Eat Like A New Mexican...

My son is absolutely convinced that he is a New Mexican, despite being born in Denver. Being a child of mixed race, he's very familiar with the concept of getting some of his genetics from his dad and some from his mom- and so his logic concludes that since I, his mother, am New Mexican, so is he. Where his logic breaks down is acknowledging that really, he's a Coloradan first and foremost. But whatever. He's six. And because I am, in fact, proud of the quirky Albuquerque culture that helped shape who I am, I don't tend to argue with him.

Where my New Mexican influence has been lost is persuading my children that spicy food is, in fact, edible food. What's worse is that on Sunday, I brought home two bushels of freshly roasted green chile, relishing the aroma that tells me it is time for the fall season. The scent of roasted green chile is enough to make me smile, cry and laugh, all at the same time. My children's response? Something like this: "EW! Mom! What is that NASTY smell?!" It broke my heart just a little bit.

My good friend Allison shared our green chile bounty and turned what would have otherwise been a dreary Sunday afternoon prepping my weekly ingredients (while missing the Bronco's game) into a delightful afternoon of sipping red wine, peeling tons of green chile and engaging in adult conversation. Among the topics of conversation heralded the question, "what are we going to do with all of this green chile?!"

Now of course, being from NM, this is not a question I struggle with. It was ingrained upon me at an early age that green chile does, in fact, go with everything. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and yes, even dessert- all can be sublimely complimented with green chile, or as we New Mexicans refer to it- the green nectar of God.

So this post (and probably a few others) will be dedicated to utilizing this fabulous, low-calorie, flavor enhancing food in some creative ways. Admittedly, to "eat like a New Mexican" generally does not include a particularly healthy assortment of foods. I have a delightful and reduced calorie recipe for green chile chicken enchiladas, but to put that in your "healthy meals" category would be a stretch. Really, it's just a slightly leaner option of a most decadent indulgence. I will, however, include this recipe below, for your enjoyment.

Today for lunch I enjoyed a variation on a caprese salad: i diced up 3 roma tomatoes, about 3 oz of fresh mozzarella, about 1 TBS of fresh basil from my next door neighbor's garden, and 2 green chiles (roasted and peeled, but not cooked further). I tossed it all together with about 1/2 TBS of olive oil and some salt. It was very good. Some avocado chunks would have sent this right over the edge of fabulous, but I didn't have any.

Also on the menu this week is the basic ratatouille recipe, but with, of course, green chile. We're eating it tonight and I can't WAIT to try it. I will let you know the verdict.

The only downer to Sunday's green chile-fest was the fact that it was 94* outside- it was just a little anti-climatic. I'm excited to make some healthy (and at least one decidedly NOT healthy) soups, all centered around this fabulous fruit. If you have a great recipe utilizing green chile (especially an unusual or unexpected one) will you share it with us? Post it in the comments section- I'd love to see it and try it!

Here's the enchilada's recipe:

Rachie's Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas (flat, not rolled because I'm too lazy)
Makes 1 big pan
1 pkg corn tortillas (18 tortillas) (flour will also work and gives just a slightly different texture/flavor)
3  cooked and diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 1 rotisserie chicken boned and cut into pieces
1 C. chopped green chile (fresh or frozen- whatever you can find)
1 can Hatch Green Chile sauce (I don't have an alternative to this, so if you live in an area where you can't buy green chile sauce at the store, let me know and I'll try to think of something else.)
1 small tub of reduced fat sour cream (i tend to shy away from fat-free, but feel free...)
8-12 oz of reduced fat cheddar cheese (the less you use, the lower in calories- if you're really concerned, you can wait and only put cheddar cheese on the top layer of the casserole- or you can omit it all together.)
A few handfuls of fresh or frozen (and thawed/drained) spinach (I usually just use fresh)
You could also include cooked, diced zucchini, fresh diced tomatoes- really any veggies you want to sneak in here

In a sauce pan, add the green chile to the can of green chile sauce and mix together. It's my humble opinion that you can't have too much green chile in these enchiladas. It also allows you to adjust the heat to your liking.
In a 9X13 greased pan, spoon in a thin layer of green chile sauce. Lay down 6 slightly overlapping corn tortillas. Spread some sour cream (to your liking) along the tortillas with a spatula.  Layer 1/2 the chicken, 1/2 the spinach, a little cheese and any other veggies you may want to include. Top with a couple of ladles of green chile sauce. Repeat the process with another round of tortillas, sour cream, chicken, veggies and cheese. More sauce. Put the last of the tortillas on the top, with lots of sauce and top with the remaining cheese.
At this point, you can cover with foil and refrigerate for later, or you can place into a preheated 375* oven for 20-30 minutes. Everything is cooked, so it just needs to be heated through and the cheese on top needs to be brown and bubbly. It really does make a difference if you only melt the cheese instead of getting it browned, so be patient. You can put it under a low broiler, if needed.

Serve with some guacamole on the side! Yum!

Hey MAMBO

Today's cooking day requires a glass of this wine- "Hey MAMBO" for two reasons. One, my friend Allison bought it because this "California sultry red" reminded her of me and two, today is my birthday.

Last week's meals were pretty tasty. I'm adjusting to the concept of eating the same dinner two nights in a row (having never really been one for leftovers). But here's my motivation: preparing one meal intended for two nights really is a money AND time saver.

This week I'm continuing our change to have the bulk of the meat we consume for lunch, with vegetarian dinners at night. And on the weight loss front, I did manage to lose 3 pounds this week. It's amazing how much of a difference 3 can make- I am at least able to button up the un-buttonable jeans from last week. I'm not saying they are actually wearable just yet... but we're making progress.

Here's the menu for this week:
For lunches- chicken fajitas on Monday & Tuesday, sausage & peppers with a dab of goat cheese on Wednesday and Thursday, sweet & sour shrimp Friday and perhaps Saturday.

(I grilled a bunch of chicken last night, so today's prep day will be to roast the veggies and saute the chicken sausage. The rice is already cooked and I will saute the shrimp a little later in the week.)

For dinner:
Sunday & Monday night- vegan nachos- here's the recipe: http://veganjoy.blogspot.com/search/label/nachos
Tuesday- veggie pizza (homemade crust I'll probably make tonight with sliced mushrooms and roasted bell peppers cooked tonight- the veggies will be paired with a little bbq sauce and some bleu cheese)
Wednesday & Thursday- Leftover veggie lasagna that I froze 2 weeks ago
Friday- Raspberry Chicken & brown rice (this is a bulk recipe that I will make today from the "Don't Panic" cookbook. I'm making 18 chicken breasts and freezing 15 of them for later.)

The veggies tonight will take an hour and a half to roast the way I like them, but the rest of the food to prep shouldn't take too long to prep. Wine in hand and "Psych" on www.hulu.com, it should be enjoyable enough. :)

Oh, It's Official...

My jeans don't fit. That's what I get from a summer of fun and (less than) occasional fast-food trips... So this week's menu will be somewhat less exciting. Hopefully it will result in a loss of 5 pounds so at least I can button them up... Oi.

For me-
Breakfast: either 1/2 an apple & 1/2 a grilled chicken breast or orange cream green smoothie (see entry below for recipe)

Snack 1: 1/2 cucumber (no dipping sauce, I'm afraid), 1/2 sweet potato (will likely make baked fries, with Pam instead of oil) and 1/2 chicken breast

Lunch: Handful of spinach or grilled asparagus, 1/2 sweet potato, 1/2 chicken breast or shrimp

Snack 2: 1/2 apple, tomato slices (with a little salt) and 1/2 chicken breast or roasted turkey breast

Dinner: I can't follow the "Eat Clean Diet" exactly and still feed my family. So I'm gonna try these recipes:
Mexican Rice & Beans (from the Eat Clean Diet cookbook)
Eggplant Parmesan (made with as little cheese as possible)
Spaghetti & Beans (from Rachel Ray- you can find on the foodnetwork website- I will substitute fried seitan for pancetta)

For my eggplant parmesan, here's how I make it:
2 small to medium sized eggplants, sliced into 1/4inch slices (no need to peel)
Handful of fresh basil
Marinara sauce- I haven't measured this out- maybe 1-2 C.
8oz part-skim mozzarella
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
Fresh spinach- maybe 2-3 c.

Preheat 450*. Pat the sliced eggplant dry with a paper towel. Season with a little salt and pepper. Mix up some bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on a plate. Smash each eggplant slice in the mixture on both sides. You don't need eggs or anything else- the bread crumbs should stick pretty well. Lay each slice flat on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake the eggplant slices at 450* for about 25 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are golden brown. (I do this rather than frying the eggplant because it saves a ton of calories and still gives a pretty decent texture.)

Once the eggplant slices are done, spray down a large baking dish (or two small ones, if you want to save one to cook later in the week). Put a big of sauce at the bottom, lay down slices to cover the bottom. Top with a little bit of cheese, all the spinach, more sauce, then the next layer of eggplant. Top with the basil,  sauce and cheese. Bake in 350 or 375 degree oven until heated through and the cheese has turned golden brown and bubbly- probably 20 minutes or so.

I'll try to post the Mexican Rice & Beans recipe later this week. This recipe was surprisingly fabulous. Spicy and healthy!

This Week's Goal

Taking a little from everything, here's my general eating plan for the week. Next I will fill in the blanks with recipes that hopefully stay a little closer to budget this month. I got a notice from my budget manager (mint.com) saying that this month I spent 25% more on groceries than average and it said: "you might want to look into that."  HA! After menu-planning, I'll have to get on that...

Applying the 5-6 meals a day idea, combined with a general decrease in meat/dairy products and refined sugar, this is what I'll be trying to do:

Breakfast: 1 whole grain and 1 protein: for me, this is almost always an english muffin toasted with 2 TBS of peanut butter. Admittedly, I have not yet switched over to all-natural peanut butter. God help me, I LOVE Jiffy.  But I have been trying to learn to like oatmeal and cream of wheat. The "Eat Clean Diet" Lady recommends scrambled egg whites when she eats oatmeal. I gag at the thought, so will be skipping that.

Snack 1: A protein and a fruit: My friend Joy has a recipe for an orange cream green smoothie that I am still modifying to my tastes- but it's basically a frozen banana, the inside of an orange, orange zest, spinach, water and ice. The combination of spinach and fruit = amino acids which = protein. you can find her recipe on www.veganjoy.blogspot.com. The other option will likely be yogurt and either granola or frozen berries. I am still researching the health benefits of cow's milk yogurt versus soy or coconut milk yogurt. For now, cow's milk is substantially cheaper.

Lunch: A veggie, a bread-type portion, and meat: I will probably consume meat at this meal- i figure that will give my body more time while I'm awake to digest it. My personal goal is that if I had yogurt for my snack then I'll forgo cheese at this meal, just to make sure I'm not getting too much dairy in a day.

Snack 2: fruit and protein: this will likely be any piece of fruit with a scant handful of nuts. if i didn't eat peanut butter for breakfast, then i might opt for an apple with peanut butter. but i figure i had better limit my PB consumption because 1) I would eat it constantly if allowed and 2) I'm eating the sugary, trans-fatty kind.

Dinner: Veggies, starch (bread, pasta, etc.) and protein: I am going to try to generally make this meal vegetarian, focusing heavily on beans rather than meat for protein. That's not a hard-and-fast rule, but something to work towards. I figure I can make my  meat-y meals ahead (on Saturdays) and enjoy them at lunch throughout the week and focus on getting lots of veggies and very lean proteins in at dinner.

The one thing I really have to be mindful of is my portions. I'm eating more often during the day, but sometimes my portion sizes are the same as if I wasn't eating snacks. I'm trying to mentally shift my thinking to say, "I only need to eat enough to get me through the next 2-3 hours, not the next 4-5 hours." And if I'm not hungry in 2-3 hours, I probably ate too much at the previous meal. This is super hard.

I feel the need to pat myself on the back because I have been soda-free since July 29th. It feels like it has been a WHOLE lot longer than one month and it has been a SERIOUS battle not to drink one, especially recently when we've had some pretty hard days. And unlike our male counterparts, I have NOT lost 10 pounds just by doing this (not any pounds, actually) so I'm trying to remain motivated other ways, like reminding myself that there is nothing nutritionally beneficial to soda (diet or regular) and that it's NOT good for me.... I seriously need an AA group for soda consumption.

More to follow once this week's plan is in place.