Tag Archives: southwestern

Pollo Two Ways {a la Pinterest}

Lately I’ve been at a loss of what meals to prepare…trying to eat healthier, but keep the menu exciting.

I also haven’t been spending a lot of time on Pinterest, but remembered that I have oodles of recipes just waiting to be tested. I clicked around and was reminded of two which I made this weekend ~ both yummy and on the healthier side. Win. Win. At least in my book!

Crispy Grilled Southwest Burritos

 Suuuper yum….just used some PAM on my grill pan and they turned out crispy and perfect!

Tonight we tried Chicken Tamale Casserole from Cooking Light.

This, too, was delicious and different.

I served it on a little chopped romaine and garden tomato salad with this spiiiicy sauce as a dressing. If you can handle heat and you want a lo-cal dip, dressing or condiment, you need to make this. I’ve had the Pioneer Woman version {made with full mayo}, the reduced guilt version that I attempted {half mayo, half light sour cream and the juice of 2-3 limes} and Julie’s brilliant concoction {fat free greek yogurt and lime juice…and the chipotles in adobo, too, of course!}. I can tell you that I cannot tell the difference AT ALL in all three versions. Julie is a genius and did the math on the calorie count for us and all you need to know is go with GREEK!

This sauce can go on anything that you want to spice up ~ baked potatoes, sandwiches, eggs, tacos, burritos, salads, fresh veggies, nachos, fish, burgers, etc.

 Make some….it really is awesome at 7 calories a tablespoon.

{cutest [and spiciest] recipe card ever! again, via}

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Attempting some homemade peanut butter frozen yogurt this evening. I hope to be able to come back and share that recipe with you, too!

Hope you had a super summery weekend!

XO

Do You Know The Way To {Santa Fe}?

Once upon a time, there was a restaurant/bar in Seattle’s university district called Rain Dancer. I would eat there with my dad and sister when visiting the Pacific Northwest.

They had the most amazing sandwiches on their lunch menu, but my sis and I would always get the same thing ~ the Southwestern grilled cheese.

However, when I would place my order I would always call it the {Santa Fe} grilled cheese. The waiter always knew what I meant….

One time we went over for lunch, parked in the rear parking lot, walked up to the back door and…..gasp! The door was locked. We went to the front. Rain Dancer was no mas.

Sad, sad day.

I have been wanting to recreate this sammie for AWHILE now and this afternoon I finally did…

Brought back LOTS of memories.

This is a pic of Jay’s…he requested cheddar rather than the traditional pepper jack….gasp! I would have taken a picture of mine with the {proper} queso, however when I went to flip it in the pan, it got all jacked up and was no longer as photo worthy as this one. BUT it was still delish!

All you need is some sourdough bread, butter, black bean and corn salsa {just some black beans, corn, red onion, cilantro, cumin, salt & pepper, lime juice and a tad bit of olive oil}, tomato slices, avocado slices, and cheddar pepper jack cheese. Butter one side of each piece of bread, put on a slice {or two} of cheese, spoon on some of the salsa, add your tomato & avocado slices, put more cheese on top of that to act as glue to hold the whole thing together. Preheat your grill pan or skillet on medium and grill away! I put a lid over it to help with the melting process. Maybe 3-5 minutes on each side and you’re good to go.

You could most certainly add some turkey or use guacamole instead of sliced avocado. I thought about smashing the beans a little {kinda like refried beans} because they tend to spill out of the sandwich when grilling and flipping…

These would be great to make as minis for an appetizer of sorts, too.

SO yum!

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This is my 700th post!

Wow.

SEVEN HUNDY!

Two year bloggy anniversary is coming up on November 1st…I have a little giveaway in the works. Please check back soon for the deets!

Thanks for reading! I cherish each and every one of you!

{BIG hug!}

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Linking up over at Gingerbread ~ Sweet Saturday

Come on over and browse!

XO