What I have learned Thursday (on Friday)… How to prepare low calories meals.

One thing that I have strived to learn in the last 13 years of marriage is how to prepare healthy meals.

I love a good family meal as much as the next person, but we all know how hard it is to prepare a healthy family meal every night.  Especially when you just want some of that yummy comfort food. 

I believe you can still have comfort food.  I also believe you can make it better for you. I also believe that it can still taste good.

In the last 9 years, I have had 4 babies and nursed all 4 babies until one year of age.  I am not one of those girls who loses a ton of weight while nursing.  I have to work at every pound I take off after each baby.  I am happy to say that I have been able to loose all of my baby weight after each child.(with lots of uphill battles every day) 

Many of you may think that I am just one of those girls that it comes easy to, but I am telling you all of this because I want you to know that I do work at it.  I work at it every day. (Well, not everyday.  Some days I eat like a crazy person and throw it all to the wind.) I do have to keep it in check.  I have to watch what I eat, and exercise everyday. Staying healthy for my family is important to me.

One of the most important things to learn is substitutions.  I have found other things that work just as well in the place of a high calorie or fat ingredients.

This last week, we tried a little take on some Buffalo Chicken Tacos.  I found them here.

This is how I made them just 175 calories.  That means you can eat 2 for just 350 calories. 

They are now my husbands favorite food.

So here is my version.

 What a perfect Super Bowl Sunday recipe that you don’t have to feel bad about.

Lite Buffalo Chicken Tacos

(adapted from here)

(recipe makes 4 tacos)

20-25 pieces of Tyson fully cooked fajita chicken strips

1 t. olive oil

1/8 c. flour

1 T. cornstarch

2 T. Panko crumbs

sprinkle of cayenne pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/8 C. wing sauce

4 6-inch yellow corn tortillas

(white corn work fine too, they are a few more calories, corn tortillas are so much better for you then flour)

1/3 C. shredded Monterey jack or mozzarella cheese

Topping:

lettuce

1 T. ranch dressing

cilantro

tomatoes

onions

1. Thaw out chicken pieces

2. add olive oil to a pan

3. put flour, cornstarch, panko, cayenne and garlic into a ziplock bag.  add thawed chicken and shake until covered.

4. put each piece of chicken into the pan with the oil and cook until the chicken starts to brown some.

5. spray a skillet with pam, and place tortillas on top.  Sprinkle the 1/3 cup cheese among the 4 tortillas (divided evenly) See how far 1/3 cup of cheese can go? It is important to measure it. 1/3 cup of cheese is only 110 calories so it isn’t much when you divide it by four.

6. when chicken is brown place it in a bowl and cover with 1/8 C. buffalo sauce.

(DO NOT DO THIS IN THE PAN, the heat and the buffalo sauce do not mix well.  TRUST ME!)

7. When covered in the sauce divide chicken evenly over the tortillas until cheese melts.  Take off the skillet.

8. In a separate bowl mix the shredded lettuce with 1 T. ranch. Make sure to measure this also.  Ranch dressing is full of calories.  (You could also substitute for lite and use a little more, but I am ranch snob.  I would rather have less of the real deal.)  By mixing the ranch with the lettuce, you get the whole flavor of the ranch without adding all the calories of pouring some right on your taco.

  Divide the lettuce between the 4 tacos.

9.  Add the rest of the toppings if you desire.  We were out of cilantro and tomatoes the night I made these and took pictures, but it is delicious with them. (It was the end of the month, and I hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet.)

10.  ENJOY!!

Jonathan is begging to have them every night.  I don’t mind because they are so easy, and pretty healthy.  I pair it with an apple or grapes and it makes a nice meal.

Have a great healthy weekend.

I also took a spin on these chicken enchiladas that have been floating all over pinterest.  I made them for just 387 calories for 2.  Stay tuned for that one.