Chicken Fajitas + Faux Refried Beans

    Anyone seeing a theme here? 2 out of 4 posts are Mexican recipes? I am such a sucker for Mexican food. It's bad... it's real bad. If I don't get some chips and queso every couple weeks I start going through withdrawls... No, seriously I need that cheese (see? not always healthy.) 
   Anyway, the other night I made my mom's fajitas. They are pretty much amazing, this is a recipe I have used basically ever since I have been cooking and my friends always ask for it. Over the years I have made some modifications and deviations, finding ways to make it a little healthier (not that it's bad to begin with). I also love the addition of zucchini, my favorite Mexican restaurant does it this way. 

Mom's Chicken Fajitas:

• 1lb Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 Green bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 White onion, cut into strips
• 1 Zucchini, cut into half moons
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 1/4c Fresh minced cilantro
• 2 tsp Ground Cumin
• A dash of Red pepper flakes
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Optional ingredients and toppings:

• Corn tortillas
• Salsa
• Cheese (queso fresco or just generic shredded mexican blend are my favorites)
• Sour cream

 Combine all of the ingredients listed and marinate for atleast a half hour, the longer the better! (Mine accidentally marinated overnight because working on the sailboat and drinking beer seemed like more fun the night I planned to eat them. They were just as good, if not better, the next day.) In a large frying pan, I prefer to use my electric skillet, cook all ingredients until chicken is cooked through and peppers, onions, and zucchini are tender. Toss equal parts on warmed corn tortillas and top with additional toppings, make a salad and serve over a bed of lettuce with some salsa on top, or just eat them plain. No matter what they are awesome!

Serves 6, Calories per serving 118 (without tortilla); 3g fat; 6g carbs; 19g protein; 63mg sodium; 3g sugar

  I've been trying to find some healthy side dishes to accompany my Mexican fiesta that goes on a couple times a week. The canned re-fried beans were not cutting it, clearly. Then I stumbled on this great blog, The Skinny Fork Blog. This site has some pretty good healthy modified recipes and I have to say I am a believer. These were awesome and EASY. 

Faux Re-fried Beans:

Ingredients:

• 1 Lb. Dry Pinto Beans, Sorted & Rinsed
• 1 Onion, Diced
• 1 Jalapeño, Seeded & Diced
• 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 Tsp. Cumin
• 1/2 Tsp. Paprika
• 1/2 Tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/8 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 6 C. Water
• 1 1/2 Tsp. Salt

Directions:
1. Toss everything into a slow cooker (except the salt), secure the lid and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8. The longer they cook, the easier they are to mash at the end.
2. When cooked, mash the beans. Feel free to remove or add any water from them until they are the desired consistency. I would recommend making them a little thinner than you may think, since they do dry out slightly as they cool. Once mashed, season with salt to taste, about 1 1/2 tsp. Adding the salt at the end let you use less and allows for the beans to be more tender. Serve warm and enjoy!

Yep, They're that easy and HEALTHY.

Nutritional Facts:
Servings: 9; Size: 1/3 Cup; Calories: 62.8; Fat: 0.3 g;  Carb: 12.4 g;  Fiber: 3.8 g; Protein: 3.4 g; Sugar: 0 g; Sodium: 486.1 mg

A seriously tasty meal if I do say so myself. I brought some left overs to work for lunch today and my coworkers were sold too!

With that I will wrap things up today and leave everyone with some pictures of the FIRST REAL DAY OF SUMMER TODAY! It was amazing, the boyfriend and I got off work at the same time which doesn't happen often so we played tourist for the afternoon and went and walked around the canal and enjoyed some beer and ice cream. Enjoy!

At least I got a small, A for healthy effort right?

Canal Park Brewing Co.

I. Love. This. Lake.

I know, he's pretty cute huh?

First Foodie Post

   It's freezing today... lame. Will summer ever come??? I'm dyin' here Mother Nature!! 46 degrees my friends, welcome to the tundra. So, since life has handed me lemons I am pretending I am in Cancun and made some shrimp tacos for dinner! Exciting, I know.
   I did really well today, ate healthy all day, worked out after work, it only seemed appropriate to have a nice light dinner. Besides the tacos I made grilled avocados stuffed with pico de gallo. They were amazing, but could have been better. Let's be honest folks, I am no professional at cooking, a lot of what I do is trial and error. Tonight my error came in the form of picking avocados that weren't perfectly ripe.

I don't think I have ever had an avocado pit just split right in half on me. However, these things were still AUH-MAZING. I can't even begin to fathom what they would be like had I used fully ripened avocados. The mellow creaminess mixed with the crunchy spicy pico de gallo. YUM!

Grilled Stuffed Avocados:

•  2 Ripe Avocados
• 4 Tbsp Pico de Gallo (I made a big bowl of homemade Pico for tonight and another meal later this week)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil, for brushing
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat Grill.  Slice avocados in half and remove pit. Brush avocados with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to desired taste. Once avocados are prepared place them guts side down on grill, cook approximately 5-8 minutes, basically until you get some nice dark grill marks on there.
2. Remove the avocados from the grill and place a table spoon of pico de gallo in the crater of each of the halves.

Serves 4; Calories per seriving 119.8, Fat 10.6g, Carbs 7.5g, Sugars 0g, Protein 1.8g, Sodium 116.8mg

*My calculations for nutrition facts are not rocket science or exact, they are thanks to the Myfitnesspal app on my iPhone. I do enjoy having a rough estimate though.

    Moving on to the main event, these shrimp tacos were a great pair with the avocados. Light, fresh, delicious.

Grilled Shrimp Tacos:

• 1 lb Shrimp, deveined and tails removed
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp dried minced onion
• 2 Cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced
• 1 Pinch ground tumeric
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 8 Corn Tortillas

Optional Toppings:

• Reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese
• Fat free sour cream
• Lettuce
• Pico de gallo or salsa

1. Combine the shrimp with the lime juice, cumin, chili powder, minced onion, garlic, cilantro,  tumeric, and salt and pepper in a plastic bag or shallow bowl. Marinade the shrimp for a half hour to an hour.
2. Preheat grill. Add shrimp to grill, smaller shrimp may need to be skewered for easy cooking. Cook for 3-5 minutes total, turning once, until the fish is no longer translucent. Be careful not to over cook.
3. Divide the shrimp amongst all the tortillas and top with desired toppings.

Serves 4; Calories per serving 266.5, Fat 3.4g, Total Carbs 1.5g, Sugars 0.2g, Protein 58.7g, 619.4mg
*Nutritional facts do not include tortillas or toppings.

Hope you enjoy this light and delicious summer meal!