I must be on a Mexican food kick because all 3 of my first recipes fit into that category - oops!  I promise I'll change it up a little bit more here soon :)  I'm just so excited about the fact that I can find Mexican food to make without the high amounts of carbs and calories!

Today's recipe originally comes from "Happily Ever After - One Fat Girl's Journey To Getting Healthy" and  is a skinny take on Chile Rellenos.  These are typically battered and fried so one serving can easily be over 1000 calories - yikes!  Here's a non-fried, high-protein version for you to enjoy instead!  It ends up being about 1/3 the calories of the original dish!

This is easily one of my favorite skinny comfort foods, and since 3 chilies is a serving, you don't have to feel like you're skimping on portion sizes, you might even have to eat it in two sittings!

See, I couldn't even fit my 3rd chile on the plate!

Ingredients:
12 whole green chiles (canned)
6 egg whites (I just use the kind from a carton to save on time)
3.5 ounces cooked, finely shredded chicken
12 oz part-skim mozzerella
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Optional:
4 roma tomatoes
1 head of romaine lettuce 


Directions:

1) Prehead the oven to 400 degrees

2) In a medium-sized bowl, mix together 10 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese with 3.5 oz cooked, shredded chicken, 1/2 t. garlic powder, and 1/2 t. onion powder. Set Aside.

3) In a separate bowl, combine egg whites with 1/2 t. cream of tartar, 1/2 t. garlic powder, and 1/2 t. onion powder.  Beat the egg whites mixture on high until solid peaks form.  This typically takes me 7-10 minutes, but it can be a lot faster if your mixer is a little nicer.

4) Spray a 9x13 glass casserole dish with cooking spray, gently spread half of the egg whites mixture onto the bottom of the pan.

5) Carefully remove 12 chiles from the can.  Slice each chile down one side and stuff it with a tablespoon or two of your chicken mixture (amount of filling will depend on the size of the chile).  Fold the chile around the stuffing and press the stuffed chile into the egg whites mixture, lining up the chiles in the dish as you would a row of enchiladas.  Make sure you are gently pressing the chile into the egg whites so that the egg whites envelop the sides of the chile.  Repeat this process until you have stuffed each of the chiles and placed it in the pan.

6) Spread the remaining whipped egg whites mixture over the chiles and top off with the remaining 2 oz of cheese.

7) Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and remove foil.  Increase the temperature to 450 degrees, and place your chiles back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until the top layer of cheese is bubbly and the egg whites have begun to brown a bit.

I like to serve mine with lettuce and chopped Roma tomato, it adds a nice cool, refreshing taste to contrast the heat of the Chiles, and sneaks in some more veggies - never a bad idea :).  

Eat up!

If you are on the 5 & 1 plan, you can use 1/2 c. tomato and 1/2 c. lettuce to make this meal a complete lean and green.



Here's the nutrition info without the tomatoes and lettuce, and then with them added in:




Remember to follow me on instagram (@healthiesthappiest) for more health tips and tricks along with these recipes.  If you are interested in having me as your personal health coach, please send an email to healthiesthappiest@gmail.com.  I would love to help you reach your health goals! :)

I've been getting a lot of requests for this recipe lately after bringing it to a few potlucks, so here's my signature Rainbow Chicken Taco Salad.  Really when I first made this salad I just grabbed as many different colored items as I could that would go well with Mexican food - always the way to get a delicious salad:  Pick a theme (Mexican, Italian, Fruity
... whatever... then head to the produce section and grab everything you enjoy that fits your theme - toss it together, add a dressing and some protein if you don't have it in there already, and BAM!  Healthy, tasty salad - every time.

OH. MY.  My world was just rocked by a casserole.

I am so excited to get started!  

Later this week I'll be sharing a recipe for a DELICIOUS Healthy Mexican Ground Beef Casserole made with Spaghetti Squash instead of pasta.  (Because Spaghetti Squash not only has lots of great nutrients, but is also only about 40 calories per cup! YAY!) 

Now... I had always thought Spaghetti Squash sounded awesome in theory - but it also sounded super tricky and overwhelming.  No one ever went over the details of how you transformed the squash into a noodle-like consistency.  I assumed it was complicated, but guess what.... it's totally simple, AND tasty!

Today we're going to walk through how to cook your spaghetti squash the easy way, using....a MICROWAVE! (I'm all about keeping things simple and fast whenever possible!):

 1) Poke or slice 5-10 holes in your spaghetti squash - I used a knife to cut small triangles, you can also use a metal skewer if you have one.

2) Microwave it in 4 minute intervals, flipping between each interval, until you can easily jab a fork into it - it should be tender, but not mushy. (Mine took about 18 minutes total, but typically they will cook faster than that, I just have a low power microwave)

3) Slice your squash in half (it should cut fairly easily, if not, cook it for another few minutes).

4) Scoop out the seeds and middle strands with a spoon and discard.

5) Scrape out the strands inside the squash all the way to the skin using a fork.



BOOM. Your spaghetti squash is all ready to be put to some delicious use! 

I can't wait to tell you how to turn this yummy vegetable into a tasty comfort food. :)  Get excited and don't forget follow the blog and my instagram account:  @healthiesthappiest, so that you don't miss it! 

Hello readers!  My name is Tiana.  I'm currently a college student attending Southern Utah University, majoring in dance.  When I started school four years ago I began a downward spiral of bad eating habits which lead to poor overall health.  After my first two years, I realized that something needed to change, I was rapidly gaining weight and losing energy.  My visits to the doctor were becoming more and more frequent and I knew things needed to change.  I tried tons of new diets to get my weight under control and obtain better health in general.  None of these diets worked!  I would do the diets with family members and just wouldn't see the results they did, and as soon as the diet wrapped up I would gain the weight right back because my eating habits hadn't changed!

Finally, my mom mentioned that a woman in my neighborhood was a health coach and helped some of our neighbors get in shape.  She recommended that I ask her about the program they all did.  I gave her a call and was hooked as soon as she explained to me that this program was about a LIFESTYLE CHANGE, not just a diet.  She explained that this program is all about building healthy habits and learning to balance blood sugar, learning to eat right so that you can lose excess body fat AND have more energy.

This program has been amazing for me.  I've learned tricks and tools that will help me stay on the healthy track for the rest of my life!  I have more energy, more confidence, more self-control (I can even say no to ICE CREAM... do you have any idea how impossible that was for me until now???), and my health has improved in every aspect.  My ADD has mellowed out considerably, my stomach pains from the past few years have become almost non-existent, and the constant headaches I used to have are now a rarity - and come at a fraction of the level of pain they did before.  Basically, ever since I decided to take action and get healthy:  I have been happier!

While I've been on this program I've had people asking me for recipes of food I bring to rehearsals or post on instagram.  I finally decided to just start posting them somewhere central: and ta-da!  That is how this blog was born.   This is a place where I will be posting healthy recipes and tips to help all of you on your journey to optimal health.

I've always wanted to be able to help increase the joy of others, and I can see the impact good health has made on my own happiness level.  Now my goal is to pass it on!  Since having a free health coach guide me through the program (and be there to talk me out of that cookie!) has been a HUGE part of my success, I am happy to say that I have become a certified health coach as well :).  If any of you are ready for a big life change, and want to hear more about the program, I would LOVE to tell you about it.  Please feel free to send me an email at tianamchambers@gmail.com and I will get in contact with you as soon as I have a chance.

Thanks for reading, let's get started! :)


-T