Every Wednesday night my husband and I (along with two other couples) help out at our church’s Youth Group. It is such a blessing to get to know some of the 6th-12th graders in our community. The Youth Pastor at our church does an amazing job with all the kids and we are just excited to be along for the ride and help out with trips, conferences and leading small group discussions each week.

So Wednesday nights are a bit crazy around here. Mike and Rachel (one of the other couples) have three kids. Their three along with our daughter, Kenley, head to AWANAS at a different church. My mom and sister babysit all the kids and run them to and from AWANAS. So my job on Wednesday nights is to provide a meal for anywhere from 12 to 15 people!!

Usually we just do a quick, easy crock pot meal. But last week I wanted to test out a new recipe. I was a bit nervous because Wednesday nights need to be kid-friendly meals (since there are 7 kids), but I hoped they would enjoy my new, healthy version of Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas.

Proud to say it was a SUCCESS! The kids asked for seconds, which is music to my ears! Can I get a hallelujah?

So my inspiration was a skinny enchilada recipe I saw on (what else?) Pinterest. They looked super yummy, but one major flaw: Cheese was missing! I *need* cheese with my Mexican food. How about you? I also like my cheesey chicken enchiladas to be super creamy.

So how could I avoid all that sour cream? I used low-fat plain yogurt and some melted butter instead. This way we weren’t sacrificing on taste, but we were getting 30% less fat! I also made my homemade chunky salsa and then added some fresh, diced avocado for the topping.

“Skinny” Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients

3 cups chopped, cooked rotisserie chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

About 2 cups plain low-fat yogurt

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 can organic, reduced-fat/reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves fresh pressed garlic

1 can chopped green chiles, drained

Freshly ground black pepper

12 (8-inch) flour tortillas

1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

1/4 cup chopped green onions

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º F

I purchased a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and chopped the meat in a large bowl.

Shred the cheese over top of chicken. Then pour in yogurt, butter and soup. Add onion, garlic and green chilies. Season with black pepper (I added some Pampered Chef Chili Lime Rub to the enchiladas and to my homemade salsa, you could just add some Mexican seasoning). Stir till well combined. If it seems too dry add a bit of milk to the mixture.

Reserve 1 cup of the chicken mixture and set aside.

Spoon 1/2 cup of chicken mixture onto each tortilla and roll.

Lay tortillas seam side down in a greased casserole dish. Spread the reserved cup of chicken mixture evenly over the enchiladas.

(Note: I had enough of the chicken mixture to make 12 enchiladas. I made 8 that night, since the kids all split them, and then I froze another 4 for a later date. Notice I didn’t have enough of the chicken mixture to put on top of the other 4 frozen enchiladas, so when I cook those I will just top them with some cheese so it doesn’t dry out while baking.)

Cover with foil and bake at for 25 minutes.

Uncover; sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 1/4 cup green onions; bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Serve with tortilla chips, homemade chunky salsa and diced avocado on top.

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You may remember me talking about my detox/diet. I am now finished with it. I lost 20 lbs! I feel so much better, more energy, and most importantly I am not craving carbs and sugar anymore (which was my main goal). So now instead of eating something sugary,sweet every day, we are having a special Family Baking Day on weekends when we are home! We make a delicious dessert, we each have one and then bring all those leftovers to church on Sunday or to our Youth Group.

If the dessert sits around the house, then I feel like I “need” to eat them. This seems to be working out so much better for me because I am being realistic and allowing our family to indulge once in awhile. But most importantly, the church family (and not my waist line) is now benefitting from my sweet tooth

Last weekend we made Jacques Torres’ (not so) Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies