Mexican Chicken with Mexican Rice

Yes, I am crazy because I cooked in the insane heat last night. It was 92 degrees in my kitchen by the time I got done, really too hot to even enjoy the meal. We are not making that same mistake two nights in a row, Matt is on his way home with Subway right now. Hopefully this heat won't last much longer so I can continue with my regularly scheduled cooking. Last nights meal was something new and all in all, a success. Matt's official rating is just in and he gives the rice 3 stars and the chicken 4 stars. My only complaint was that even after cooking for an hour, the rice never got as soft as I would have liked it to. It had great flavor but was a little too hard. Now, I am used to cooking and eating Minute Rice so that could be the problem. This was the first time I have made anything with "normal rice" so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to a different type of rice. I used organic long grain brown rice. For those of you with experience with rice outside of the Minute stuff, what do you think? Is there that much of a difference? Will it just take some getting used to? Any thoughts or comments are appreciated! I paired the chicken and rice with corn because it seems the most "Mexican" vegetable to me, but feel free to pair with whatever vegetable you would like!

Mexican Chicken Breasts

1 package taco seasoning

16 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup salsa

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

1. Place chicken breasts and taco seasoning in a seal able plastic bag; shake to coat well.

2. Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray

3. Place breasts in casserole

4. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees

5. Top with salsa about 5 minutes before breasts are done

6. Top with sour cream before serving

Makes 4 servings, 4 WW points each serving

156 calories, 1.7g fat, 1.0g fiber, 6.5g carbohydrates

Mexican Rice

1 tsp salt

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup brown rice, not instant

2 cups fat-free chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes

1/2 cup red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1. Heat oil. Add rice and cook until golden and toasted. Add and lightly saute onion, pepper and garlic.

2. Put salt, 1/2 cup of tomatoes (undrained) and broth in a blender. Process till smooth.

3. Add liquid from blender to the rice mixture slowly. You can drain the rest of the tomatoes and add them to the rice at this point if you want extra tomato.

4. Bring to a boil; cover, turn heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender, about 1 hour.

5. Don't remove the lid during the cooking process.

Makes 6 servings, 4 WW points per serving

191 calories, 7.8g fat, 1.5g fiber, 27.7g carbohydrates