WIAW: Pumpkin Enchilada Casserole

Hello, hello!  Hope everyone is having a great week.

#projectleanandclean is still in effect!

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Breakfast: Spinach Egg White Omelet, Toast, Berries

This past weekend I made a naughty cookie recipe (for a friend's birthday party--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMANDA!) that called for 4 egg yolks!  Crazy, right?  Well, the point of me telling you that is that I had 4 egg whites on standby, which might seem like alot to put in an omelet, but it's only 68 calories (Thanks, Google!).  So I made an omelet by wilting some fresh spinach and adding the four egg whites.  A 45 calorie wheat toast and a few strawberries on the side.  Oh, and coffee, of course!

A.M. Snack: Apple

I probably am boring the internet with all my apple snack pics-ha!  I eat an apple a day...to keep the doctor away?  Well, mostly just because they are readily available and usually delicious.

Lunch: Taco Soup

For lunch I had a cup of leftover taco soup from Monday night.
This is based on an old Weight Watcher recipe and is similar to my crockpot chicken taco soup.  But it's a little different, so I'll recount what I put in it.

Taco Soup
serves 6

1 lbs 93% lean ground turkey (or ground beef)
2-3 tbsp taco seasoning (I made my own using equal parts of chili powder, cumin, paprika; half the amount of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt & pepper)
2 cans black beans
1 can sweet corn
2 big (any color) bell peppers, diced (I used half of a red, half of an orange, and half of a yellow)
1/2 red onion, diced
1 can diced green chilies
1 cup diced fresh mushrooms
chicken broth (just enough to cover everything--maybe a can or a can and 1/2)

(I kind of wish I had tomatoes to add, but I was out, so add some diced or crushed tomatoes if you try this.)

Cook the turkey in an oiled pan until browned, add seasoning and peppers & onions (and diced mushrooms).  Cook until done.  Add cans (I just drained the beans, did not rinse--hence the lovely grey color of the soup) and broth.  Boil for a few minutes, then reduce to a simmer.

Serve with a dollop of reduced fat sour cream.

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I had such a busy day, that I did not have time for an afternoon snack.

I got home kind of late and went to work preparing this yumminess:

Dinner: Pumpkin Enchilada Casserole

This was supposed to be pumpkin enchiladas (from this recipe), but my corn tortillas started tearing when I was rolling them, so I just gave up and made a casserole.

I cooked most of my filling in the crockpot all day, so that was easy.  Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Enchilada Filling

3 chicken breasts

2 big (any color) bell peppers, diced (I used half of a red, half of an orange, and half of a yellow)

1/2 red onion, diced

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

Add all these things in the crockpot with enough chicken broth to cover.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork, drain and reserve 1/2 cup chicken broth (for the sauce).

Add this filling to 10 oz frozen, thawed spinach and season to taste.  I added salt and garlic powder.  I also added 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro.

Pumpkin Enchilada Sauce

1 cup Pumpkin Puree

1 tsp Chili Powder

½ tsp Cumin

¼ tsp Dry Oregano

¾ cup Plain, Low-fat Greek Yogurt

½ cup Unsalted Chicken Stock

Mix until combined.

Spoon a bit of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 oiled pan.  Lay corn tortillas overlapping (I think I used 5) and top with half of the filling.  Top with a little more sauce and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Add another layer of tortillas and cover with remaining filling, more sauce and another half cup of shredded cheese.

Bake at 425F degrees for 25 minutes.

(this makes about 6 servings)

This was really, really good!  If you have ever had Rotel chicken at a church potluck (the kind with crushed Doritos-OMG), it has a similar flavor, but is so, so much better for you!

After dinner, I had a cone of cookies & cream.

recycled pic from this post

Then it was puppy play time with this crazy goose!  She's getting tired of being cooped up from the cold weather, so she usually runs full speed in a circle around the living room.

Have a fantastic week!  See you soon with a recap of Part 2 of Project Lean & Clean.