Never have I ever…

Hello blogworld…I’m feeling uninspired with my blog today so I thought we could play a little game “Never have I ever _____” (keep it clean and keep it to food / fitness).  

I’ll start it off   

1. Never have I ever eaten calamari — and nor would I.  It gives me the heebee jeebees just thinking about it.
2. Never have I ever taken a Zumba class, but I totally would because I love to dance
3. Never have I ever consumed a glass of milk and enjoyed it.  I stopped being forced to drink a glass with dinner at age 11.  Thank you Mom!
4. Never have I ever baked my own bread from scratch..sans breadmaker.  Sigh.
5. Never have I ever ran more than 9.5 miles (and that was back in high school)
6. Never have I ever tried nutritional yeast, but I want to especially if it can sub for cheeeese!
7. Never have I ever been able to jump high.  My hubby laughs at me for this.  My toe touches in Poms were so low!
8. Never have I ever liked fish and I’m quite satisfied with this decision thank you very much
9. Never have I ever not liked a meal that lasts for multiple courses and multiple hours
10. Never have I ever eaten eggs — just can’t get over the flava and texture..yick! 
11. Never have I ever loved tofu as much as I do now that I’m no longer a vegetarian
12. Never have I ever taken 2 Bikram Yoga classes back to back, but am dying to do so!  Bring the sweat on baby!
13. Never have I ever felt full.  Okay that’s an exaggeration, but I swear I’m like a cow with 7 stomachs
14. Never have I ever believed cooking and baking were unattainable…just more of a challenge
15. Never have I ever gone on the Twinkie diet as seen here, but it sounds tempting for a day or two =P
16. Never have I ever done the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp

Source: http://media.photobucket.com/image/lady%20and%20the%20tramp%20spaghetti/lilove1/lady-and-the-tramp.jpg

 

Okay your turn to fill in the blank (food / fitness / health): Never have I ever _________  

Enchiladas for the season

Do you want to know how to make these? 

Pumpkin Enchiladas

 

I hope I’ve intrigued you just a little, because when I saw these on I’m an Oakie, I immediately tagged the site and counted the days until I could recreate!  Having a guest in town sounds like the perfect occasion so that’s what I made for Natalie and the hubby Friday night  

Let’s talk ingredients: 

Ingredients (adapted by me ): 

• 7-8 medium-large flour tortillas (I used large La Tortilla Factory tortillas that were 100 cals each)
• Shredded Chicken  (from 2 medium-large chicky breasts)
• 1+ cup enchilada sauce (I used Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce)
• 2/3 can canned pure pumpkin
• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 small yellow squash, chopped
• 1/2 to 1 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
• Sharp cheddar cheese from block
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• Ground black peppa
• Tapatio sauce, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400deg while you prep your veggies and boil your chicken.  Boiling is the fastest/easiest way to shred chicken.  Yep, it’s totally unappealing, but you can pretty much boil it and forget about it for quite some time.  Then let it cool and use two forks to shred. 

Meanwhile, saute all your chopped veggies in a bit of EVOO in a large non-stick skillet.  Sprinkle about 1-2 tbsp of your taco seasoning onto your sautéed veggies for flava!   Transfer to large once cooked, but still slightly crunchy.  Scoop in hefty amounts of pumpkin (1/2 to 2/3 can): 

Pumpkin and veggies

 

Make use of your available skillet and place your shredded chicken inside, add 2 tbsp taco seasoning and a bit of water and let cook at very low heat just to incorporate the seasonings. 

Here chicky chicky

 

Now take your block-o-cheese and make 1 oz slices (one for each one of your enchiladas). 

It’s time for some assembly!  Lay your tortilla flat, scoop a hefty amount of your pumpkin veggies on the bottom, add some of your shredded chicky, and your 1 oz slice of cheddar. 

Eyeball the fixin's for your enchilada

 

Roll it up all nice and pretty and place in 9×13″ casserole dish.  Continue to do the above and tightly pack all your enchiladas together.  (Note, I did not ‘grease’ the casserole dish, but I did drizzle some enchilada sauce on the bottom to prevent sticking).  Now that they are all snug, poor as much enchilada sauce as you’d like  

Time to bake!

 

And now you bake at 400 deg (uncovered) for about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle the top with your shredded cheese and bake for another 5 minutes. 

Serve with chips and TJ’s corn salsa.  Serve yourself up a sizeable portion.  Smile. 

My plate (messy and tasty)

 

Do you make enchiladas home?  If so, any suggestions or links for variations? 

What’s your favorite Mexi dish? 

Check me out on Heather’s Faces of Beauty   You should do it too!

Shoes-day!

Today is going to be a bit of a tease.  Don’t hate me for it  

Oh yes, yes they are!

 

Sneak peak

 

What do you think I’m hiding? 

What do you do when you have such precious new shoes that you fear wearing them for the first time?