Triple-Decker Tortilla

I was board one day, and when I'm board I like to search for fun and different recipes. When I came across this one, I had never seen anything like it before. It sounded fun to make. So I got to work. I did change a bunch and came up with a fun, different, and very delicious take on a tortilla. Hope you like it, we sure did!

Triple Decker Tortilla

Ingredients

1 or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon Chile powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon better than bullion

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained, and rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 cup salsa

1 package 6 ounce corn tortillas

1/2 cup shredded Monterrey jack or Cheddar cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 450*F. Lightly coat two or three 9 inch pie plates with non stick cooking spray. In a small bowl combine water, cumin, Chile powder, onion powder, better than bullion, and minced garlic. Place diced chicken in medium skillet on medium low heat. Pour mixture over chicken, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. While chicken is cooking mash the beans. In a separate skillet cook and stir the beans over medium heat for 2 minutes.

To assemble: Spoon a small amount of salsa into the bottom of the pie plate. Layer in order, 1 tortilla, enough of the warm beans to cover the tortilla with some of the corn, another tortilla, then cooked chicken, some of the cheese and a little more salsa, another tortilla, more beans and corn, another tortilla, then salsa and some chicken. Top with cheese. Spray the underside of tinfoil with non stick cooking spray and then cover triple decker tortilla. Use same assembly method for two more triple decker tortillas. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove tinfoil and bake another 3 minutes more. Top with your favorite toppings. Some suggestions might be, avocado, cilantro, sour cream, lettuce, and Enjoy!

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Vitamin C

Today I wanted to talk about another vitamin, Vitamin C. Vitamin C is very important to our bodies. Did you know that your body can not make it's own vitamin C? Well it's true. The only way our bodies can get this important vitamin in through the food we eat and the supplements we take. Vitamin C has many benefits which include, helping your body absorb iron and calcium, prevention of Scurvy, strengthening our immune system, it aids in the structure of blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and bones, it is also critical in aiding our brain function. That is how important vitamin C is to our body. If you don't have enough vitamin C you can develop Scurvy. If you have too much vitamin C our body just lets it go out through our urine. If you have too much for a long period of time it can make it so your body can't use vitamin B12 or you can develop kidney stones. As Americans we don't get enough vitamin C. Here are some food that are rich in vitamin C that you probably wouldn't have thought of.

Red sweet peppers, Green peppers, Guava, Oranges, Kiwi, Grapefruit juice, Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Brussels sprouts, Tomato juice, and others.

The RDA suggests that we consume 57-90 milligrams a day for adults. But some research suggests that if you get 500 milligrams a day it will increase your health dramatically. That is about 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. If you're not eating enough food that is rich in vitamin C, then it would be wise to use a supplement as well. But really doesn't food sound so much better than taking a pill? :] So remember happy healthier eating.

Other sources:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/the-benefits-of-vitmain-c

http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-sare/top-sources-vitamin-C-44102808

http://www.vitamindeals.info/articles/vitamin-c.html

Apple Crisp

We have two apple trees in our back yard. One is a Golden Delicious and we've always eaten them, they're very good. The other one, I'm not sure what it is. The apples come very early and they are quite sour. I don't like sour. This year the apples were so huge! Some were even the size of a soft ball! So I decided to try them again, give them another chance. They were still a little sour, but not too much that I couldn't eat them right off the tree. We picked a lot of them. This is one of the things that I did with them. It is a very warm, cinnamony, low fat, just crunchy enough, with the perfect blend of sweet and sour really any one could ask for dessert. :] I got the original recipe here. I hope you like it as much as I did.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

4 large apples (they don't have to be softball size, I didn't use ones that big:] )

1 cup LG flour mix

1/4 teaspoon xantham gum

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 tablespoons baking powder

1 egg

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

1 tablespoon butter, melted (ICBINB)

Directions

Preheat oven to 300*F. Mix together flour, xantham gum, 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice, baking powder, egg, and vanilla. The mixture will look like cornmeal. Peel, core, and slice the apples. Mix together with 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Place apples in a greased 8 inch square pan. Spread flour mixture over the apples. Mix together 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar, sprinkle over the top of the crisp. Drizzle with butter. Bake for one hour. Serve warm and enjoy!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

As I said last in Thursday's post, I've been using the crock pot/slow cooker more and more lately. When I came across this recipe I knew I just had to try it. I did make a bunch of changes and it was well worth it! It's nice to be able to make a barbecue chicken without just throwing in store bought sauce. My husband was so inspired he created his own barbecue sauce too. Now it's in the fridge and we love to use it. I'll have to post his recipe another day. Until then, try this savory barbecue chicken, yummy!!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon mustard

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

8 whole wheat hoggie buns, or Gluten Free tortillas

Directions

Place chicken breasts into the slow cooker. In a bowl, stir together the ketchup, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, evaporated cane juice, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and liquid smoke until well blended. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cook for 4 hours on high. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred or cut into small pieces. Return chicken to slow cooker and cook for one more hour. Serve the chicken and sauce spooned into the hoggie buns or tortillas, and enjoy!

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Since my last Wisdom Wednesday was on ph and I talked about drinking 'good' water, I thought I would share with you one of the waters that I like to drink. So our Fun Food Find today is Essentia. It has a ph of 9.5. My dad has a refractomoter that measures ph and it really was 9.5! I like that Essentia is also 'infused with electrolytes'. When my kids are a little sick I like to give them Essentia to help them stay hydrated with out all the extra sugar. When I've eaten too many foods that are acidic I like to drink a bunch of this water. It helps me feel better quicker than anything else. The other type of water I drink is reverse osmosis, I have a filter in my home.

You can buy Essentia on line, or at the Health Food Stores.

Crock Pot Swedish Meat Balls

These meatball are from my mom. They are so delicious, from what I remember anyways, very moist and tender with a rich creamy sauce. My husband and children love them. We usually don't have leftovers. Since school has started it seems that life has been even more busy. So I've been using the crock pot more and more. I was so excited about using these in the crock pot, and they turned out the same as if from the oven.

Crock Pot Swedish Meat Balls

Ingredients

2 lbs. ground beef

2 tablespoon dried onions

2 eggs

20 crackers crushed

salt and pepper

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Directions

In a medium bowl mix beef, onion, eggs, salt and pepper, and crackers. Form into balls a little bigger than golf balls. In another bowl mix soups together and pour half of mixture in crock pot. Place meat balls in a single layer on top of soup mixture in crock pot. Pour the remaining soup mixture on top of the meat balls. Make sure to cover each one with the soup mixture. Cook on high for 6-7 hours. Serve on cooked rice or cooked quinoa.

Wisdom Wednesday!!

Acid vs. Alkaline

Balance is very important when it comes to our health. Something I think that gets over looked is our body's ph, or the balance of our body's ph. Ph is the measure of the acid in your body. Your body's ph is extremely important when it comes to your health. Disease thrives on a low ph, or a ph that is more acidic. Having your ph in the acidic range for a long period of time can cause serious health problems because it suppresses your immune system and makes your body weak. A healthy ph level for our bodies is between 7.35 and 7.45. That is the normal ph of our blood, which is slightly alkaline. A more alkaline body is much more healthy. When you are slightly alkaline your immune system functions properly.
Our body fights everyday to maintain our ph levels. It wants to be balanced. We can make our body more acidic or more alkaline depending on what food we eat and what we drink. Almost all of the foods we eat release either an acid or an alkaline base into our blood after being digested. For example, soda has an acidic range around 2.5 ph ("similar to battery acid" reports Connie Eccles). To help our body process the soda and bring our body back to a healthier ph level we would need to drink about 32 ounces of good water, water that has a ph of at least 7. When I found that out it really did change my view on soda. So when you think about what you are going to eat, think about whether that food is going to make you more acidic or more alkaline. There are many list out there that tell you if a food is acidic or alkaline. Some go into more detail than others. If a food is a low level acid forming food then you can count it as neutral, such as most grains, most nuts and seeds, and butter. The same goes for low level alkaline forming foods such as, almonds, blackstrap molasses, and lima beans. The Wolfe Clinic has a list on their web site for acid and alkaline foods, click here to see it.
My point for this Wisdom Wednesday post is to help you to be more aware of the food that you are eating and how it can help or hurt your body. If you have tried many things and you are still struggling with being tired all the time, or you get flu and cold symptoms and you don't get the full virus, or maybe you have increased mucous and you can't seem to get rid of it, all of these are signs that your body is too acidic. Change your diet. Consume 80% of alkaline foods and 20% of acid foods along with drinking more good water. I'm sure that you'll feel better soon, and as always happier healthier eating!

Other Sources:
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/alkalinediet.htm
http://livestrong.com/article/47620-acid-vs.-alkaline-body/