxed I feel and how much it works the human body. It is the first time I have ever exercised and felt like I wasn't doing anything at all. That is my kind of exercise.

As far as the whole fertility thing, my body is producing all the hormones needed for conception. While it is still somewhat frusterating, we are remaining positive and just waiting for the mircle of life to occur. So we are patiently waiting:)

How I Make Monday Easier

I teach special education.  As a teacher, Mondays are tough.  As a special education teacher, Mondays are typically tougher.  My father and I both can admit we have a mild addiction to fast food breakfast.  The convenience, the flavors, the sodium.  Oh Wendy's how I miss you.  Those days are gone now.  The above sandwich, I actually made in advance, wrapped, and heated in the morning.  Let me explain my thoughts and how they might help you become more efficient and healthy with your dining.

My husband is working on his master's degree in civil engineering.  We are both very active people.  He participates in a slow-pitch softball team on Thursdays.  I do yoga on Mondays and Wednesdays.  We also believe in making our lives as healthy as possible.  To make my life easier, I try to streamline as many meals as possible.  This means planning breakfast, lunch, and dinner in advance and taking the time on the weekends to prepare for meals as well as keep up with other household duties. 

Since late February, I've been on  a gluten-free diet.  This means reading a lot of food labels, thinking twice as hard about eating things that are ambiguous, and more planning.  While it's been a lot of hard work, I've been feeling soooo much better.  I'm not nearly as gassy, my thinking is more clear, I swear my vision is more clear, and my allergies are better. Life gastronomically and allergy speaking are much more comfortable.  Life, however, has changed.  I have to think in advance.  And, sometimes, thinking in advance and preparing in advance means eating the same thing for a few days in a row.  I don't mind it as long as it is good:)

Some tips for preparing weekly meals in advance I suggest require a little planning and chopping, but are well worth your time and money.  First let's start with breakfast!

Since becoming an adult, I've not really liked cereal that much.  Maybe it was an overkill as a kid?  I don't know.  Now, I enjoy quick and easy smoothies, breakfast burritos, and egg casseroles.  The beauty of any of the above is ease of assembly and all I have to do is usually, blend, poor, and go if I am making a smoothie OR bake on Sunday, package, and heat in the morning as I'm getting ready to head out the door if we are talking breakfast burritos or casseroles.  So easy!

Now let's talk lunch.  Lunches usually consist of yogurt, veggie bags I've chopped and packaged on Sunday, and some sort of soup I've made in a large batch and froze the extra portions, or left-overs from the night before.  I usually try to pack my lunch the night before, so I don't have to fumble around with things in the morning. 

Dinner, oh sweet dinner.  One of the great joys for me is planning our weekly menu.  This is a time that I enjoy searching for new recipes, incorporating old favorites, all while trying to stick to some sort of a budget.  For dinner planning, I try to stick to soups, casseroles, and meals I can cook or prep in advance or prepare in a limited amount of time.  This is for weeknight dining.  If at all possible, I will try and pre-assemble and prep dinners in advance on Sundays.  This includes, chopping veggies, marinating meats, and cooking items like soups which always taste better the next day anyway.  We typically eat left-overs a couple nights a week; however, if the left-overs get a thumbs down from the hubster, I don't mind taking them for lunch the next day.  For weekends, we usually plan for social events out, dining out at least one night, and making something a little more extravagant or special for one night.  After all, weekends are for enjoying and relaxing and I love relaxing in the kitchen. 

So, this might seem a lot for some people.  For us it works and I find well worth the little bit of time I spend preparing that I get back in return after a hectic day at work.  Hopefully, it may get you some of your time back too:)