Some Healthy Tex-Mex

With the New Year, I have been making an effort to do more meal-planning and cooking.   Not really a definite New Year's resolution, but more of a refocusing on putting together a real meal for our dinners.

I have found some inspiration from two blogs. Edie at Life in Grace produces a one-month meal plan that is really diverse and looks delicious.  I like that her menu links directly to the other websites that have the recipe.  And Shay Mix and Match Mama has a weekly meal plan, as well as easy recipes. Many of Shay's recipes are one-dish or one-pound-of-meat meals that are really easy to prepare.  

I am going to continue to use Tanya's Table as an online "recipe box."  On the other hand, I hate to reinvent the wheel when many recipes already have great photos on another blog.  So I will post the recipes here, especially if I have tweaked the ingredients.  As usual, I will link back to the original source.  

On my family blog, I am going to start a feature that highlights recipes I have tried.  I might call it "Pinteresting Recipes."  More on that later.  

For now, here are some great Mexican recipes I've made in the past few weeks.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas - I found this recipe via Edie's (Life in Grace) monthly menu.  It was originally on the website Skinny Taste.  Really delicious!  It was a step out of our comfort zone to go for a meatless meal, but I loved it.  (Click over to Skinny Taste to see great photos!)

• 1 cup red enchilada sauce 
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups peeled butternut squash, cut 1/2-inch-dice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (omitted because I didn't have it)
• 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese 

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place 1/4 cup enchilada sauce on the bottom of a large baking dish.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in large skillet. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno and cook 2-3 minutes until onions become translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add cubed butternut, Rotel tomatoes, black beans, water,  cilantro, cumin and chili powder and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Place about 1/3 cup filling in the center of each tortilla and roll, place on the baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the remaining filling. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese and bake, covered with foil until hot and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Top with scallions and eat with sour cream if desired.

Enchilada Sauce - After making these delicious enchiladas, I realized that British enchilada sauce leaves something to be desired.  It is more of a chili sauce than the zingy orange-red sauce we buy canned in the US.  I decided to try to make some homemade sauce.  This was pretty good, and I will definitely use it for Mexican dishes in the future.  It has more of a tomato-y taste than what I'm used to.  So I might try to tweak it more next time.  I found the recipe on Mom Advice.  Originally, it was from America's Test Kitchen.

1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, minced
1/2 t salt
3 T chili powder (I added 1 T, but will bump up to 2 next time)
3 minced garlic cloves
2 t cumin
2 t sugar
2 8oz cans tomato sauce (called passata here in the UK)
1/2 c water
pepper

Heat oil in skillet.  Add onion and salt and cook for 5 min.  Stir in spices.  Cook about 15 seconds.  Stir in sauce and water.  Simmer about 5 minutes.  Season to taste.

Enchilada Chili - Super easy one dish meal using a pound of meat - could use beef, chicken, or turkey. I used turkey.  From Mix and Match Mama.

1 lb ground meat

1 chopped onion

1 can Rotel

1 10oz can enchilada sauce (I used my homemade sauce)

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1 15oz can mild chili beans, undrained (I used pinto beans)

Tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese, etc.

EVOO

Salt and pepper

In a large pot, brown your ground meat with some EVOO and pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir in onion and saute.  Stir in Rotel, sauce, corn and beans.  Reduce heat to low and cook about 10 min.