Chicken Tamale Pie

This is the new favorite meal at our house.  It is fairly easy to make and is great to use up leftover chicken.  I adapted it from this recipe.  A few people asked for it after tonight's potluck, so here it is.  I doubled the recipe to fit into the 9x13 pan.

Chicken Tamale Pie

Ingredients

·       ⅓ cup fat free milk

·       1 egg

·       1½ tablespoon taco seasoning, divided

·       1 (14¾ ounce) can cream-style corn

·       1 (8.5 ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)

·       1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained

·       1 (10 ounce) can red enchilada sauce

·       2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

·       ¾ cup Mexi-blend Cheese

Instructions

1.   Preheat oven to 400°.

2.   Combine the first 7 ingredients (milk through green chiles), using just ½ tablespoon of the taco seasoning, in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a round pie plate coated with cooking spray.

3.   Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes. While corn is baking, toss the chicken in the remaining 1 tablespoon taco seasoning. When corn is done – it will be just barely set and golden brown – pierce entire surface liberally with a fork or skewer (it might stick a little bit to the fork). Pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes.  Serves 6

Our Weight Loss Journey

First, thanks to the folks of TBC this morning for your kind words of encouragement this morning.  It is good to know we are not on this road alone and there are others out there striving and working to live a healthier lifestyle.

After this morning's sermon people have been asking Phil and I how we lost the weight.  Here is the "long story" and the short answer for how we did it.  This may not work for everyone, people have different metabolisms and different dietary requirements based on age and medical issues.  However, this is what worked for us.

The beginning of February Phil and I decided to make a change about how we were living our lives.  For the first 3 years of our marriage we spent most of eating fast food or junk food and we put on ALOT of weight.  Somehow I thought after my pregnancy with Caelyn it would all just slip off and I would be smaller than when I started, which I was at first.  I had gestational diabetes and watched every thing that went into my body.  However, I stopped watching what I ate and slipped back into our old eating habits. In the months after Jackson's birth I lost some weight from the stress of moving to a new place with a two month old baby that was crazy nursing baby, but just like before we kept on eating junk. Both of us had tried different diets at different times, but never together so we never stuck with them very long.

Both of our family histories are full of heart disease and diabetes and neither of us wanted that for ourselves and our children.  We had gotten to the point we were not sleeping well, breathing well, and were just not comfortable with the way were living and knew we were not glorifying God with the way were eating.

I am not exactly sure what brought us to the point of we need to do this now, but we decided that we were going to start immediately and do it together.  We started by counting calories.  We downloaded the Lose It app for our iPhones and started logging everything we put into our bodies.  Most days we stayed within the calorie requirement for the day, but somedays I exceeded that number.  Portion control is one of the biggest successes to us losing weight.  Most of us pour a big bowl of Cheerios in the morning, but a serving of Cheerios is only one cup.  I know I was eating a lot more than that.

The biggest and best challenge for be has been the cooking.  I LOVE to cook.  I LOVE to try new recipes.  Our first purchase was the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook.  The reason we chose this cookbook is that it seemed to have the most attainable recipes.  Few weird ingredients and all family friendly meals.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.  My other favorite place for recipes is www.skinnytaste.com.  This website has lower calorie versions of many restaurant and high calorie favorites.  We were struggling to get enough fruit and vegetables to eat, our goal is five servings a day.  I normally make a quick smoothie for breakfast and Phil eats eggs full of spinach, peppers, and mushrooms.  We also have been eating a lot of salads for lunch to squeeze them all in.

Phil is much better about exercising than I am.  I know people say if you keep doing it, you will love it.  I am still waiting for that day to come.  We recently began P90X, I think it is safe to say I am a P90X drop out...but I still plan on hopping on the treadmill and maybe, just maybe on occasion doing some of the P90X days with Phil.

There were two big things we learned while losing weight, #1 Not dieting, diets are unsustainable.  We changed the way we eat.  Eating less from a drive through window and the delicious sweet treats from the freezer and more fresh and low sugar foods. Trust me, I LOVE Pizza and a milkshake and both are an occasional treat.  #2 Have an occasional treat.  Studies show that dieters than occasionally allot for dessert in their diet plan are far more likely to sustain their weight loss over time that those that deprive themselves from sweets.

Here are the recipes already on the blog for the healthy foods we cook.

http://philandpamgiff.blogspot.com/2012/02/wonderful-white-whole-wheat-greek.html
http://philandpamgiff.blogspot.com/2012/02/buttered-noodles.html
http://philandpamgiff.blogspot.com/2012/02/our-new-favorite-veggie.html
http://philandpamgiff.blogspot.com/2011/03/sorta-chicken-parmesan.html

I love Pinterest.  I have found a lot of recipes on their website.  Here is a link to my healthy food board.
http://pinterest.com/giffordpam/healthy-stuff-to-eat/

Here are some other great websites with healthy recipes and advice for losing weight and eating a balanced diet.  If you have questions go see your doctor and they can point you to a Registered Dietician.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
http://www.sparkpeople.com/
http://madetocrave.org/

We are continuing to work and committed to living a healthier lifestyle.  Not everyday or week is going to be perfect.  We are just striving to eat better and move more.

Wonderful White Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Caelyn loves pancakes.  I love pancakes, really how can anyone not love pancakes.   In our quest to eat healthier I have tried soooo many different pancake recipes to find something low in calories that actually tastes good.  I think I finally found it!

My giant container of Chobani Greek yogurt had a recipe for pancakes on the back, I adapted it slightly and we had wonderful Wonderful White Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes.

Wonderful White Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Makes about 12

1 1/2 cups Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1 egg

Heat griddle to 325.

Mix together the yogurt, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (dry ingredients).

In a separate bowl mix together the milk and egg (wet ingredients).

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated, but still a little lumpy.

Pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle. Cook until the edges look dry and the center is bubbly.  Flip the pancake and cook till golden brown.

I hope you enjoy as much as we do!

Pumpkin Smoothie

If your family is like mine, sometimes getting the required fruit and veggies are a chore or sometimes even a battle.  I have one little boy who refuses to eat his veggies and will only eat fruit if it is freeze dried or pureed.  So we have opted for a pureed method we can all enjoy, SMOOTHIES!

I got this one from Family Fun Magazine and it was a hit with everyone.

Pumpkin Smoothie
Makes 4 small smoothies

3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. brown sugar
10 ice cubes

Combine ingredients in blender and puree until smooth.

Pour the smoothies into small glasses  and garnish each with a dollop of vanilla yogurt or whipped topping.

image from familyfun.go.com

Buttered Noodles

Last Christmas my wonderful Sister-In-Law got me the most wonderful cookbook, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield.  The author adds various vegetable purees to the recipes to mask the flavor of the vegetable, but still get kids the nutrients they need.  Making veggie purees isn't hard, just cut it up, steam it, and blend it till it looks like baby food. I make a few batches at a time and freeze  what I am not going to use.

I just now cracked it open and have loved all the recipes we have tried.  Our absolute favorite is Buttered Noodles.  However, we make a few changes to fit our family and incorporate quite a few leftovers, such as Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower.  We also chop up left over roaster chicken or grilled chicken to add some protein.  I use Tri-Colored Bow Tie Pasta because it looks fun, I know that is very unscientific, but it works for my kids.

"Buttered" Noodles

8 oz Tri-colored Bow Tie Pasta

1/2 Yellow Squash Puree

1/4 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons margarine

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more for topping

1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook according to package directions

Drain and return the pasta to the warm pot and add squash puree, milk, margarine, Parmesan, and salt.

If you are planning on adding vegetables and chicken, increase the milk to 1/3 cup, 3 Tablespoons of margarine, and 3 tablespoons of parmesan.  

Our New Favorite Veggie

We love broccoli.  However, you can only eat so much steamed broccoli.  In my quest to find something new I came across Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower from Martha Stewart.  You can find that recipe here:Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower.

However, I made a few adjustments to reduce the calories and the lemon flavor for the little people in our family.  Here is how we do it:



1 head broccoli, broken into 1-inch florets
1/2 large head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper


Preheat oven to 475 degrees
Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (trust me, it makes clean up a cinch)
Spray with a light coat of olive oil baking spray
Place broccoli and cauliflower on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper
Toss to coat all the veggies with oil, salt, and pepper
Place lemon slices evenly spaced across the top
Bake for 25 - 30 min tossing once half way through

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as we do.  We use any leftovers in Buttered Noodles & Chicken.

We're Back!

This summer has been crazy busy and is continuing into the fall.  Phil and I are in the process of "taking back" our routines.  For me, that includes adding in time to keep blogging and adding more family stuff to the blog.

We recently changed up our grocery shopping schedule, shopping on Mondays is just too hectic after a long Sunday.  That being said, we now shop on Tuesdays.  We had a wonderful experience shopping today and got some great deals at BJs using our coupons.

Here is what we are eating this week:

Tuesday:  Pork Chops and Butternut Squash Risotto
Wednesday: Pizza
Thursday: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Friday: Scalloped Potatoes & Chicken Sausage
Saturday: Sloppy Joes & Sweet Potato Fries
Sunday: Sandwiches
Monday: Corn Dogs & French Fries