Hasselback Chicken Casserole

Things I love: garlic, onion, creaminess, tons of flavor, and crazy easy.

This has it all. 

I kept seeing this recipe for hasselback chicken. Which is essentially a chicken breast that you slit and then stuff. But, I am a casserole girl. I just like them. So I took all the flavors and did just that!

Gather up:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
• 3 cups frozen spinach (I used frozen leaf spinach)
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp onion powder
• 3 tsp paprika
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 cups shredded white cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place chicken breasts in a stock pot or dutch oven and fill with water until water just cover the chicken. Boil the chicken until done. About 35-45 minutes.
3. Once chicken is done, let slightly cool enough to touch and then shred your chicken using 2 forks.
4. Meanwhile heat 3 tsp of olive oil in a large skillet and add spinach. Cook until heated through and thawed.
5. Add entire tub of ricotta cheese, garlic powder, onion powder paprika and salt and stir. Continue to stir often until the ricotta is melted and creamy and everything is thoroughly mixed.
6. Add shredded chicken to skillet and mix well with the ricotta and spinach mixture.
7. Transfer your chicken mixture to a 9X13 baking dish.
8. Cover chicken mixture with shredded cheese and then bake at 350 for 45 minutes

Great as leftovers, too!

Do you follow my portion control system? This counts roughly as 1 red, 1/2 green, 1/2 blue

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

It has been COLD here lately! I know there are some lovely people out there who live in colder conditions--seriously, how do you people in North Dakota, Minnesota, etc. do it?! This Texas blood doesn't do well when it dips below 32*.

As a Texas transplant to Nebraska I still crave and love anything Tex-Mex or Mexican inspired. So here is a yummy chicken tortilla soup that could not get any easier!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix , Hammer and Chisel, or any other Beachbody program that uses the portion control containers,  I have listed container counts at the end of the recipe!

Gather Up:

Serving size: 1.5 cups, Approximately 6 servings

•  2 chicken breasts (thawed or frozen) 
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of corn, no added salt, drained
• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, do not drain the liquid
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 32 ounce container of chicken broth, low sodium
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic salt 
• Organic tortilla chips *I use blue corn chips

Optional toppings

• Non-Fat greek yogurt
• Cheese
• Avocado
• Jalapenos

Directions

1. Place the chicken breast in the bottom of the crockpot.
2. Place all ingredients in a crockpot on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. I put my chicken breasts in frozen and cooked for 6 hours.
3. Once done cooking, remove the chicken and shred with forks and place back in the crockpot and stir to combine.
4. Serve with tortilla chips, greek yogurt in place of sour cream and diced avocados.

This soup counts approximately as 1 red and 1 green.These measurements are not 100% exact. If you top with tortilla chips, that adds 1 yellow to the count. If you add avocado, make sure to count a blue!

This soup is so delicious and is great for leftovers. I make a huge batch and we eat it all week!

 Enjoy!

xoxo

Brittany