Fervent Foodie

Enchi-oo-la-la-das.

October 17, 2011 14 Comments

Yow.ZAAAAAAAAA!

These enchiladas were DELICIOUS!!! Comfort food meets Mexican Fiesta in my mouth. This was my first attempt at making enchiladas (still struggling to rationalize that one in my brain), and anytime I try something new I scour the internet in search of the ultimate recipe. This time I found a winner: Angela’s Awesome Enchiladas on Allrecipes.com. The nutritional stats for the original recipe weren’t so great, so I made a few Mary tweaks (Mweaks, as we call them).

First up: The Chicken. You need 2lbs of shredded chicken. We decided to go the boiling route, and plopped 2 lbs of halved chicken breasts into a pot of bowling water for about 12 minutes until cooked through. Then we shredded the chicken using two forks. You could also cook your chicken in a crockpot or use a rotisserie chicken for this recipe.

Step two: The sauce (AKA the Creamy Goodness)

Combine the following in a small pan and bring to a light simmer over low heat:

1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 tsp chili powder

Give it an occasional stir, and once warmed through remove from heat and cover.

Step Three: Sauté a small white onion in a big skillet coated with cooking spray until the onion softens. Toss in the shredded chicken and the following:

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Let all these treats simmer together for about 20 minutes, then stir in one cup of the creamy goodness and the filling is ready to groove:

Step Four: Rock n Roll. Get it?? Rock n Roll?? Ugh.. ok fine.

Spray a 9×13 pan with some cooking spray, spread the remaining creamy goodness on the bottom, then load up 6 Tumaro’s Low Carb Tortillas with 2/3 of a cup of the chicken filling. Roll the tortillas tight and place them seam side down in the pan:

Top the enchiladas with:

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
Shredded Cheese, if desired (honestly this doesn’t add much bang for the calorie buck, so I say forgettaboutit)

Pop these puppies into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes:

Then utilize the double-shovel method to extract the delicious enchiladas from the pan:

Serve with rice or corn or beans. Or Man Candy. You decide Winking smile

TADA!

Apparently someone’s thumb is a camera whore…

These enchiladas are pretty hefty (hefty, hefty… am I the only one who is physically incapable of saying “hefty” once??)… Anyway, I was full from one enchilada along with a bit of corn and rice. Jarrod ate two enchiladas and afterward questioned “how the heck he’d managed to consume that mass amount of food.”

At which point a 30 minute food coma commenced.

Added bonus: these enchiladas tasted just as good reheated the next day!

Stats on 1 enchilada (no shredded cheese): 321 calories, 31g carbs, 6g fat, 39g protein, 8g fiber.

Enchi-oo-la-la-das Ingredients List (makes 6):

2 lbs shredded skinless, boneless chicken
1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 small onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided
1 cup water
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
6 Tumaro’s Low Carb Tortillas
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Restaurants

A sweet weekend.

October 16, 2011 11 Comments

The past few weekends have been go-go-go: from Atlanta to Nashville to sleep-deprivation-fueled grumpiness seeping through every ounce of my bones. Thank the heavens this weekend was a completely different story.

Friday night the BF and I headed to Hawthorne’s to share some mouth-watering chili queso dip and small sausage pizza. And a few beverages, naturally. We had our hearts set on a balsamic glazed pasta dish and a hot fudge brownie sundae, but alas we wimped out after the first two courses. Amateurs.

Saturday, after I made out like a bandit at the outlet malls, we took advantage of the sunny day (hello high 70’s in October) and walked a mile uptown to have lunch at Dean & Deluca. I’ve never been to Dean & Deluca before, partly because I didn’t entirely understand the concept of the place and partly because I thought it was over-priced and hoity toity.

Randomly my Citi card (that I’ve had for a mere 11 years) decided to actually pay up on my “thank you” points, so I cashed those puppies in for a gift card to Dean & Deluca.

Inside of D&D, they’ve got various pantry staples like pasta sauce, noodles, spreads, and salsa. There’s also a large fully stocked sandwich bar with pretty much any toppings you could want on a deli sandwich. I went with the turkey breast on multigrain:

Loads of turkey, avocado spread, tomato, sprouts, and some chipotle mayonnaise. YUM.

The sandwich was about $9, but it was a hoss. Definitely worth the price tag. The side dishes on the other hand were a bit pricier. We nabbed some hummus and Stacy’s Pita Chips:

And some white bean salad:

At $4 a pop for the sides, plus two sandwiches, the chips, and two bottled waters our lunch came to $35. In my opinion, that’s a bit pricy for a sandwich shop, BUT it was rather delicious.

We’ll go back… once those thank you points rack up again Smile

After lunch we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. Grocery shopping is always a serious event for us because we each buy enough food to feed a small family. Walking past the card aisle it suddenly dawned on me that it was Sweetest Day! Whoops! I know, I know. Sweetest Day is a Hallmark holiday. Some of you might not even know the day exists. I don’t care though. I’m all about celebrating and will take any excuse I can get!

Last year, we both forgot about Sweetest Day (clearly it’s a holiday of high importance). I was in the kitchen making lunch, when I realized our oversight. I turned to Jarrod, looked up at him with a look of angry rage, and said “It’s Sweetest Day! Where’s my chocolates, biotch?”

Yes. That happened.

Tee hee hee! I know, it’s horrible. It sure did give us both a good laugh though.

For this Sweetest Day, we stuck with our pre-realization plan and cooked up some enchiladas. All I can say is OMG. Recipe recap to come this week, promise.

Since we forgot about Sweetest Day, Sunday morning we woke up “bright and early” (9am) to have a post-Sweetest-Day breakfast at the Flying Biscuit Café.

We’ve been wanting to try this place out since we moved to Charlotte. There’s practically always a line outside and that’s usually a good sign that some good food can be found inside.

We sat outside on the back patio. It was so sunny and hot I had to take off my cardigan! Gotta love fall in the south!

I ordered the veggie omelet with some chicken sausage:

Even though we were loving the sunshine, it wasn’t making for super photo-snapping conditions. I was able to coerce Jarrod into helping me filter the light with a napkin:

Ahhhh… Look at that beautifully filtered light!

Jarrod got the cajun chicken scramble filled with goat cheese and spinach and topped with a well spiced tomato sauce.

Oh… and we got a pancake. With chocolate chips. *insert drool here*

EVERYTHING about this breakfast was delicious. Well seasoned, crazy good flavor, and no grease to be found. I can’t believe we haven’t been to Flying Biscuit Café before. They even had this amazing apple butter on the table that tasted of pure fall bliss. Cannot wait to go back and try their oatmeal pancake!

After breakfast I convinced Jarrod to go for a run with me! Jarrod HATES running. Despises it. LOATHES the idea. He gave it his all, and we made it nearly 4 miles split between intervals of running and walking. I am so proud of him Smile

While relaxing after the run, we watched the Browns lose Devil , cooked up some sweets for the Blogger Sweet Swap, then dined on some crockpot Chicken Taco Chili (posts to come this week, PROMISE!).

All-in-all a relaxing food-filled weekend with my sweet. I actually feel ready for Monday… dang hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

Recipes

Oatmeal Envy.

October 11, 2011 24 Comments

I have an intense love and passion for overnight oats.

Those cool creamy oats topped with sliced fresh fruit and a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt make the absolute perfect breakfast… that is until October rolls around. Then I want nothing to do with anything cold and EVERYTHING to do with all things warm and gooey.

BRING ON THE COMFORT FOOD! WOOOOOOOO! Party smile

In the chilly months, I keep a jumbo tub of quick oats in my desk at work. Every day when 10am rolls around I cook up a serving of oats in the microwave and garnish with a teaspoon of brown sugar and some ground cinnamon… which I also conveniently keep in my desk. Don’t judge.

These microwaved oats satisfy my cravings for warm and gooey, but they always leave a bit to be desired on the palate. The microwave seems to zap out all that oaty texture I love and leave you with a bowl of pasty porridge.

Then I had this BRILLIANT idea.

Sunday night, I cooked up a big owl batch of oats on the stove, where any decent bowl of oatmeal should be birthed.

For each serving of oatmeal, I tossed a 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries into a 2 cup pyrex glass bowl.

Am I the only one who is obsessed with these little bowls? They are the perfect size for portioning.

Gosh, I love fractions*… errrr I mean portions. I love portions.

*I wasn’t kidding. I love fractions… and algebra…

Once the oatmeal was cooked (I like mine just a little runny), I poured the oats evenly into the bowls right overtop of the blubes.

Mmmmmm….. Doesn’t that look delicious?!

I know. It looks like crap. Bare with me.

At this point, I let the oats cool off a bit while I clean up whatever disaster I’ve created in my kitchen. I sprinkle the cooled oats with my go-to-combo: ground cinnamon, 1 tsp brown sugar, and 10 grams of Trader Joes Unsalted Dry Toasted Sliced Almonds.

Geeze that’s a mouthful.

Yes, I weigh all my ingredients.

No, officer that’s not a drug scale. It’s for my oatmeal fractions I mean portions. Portions, sir.

Feast your eyes on this GLORIOUSNESS:

At this point all you do is pop some lids on these beauties. DO NOT STIR. When you’re ready to feast the next day pop the oats into the microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds. Did I mention not to stir them?

As the oats warm up, the moisture will help to steam the blueberries and they’ll burst along the bottom of the dish. Once nuked (then and only then) you can give them a good stir. Trust me. Waiting to stir til the end is key. You’ll actually be able to taste the itty bit of brown sugar rather than it getting lost in the oaty wilderness.

These are my new favorite oats because they retain that oaty texture I adore and because they are friggin delicious. I think that’s reason enough.

I like to make 2-3 servings of these oats at a time for grab-and-go breakfasts throughout the work week. They release a glorious smell when reheated that I guarantee will waft out of the kitchen and make your coworkers jealous.

Promise.

Stats: 250 calories, 39g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

(1/2 cup quick oats, 1/4 cup blueberries, 1tsp brown sugar, 10 grams TJ’s unsalted dry toasted slice almonds)

Travel

Food.Blog.Forum.

October 10, 2011 27 Comments

What’s up guys? Hope you had an awesome weekend! I spent mine over in Nashville for the much-anticipated Food Blog Forum! My brain hurts from the vast amount of information learned in zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

zzzzz……

zz.

Whaaat? Where am I?!

Ohhhh… My bad. Suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation over here!! Anyway…. This weekend I made the voyage to Nashville with Vanessa of Life Undeveloped, Brooke of Baking with Basil, and Jamie of Bibliophiled Away. I left Nashville a mere two days later with a few new friends, 17 pages of notes, 33 items on my want-to-do list, and crap ton of free swag!

Look at all this stuff!

Free stuff = happy foodies!

Our first night in town we headed over to a Taste of Nashville party at the farmers market where we were given the task of sampling everything from mustard slaw hotdogs to goo-goo clusters to vanilla vodka over blood orange soda. It was horrible.

Out of everything I sampled, My FAVORITE nibblet was the Onion Bisque from the folks at Perl. I am sending hopes and prayers that they someday offer this soup online.

Please!! I beg you!!!

We also got to see a live cooking demo with Arnold Myint. Arnold is a Nashville native who owns several restaurants in the city. He was also a Top Chef Season 7 contestant. Since I cancelled my cable to support my coffee addiction, I had no clue who this guy was until I read the marketing flyer… Regardless, it was super fun to see a professional chef at work in the kitchen. I really liked the lentil tacos he cooked up. I’m going to try to recreate them… one day. Hmmmm where did I put that want-to-do list anyway?

Saturday was JAM PACKED with forum sessions on different topics, including: PRspectives, recipe writing, blogging etiquette, food styling & photography, working with brands, blogging as a business, and social media.

My favorite of all the sessions was the food styling & photography session with Todd Porter & Diane Cu, the White on Rice Couple. Beyond being extremely informative, it further cemented my desire to become a better photographer. It also resulted in about 7 of the want-to-do’s on my list!

Look at us all ready to get our learn on! And our eat on, obviously.

Caroline, Brooke, Moi, Jamie, Vanessa (thanks to Vanessa for the people photos!)

For lunch we hit up some local food trucks for a sampling of their tastiest wares.

The weekend was pretty much scheduled out from start to finish, so there wasn’t much time left for exploring Nashville. Sunday morning I took a quick stroll in hopes I might stumble upon something interesting near the hotel.

All I found was this piece of art… and I have no idea what the heck it is.

Travel

Here we go….

October 7, 2011 4 Comments

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