Tex-Mex is one of my favorite styles of cuisine. Yesterday at Shop and Stop (yes dear readers, we have no Wegman's here) I found Mission soft-flour tacos.... carb-balanced. For folks on weight watchers, that's 2 pts. per flour taco. The numbers are: 3 g. fat; 19 carbs, 5 protein...and get this... 13 g. of fiber. That's 6 net carbs. I don't know where they are hiding the fiber, I can't see it and I can't taste it.
Yesterday we had shrimp stir-fry but while I had everything out, I got chicken strips ready using a skillet, pam butter spray and seasoning. Today I will shred the chicken, and mix it with salsa, and a can of Old ElPaso refried spicy beans, which have no fat whatsoever. The number for the spicy beans for a half cup are: 5 g. protein, 16 g. carbs, 5 fiber, which comes out to 2 WW plus points. That's 4 for an entire cup. You can also add other left over veggies to the mixture, and I usually use a tablespoon of taco spices.
Now my housemate prefers this made "enchilada" style, with the tacos rolled up, more salsa on top, covered in cheese, and placed in a hot oven (covered with foil) for 20 minutes. I may eat one soft taco with lettuce/tomato, or sometimes I just eat the bean mixture on top of a salad. You can also use this mixture on nachos for other folks while using it in a more healthy way for yourself. Actually, some of those multi-grain taco chips aren't horrible in content, I just choose not to go there with the salty snacks. I find a regimen works better for me.
If you have a great Mexican style recipe to share with us that promotes health, you can either add it to the comments, or you can attach it to an email to me (robinsbooks@aol.com) and be a guest blogger. Happy Sunday!
Don't forget to feed my fish while you're here please.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I love the fat free refried beans, too. I also just mash black beans sometimes--with a little salsa mixed in they're great fillers for soft tacos or any burrito-style dish. It's hard to get away from the dripping-with-melted-cheese mindset when you're making Mexican inspired main dishes. Sometimes, I put a cheap pork roast in the crockpot, cook it down to shreds with a packet of fajita seasoning and some water and freeze it in zip lock bags, just to use for fillings. I can't see why chicken wouldn't work as well.
ReplyDeleteJoan what a smart idea! I just googled "fajita seasoning" and food.com had a recipe to make it. I'm sure almost everyone has these type of spices. Thanks for the great tip.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.food.com/recipe/fajita-seasoning-mix-28011
I'm a huge fan of hard shell tacos & tostadas. One of my favorite things to do (and low in WW points) is to heat up some MorningStar Farms burger style crumbles with a little taco seasoing & water, let the crumbles absorb the seasoning, add some chopped onion to the mix as well (sauteed first in some butter flavor spray...like Pam). Then heat up some fat free refried beans (I like Old El Paso), spread some beans on the tostada shell, top with some of the "burger" mixture, then add fat free or reduced fat shredded cheese, shredded lettuce & a dollop of salsa and/or fat free sour cream. Yummy!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe taco soup recipe Robin has is also a great Tex/Mex meal. Good tasting, low calorie and filling. A nice winter soup. Healthy. Would you post it again?
ReplyDeleteAR, If you don't like using the low-fat cheese, try using "extra sharp" cheddar. You get a lot of flavor with just a small amount. It's a good bang for your calorie buck...so to speak.
ReplyDeleteMmm... We're having cowboy burgers & Caesar salad!
ReplyDelete