Clean Out The Refrigerator Veggie Fajitas

I always have fat-free refried beans on hand because I can always whip up something quick and filling with beans. Also I love Mexican food!! Have I mentioned that? This week was all about minimal grocery shopping for us. I usually like to shop on Thursdays and I left for my road trip on Thursday last week. All that to say I did a quick shop on Monday for necessities like milk and soymilk. So….by Wednesday we were running a little low and I wanted to clean the refrigerator out for Thursday’s big shopping and this is what we got.

I sautéed some onions, red bell pepper, and summer squash in Pam with Cajun spice blend. After heating up some small corn tortillas, adding the beans and sautéed vegetables I topped the whole thing off with hot sauce and green onions I had a wonderful 3 point meal.

How great is that? I love a meal that is quick easy and low in points. This totally filled my belly and made me happy before heading out to teach my night Pilates class.

What do you make when you are looking around in the fridge? I want to know.

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Just when you thought Mexican Food was off the list…

As you know I posted my recipe for black bean taquitos a while back. Well at the time the wheels started turning. David loves enchiladas and taquitos are almost enchiladas. Then I was at Trader Joe’s and I remembered they make a great enchilada sauce. The left over chicken and corn from Wednesday and the fact that it was raining in June in LA, seemed like the perfect opportunity to create an enchilada recipe. I was sure they would cost more than the taquitos but I was willing to risk it. Much to my amazement when I put it in to the recipe builder each enchilada was only 1 point!!!

I think this is a great way to feed a crowd on a budget you would just need to make a bigger batch. You could also stretch the filling out more but I was out of pan space. David was happy with just 3 enchiladas served with beans and salad for lunch.

Chicken and Corn Enchiladas

12 Enchiladas
1 Point/Enchilada

1 chicken breast (leftover from the brined chicken), shredded
1 ear of corn grilled (leftover as well), cut off the cob
¼ cup frozen green peas
¼ cup Trader Joe’s red salsa
¾ cup Trader Joe’s enchilada sauce, divided
12 corn tortillas (the ones that work out to 1 point for 2)
cooking spray
1½ oz of fat-free soy cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Heat the oven to 450F.
2. In a bowl combine the chicken, corn, peas, salsa, and 1/8 cup of the enchilada sauce.
3. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for about a minute between damp paper towels.
4. Spray a Pyrex pan (I used the small rectangle 2.2 quarts) with cooking spray of your choice.
5. Now working quickly fill each tortilla with about 2 Tbsp of the chicken mixture and roll the tortillas up like taquitos lining them up in the pan like soldiers. You want them to be nice and close together. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top and place in the oven for 10-15 min.
6. When things are looking done edges are crisp and sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake until the cheese melts. David likes things a little crisp so I popped mine under the broiler for a few moments to brown the cheese.

Let me know what you think. The cooking time is somewhat approximate because I was watching these little babies like a hawk. I was hungry. I also went light on the sauce because I don’t like my enchiladas drowning but I am sure you could add more without changing the point value too much.

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Light Guacamole!!

Guacamole is so yummy!! I love it and it is so expensive in points I rarely feel like I can indulge. Well all that is over this recipe lets me be greedy and skinny. Yea!

Light Guacamole

Adapted from Clean Eating
4 Servings
2 Points/Serving

1 avocado, diced
1/4 english cucumber, diced
1 tbsp red onion, minced
1 tbsp cilantro, minced
1/4 tsp each coriander and cumin
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl mix and enjoy.

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Taquitos Tonight

So as you know I love food. All food but…I really adore Mexican food. So when I saw Hungry Girl’s recipe for taquitos I had to try it. It was so easy and fast I started thinking. In the fridge I had lots of leftovers and corn tortillas and so Black Bean Taquitos were borne. I hope you enjoy them.

Black Bean Taquitos

Servings 12
1 Point/Taquito

1 15oz can of Organic Black Beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1/3 cup fat-free red salsa (I like the jar from Trader Joe’s)
1 tsp. taco seasoning
dash of salt and a few grinds of pepper
12 corn tortillas
Pam Butter spray

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425.
2. Mix together the beans, vegetables, salsa, taco seasoning, and salt and pepper. Microwave about 1 min., just to thaw the vegetables.
3. Place the tortillas (I usually work in small batches of about 4 tortillas,) between two moist paper towels and microwave for about 45 seconds, until soft and easy to work with.
4. Working quickly with one tortilla at a time spray both sides with Pam Butter spray, spoon 2 tablespoons of the black bean mixture into the center of the tortilla and roll up and place it on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.
5. Cook the little beauties for 8-10 minutes until crisp and wonderful.
6. Serve with salsa or better yet Low Fat Guacamole (recipe to come soon). I always add low fat cheese to David’s but it is plenty good without it. I hope you love these. Keep watching for the guacamole to come soon.

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