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Pulled Chicken Tacos

Crock Pots are great when you're a busy bee and just want dinner ready when you get home.

I looked at different Crock Pot recipes, but it just seemed so BLAND! Sorry for my bluntness.

This recipe is super great for movie nights, parties or even football games!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours

Ingredients:

3-4 pieces of skinless boneless chicken breast
3 gloves of garlic, finely minced
1 onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 cup green chilis
1 cup of tomato sauce
Cumin
Salt / Pepper
Chilli powder
Paprika
3 Tbs Chilli Flakes
Handful of Bay leaves

Tacos:

Tortillas
Mixed green (the ones you can use for salads) or lettuce
Hot sauce of choice
Mexican-blend of shredded cheese

Step 1:

Sauté garlic, onions and green peppers. Place mixture at the bottom the Crock Pot.

Step 2:

Layer the chicken breast on top of the mixture. Add all the seasonings, green chilis, tomato, tomato sauce and bay leaves. Put in 1 cup of water. Set Crock Pot to high for 4.

Step 3:

After 4 hours, grab a pair of forks and shred the chicken. Incorporate the chicken with the sauce. Let it cook for another hour.

Step 4: Toast tortillas and be ready to build your ultimate pulled chicken taco!

Bon Appetite

Can't have carbs? Can't have meat?

To be honest, I'm not the kind of person to cut out a whole entire portion of the food pyramid.

Fad diets aren't my things, but eating clean and healthy is!

This is an easy, fast and delicious Zucchini pasta. You'll forget that you're entire meal is all vegetarian!

For the Zucchini noodles, I used a tool called Vegetti from "As Seen on TV." That tool is a life safer and hassle-free. All you have to do is choose between skinny or thick pasta and just rotate your vegetable of choice (Zucchini, Carrots, etc) as if you were manually sharpening a pencil.

TA DA you have instant veggie pasta!

You can make this in bigger batches but for today's sake it's a personal size!

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini
2 Tbs of lemon zest
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 cup of mushrooms, chopped
1/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 Tbs of chills flakes
Mozzarella cheese for topping

Step 1:

Prepare your zucchini pasta with the Veggetti. Don't let things go to waste, cut up the remaining part of the zucchini into little chunks.

**if you don't have one you can always you use a peeler. With the shaved pieces, cut them into strips.

Step 2:

Heat up a pan to low/medium. Add to the pan the EVOO and lemon zest. The lemon zest is infusing with the EVOO and emphasizing that citrus flavor. Allow that to cook for 5 minutes.

Step 3:

Increase the heat to medium and sauté the garlic until lightly brown. Add the mushrooms and the zucchini chunks until cooked.

Step 4:
Toss in the the zucchini pasta. Add salt, pepper and chill flakes. Cook until the zucchini is al dente. Serve with sprinkle of mozzarella

Bon Appetite !!

This recipe doesn't have to be all vegetables. I insist on adding some grilled chicken and other vegetables that you like.

Healthy Eating: Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seeds are packed with huge amounts of anti-oxidants, which help fight off free radicals in our body and keep it our cells healthy. These seeds are originated in South America and are related to Mint.

These little bad boys are used in a lot of diet plans because they contain high levels of protein and fiber, which contributes to losing weight. I usually like to mix them in a bottle of water; when they are mixed with liquids, they start to puff up. When you ingest it, you start to feel fullness thus contributing to a reduce appetite. The less you feel hungry, the less you eat.

This is a simple chia seed pudding base that you can add anything that you want. It is a great snack before and after working out. The amount of protein helps the muscles recover after a strenuous work out.

Ingredients:

1 can of coconut milk

3/4 cup of chia seeds

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tsp of cinnamon powder

1 Tbs of either honey, agave or sugar

Any fruit, granola add-ins

1. Combine all the ingredients together in air tight container, such as mason jar or plastic container.

2. Leave in the fridge overnight and enjoy it the next day!

Healthy Eating: Chicken Stir Fry

I love take-out as much as the next guy, but I feel that slow, grogginess after eating it. Here is a clean way to still have that take-out feel, but with no grogginess.

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Chicken Breast, cubed
1 cup of Lite soy sauce
2 Tbs of Corn starch
1 Tbs of Sesame seeds
1 Tbs of Chia seeds
Handful of roughly chopped Kale
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 an Onion, finely chopped
Salt and Pepper

**You could add more veggies like carrots, broccoli or mushrooms**

1. In a large ziplock bag, add in the chicken, soy sauce, corn starch, garlic and pepper. Give it a good shake to get all the chicken coated and make sure the corn starch is completely mixed with the liquids. Place in the fridge for 30 mins to marinate.

2. In a wok, begin to saute the onions until transluscent and then add in all the goodiness from the ziplock bag.

3. When the chicken is no longer pink, throw in the kale, sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.
** You don't want to add a lot of salt because of the chicken has already been marinating in soy sauce, which already contains salt.

4. Serve on top of a bowl of whole grain noodles or some brown rice.

Enjoy!!

Swai Fillet and Spaghetti Squash

Background info:

Swai is another name for shark catfish or iridescent sharks, normally found in Southeast Asia; they're not actual sharks. The texture of the fish is a lot more delicate than the catfish that you would normally catch in the US. They are usually sold in grocery stores as fillets.

The Swai fillet and spaghetti squash can be mix-matched with other meals. Think of this recipe as a base that allows you to incorporate as whatever you want. BUT remember if you do want to keep it healthy, the ingredients and prep have to be balanced. Enjoy and let me know what recipes you've made.

(Serves 1-2)

Ingredients:

1-2 Swai Fillet; thawed

1 Medium Size Spaghetti Squash (can be found at local market, such as Whole Foods)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

4 Sprigs of fresh Thyme

2 Tbs of Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

1. To prepare the squash spaghetti, there are two ways to cook it: 1) Oven 2) Microwave. Depending on how much time you have, determines which method you use. For this recipe, I went with the oven.

Preheat the oven to 320. Take the squash and split it in half vertically. Scrap out the seeds. Season with a little salt and drizzle with EVOO. Wrap with foil and place in the oven with flat side up. Bake for one hour.

**If using the microwave, place squash into a microwavable bowl. Season with salt and EVOO and cooked for 5 mins on HIGH.

2. To prepare the Swai, place the fillet on foil.

Season the fillet with EVOO, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the thyme on top of the fillet. Wrap the fillet in a foil tent. If not sure what a foil tent, watch this link starting 1:07- Foil tent.

Please don't mind the rest of the video, it was the only one that actually shows the tenting that I used LOL

3. Bake in the oven for 30 mins.

4. When the squash is finished (WARNING IT IS GOING TO BE SUPER HOT), take hold of the squash and scrap the inside with a fork. You'll see that the scrapings resemble spaghetti.

Season the spaghetti with some salt and pepper and plate it. Pour the juices from the foil tent onto the spaghetti.

5. Take the fillet out from the oven and serve with the spaghetti.

Bon Appetit!

Dinner is Served at the Casa di Valdez

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone enjoyed their fill of delicious arrays of food; I know I sure did. For my first time preparing Thanksgiving dinner mostly on my own, it was a success besides the stress of getting everything cooked on time. The ham was taking so much time in the oven and room that the chicken was even given a chance. Luckily, my basement kitchen oven was working!! YAY!! Everything was totally worth the stress and cooking drama.

On a side note, Consumerism kills holidays. I find it disturbing to push "Black Friday" openings to Thanksgiving day. I understand the concept of more hours means more profit, but that same mentality is why there are so many people lose the real meaning of this holiday. Thanksgiving is to be thankful for what you have, but you become very hypocritical when you are trying to fight over the last Smart TV in stock. Are you sure you're thankful or nah?

I'm really sorry to gloat, but I am so proud of myself because I pushed my cooking skills to the limit. There were errors that I learned to fix quickly. For instance my gravy with pan drippings:

At first it wasn't thick enough, so instead of adding more flour, I added a little corn starch for the thickening. BOOM it worked. Not only did it make it thicker, it helped gravy be less oily.

Check out the Gallery for my Thanksgiving pictures; I hope you enjoy them!

Lemme know what were the pros and cons of your Thanksgiving dinner; maybe we can share some tips for future references!

BXO,

Jackie