Whaddaya Call…

…Cheese that’s not yours? NACHO CHEESE! HA! I crack myself up!

I got the genius idea to make healthy nachos for dinner tonight and immediately headed out to the grocery store to get everything we needed. Low and behold, there were Guiltless Gourmet tortilla chips on sale. I grew up eating Guiltless Gourmet blue corn chips with hummus at my grandma’s house, and was so excited to see them! They’d make the perfect base for healthy nachos. I put them in the cart, paid for them, drove home and found, much to my chagrin, that the bagger boy had forgotten to give them to me! NOT HAPPY!

Then, I went into “MacGyver Cook” mode, trying to figure out what to do because dang it, I wanted nachos! *DING* (cue lightbulb over the head, with the help of Adam) I’d bake some La Tortilla Factory wraps in the oven until crispy, break them apart, and voila! Chips! It worked like a charm! I made 2 versions of the nachos, one with broken apart chips and one a-la Mexican pizza (for Adam!)

Both were topped with the same things:

• Fat free refried beans
• low-fat Mexican blend cheese
• about 4 oz. taco-seasoned chicken
• Dei Fratelli Medium tomato salsa 
• fat free sour cream
• 1/2 ripe avocado

Normally, I use a different brand of salsa, but I was sent an assortment of tomato sauces and salsas from the lovely Jessica over at Dei Fratelli and I was excited to try this one on my chicken nacho creation. It was quite delicious and very fresh-tasting! If you can find it, I highly recommend their salsa! Thanks Jessica and Dei Fratelli!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with the fabulous Victoria from The Idle Loaf. I really wish she lived closer because we had SO much fun! First, we hit my favorite: Yogen Fruz!

I branched out a bit yesterday! Usually, I get their plain yogurt topped with fresh fruit, as you’ve all seen a billion times before. Yesterday, I got their “Blend It” yogurt, where they take plain yogurt and blend in whatever frozen fruit I wanted. I got peach an mango and it was FABULOUS. Then, Victoria and I headed to one of our favorite stores, Anthropologie. We “ooh”ed and “aah”ed at all the cute floral bowls and teacups, and we happened upon a display at which I just had to take a blog-worthy picture of Victoria, seeing as how her blog is the Idle Loaf:

Yep, that’s her with fake bread and artichokes. After wandering around and tons of non-stop chatting, we ran into none other than Hello Kitty! A picture was definitely in order, taken by a GNC employee apparently by the name of Mr. Awesome. I swear. It’s what his nametag said!

I had SO much fun Victoria! We’ll have to do it again sometime soon, hopefully with Jenn!

Now, I’m thrilled to bring you today’s Guest For Dinner: Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats! I just recently found her blog, and am loving reading it. If you haven’t yet checked out her blog, you must! She’s just the sweetest, and has amazing pictures. So, Kristin, pull up a chair, have a seat, and tell us about your meal!

When my husband Ben and I lived in Minneapolis, one of our favorite places to go watch a game, head over for a Saturday lunch, or even order take out from – was the Green Mill. We loved the quick service, the great drink selections…and oh yeah…the FOOD!  In three years, we never had a meal we didn’t like. In fact, I liked one of the dishes so much – I emailed the company for the recipe!
The dish was Lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichoke Salsa and it’s on the restaurant’s “eat right” portion of the menu. It literally took seeing the recipe to convince me that this meal was not un-healthy because it is SO flavorful, so tangy & so delicious. After making a few tweaks to the recipe – here’s my version of Lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichoke Salsa. Enjoy!
Serves 4.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 bunch asparagus
4 handfuls baby spinach
Feta cheese
Artichoke Salsa
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
2 T capers
1/4 small red onion, diced
1 lemon, juiced
1 T chopped garlic
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
3-4 dashes of dried oregano, or to taste
1-2 dashes of dried thyme, or to taste
S&P
Reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
Directions:

1. Spray chicken breasts with non-stick spray and season with lemon pepper on both sides. Grill 6-7 minutes a side, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle
2. Snap bottoms of asparagus stalks off and cook using any of the following methods:
   • Microwave with a little water in a microwave safe dish or steamer for 4-5 minutes
   • Roast in a 450 degree oven with a little olive oil and S&P for 5-6 minutes, shaking the pan half way through
   • Spray with non-stick spray and lay on the grill for 3-4 minutes, rolling stalks to grill on both sides half way through
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine ingredients for artichoke salsa. Add reduced-fat Italian salad dressing until desired consistency is reached.
4. Place a handful of spinach on a plate or in a bowl and top with cooked asparagus, grilled chicken and artichoke salsa. Sprinkle feta cheese on top. Enjoy!

Thanks so much Kristin! That looks fantastic! I love that you had the foresight to actually CALL the restaurant for the recipe! I’ll have to remember that tip… would YOU like to be my Guest for Dinner? Just email your dinner post to mara@imadedinner.net and I’d love to have you over!

With dinner behind me and only ONE day and ONE hour of school ahead of me, with 8th grade graduation tomorrow night, I’m going to embrace what’s left of my Sunday night! Have a wonderful night!

Tagged as: friends, Guests for Dinner, Mexican, product review, simple recipe