Chicken Chimichangas

These are so delicious!! I always thought chimichangas were deep fried, so when I found this recipe, I was more than excited to try them. My kids liked them so much they asked for them the next day for lunch. We had eaten all of them for dinner. They were so upset they couldn't have leftovers for lunch. Needless to say these have made it on our "make at least 2 times a month" list. :] I hope you like them as much as my family did. Oh and I took some to my neighbor when she was sick and couldn't cook for her family. They also loved them. :]

Chicken Chimichangas

Ingredients

1 cup salsa, divided

3 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1/2 onion, diced

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 whole wheat, or brown rice tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Toppings of your choice: guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 425* F. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine 1/2 cup salsa, chicken onion, cumin, oregano and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring often for 15-20 minutes. Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture in the center of each tortilla; top with 2 tablespoons of cheese.

Fold in 2 sides of tortillas to enclose filling. Fold over top and bottom edges of tortillas, making rectangles. Secure with wooden tooth picks. Place, folded side down, on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Bake for 8 minutes; turn and bake 5 more minutes. Remove tooth picks before serving. Top with your favorite toppings, and enjoy!!

*Helpful tips

-Make sure your tortillas are warm. If they are not warm before you start to fold them, the edges will begin to crack and filling will fall out.

-Spray the entire bottom side of tortilla with cooking spray before adding filling to the non spray side. This will also help the tortilla from cracking.

Chicken Corn Quesadilla

When we finally were able to move back into our home I spent most days cleaning and painting. I didn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So I found lots of easy and quick healthy things to feed my family. This was one of their favorites, maybe because they can use their hands. But really there is a lot of flavor in these quesadillas for how quickly they come together. So if you're in a rush this is something you can fix up really quick.

Chicken Corn Quesadilla

Ingredients

Corn tortillas

1 Store bought rotisserie chicken

1 tomato, diced

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

grated cheese

butter

sour cream

salsa

Directions

Preheat a griddle to 375*. Remove skin, and pull meat off of the rotisserie chicken. Spread a little butter on the outside of two corn tortillas. Place both of the corn tortillas butter side down on the griddle. Spread some of the green chilies over one tortilla. Then sprinkle cheese and add some chunks of chicken and tomatoes on that same tortilla. Top with other buttered tortilla, once it is cooked, butter side out. When cheese is melted and tortillas cooked remove from griddle. Use a pizza cutter to cut into triangle shapes. Top with sour cream and salsa, enjoy!!

Gluten Free Cinnamon Spice Cupcakes

Here is another gluten free recipe using Gluten Free Pantry cake mixes. I really liked the taste of these. They don't have hardly any fat in them, even with the frosting, which is always a plus when it comes to dessert! Then you don't feel so bad when you have two, or maybe three. :]

Gluten Free Cinnamon Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 spice cake mix from gluten free pantry

2 eggs

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons rice milk

1 1/3 teaspoons GF vanilla extract

1/2 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a large measuring cup add tablespoon of lemon juice, then add rice milk until it measures 1/2 cup. Then add the extra 2 tablespoons; Set aside. Place cupcake liners in cupcake tin. In a medium mixing bowl mix together all of the ingredients. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack. Frost with Meringue Frosting, found here, Sprinkle with Cinnamon and enjoy!!

Recipe inspired by Wendy Paul

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Today our Fun Food Find is Gluten-Free cake mixes. This is the brand of cake mix I used for yesterday's recipe. I used a few of their products now and I'm really pleased with them so far. They have good flavor.

You can buy these at Health Food stores and some Grocery also carry them in their Gluten Free section. Just ask the store where their Gluten Free section is.

Gluten Free Churro Cupcakes

I hope you all had a fun holiday weekend. Mine was fun, and a little longer, spending time with my family and good healthy food. :]

There are lots of recipes out there that call for a cakes mix. I've been experimenting with some gluten free cake mixes. The biggest problem with them is that they are much smaller than normal cake mixes. So you have to do a lot of math to change recipes to make them work. You don't have to worry about that with this recipe, I've already done those changes and of course a few more healthy changes of my own too. :] I really liked how these Churro Cupcakes tasted. I also loved that I didn't have to make frosting for them, though you can if you want to. If you like cinnamon you love these!

Gluten Free Churro Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 Gluten Free Pantry old fashion cake mix

2 eggs

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons applesauce

3/4 teaspoon GF vanilla extract

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1 1/3 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350* F. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl mix together cake mix, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla. Put 2 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner. In a small bowl mix well; evaporated cane juice and cinnamon. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cinnamon mixture on top of batter. Then fill each liner with batter until 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle the top of each cup cake with remaining cinnamon mixture. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes

Recipe inspired by wendy paul

Fun Food Find Friday!!

Our Fun Food Find for today is Lets do Sprinkelz. They are the perfect topping for cupcakes, cakes, and ice cream. They taste wonderful! They are not as bright as the sprinkles you normally see at grocery stores. These ones don't have all of the extra food coloring in them. They are gluten free too. My kids love them!

I have bought these at health food stores as well as www.naturalcandystore.com

Turkey Pasta Soup

Sorry about not posting yesterday for Wisdom Wednesday. It was a crazy day. :]

This spring has been so cold and rainy where I live. When the weather is like that outside I like to have warm food inside. This is a wonderful soup. It has lots of flavor and is very filling. Everyone who has tried it has loved it, even my children. :] Another good thing about this recipe is that it is quick. It only takes about 30 minutes to make and you have a wonderful healthy meal!

Turkey Pasta Soup

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked small brown rice or whole wheat pasta shells

1 pound 99% lean ground turkey

2 medium onions, chopped

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

5 cups water

5 teaspoons better than bullion

2 cans white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large stock pot, cook turkey with onion over medium heat, continually breaking up ground turkey until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. In a separate bowl combine water and better than bullion until dissolved, then add to stock pot along with beans, tomatoes and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add to the soup. Cook 5 minutes longer or until heated through and enjoy!!

Original recipe found on tasteofhome.com