Tex Mex Beef Tacos

Taco Night leftovers + romaine lettuce = HAPPY KAREN


This post is seriously overdue. I have all the usual excuses.

"I'm so busy!" always.
"I work two jobs!" so do a lot of people.
"our water heater exploded!" sure did! (this silly couponer was afraid of losing her stockpile!)
"we put down hardwood floors" mmhmm! in the bedrooms, and we'll be putting laminate in the living room soon.
"I have nothing to say!" Now that's just b.s.

On to the important things, like ground beef and black beans...
Hubby loves tacos, (but not the "boring" all beef kind) I love hubby, (and eating healthy) so I searched and hid a low fat taco recipe in the dinner plans for a boring Wednesday night. That was two years ago, and since his request has always been for the "special" tacos.

I personally think the secret is in the chipotle peppers. Make the extra effort to find them at your grocery store (you may have to look in the Mexican or Spanish section depending on how your store is set up).

The recipe is as follows:

Tex Mex Beef Tacos
adapted from Cooking Light
you can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

1 Cup White Onion Chopped
2 medium clove (4g) Garlic
1 lb Ground Beef 85% lean meat
1 12oz can sweet yellow corn (drained)
1/4 teaspoon alt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz can Hunt's Tomato Sauce - 100% Natural
1 container (1 4/5 cups ea.) Black Beans - Canned Drained & Rinsed (50% Less Sodium)
1 container (1 4/5 cups ea.) Dark Red Kidney Beans - Drained & Rinsed
Goya - Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, 6 Tbsp (3 or 4 peppers, chopped, relative to how hot you want it.) Proceed at your own risk, these babies are T-O-A-S-T-Y. Do not get the sauce in your eyes! Heat large skillet (you'll need a pan with a lid!) over medium high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Add minced garlic, chopped onion and beef to skillet. Break beef into crumbles and cook until browned. (about 6-8 minutes) Stir in beans, salt, pepper, chiles and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce your heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Each serving is 1/2 cup of taco meat. Nutrition: 226 calories 21g carbohydrates, 8g fat, 18g protein, 497mg sodium, 4 g sugar. Generally, hubby eats his on whole wheat tortillas with jack cheese and lettuce. I prefer mine piled high on romaine with fresh salsa (or 0% fat greek yogurt if I'm feeling dangerous ;) ) Since mangoes were on sale, I made mild mango salsa. (recipe to come!) Needless to say, I was excited about lunch the next day. True Love: 307 calories of DELICIOUS.

I hope you all enjoy these. :)

Chicken Tamale Casserole

I love to cook. I love to eat. I love to try new recipes. Lucky for me my husband is receptive to trying something at least once. To appreciate my husband's love of casseroles as well as my interest in eating healthy, I looked up Mexican (hubby's favorite) and came across this recipe. It's quick, SO simple, satisfying and so much easier than homemade tamales.
Now it's a household favorite :o)

Chicken Tamale Casserole
from Cooking Light

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup (4 ounces) pre shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided (or any shredded cheese we may have...monterey jack, cheddar...both...)
  
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• Cooking spray
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (we often use homemade enchilada sauce)
  
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set.

Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 354 (36% from fat)

Fat: 14.1g (sat 7.1g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.2g)

Protein: 18.9g

Carbohydrate: 36.3g

Fiber: 2.5g

Cholesterol: 58mg

Iron: 1.7mg

Sodium: 620mg

Calcium: 179mg