Lime-Jalapeno Chicken Upside Down Nachos

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All right friends, last one for the night!  This one I actually started taking pictures later on in the process, so work with me!  :)  I had originally decided I didn't want to post this one, when it was just the Lime-Jalapeno Chicken.  However, when I saw how low the calories were just for the chicken, I decided to make something else with the chicken and that's how I got Lime-Jalapeno Chicken Upside Down Nachos!
So the first part, without the nachos, was an actual meal adapted from Eating Well.  First thing's first: I whisked some lime juice, canola oil, white vinegar, cumin and salt in a bowl, then added one jalapeno that I had sliced.  After that, I placed some chicken breasts into a glass baking dish, poured the liquid over the chicken and let it marinate during the day while I was at work.
Then, when I got home, I heat my grill pan over medium-high heat, spraying it with some cooking spray.  I added my chicken and cooked through until no longer pink.  Some pieces I had were larger than others, so overall it took about 8-10 minutes to grill.

While it was grilling, I started slicing some corn tortillas into small chips (cut it first in half, then cut the halves in half, and then cut those once more).  I placed them onto cookie sheets, spraying them with some cooking spray, and cooked them in my oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for about 10-12 minutes, just make sure to eyeball them so they don't burn on the bottoms.

Then I also chopped some tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, onions and green onions as toppings.  I also tried my best to make a cheese sauce.  It wasn't amazing, but it worked.  Unfortunately, I was having a bit of a difficult time with the cheese sauce, so I forgot to take photos of that!  However, I used about 1 1/3 cups of Mexican blend cheese and melted it with about 1/4 cup milk until the sauce was a bit liquid and stringy.  Next time I'll be trying something else, maybe a bit more liquid, but it was delicious!

Then I diced the chicken, put them on plates, and added the toppings as my family prefers (I always use the sour cream and Tapatio myself!).  I wanted to make sure the nachos were yummy so instead of piling them all on top of the chips, I decided to make a mixture and put the chips on the side, so each person got to basically 'dip' their chips.  It was pretty cool because not a one of us got a chip that wasn't full of toppings.  It was fun to eat and voila!  That's how we do dinner in this house!  :)

The meal, with the chips, was only 514 calories (this was based off of my nachos, which had tomatoes, cilantro, both onions and sour cream) and only $4.35/serving!  The meal made 4 servings and each serving included 32 homemade tortilla chips.  That's right, I totally counted them to make sure everyone had an even amount.  :)  Yum!

Here's the recipe!

For the Lime-Jalapeno Chicken:

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For the Homemade Tortillas:

16 small corn tortillas, cut into triangles
cooking spray

For the Toppings:

Tomatoes, diced
Lettuce, diced
Onions, diced
Green Onions, diced
Cilantro, diced
Sour Cream
Any kind of cheese you prefer
Basically anything you want to put on top, just recalculate the calories if you change it!  :)

Happy cooking everyone!!

Asian Chicken & Noodle Skillet

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Hello again, and here's another installment of Mama Feta's Meals!  Anytime I can use ramen noodles to make a delicious meal, I'm all for it!
So first thing's first: I took 2 pounds of chicken breasts and cut them into thin strips and then set those aside.  Then I sliced some carrots, a red bell pepper and some green onions, setting those aside, as well.

Then I took a small mixing bowl and mixed sesame oil and two seasoning packets from Oriental flavored ramen packages.  The recipe also called for Asian seasoning mix.  I gotta be honest with you, I had NO idea what that was (I know, I'm a terrible part Asian, leave me be!), so I just used my Chinese five spice, and it actually really worked well!  Once I mixed that, I added 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet and added the chicken, cooking it for about 8-10 minutes, until it was done and the juices ran clear.

Once the chicken was cooked, I removed it (making sure to keep it warm) and added the carrots and bell peppers, cooking for about 2 minutes until it was tender/crisp.  Then I added 4 cups of water, as well as two additional season packets, to the skillet, loosening any brown bits that had stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Then I added the dry ramen noodles to the mix, as well as the white parts of the green onions, covering it and letting it simmer for about 5 minutes, checking it once or twice to make sure all sides of the noodles were softening.  Then I put the chicken back into the mixture, removed it from the heat and let is stand, covered, for about 4 minutes.

Then I garnished it with the rest of the green onions and voila!  Dinner was served!!

This meal was so good, and right up my husband's alley.  Like I said, I'm a terrible part Asian (I hardly ever make any Asian food, and, of course, it's his favorite!).  Seeing as this meal was so easy, I may have to work on getting more recipes in like this!

The meal was only 260 calories (the recipe made 6 servings) and was only $1.73/serving!  For real!

Here's the recipe!

2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned

1 medium red bell pepper, sliced

5-6 green onion with tops, sliced

2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons Chinese five spice

4 packages Oriental flavored ramen noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cups water

Happy cooking everyone!!

Garlic Chicken with Orzo Noodles

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Happy Sunday everyone!!  This meal I made last week and it was really delicious!  I've always wanted to use orzo and I was glad I did!
So, first thing's first: I cut 2 chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and set it aside, and then  I also chopped 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley and peeled two cloves of garlic.

I brought out my larger skillet, added 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and heat it on medium-high heat.  Then I added the whole garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, cooking it until it was golden brown.  Once that was browned, I added the bite-sized chicken and seasoned it with some salt, cooking it for about 5-7 minutes.

While the chicken was cooking, I brought a pot of water to a boil and cooked the orzo until al dente, about 8 minutes, draining it and immediately adding it to the chicken mixture.  I reduced the heat to medium, as well as added the chopped parsley, making sure to mix it well.

Then I added some fresh spinach to the mix and cooked it until it wilted, about another 5 minutes or so.  I love fresh spinach, so I'm always excited when I get to use it!  Then I topped the meal with grated Parmesan cheese and voila!  Dinner was served!

This meal was, surprisingly, very light.  I assume it was the orzo, which I LOVED.  It was like having rice with the taste of pasta, yummy!  The meal was only 351 calories per serving (the meal made 4 servings) and only $2.50/serving!
Here's the recipe!!

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
grated Parmesan cheese

Happy cooking everyone!

Mama's Italian Wedding Soup

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Another installment?  You bet your sweet cakes there is!  This meal was delicious and had a TON of leftovers, even after second helpings!
The ingredients seemed like quite a bit, but really ended up being fairly cheap items and made so much!  I adapted this recipe from All Recipes again (I love this site!).

First thing's first: in a bowl I added ground pork, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, dried basil and minced onion and mixed it together, forming 3/4-inch meatballs.  Then I set those aside.

Then I added 2 1/2 quarts of chicken broth to my large stockpot and heat it to a boil.  Once I got all of those liquids rolling, i added fresh spinach, seashell pasta, diced carrots and my pre-rolled meatballs.

I let that boil and then reduced the heat to medium, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes to let the pasta cook to al dente and cook the meatballs.  Then I added Parmesan cheese to the top and voila!  Dinner was served!  As I said before, this was so delicious and everyone went back for seconds and we still had leftovers!

The meal was only 154 calories per serving (it made 10 servings total), and was only $1.01/serving, and I'm not joking.  I'm telling you, if you don't have a WinCo in your neighborhood, BEG for one.  It's amazing!
Here's the recipe!

1 pound extra-lean ground pork
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 tablespoons minced onions
2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
1 cups spinach - packed, rinsed and thinly sliced
1 cup seashell pasta
3/4 cup diced carrots

Happy cooking everyone!!!

Cheesy Italian Tortellini

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Hey there, hi there, ho there!  I know, I've been slacking, but the past few weeks have been pretty crazy!  What with the end of the school year approaching, trying to get everything finalized for our upcoming cruise, camping trips, immunizations for the upcoming school year, our oldest having his birthday coming up, AND our anniversary, I've literally just been swamped.
Have no fear, though, I am back with a few meals which I hope you will enjoy!!!
This meal I made was a slow cooker dish and was really quite yummy.  I adapted my recipe from the recipe found on All Recipes.
First thing's first: The night prior I decided to save myself a bit of time and cook the ground turkey (obviously the recipe called for ground beef) and Italian sausage (this one I also wanted to do lighter, so I used Italian chicken sausage).

Once I browned this, I put it is some Tupperware and refrigerated it until I needed it the next morning.  After that, the rest was a cinch!  I put the meats, along with some pasta sauce, mushrooms and Italian-style diced tomatoes into my slow cooker, setting it on my low setting to cook for about 8 hours.

While that was stewing away to become something delicious, I was working hard!  When I came home, all I had to do was briefly cook my cheese tortellini's in some boiling water.  The recipe originally called for the refrigerated kind, but I found going to the bulk section of WinCo and buying the dry kind worked just as well!  I just let it cook for about 8-10 minutes or so and drained!

Once that was mixed into my sauce, I added some mozzarella and cheddar cheese on top, covered the slow cooker back up and cooked it for another 15 minutes or so, until the cheese was melted and voila!  Dinner was served!

This was such cheesy goodness that I can't even begin to tell you, you just need to try it!  The best part is it was only 468 calories per serving (the meal made 6 servings) AND only $1.80/serving!  No kidding!!!
Here's the recipe!

1/2 pound ground turkey
1/2 pound Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
16 ounces pasta sauce
4.5 ounces canned sliced mushrooms (drained)
9 ounces dried cheese tortellini (if you want to use the refrigerated kind, you can)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Happy coking everyone!!!!!

Chicken Manicotti

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Hello again!  This was a meal I made a few nights ago and it was soooooo good!
First thing's first: I preheated my oven to 350 degrees.  While that was warming, I mixed some pasta sauce with some water, and then put 1/3 of that mixture on the bottom of a glass baking dish.  I sprinkled some garlic salt onto chicken tenders (I sliced them into chicken tenders from some chicken breasts), and then stuffed those into manicotti shells, putting the stuffed shells on top of the sauce.

Then I poured the remaining sauce on top of the shells and covered it with foil, baking it in the preheated oven for 1 hour.  Once that cooked, I uncovered it and added some mozzarella cheese, cooking it for another 5 minutes to melt it.

Once that was done, I sprinkled fresh, chopped basil on top and voila!  Dinner was served!

The meal made 7 servings and was 370 calories for 2 manicotti's AND only $1.43/serving!!  Whoa!
Here's the recipe!

1 25.5 ounce jar pasta sauce
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 pounds uncooked chicken breast tenders
14 uncooked manicotti shells (8 ounces)
 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
Chopped fresh basil leaves

Happy cooking everyone!