Fabulous Tilapia Skillet

I made this recipe this evening for dinner and wanted to write it down before I forget what I did. It was one of those use what you have on hand dinners.

Ingredients

• 6 Tilapia fillets
• 6 to 7 garlic cloves chopped chunky
• 1/2 cup of chopped onion (I used frozen to be quick)
• A couple of handfuls grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 to 4 Tbsp of Olive oil
• Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
• garlic powder
• Marsala cooking wine (or any white wine you have on hand ... I don't think Marsala is considered white wine ... I have no clue about wine, but I really like cooking with it and a white wine would work with this, too, I'm sure)
• lemon juice
• black pepper
• parsley

Of course I didn't measure anything so these will all be estimates.

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a LARGE skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic and tomatoes. Let that cook a minute or two. In the mean time, put some garlic powder (not garlic salt) on one side of the fish. Then spinkle the Tony's over it (if you don't like too spicy, go gently with this). Put the fish down in the tomato/onion/garlic mixture seasoned side down. Sprinkle the unseasoned side (which should be up) with the garlic powder and then Tony's. Cook the fish a couple of minutes (until you can see it whitening up on the sides) and then flip it over. Pour about 1/2 to 1 cup of Marsala (or a white wine would work, too) over all of it. At this point I thought I needed some more olive oil, so I added another couple of tablespoons right over the top of everything. Turn the temperature to medium and cover the skillet. Let it cook down a little (about 3 minutes or so) and then add a few squirts of lemon juice (I just had bottled, but I'm sure fresh lemons would be even better) and sprinkle some parsley and black pepper on top. Cover again and let it cook until the fish flakes apart.

I served this over instant brown rice that I cooked in the microwave with fat free beef broth and a few shakes of Tony's. I also served a Caribbean Blend frozen vegetable mix (broccoli, green beans, carrots & red peppers) that I cooked on the stove top with just some olive oil, garlic powder, chopped onion, salt and pepper. I just put it all in a big skillet, covered it and let it cook until the veggies were tender.

A very quick, easy and healthy meal.

Easy Chicken Enchilada Pasta Skillet

I was looking for something fast and easy to cook for dinner tonight. We were blessed in that we didn't suffer too much damage here from Ike, but lots of the communities around us did ... and they are packing our grocery stores and gas stations ... so I'm staying away from the store and wanted to use what I had on hand. I came up with this recipe. The whole family loved it ... which is rare. I wanted to get this posted before I forget what I did. :o) Add a salad or a green vegetable to this and you have a complete meal.



Ingredients

1 thirteen ounce can of chicken breast, drained
1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped frozen onion
1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 can of green echilada sauce
2 or 3 shakes of garlic powder (or to taste)
2 cup of shredded cheese, divided (4 cheese mexican blend, monterey jack, pepper jack ... whatever you have on hand)
1/2 of a twelve ounce bag of cooked whole wheat blend egg noodles (or any other noodle you have on hand)

Directions

1. Cook noodles according to package directions (I put the noodles in boiling water and then started with the next step while the noodles were cooking to tender)

2. Drain chicken and mix with onions in a skillet that is heating on medium high. Once onions are soft, add the soup, enchilada sauce and garlic powder. Mix well and heat through. Add one cup of cheese and mix until melted. Turn the heat to low.

3. Drain the pasta and gently stir into the chicken mixture in the skillet.

4. Sprinkle the remaining one cup of cheese on top of the chicken and noodle mixture and serve.

Beef & Potato Casserole

I was looking for something to make with potatoes, because I picked up a 10 pound bag for $2.88 the other day and had lots of potatoes on hand. I found this recipe, did my own thing to it, and here it is. Sorry I don't have a picture, but I was late getting dinner on the table and didn't have time to get a photo. It was VERY good though. Because I was doing this in a hurry, so I didn't take time to stop and measure some of this stuff for you ... so just do it to taste.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef (I used 97% lean)
3 to 4 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4" thick)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% fat free)
Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Red cooking wine
Shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Put sliced potatoes in a medium sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until just tender ... about 5 minutes and drain. Be careful not to over cook these because if you do, they will fall apart, and you want them to retain their shape and not be mashed potatoes.

2. While potatoes are heating to a boil (be sure to set your timer when they start to boil), brown ground beef with ground pepper and garlic. Drain if necessary (I didn't have to because the beef I used was so lean)

3. Add soup, about 1/2 c. of red wine, and a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce to the ground beef and mix it until combined. Then add potatoes and gently mix to coat the potatoes with the meat mixture.

4. Pour the meat mixture into a 2 and 1/2 quart casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. If you want to do a 9x13 dish full, I would suggest doubling this recipe.

5. Sprinkle enough cheese over the top to cover it, then bake it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.

This amount will serve about 4 people.

I served this with fresh green beans cooked with butter and some drop biscuits brushed with garlic butter. The whole family plus our one dinner guest REALLY enjoyed it. Hope you do, too!

Take Along Cake

I made this cake for our church potluck, too. It was easy and SOOO moist and chocolaty without being WAY too rich. It is rich but not sickeningly rich. It was wonderful tasting and easy to "take along" because it didn't have icing (and doesn't need it). I got it out of The Cake Mix Bible.

Ingredients

1 package of Devil's Food cake mix (the recipe called for swiss chocolate cake mix, but I used devil's food)
1 twelve ounce package of semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup of miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Prepare the cake mix as directed on package. Add chocolate chips and marshmallows to batter. Pour into prepared pan. Drizzle melted butter over batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and top with pecans. Bake at 350 for 45 or 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream or cool completely in pan. Makes about 20 servings if you slice it 4 x 5.

Easy & Fast Chicken & Dumplings

Since cold weather has arrived in Texas, here is a super easy recipe I've adapted for my family. You can have this yummy, comfort food ready for your family in 30 minutes or less. This is my 5 year old's favorite dish, and he asks for it often.

Ingredients

2 large cans of chicken breasts (you can cook your own chicken breast and cut it up, but I like using the canned because it is so easy)

2 cans of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

2 teaspoons of chicken base (or chicken bouillon)

2 cups of water

1/2 teaspoon of black ground pepper

2 cups of Bisquick mix

2/3 cup of milk

1/2 tsp. of thyme

In a large pot, put the chicken (and the broth included), the two cans of soup, the pepper, the chicken base or bouillon) and water. Stir and bring that to a boil. In the meantime, mix the Bisquick, milk and thyme together. Once the soup mixture has come to a boil, make little balls of dough (a little larger than a marble) and drop them one by one into the soup mixture. Stir as necessary. This will make a lot of dumplings but they are our favorite part (especially my 5 year old's). Once you have dropped all of the dumplings, stir good, cover and turn the fire down to simmer. Let simmer ten minutes, stir again and serve. Be careful serving this to little ones right out of the pot ... it is SUPER hot and especially the dumplings (even if the soup part is cool enough to eat, the dumplings usually stay hot in the middle for quite a while ... I usually cut up the dumplings and serve just a shallow serving to my littlest ones ... it cools off quicker that way).

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Here is an easy way to make chocolate cupcakes even MORE special ... as if chocolate cupcakes are not special enough. I got this recipe out of the Cake Mix Bible.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1/2 C. of peanut butter
• 1 tub of creamy vanilla frosting (I've used the cream cheese frosting before and it works, too)
• Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, cut in half (enough for 1 half per cupcake)

Make your favorite chocolate cupcake mix according to package directions. Let them cool. Mix together the frosting and the peanut butter. Frost the cupcakes and top with one half of a peanut butter cup.

Tip: Put the peanut butter cups in the refrigerator while the cupcakes are baking. When you are ready to cut the peanut butter cups, they'll cut more cleanly and easily.

Frozen Pot Roast

I'm sure many of you may have known this, but for those of you who don't, here's a super easy recipe. The other day I was planning to cook a roast for dinner, and I usually do it frozen in my crock pot and let it cook all day. I have a BIG crock pot, but the frozen 4 and 1/2 pound brisket/roast was too big for my crock pot. So, I found a recipe and then put my spin on it. It was easy, quick to get ready to go in the oven and was DELICIOUS!!!


Ingredients

Frozen roast/brisket

1 can of Golden Mushroom Soup

1 packet of dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup of red cooking wine (or if you drink wine, I'm sure a good red wine would be even better, but since we don't drink wine I just use the cooking wine you can pick up near the salad dressing in the grocery store)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9x13 roasting pan with cooking spray and put the roast in there fat side up. I put a little ground black pepper on top. Mix the soup, the soup mix and the wine together and pour it over the roast. Put a large piece of foil over the top of it with enough foil to make a tent. Cook it all day. I put it in about 10 AM and it was wonderful by 6 PM. It was actually ready to eat when I checked it at about 4:30, but I put it back in the oven until it was time to eat. I served it with Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes that I made using butter gold potatoes and some California Medley vegetables. The meal was a HUGE hit and so easy!

Fajita Taco Salad

Sorry for not posting in a while. I've been busy painting and getting ready for a festival.

This recipe is one of our family favorites. It is super easy and quick, because I use mainly store bought prepared food. It is also really low fat. Depending what you put on it, it is usually only 6 points for Weight Watchers.

Ingredients for 1 Serving

15 baked tortilla chips (I usually put a handful of regular chips in my husband's)

Handful of Shredded Lettuce (I buy this in the produce section)

1/2 C. of Fat Free Refried Beans (Taco Bell's brand tastes the best to me but any fat free refried beans would do - here's a tip: I add a little bit of water to thin it up a bit otherwise I find it too thick)

3 oz of Pilgrim's Pride Frozen Fajita Breast Strips Fully Cooked (you could brown some hamburger meat and add taco seasoning to do beef taco salads)

1/4 C. of 2% cheese

2 T. of lite sour cream

1/4 to 1/2 cup of salsa (I use homemade salsa and will post that recipe ... that's one I'm always asked for)

Heat the fajita strips in the microwave according to directions (I usually add some fajita seasoning to it ... I like Fiesta brand). Add a little water to the beans and heat those. To me, it is very important the way you put something together ... the order. So, this is the order I ALWAYS put my taco salads together (which does no good for my husband because he then proceeds to mix it all together ... but I like the separate tastes.)

1. Put chips in bowl or on plate
2. put lettuce on chips
3. pour beans over lettuce
4. put meat on top of lettuce
5. add cheese
6. put a couple of dollops of sour cream on top of that
7. drizzle the salsa around the sour cream (but not on top)

If I have pico de gallo in the fridge, I put some of that on for zero points. You could add a couple of dollops of guacamole, too ... I can't remember the point value for that. Anyway, that's our super easy fajita taco salads that I make when I'm in a pinch for time. I like it, also, because it doesn't heat up the kitchen.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

This is a Paula Deen recipe, so you can't ever go wrong with that. It was VERY easy, but takes an hour and 45 minutes total time ... so plan for that when you make it. I was out of one of the ingredients and substituted something else. It was great, but I will definitely be making it again with all of the ingredients called for. I got the $18 pork tenderloin on sale yesterday for only $9 so that was a great find! We had a TON left over. I made sandwiches from it for Brian and the boys today and then we'll have it for dinner tomorrow night, too. I may disguise it in something else. Anyway, here's the recipe. It would be very impressive served for guests.

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin, with the fat left on
1 tablespoon of salt (this was a little salty ... I'll probably use just a little less, but I think the salt helps with the juiciness ... this was the most tender, juicy pork I've ever eaten)
2 Tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp of dried thyme or 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves (I used dried because that's what I had)
1 tsp of dried basil or 2 tsp fresh basil leaves (I was out of basil so I substituted dried cilantro)
1 tsp dried rosemary or 2 tsp fresh rosemary (I used dried once again)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Place the pork loin fat side up on a rack in a roasting pan. (I had a roasting pan but no rack so I used the rack out of my toaster oven and it worked great.) Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat. Make sure it ends up fat side up.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees and roast for an additional hour. (I had trouble getting my old oven to the 425, so I cooked it only about an additional 45 minutes). Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. (I used one with the rotary face so it wasn't instant but I just stuck it half way through the roast in the middle.) When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, remove the roast from the oven. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests (and will be cool enough to serve to guests).

Sloppy Chicken Enchilades, Version II

I got this recipe from Jill's recipe blog: Simple Daily Recipes Blog

She came up with the recipe when she was short for time and could only use what she had on hand. I used it last Thursday when I was in the same situation. Because I could only use what I had on hand, mine is different from hers, but based on the same principle. :o) To try her recipe, go to her blog. Here is my version of Jill's recipe.
Ingredients

2 cans of canned chicken breasts (the size that you can get 5 to a pack at Sam's)
1 tsp. of onion powder, or to taste
1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of light sour cream
1 and 1/2 tsp of chili powder (less if you want it less spicy)
1 and 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 can (4 oz.) green chilis
1 can of drained rotel tomatoes (use mild if you want it to be less spicy)
8 corn tortillas
2 cups of 2% Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain the canned chicken, and mix it with the soup, sour cream, onion powder, chili powder and cumin in a large bowl. I used my kitchen shears to cut the tortillas into strips (bite sized pieces). Add the tortillas strips, green chilis, and drained rotels. Mix just until the tortillas are coated with soup mixture. Empty the mixture into a sprayed 9x13 casserole dish and cover with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly on top.

TIP: I didn't do this, but if you were going to serve it to people other than your kids :o), after it comes out of the oven, you could plate it and top it with shredded lettuce (I love buying the bags of this in the produce section for sandwiches, tacos, salads, etc.); seeded, diced tomatoes; a dollop of sour cream; sliced black olives and/or a dollop of guacamole.

Cool Lemon Pie

Because it has been so darn hot in Texas the past couple of days, I offer this cool, refreshing dessert. It is one of my favorite pies ever. It is also super easy and no baking is required ... meaning you don't have to turn the oven on and heat up the house when it is 105 degrees outside! It comes from Weight Watchers Quick, Light and Healthy cookbook, and if you are counting points, it is 5 points for 1/10 of the pie ... not a lot of pie, but yummy.

NOTE: Serve this pie right out of the freezer. If you let is set out before you serve it, it will be too soft ... still delicious but it doesn't look as pretty glopped on the plate instead of nice and firm in a perfect pie triangle.

Ingredients

1 (14oz) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 (6oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted (I can't find 6 oz. cans here, so I just get the bigger can and use have and freeze the other half for later)

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

1 (6oz) reduced-fat graham cracker crust

Combine Sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate; fold in whipped topping. Pour mixture into crust. Cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight. Cut pie into 10 equal slices.

Yields: 10 servings

Also, be sure to check out Shannon's recipe blog! She is a dear friend who is one of the best cooks I know! Her desserts are her specialty I think ... or maybe I just really like sweets. Anyway, be sure to check it out. Here's the link: A Dash of This and a Pinch of That

Cranberry Chicken

This is an old recipe, but this is my version. I made it last night for dinner, because it is one of the few things that BOTH my older boys love (for the moment ... you never know from meal to meal with preschoolers). I didn't have exactly everything the original recipe called for, and I added a little something extra. This version turned out much better than the original version, I think. I'll make it like this from now on.

Ingredients

6 to 8 chicken breast halves (can be boneless skinless ... that's what I used, or bone in like thighs, leg quarters, breasts etc. The chicken with the bone in it will take longer to cook and if the skin is on, it won't be low fat. :o)
1 bottle of Catalina dressing (I used the store brand Russian and it was GREAT)
1 package of onion soup mix (I didn't use a whole one ... probably 2/3 of one ... it was too strong and saltly using a whole package last time I made this)
1 can of jellied cranberry sauce
1 Tbsp (or to taste) of General Tso's Chicken Seasoning Mix (this gives it a little spicy kick - the original recipe called for dry mustard and that sounded boring and I'm not a big fan of that flavor) - I used Sun Bird brand General Tso's Seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the chicken in a sprayed 9x13 dish. Mix the dressing, soup mix, cranberry sauce, and General Tso's together and pour it over the chicken. Put it in the oven uncovered for about 30 to 45 minutes until the chicken is done. I served this over brown rice with plenty of sauce ladled over the chicken and rice. I also served it with some WONDERFUL green beans based on a Paula Deen recipe ... but that's a different recipe for another time.

The boys loved this chicken. I thought I would have plenty for dinner the next night, too ... but they each ate three helpings ... probably a whole half breast each! This will definitely become a family staple.

10 Cent Cheese Cake

Actually, the name of this cheesecake is Creamy, Dreamy Cheesecake. My husband's sister-in-law and I call it 10 Cent Cheesecake. Last summer she and I were at a garage sale, and I saw a really pretty pie plate. It had this recipe in the bottom of it as part of the decoration. The pie plate was only 10 cents! Thus the name. This is a wonderful recipe and not heavy like a lot of cheesecake recipes. Also, you don't have to have a spring form pan to make it. I made it last Christmas to go with the Elegant Lasagna.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (you can buy graham crackers crumbs or you could just buy a ready made graham cracker crust ... the 9 inch or bigger)
2 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter melted

19 oz. cream cheese
1 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla (I use a full teaspoon)
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. If you are not using ready made crust, mix crumbs and 2 T. sugar, stir in butter thoroughly. Press into bottom and sides of pie plate. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Reduce oven to 300 degrees. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large mixer bowl. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Pour over cracker crust and bake one hour or until center is firm. Cool and top with sweet fruit if you like. Chill three hours.

Chicken Breasts with Bacon

Okay, there is nothing low fat about this, but it is really good. If you are doing Atkins' diet, it would work great. You could make it lower fat and I'll give tips for that. This is an easy and quick dish but is impressive served. It makes a BUNCH, so you could half this recipe and have plenty for a large family for one meal. As a note, this can be made ahead and refrigerated until time to bake.

Ingredients

12 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 eight oz. package of cream cheese (you can use the 1/3 fat version)
10-12 green onions chopped fine
A couple of dashes of garlic powder to taste
24 slices of bacon (you could use center cut bacon or probably even turkey bacon)
12 - 24 toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350. Combine softened cream cheese (you can soften in the microwave for a few seconds), onions, and garlic powder. Form into 12 walnut sized balls. Wrap half a chicken breast around each cream cheese ball. Then wrap 2 slices of bacon around the chicken, covering as much of the chicken as possible. Secure with toothpicks, which can be removed before serving. Tip: Do this whole process one at a time. Wrap the chicken around the cream cheese ball and then wrap the bacon and toothpick it right away. Bake uncovered for an hour or until the chicken is tender. The original recipe says that this serves SIX! But, that would be if your family or guests ate TWO each. So, use your judgment about how much your guests will eat and how many this will serve.

Chicken & Rice Casserole

This is often the dish I cook when I want to take a meal to someone. It is one of my kids' favorites, and you can make it low fat if you want. It is easy and you have your protein and your starch cooked in one dish. You just have to add a vegetable on the side or a salad. It is an old recipe, but this is my version of it.

Ingredients

2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 8 pieces of chicken breast)
1 cup of uncooked rice (I haven't used brown rice with this, but if you do and it works well, let me know)
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 can of cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat free, but you don't have to)
2 dashes of celery powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 dish with nonstick spray. Sprinkle the uncooked rice evenly across the bottom of the pan. (This won't look like much, but it it cooks up to make plenty of rice) Put the chicken on top of the dry rice. Sprinkle with the dry onion soup mix. Mix the soup with two cans of water and add the celery powder. Pour over the top of the chicken. Bake covered for about an hour or an hour and a half (depending on how large your chicken breasts are).

Tip: Make sure your chicken is thawed for this recipe. I tried doing it with partially frozen chicken breasts one time, and it took FOREVER to cook. It did not turn out well.

Hamburger Casserole

This is an easy, quick kid pleaser. Even my picky nephew likes this. It is a recipe from Central's cookbook and was submitted to the cookbook by Neicy Burleson. Enjoy!

1 pound hamburger meat
1 onion diced (I would use half that amount. It was a little too much onion for the kids' taste)
2 - 3T. chili powder (or to taste)
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 small package of cooked macaroni (drained) - any pasta you have on hand will work
1 can of golden mushroom soup ( you could use regular cream of mushroom but the golden is better)
2 Cups of shredded cheese of your choice (Cheddar, Mozzarella)

Brown meat and onion. Add chili powder and tomato sauce. Let simmer then add cooked macaroni. Pour the meat and macaroni mixture into a 9x13 sprayed baking dish. Spread one can of golden mushroom soup over top and place cheese over top of soup. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted. The amt of cheese was left off the original recipe, so I'm just estimating how much I used.

Marinated Chicken

This isn't so much of a recipe as it is a meal idea. We are going to have this tonight, so I thought I would post it here.

Ingredients

KC Masterpiece 30 minute Marinade in Honey Teriyaki
Chicken - I use boneless skinless breasts

I put the chicken and marinade (enough to coat the chicken) in a ziploc bag and marinate it for 30 minutes and then grill. It is WONDERFUL and so easy. Just serve it with veggies and rice or potatoes or something like that. It also doesn't heat up the kitchen on hot summer days. You can get a bottle for about $3 and I can usually do 2 or 3 meals out of it.

Tip: If you buy chicken from Sam's and break up the large packages, you can pour some marinade into the freezer ziplocs and freeze them. Then the day before you want to grill, take out a package and thaw it in the fridge. It can be marinading while it is thawing.

Laura's Chicken & Salsa Soup

This is a super easy, super low fat soup. My husband does not like low fat things OR soup, and this is one of his favorite meals. I made it in a crock pot for a potluck lunch last Sunday and had several requests for the recipe. So, here it is. It is one of my "go to" recipes when I need something that turns out good every time. I've seen different versions online, but this is my take on it. I'll do the stove top version and the crock pot version.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in bite sized pieces (I use 2 cans of chicken from Sam's ... I know Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray would be COMPLETELY offended ... but for soup, I think it is fine)
• 1 3/4 C. of water
• I small can of diced green chilies
  
• 1 large onion chopped (I used chopped frozen onions for the potluck soup last week)
• 1 can of chicken broth (14.5 oz.) - I often use chicken bullion but if you want to cut down on the salt, use low sodium broth
• 1 1/2 tsp. of chili powder
• 1 tsp. of cumin powder
• 1 C. of loose pack whole kernel frozen corn (I have used drained canned corn before, but I think the frozen tastes better for some reason)
• 1 C. of thick and chunky salsa or picante sauce
• Garnishes - shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, tortilla chips. If you want to stay with the low fat version, buy all the low fat or baked varieties.

To make it in the crockpot, put all of the ingredients except the garnishes in the crockpot and put it on low for about 4 hours. If you are using raw chicken instead of canned chicken, cook the chicken first and then put it in the crockpot. To serve, crumble chips in the bottom of your bowl, then add cheese. Pour the soup over that and then top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of green onions!

To make on the stove top, put the chopped onion in the bottom of a non-stick pan with a little water or a little healthy oil. If it is a non-stick pan, the water should do fine. Cook those until tender an a little caramelized. Add the green chilies and cook a little longer. Add the water, broth, chili powder, and chicken. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Add the corn. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink (about 8 minutes or so) if you used the raw chicken. If you used the canned chicken, cook it until it is warmed through. Add the salsa and cook until warmed through. To serve, crumble tortilla chips in the bottom of your bowl and sprinkle with cheese. Ladle the soup over the chips and cheese. Top that with a dollop of sour cream and some green onions. DELICIOUS!