Breakthrough

There's been a noticeable change around our house.

Teddy is now a GOOD BOY.

Like, he doesn't feel compelled to chew everything. He will happily park it on the couch. Or floor. Or his kennel. For HOURS.

GOOOOOOD BOYYYYYYYYY.

In food news, I made some nachos! But not your traditional ground beef and gloopy cheese nachos. Chicken fajita nachos! With queso fresco. And lots of salsa. And lime juice. And cilantro. We're talking whole grains, lean protein, veggies x3. 'Cause there's no room for basic in 2021.

Let's do it.

Chicken Fajita Nachos

-8ish oz bag tortilla chips (blue corn is my favorite, but any corn will work)

-1 tablespoon olive oil

-1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

-1/4 teaspoon each salt, pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika (<-- no biggie if you don't have this)

-8 oz Neufchatel cream cheese, room temperature

-8 oz light sour cream

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder)

-Packet of fajita seasoning mix

-3 bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips

-1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

-6 oz queso fresco

-Pico de gallo or other salsa

-Lime wedge for garnish, optional

-Fresh cilantro, optional

Okay so this does look like quite the list of ingredients, but feel free to take a giant shortcut on the chicken. I cooked mine from raw but you could use any shredded or precooked chicken. The veggies can be cut up to a day in advance.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut up chicken into 2-3" chunks. I sauteed mine, but I suppose if you prefer grilling you could keep them as whole breasts. Season with the salt, pepper, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook chicken until browned and internal temp in biggest chunk is 165 degrees or higher (super appetizing when I talk about CHUNKS, huh?). Put chicken on a cutting board and cut it up into nice shred-ish pieces. Put the chicken back into the pan. Add fajita seasoning and 1/4 cup water. My grocery store was out of seasoning so they subbed a liquid version- same deal. Let simmer for a few minutes.

In a bowl, beat together cream cheese and sour cream and garlic. Pour into chicken pan and stir that around until it's all nice and melted. Add pepper and onion strips. Cover and let simmer for ~10 minutes.

Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread chips around the pan. Spoon chicken/pepper mixture over the chips. Bake for 10-15 minutes. I'll admit that I was impatient and cooked mine at a low broil for ~5 minutes. Whatever you'd like to do!

Remove from oven and immediately top with crumbled queso fresco and salsa. Serve warm.

Remember- corn is a whole grain!

The dog might have napped beside us while he ate, but you can bet he was hunting for any scraps left behind once we were finished. Sorry pups- not much in the way of leftovers tonight!

Makes six servings. Per serving: 506 calories, 29 grams carbohydrates, 25 grams fat, 38 grams protein, 565 mg sodium