Alex Masica

Name: Healthy Enchilada Bake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 23 min
Total time: 38 min
Yield: 8 people
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 2 green bell peppers; 1 red bell pepper; 1 orange bell pepper; 1 red onion; 1 cup corn; 3 teaspoons chili powder; 2 tablespoons cumin; 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes; 2 tablespoons cajun seasoning; 2 cups Mexican blend cheese; 20 corn tortillas; 1 can refried beans; 1 15oz can red kidney beans, undrained; 1 cup hot enchilada sauce; 1 cup green enchilada sauce; Optional: sour cream, guacamole, and salsa for topping

3 Reasons to Smile and Be Happy About Life

March 20, 2014 By Alex Masica 4 Comments

Do you ever have those days where you’re just, like, man, life is so good? I’ve been having a lot of those lately and, man, it feels really good.

Ever since graduating from college, I’ve been so self conscious about a lot of things: finding a job, keeping a job, performing well enough, paying bills on time, meeting new people, finding myself in reality.

You know what? Worrying about so many things is so damaging and draining. When I moved to Minneapolis from New York City, I worried every day for a month about if the person who took my spot on a lease actually moved in to the apartment. Instead of just emailing my old roommates to find out, I stressed for a good two hours every day about the problem.

Come to find out, she did move in (like I knew she would). Now it’s just a struggle getting my landlord to hand over the money for my security deposit. If you’re an expert in getting money back from a landlord, hook. me. up.

I thought if I was having trouble letting go and being happy, there must be some other people out there going through the same thing.

I’m hoping these three reasons to smile and be happy about your life will be help make your day a little brighter and a little less stressful. I think about these almost every day as I continue on a journey to become more grateful.

1. You’re able to read this

Sounds a little vague and, well, out there, right? But do you ever stop and think about how lucky we have it with this whole “I know how to read” and “I can access the Internet whenever and wherever I want” thing? I thought about what life would be like without the ability read, write, and communicate with people through technology. I couldn’t even imagine it. We’ve got it so good. Take a minute and be thankful for something we take for granted in our society.

2. You’ve got friends who are rooting for you

Sometimes, we forget there are more people in our lives than we realize who want us to be happy and are willing to lend a hand. The person who comes to my mind these days is my friend Mandie. We worked together while I lived in Chicago. She’s turned out to be one of my best friends and I have leaned on her so many times. I’m so thankful for our friendship. You want an easy way to find out who’s rooting for you? Take a look at who’s liked or commented on some of your recent Facebook posts. You might think I’m crazy, but take a look and think about your relationship with them. I bet if you think about it hard enough, there are plenty of people who would care about your well-being and want to help you succeed.

3. Life’s going to be OK.

This is one I need to work on more. When I start to worry, all the worst-case scenarios start coming to mind about how my world is going to come crashing down. But you know what? Those things have never happened. So when you’re stressing out and you think life’s giving you the stink eye, step away and focus your attention on something completely different, like working out or reading a book. It’s amazing how powerful attention diversion can be to our well-being.

That’s it from me. I’d love to hear some of the reasons you’re smiling and loving life today. Let me know in the comments below.

Learning to be more grateful

March 18, 2014 By Alex Masica 7 Comments

You’re rushing out the door to work because you’re late for work. You swerve out of the driveway and push the gas pedal down so you can make that dreaded stoplight. And just as you swerve into the fast lane, somebody cuts you off, causing you to miss the light. Now you’re really late for work.

I get it. Some days, you just want to hate the world and everyone in it. I have those days, too. It’s so much easier to see the glass as half empty than full, and it’s sure as heck a lot more enjoyable to pinpoint the qualities you dislike in a person than point out everything you love.

But after a while, this becomes draining on you. Your friends know you as the person who bitches about everything and your coworkers are afraid to come ask you a question. So you realize it’s time to make a change. You set out to be more of an optimist and learn to be more grateful for the things in your life.

I came to this realization a couple of years ago. In some respects, I’m still on the journey to acceptance. Many days, I feel like it’ll be a lifelong struggle. We live in a world where it’s more of a social norm to tell someone to go to hell because they budged in line at Starbucks than to call up long-lost friends and tell them how much you miss them and wish to catch up.

When I started to think long and hard about how I could consciously change my habits and evaluate my life more positively, I came to three realizations.

It’s not them, it’s me

Yes, you read that right. Most often than not, we get angry about a situation because of our own fault, not someone else’s. While you might be quick to flash a certain finger to the driver who cut you off in traffic, it’s probably more your fault that you left the house 10 minutes late. When I started to think about problems from their origins rather than their endings, I found myself at fault nine times out of 10.

It takes energy to be more grateful

It’s crazy to type a statement like that and even more crazy to say it out loud. In the first few weeks of trying to be more positive and grateful for the people I interact with, I found that, like anything else, if I didn’t work at it and invest a decent amount of time each day into recognizing the good things, I slipped back into my old habits. So I started making a list at the end of the day and re-reading it when I got up the next day. I still do that each day. Slowly but surely, it was easier to find the happiness in the little things and the good in people.

Most people have good intentions

One of the biggest things I worked on in the first year was recognizing the good in people and their intentions. In the past, I was so, so quick to completely write off someone based on a single decision he/she made. But when I looked more objectively at situations and conversations, it’s easy to see that emotions get heated in many situations and I usually set people off long before the situation at hand. My resolution? Take more time to think before I speak, send an email, or respond to a text message. And during that time, I’d find a few things I liked about the person. You probably think I’m crazy, but it feels so good and helps to counteract a lot of negative emotions.

What does all of this mean? I’m not sure, to be honest. I just wanted to share part of this journey with you. I’m far from finding the finish line but I’m actually enjoying the time it takes to find it. Because when I look around, I see there a lot more people cheering for me and my success than I originally saw.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on gratefulness. Is it something you’re working on in your life, too? Let me know in the comments below.

Healthy Enchilada Bake

March 16, 2014 By Alex Masica 1 Comment

OK, I admit it—I’m in love with Mexican food. As if you couldn’t tell from my recent recipes, any day is a good day for salsa, cheese, tortillas, and spice in my book.

The problem, however, is that it can sometimes be tough to make Mexican food healthy. By the time you add cheeses, sauces, fryers, creams, and everything else, it’s not hard to make your favorite Mexican dish into a calorie buster.

Making adjustments isn’t hard—it just takes a little creativity. That’s when I came across a recipe for a healthy Mexican casserole recently, I knew I had to try it out and put my own spin on it.

What I love about this enchilada bake is that it’s packed with great, natural flavors and a lot of protein. So even though the food is tasting great and a small portion is filling, you’re not consuming tons and tons of unnecessary calories, fat, carbs, and sugar.

With the exception of the orange pepper, you probably have all (or most) of the ingredients already in your kitchen. And this enchilada bake couldn’t be more easy to put together. After you’re done dry pan frying (is that a real term?) the vegetables, the only steps left are to layer the ingredients in a baking dish.

Healthy Enchilada Bake

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 23 minutes

Total 38 minutes

Servings 8 people

This lightened-up Mexican classic feeds a crowd and is light on the waistline. It's quick to prepare and even quicker to bake. Try it out tonight!

Ingredients

2 green bell peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red onion
1 cup corn
3 teaspoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons cajun seasoning
2 cups Mexican blend cheese
20 corn tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 15oz can red kidney beans, undrained
1 cup hot enchilada sauce
1 cup green enchilada sauce
Optional: sour cream, guacamole, and salsa for topping

Instructions

Chop peppers and dice onion.
Using a nonstick pan on high heat, fry the corn until smoky and slightly burnt, about three minutes.
Fry the peppers until slightly burnt, about four minutes. (Note: if you have a small pan, fry the peppers in two batches)
Fry the onion until soft and slightly burnt, about four minutes.
Mix all vegetables together in a large bowl. Toss with chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, and cajun seasoning. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Mix refried beans and kidney beans together in a medium bowl.
Mix enchilada sauces together in a medium bowl.
Grease a deep 9×13 baking dish. Coat the bottom with about 1/4 cup enchilada sauce.
Layer the pan in the following order: half of the tortillas, all of the beans, half of the vegetables, half of the sauce, half of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, vegetables, sauce, and cheese.
Cover with tin foil and bake on second-to-top rack for 23 minutes or until cheese is melted. Rotate baking dish once during baking.

Courses Dinner

Cuisine Mexican

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Adapted from Pinch of Yum.

Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Burrito

March 1, 2014 By Alex Masica Leave a Comment

Last week, I came down with a nasty cold. It started with a scratchy throat and then lead to an achy body and a loss of appetite. After about five days of living in the La-Z-Boy and watching Modern Family and Scandal, I was back to normal.

I was excited to get back to eating more than toast, but I didn’t want to fall of wagon and go hog wild and eat all the things. What I came up with was a roasted vegetable and chicken burrito.

What I like about it is how versatile the recipe is—use what you like and replace the things you don’t like or don’t have on hand. Also, it’s a fairly healthy recipe that will leave you full without feeling guilty. I used traditional flour burrito tortillas for my shell but you can experiment and use alternatives, like whole wheat or spinach tortillas. Next time, I’m going to try these as tacos.

Because I was trying to keep the recipe light, I opted out of using rice but I think next time I’ll try making some brown or jasmine rice. Not only does it add great flavor but it also gives you a little more bang for your buck.

Roasted Vegetable & Chicken Burrito

About 8 Burritos

This roasted vegetable & chicken burrito is a healthy, light take on the classic Mexican burrito. Add in your favorite vegetables for your perfect burrito!

Ingredients

1 head broccoli
1 head cauliflower
1 large carrot
1 sweet onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese (5 to 6 ounces)
3 cups salsa of choice (I used Chi-Chi’s original medium salsa)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded
8 large burrito-sized tortillas
Optional: sour cream, cooked rice

Steps

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Chop the broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots into bite-sized pieces (the smaller and finer the better). Chop the onion into quarters.
Assemble the vegetables in a single layer on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Bake vegetables for 15–20 minutes or until tender and dark spots appear. Stir vegetables twice during baking.
While vegetables are baking, mix corn and black beans together and create an assembly line with the rest of ingredients.
Remove vegetables from oven and chop onion into small pieces. In a large bowl, toss vegetables with chili powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.
Place tortillas in microwave for 10–15 seconds to soften. Then, assemble burritos with the roasted vegetables, corn and black beans, chicken, salsa, and cheese. Use no more than 1 1/2 cups of filling per burrito. Roll burrito and enjoy!

http://betterwithfamily.com/2014/03/01/roasted-vegetable-chicken-burrito/

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

February 23, 2014 By Alex Masica 2 Comments

I have to admit, I’m not really a soup person and I’m not sure why. It might have to do with the fact that I ate beef stew A LOT as a kid, and I never liked it. Or it might be the numerous soups I’ve tried over the years that didn’t taste good (or tasted like hot water), didn’t fill me up, or just didn’t look appetizing.

But it’s been cold in Minneapolis recently (read: ever since I moved here). And making a hot meal every night after work becomes time consuming and tiresome. So I decided to revisit the soup idea. I’m a huge fan of pretty much any Mexican food, so I thought that was a good place to start exploring ideas for soup. And what I came up with was chicken tortilla soup.

What I like about this soup is that is fills me up after one bowl from its heartiness, yet it’s not full of added calories or fats. It has a little kick to it (and you can adjust the spiciness to your liking), and it doesn’t really remind me of soup due to its Mexican flavor. I feel like I’m eating an enchilada.

So get out the soup pot and light up the stove, because you’re making chicken tortilla soup for dinner tonight!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

About Six Servings

Chicken tortilla soup is hearty, fresh, healthy, and tastes great. Find out how to make this tasty soup with ingredients you already have in your kitchen.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of butter (or substitute 3 tablespoons of olive oil)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 14-ounce cans chicken broth (only use 1.5 or 2 cans if you like your soup thicker)
1 quart fat free half-and-half
1 10.75-ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 cups salsa (I used Chi-Chi’s medium chunky salsa)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 15-ounce can each of: kidney beans, black beans, corn, all drained
2 teaspoons cumin
1 packet (~1.27oz) fajita seasoning
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
4 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
Tortilla chips (I used Tostinos fajita scoops)

Steps

1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and onion. Sauté until soft and fragrant (about seven minutes).
3. Add the flour and stir well. Let this cook for at least one minute.
4. Add the chicken broth and half-and-half.
5. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low.
6. Add cream of chicken soup, salsa, chicken, beans, corn, cumin, fajita seasoning, and cheese.
7. Continue to simmer over low heat for at least 15 minutes.
8. When serving, crumble tortilla chips on top of soup. Serve with extra cheese and sour cream, optional.

http://betterwithfamily.com/2014/02/23/chicken-tortilla-soup/

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M&M Butterfinger Cookies

February 17, 2014 By Alex Masica Leave a Comment

I recently bought a cobalt blue KitchenAid mixer and I have to say, I don’t know what took me so long. Making baked goods is so much easier and quicker now. I’m in love.

I’ve been having fun making cookies, bars, breads, and muffins. One of the best things I’ve made is M&M Butterfinger cookies. Not only are these cookies delicious but they’re also easy to make, and you probably have most of the ingredients in the kitchen already.

With the winter being so cold (and even colder since I moved to Minneapolis), these cookies are a great thing to have on hand when you’re stuck inside when it’s snowing (like today). They’re the perfect snack, and with the peanut butter and oats added, they’re also filling until dinner time.

What really makes these cookies is the Butterfingers. They add a nice extra punch of flavor, and the inside of the Butterfinger has a fun texture once it’s been baked.

M&M Butterfinger Cookies

M&M candies, chunks of Butterfinger, chocolate chips, and more come together to create these delicious cookies! Bet you can't eat just one!

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup of rolled oats
1 heaping cup each chocolate chips, Butterfinger chunks, and M&M candies (I used the plain kind)

Steps

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.
Beat in the peanut butter, vanilla and eggs until very well blended.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, Butterfinger chunks, and M&M candies until thoroughly combined.
Make balls of heaping tablespoons of dough and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10–12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown.
Note: Let cookies cool on baking sheets for about 7 minutes until firm, then transfer to cooling racks.

http://betterwithfamily.com/2014/02/17/mm-butterfinger-cookies/

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Adapted from Pinch of Yum.