Category Archives: Mexican/Spanish Recipes

Beef, Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Cinco de Mayo Taco Casserole

Happy May Day! Happy Beltane!

And in just 5 days, happy Cinco de Mayo! No matter where you live, you’re likely to find people celebrating this Mexican holiday. It’s a great excuse to drink margaritas and eat your favorite Mexican food. So the challege here is what can I eat that isn’t going to explode the carb count? A few things on the menu at a restaurant are not too high in carbs, but avoid the chips, the tortillas, the beans, and the rice. That doesn’t leave much, does it?

Chile Verde is a good choice if you eat without any of the trimmings. A Chile Rellano isn’t too bad but the batter may have flour in it. Albondigas Soup is usually pretty low in carbs, although some places add rice to it. No matter what you eat out, you are likely to find hidden carbs. So what to do? Make a Mexican dish at home to celebrate with family and friends.

Here’s one that is easy to do and uses spaghetti squash as a stand-in for rice and tortillas. It’s a casserole that can be made in a stove-to-oven deep skillet or prepared in any skillet and transferred to a casserole dish. I’ll be posting two more recipes this week, so check back to see what else you can do for the day and check out the blog for many recipes already on it.

If that’s not enough, I have a Mexican Food booklet that has 15 recipes in it, most of which are not on this site. Check it out at Amazon.com or Smashwords (link in the sidebar.)

Spaghetti Squash Taco Casserole

3 cups cooked Spaghetti Squash (cooking instructions below)
1 cup Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese
2 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 lb. Ground Beef
1/3 cup finely chopped Sweet Peppers
2 teaspoons Taco Seasoning
2 Green Onions, thinly sliced
1 can 15 oz. Tomatoes with Chile

To Cook the Squash:
About two hours before you want to make the casserole, roast the squash.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (f.)

With a heavy knife, like a Chef’s knife, cut the squash down the middle vertically from stem to bottom. Use a spoon to remove the seeds and any gummy strings. Rinse out and dry with a paper towel. Use about a teaspoon of Olive Oil and rub it into each side of the squash and sprinkle a little salt on it.

Spaghetti Squash face up waiting to be oiled. Turn them over to roast so the cut side is down.

Wrap a cookie tin or baking tin with aluminum foil and place the squash on top face down so the shell is on top.

Bake for 50 minutes. Remove and let cool about 15 to 20 minutes until you can handle the squash without burning your fingers. Use a fork to separate the strands of the squash into a bowl. Cover and set aside or refrigerate until you prepare the meat sauce.

Sauce and assembly:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (f.)

In a deep skillet-to-oven pan, such as a cast iron or copper skillet, brown the ground beef until it is lightly browned. Remove to a plate or bowl and wipe any excess oil from the pan. Put the cream cheese in the pan and add the taco seasoning, sweet peppers, and tomatoes. Cook and stir until it is blended and heat up. Add the ground beef, then stir in half the cheese and add the spaghetti squash and mix until the sauce is evenly distributed into the squash. Smooth with the back of a spoon until even.

If you don’t have a skillet that can go into the oven, then transfer the mixture into a large casserole dish and smooth it with the spoon.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and put in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and the dish is bubbly.

Cooked casserole in a skillet.

Let cool about 10 minutes, then serve with sour cream and guacamole if desired.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Nutrition Information per serving (6 servings):
Calories: 292 Fat: 20.5 g Net Carbs: 7.9 g Protein:16.2 g

Nutrition Information per serving (8 servings):
Calories: 219 Fat: 15.4 g Net Carbs: 5.9 g Protein:12.1 g

Desserts, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

Light and easy, Mexican-style flan dessert

Happy 2017, everyone!

I hope everyone had a great holiday and we’re all ready to settle back into a low carb routine. I know I need to do it.  Too many holiday goodies in this girl’s life and I definitely must drop some pounds.  How about you?

I tapered off on posts a little towards the end of the year in 2016, but I’m aiming to get back on a weekly schedule this year. If you have any particular food dish that you’d like to see if I can adapt to an under 10 carb meal, please drop me a line or post a comment. I’m always looking for new recipes.

On New Year’s Eve, I went with my Mexican food tradition and put together turkey enchiladas for dinner. For dessert, I wanted something light that would compliment the main course and not be too heavy. What better than a Mexican flan?

Flan is very much like a panna cotta and is very easy to make.  This one has a light orange flavor from adding grated orange rind, but I took it a step further and put slices of orange dipped in sugar substitute on the top. Give it a try and you might count it among your favorite desserts.  I do.

The only drawback is that this makes a very small serving, but it’s rich enough to satisfy. If you have the carbs to spare, you can make it into two servings instead of four.

Orange Mexican-Style Flan

1 tablespoons Brown Sugar Splenda
1 tablespoon Sugar Substitute
1 tablespoon Butter

2 Eggs
3/4 cup Cream
1/4 cup Water
2 1/2 tablespoons Sugar Substitute
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon Orange Zest

8 segments Orange for garnish (optional)
1 tablespoon Almond slivers (optional)

Heat oven to 325 degrees (F.) Butter four 1/2 cup custard dishes or four cupcake molds. Heat water to boiling in a pot.

In a microwavable bowl, put the brown sugar, and 1/2 tablespoon butter, and cook for 20 seconds. It probably won’t melt much. Add 1/2 teaspoon of hot water and stir. Spoon into the bottom of the custard dishes. You could also use a caramel-flavored sugar-free syrup instead of the brown sugar Splenda.

In a blender, add the eggs, cream, water, sugar substitute, vanilla, cinnamon, and orange zest and blend until smooth. Pour equal amounts of the mixture into each custard dish.

Put the custard dishes In a roasting pan or other large pan and place in the middle of the oven, then pour hot water into the roasting pan to about 1 inch up the sides of the custard dishes. Be careful to not get water in the custard dishes.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. Spray cooking spray on plastic wrap and   sprayed side down, cover each of the dishes, then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Garnish with slices of oranges dipped in sugar substitute and/or toasted almonds before serving,

Makes four servings.

Nutrition Information per serving: (No topping)
Calories: 188.5 Fat: 17.2 g Net Carbs:4.5 g Protein: 4.0 g

With orange slices:
Calories: 222 Fat: 20.1 g Net Carbs: 6.1 g Protein: 4.0 g

 

Breakfast & Brunch, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Pork, Recipes

Delicious Chorizo Egg Muffins for Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo! No better way to celebrate this festive holiday than with a spicy Mexican style dish and that’s just what this little egg muffin is.  It’s a little late for breakfast today, but the party goes on all week.  Heck, we went to the Star Trek Experience at the Grand Sierra Hotel last Sunday (fabulous, by the way) and the parking lot was packed with people going to the Cinco de Mayo street fair set up in the side parking lot.  No doubt in my mind that it’s running through this weekend.  Besides you don’t need a holiday to spice up your breakfast and these egg muffins make a great lunch also.

Chorizo Egg Muffins

Slightly spicy, with vegetables in it. The kohlrabi is like adding potatoes to the mix and spinach and onion add to the taste and nutrition. The golden flax meal brings a bit of a taste of cornmeal with no carbs and extra fiber for a great breakfast start.

6 Eggs
1/4 cup Kohlrabi, cubed
1/4 cup Spinach, fresh, chopped
2 medium Scallions, sliced
4 oz. Texas Chorizo or Mexican Chorizo
1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
3 tablespoons Golden Flax Meal

Heat oven to 365 degrees (F.) Spray 6 to 8 muffin wells or individual muffin cups with baking spray.

Cook kohlrabi in the microwave for a minute or in boiling water for two to three minutes until tender. Cool. Slice the cubes into smaller pieces.

In a bowl, break the eggs and beat with a whisk, then add the ricotta cheese and cream and whisk until mixed in. Add vegetables, chorizo, flax meal and seasoning and mix well. You may have to separate the chorizo into small pieces before adding if it is the more solid variety. If you use the Mexican chorizo, it has a chili sauce mixed into it and the egg muffins will have a redder color from it.

Use a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measure to scoop and pour the egg mixture into the muffin cups. They should be almost full. Top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out cleanly.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving. May be refrigerated or frozen.

Makes 7 or 8 egg muffins

Nutrition Info per muffin
Calories: 212.8 Fat: 16.6 Net Carbs: 1.4 g Protein: 13.2

 

 

 

 

Book News, Book Nook, Healthy Life, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Recipes

New Cookbook, New Series Launched

coverLC15-Mexican2_96

I’m excited to launch a new series of little cookbooks that I call Low Carb 15.  Simply, it is a little cookbook with fifteen recipes covering one subject or category with delicious adapted to low carb recipes.  Since it is almost Cinco de Mayo, I launched with one of my favorite food types — Mexican Food!

I love it and have had to come up with adapted recipes to help keep me in maintenance mode.  I sure don’t want to go back up in weight and it is a struggle all the time to not fall off the low carb path and indulge in some of the great food out there. Sure, I do fall off now and then, but I always try to snap back to the low carb intake. But it’s my mission to these days to try to adapt as many recipes for favorite foods to a low carb version.

This booklet has fifteen great recipes for tried and enjoyed Mexican and Tex-Mex food.  It includes two recipes for soup, two for desserts, one for a spicy cheesy cornbread made with low carb flours, and the rest are main course items.  A few of the recipes have been posted on this blog, but there are several new, never posted ones that are exclusive to this book.

The booklet is only available on eBook.  At the moment, it is available from Smashwords (see widget above) and Amazon Kindle. It will be available on iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Kobe soon.

So check it out and treat yourself to a copy.  If you like it, please review it. Thanks.  And happy Cinco de Mayo!

Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Poultry, Recipes

Cast Iron Skillet Enchiladas

Inspired by a recipe for vegetarian enchiladas that popped into my Facebook feed, I decided to try making my red sauce chicken enchiladas in a cast iron skillet.  It’s a one pot dish so that makes it simple.  It takes about 1 hour to prepare and bake this easy dish.  I found a very low carb enchilada sauce at my local Raley’s grocery store, so check your labels for the lowest net carbs for the sauce.  Mine came in at 1 net carb per 1/4 cup.  The cheese is also 0 net carbs.

Cast Iron Skillet Enchiladas

2 cups Roasting Chicken, chopped or diced
1/2 medium Onions, chopped
6 Mini Sweet Bell Peppers, sliced
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
1-1/2 cup Raleys Enchilada Sauce
6 Low Carb Tortillas (3 nc each)
1 1/2 cups Cheddar Jack Cheese
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).

In a large cast iron skillet (or any other skillet that can go from stove to oven) add olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add minced garlic, onions and sweet peppers and sauté until just tender. Remove from skillet.

Pour 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the skillet. Heat the tortillas in a plastic bag in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften them. Put one tortilla on a plate, then spread 1/6 of the onion mixture down the middle, leaving about 1/2 inch at each end. Repeat with the chicken, then sprinkle cheese over the top. Roll the tortilla into a snug roll and tuck in the ends. Place in the skillet along the edge. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Four will fit along the outside curves of the skillet, then put the last two in the middle.

Spread the remainder of the sauce evenly over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake in the skillet for 30 to 35 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened. Let cool about 5 minutes, then serve with sour cream and chopped green onions if you like. Makes 6 enchiladas.

Nutrition information for 1 enchilada:
Calories: 215.5 Fat: 11.0 g Net Carbs: 6.5 g Protein: 21.7 g