Food Friday | Pasta Alfredo & Kielbasa

I haven't done a Food Friday in an awfully long time, mostly due to the fact that I have once again moved across the country and have yet to get settled in. But I decided that I will start making an effort to redeem myself, starting with one of the tastiest dishes I have ever made. It's simple, foolproof, and delicious - perfect for those of us living on a budget or short on culinary expertise. I happen to be both!

Ingredients:

1 box of your favorite pasta (I like tortellini or shell)
1 can Alfredo pasta sauce
1 kielbasa (I usually wait until this item goes on sale to make this dish)

1. Cook pasta in boiling water for 7-10 minutes.
(Note: the best way to tell if its cooked all the way is to taste it!)
2. Strain pasta, stir in Alfredo sauce, and put on low heat.
3. Cut up kielbasa into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut these slices into fourths.
4. In a separate pan, fry kielbasa on medium heat.
5. Stir kielbasa into the pasta and enjoy!

Food Friday | Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

For my second installment of Food Friday, I have actually cooked food! These creamy, cheesy chicken enchiladas were heavenly. This was the first time I had made enchiladas completely from scratch, and I was surprised how simple it was.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 2 cups (8 oz.) pre-shredded 4 cheese Mexican blend cheese
• 1 2/3 cups plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/3 cups butter, melted
• 1/4 cups chopped onion*
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic**
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (10-12 oz.) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup
• 1 (4.5 oz.) can chopped green chilies, drained*
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup (2 oz.) finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions*

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and chili powder. Grill or bake until done. 
3. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. 
4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working with one tortilla at a time, brush oil over both sides of tortilla. Add tortilla to pan; cook 5 seconds on each side or until toasted and soft. 
5. Remove from pan; arrange 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla.
6. Roll jelly-roll style. Place filled tortilla, seam side down, in a 13x19 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining 7 tortillas. Use remaining chicken mixture (about 1 cup) to spread over enchiladas. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese and green onions. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. ***

*Note that I don't particularly like these ingredients, so I replaced the chopped onion with onion powder and the green chilies with chili powder. You do you.

**I just used garlic powder instead.

***If you are making food for multiple people, then ignore this note. If you are making food just for yourself, then hear ye, hear ye! After combining all the ingredients (when I cooked this, I halved the recipe), I used enough chicken mixture to fill up and coat only one tortilla. I stored the rest of the mixture in the fridge so I could make one enchilada at a time from then on. That way, it is fresh, for the most part, every time you cook one! Considering the fact that I halved the recipe, this chicken mixture lasted nearly a week - about 5 enchiladas! Also, I just put the single enchilada in a smaller baking dish when cooking it. 

Enjoy!