Chicken Taco Casserole

So I thought I’d do something a little different today, and that is literally walk you through a favorite recipe of mine.  This is the first time making it since I’ve been dieting, so I’ve made some substitutions to make it less calorie-heavy. 

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken or turkey

1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce

1 envelope taco seasoning (1.25 oz)

2 15 oz cans refried beans*

1 cup of shredded cheese**

Not Pictured: My Yellow Bowl and Silicone Spatula

*I used non-fat refried beans instead of the full fat version, which saved me about 150 calories on the whole recipe

**I used non-fat shredded cheese instead of the full fat version, saved me about 200 calories for the whole recipe

IMPORTANT: Before starting, preheat your oven to 350 degrees (if you are cooking it right away)

Step 1-Mix the Taco Seasoning and Tomato Sauce together

Step 2-Add Shredded Chicken and coat it well with the tomato mixture

Step 3-Place Cooked Rice in the bottom of a 13x9 dish.  I used my glass dish, but this dish can be freezable, so if you decide to freeze it, a disposable aluminum pan might be better.

Step 4-Top the rice with the chicken/tomato mixture.  I used a silicone spatula to spread it around so that the rice is covered as much as possible.

Step 5-Top with two cans of refried beans.  I found this to be easier if I placed large spoonful’s and then used my silicone spatula to spread it around.  You can feasibly do this with one can of refried beans instead of two, however the beans make it much more filling, which means less chance of me going back for seconds.

Step 6-Top the casserole with shredded cheese.  If you are freezing this, skip this step and put it right in the freezer.  You can leave the casserole in the disposable aluminum dish, or you can take it out and put it in a freezer Ziploc bag, whichever is easier for you.

Step 7-Place casserole in the oven and cook for 30-45 minutes, until heated through.  If you are cooking from frozen, let it thaw completely first, then top with the cheese before putting it in the oven.

Yum!!

 Use this casserole as you see fit!  It works great in tortillas for tacos, or as a dip for chips, or can be eaten on its own!  Add sour cream, or guacamole, or salsa for even more flavor!  By making this into 9 servings, it comes out to about 220 calories per serving.  Now that I’m dieting, I may even make it into 12 servings, which come out to 165 calories per serving.

This recipe was found long ago on Food.com, and was submitted to that site by a member named Tish!  I use food.com to find a lot of recipes because they post nutrition facts right there!  The comments on a lot of the recipes are really helpful, too, since people make alterations and offer other alternatives for some of the ingredients.

Food Diary for 7/23/13:

1 Lean Cuisine Roast Turkey and Vegetables-200 calories

1 cup cooked spaghetti-220 calories

¼ cup 95% lean meat sauce-29 calories

3oz skinless chicken breast-96 calories

2 Oscar Mayer Lean Beef Franks-120 calories

1 WW Divine Triple Chocolate Ice Cream-110 calories

2 Sunsweet Individual Prunes-40 calories

1 Tiramisu Pudding-283 calories

Total calories-1097

I did the elliptical for an hour yesterday (even though I really didn’t want to), and my fitbit adjusted 212 calories, so my NET calories for yesterday was 885 calories.

I have decided I’m not going to make the Tiramisu pudding anymore.  I love it, and while I’m figuring it into my calories for the day, I’m thinking it may be causing some stalls.  I’m going to go a week and see how it goes from there.

Music Addition

Doing a classic Addition today, Billy Jean by Michael Jackson!

Enjoy!