Healthy Enchilada Bake

My absolute favorite type of food is obviously Mexican food. From my previous taco posts...and Mexican stuffed peppers it may be pretty easy to figure that out. However even though we LOVEEEEE Mexican food and are in the heart of the most fabulous Tex Mex restaurants  ...we don't necessarily love the calories. Biting into those delicious Salsa Verde Enchiladas and sipping on an ice cold margarita doesn't sound to shabby right? Well my friend pinterest came up with a very yummy QUICK AND EASY Mexican dish that you don't have to feel guilty about!!! It was a huge hit in  my house last night and I definitely plan on making it in the near future. The cool thing about this dish is that you can switch out the meats in order to make it your own creation. We used elk hamburger as our meat since that's what we had but it would also be delicious with chicken, pork, or even as a vegetarian dish.

 

 

Shopping List:

 

1 cup quinoa

one can of green chilies

one can of enchilada sauce

one can of black beans

one small onion diced and chopped

three cloves of garlic chopped

olive oil

chili pepper cumin and cayenne.

salt/pep

Monterrey jack cheese

fresh cilantro

sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

 

Procedure:

 

preheat your oven to 375

in a large skillet start sautéing your onions and garlic with a little bit of olive oil

once they start to become fragrant add your meat of choice and cook through

then add your green chilies, beans ,cooked  quinoa, and enchilada sauce and mix well.

add your spices ( I eyeball them but I would say a teaspoon of each will do)

allow the flavors to marry for a little while.

Place the mixture in a baking dish ( I used a circular baking dish)

top with the shredded Monterrey jack cheese and pop in the oven for ten minutes.

When the cheese is browned on the edges and bubbly take it out and top with fresh avocadoes, and sour cream.

ENJOY!!!

 

 

 

 



Shrimp Creole

As far back as I can remember my Nana would always make this Shrimp Creole dish. We love spicy food in our family and this dish puts off just the right amount of heat to make your mouth do a little happy dance! Chocked full of veggies and sprinkled with the perfect amount of seafood, this supper is a crowd pleaser for sure!!!!

 

 

Shopping List

 

one half of a medium sized yellow onion-chopped

two cloves of garlic

one lb of shrimp( can be cooked or uncooked..I always buy cooked shrimp and just throw it in there last second)

one bag of frozen okra

one jar of tomato sauce

one jar of rotel

one green bell pepper-chopped

one package of bacon-chopped in to small bits

cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

tony sacherys or cajun all seasoning

cumin

 

 

Procedure

1. In a Cast iron skillet start by sautéing the bacon
2. to the bacon add the onions and garlic and sautee until clear and fragrant
3. add your chopped bell pepper and bag of frozen okra. Cook until wilted and soft
4. Once veggies are wilted and soft add your can of rotel and a HALF can of tomato sauce let simmer
5. once veggies are coated with the sauce and starting to simmer then flavor it with cayenne, salt, pepper, and Cajun all seasoning.. taste it until it is to your liking or spice level.
6. lastly once everything is tasting right add your shrimp. If you chose to do uncooked shrimp you will want it to cook in the pot for about 5-7 minutes(until pinked) if you used cooked shrimp like I do then you can just throw it in there for about three minutes.
7. Serve and Enjoy!