Guest Post: Danica from Danica's Daily

Hi all of Kristin’s readers ~ this is Danica from Danica’s Daily!  I was really excited when Kristin asked me to do a guest post for you all. I LOVE her blog and following all of her journey’s to become a nutritionist and CHEF!

Lazy Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

This recipe is something I created in college and it has truly become a family/friend favorite. My friend always made these awesome chicken enchiladas and I really wanted to try to recreate them. The only problem for me is keeping the tortillas from splitting. I got flustered one night and ended up sort of throwing “Lazy Enchiladas” together by tearing the tortillas and layering them. Little did I know that this would turn out to be pretty darn good. This recipe is even better the next day, can be made ahead of time and can be frozen too. I have used all meats (beef, chicken, veggie crumbles) and they all taste great.

Ingredients

28 oz Old El Paso Mild Enchilada Sauce (the large can – any brand)
1 small onion(s), diced (optional)
1-2 lbs cooked chicken (use leftover, boil, or grill some up or use rotisserie chicken)
12-15 corn tortillas
1 small can sliced olives
8 oz Kraft 2% Milk Natural Cheese Mexican four cheese shreds

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and saute chopped onion until soft and slight browned. Add to a large bowl.

You can boil 4-6 chicken breasts for 20-25 minutes, use left over chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken. You need about 2 cups or 1 lb. Shred chicken breast and add to onion bowl. Add enough enchilada sauce to coat. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper if desired.

Slice tortillas into 1/4 slices. Slice olives or buy pre-sliced olives.

In a 9×13 pan, start w/ spreading 1/2 c sauce and top with tortillas. Add 1/2 the chicken mixture and 1/2 c cheese. Top with a few olive slices. Add another layer of tortillas, 1/2 c sauce, the rest of the chicken mixture, 1/2 c of cheese and a few olive slices. Add final layer of tortillas, top with the rest of the sauce, cheese and olives.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

Enjoy with ff greek yogurt or sour cream, salsa and guacamole if desired.

**Make it Vegetarian by using veggie crumbles
*** Make it VEGAN by using your favorite beans (black beans) and soy cheese.

Nutritional information per serving, 8 servings:

Calories 239.3, Total Fat 7.5 g, Saturated Fat 1.9 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2.5 g, Cholesterol 20.6 mg, Sodium 1,046.5 mg, Potassium 156.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 28.2 g, Dietary Fiber 4.3 g, Sugars 1.5 g, Protein 15.5 g

I served mine up tonight with a little FF greek yogurt, green onions and slice avocado (mmmm, avocado!) on the side.

For our veggies, you can serve up a Cucumber Salad over some freshly chopped romaine.

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber, quartered
1/2 red & green bell peppers
1 container cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 teaspoon sea salt & pepper
Chopped Avocado
Chopped romaine lettuce (optional)
Instructions:

Mix all together and enjoy. You can pick and choose any vegetable you like. Sometimes we add onion or carrot or different types of bell pepper and/or AVOCADO! This recipe is pretty versatile and it’s great made up in advance.

I hope you enjoy the above two recipes ~ I know we LOVE them and make them often.  Be sure to stop by Danica’s Daily for more recipes and ideas like the ones you see above!