Mexican Bake - Chicken, Rice and Black Bean - One Dish Meal

Well, this is kind of a new creation.  I was searching online for something that was simple, one dish and Mexican.  I was really in the mood for some kind of Mexican dish, but we just had tacos the other night.  As I was looking through these one dish meals, I decided I'd just create my own!

So, this really doesn't have measurements...It was kind of a "whatever I have that sounds good" type of dish!  I'll try and recreate it as best I can!!  And...I'm not real good at adding spices and knowing what to add...so feel free to adapt and adjust the recipe, spices, etc.


Cooked brown rice (3-5 cups)
1-2 cans black beans
2 cans of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 zucchini, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 - 1 cup of corn
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup salsa verde (my favorite is Trader Joe's)
~ 1 tsp cumin
~ 1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1- 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese for top
sprinkle of garlic salt or fresh garlic


Directions:

Combine cooked rice, black beans, Rotel tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, garlic and salt together in a large bowl.  In a skillet cook the diced onion until translucent.  Add to the rice mixture.  Cook diced zucchini for a few minutes in same skillet.  Add to rice mixture.  Add corn to mixture.
Combine Greek yogurt and salsa verde together.  Add to mixture and stir.
Once everything is combined and stirred together, pour into a 9x13 dish.  Top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until cheese is melted and warmed throughout!

If you try this, let me know how you like it or if you change it up too, I'd love to hear your modifications!  This literally was a creation that kept evolving into one thing after another!  :)

Clean Eating Carne Asada Fajitas - Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  So today is another great excuse to have Mexican food in our family!!  Whaoo!!  So instead of having it just once…I decided to start early and have it last night and tonight.  I'll come up with a different recipe for tonight…or who knows, maybe do this again tonight because it was so good!

So here it is…clean eating Carne Asada Fajitas.  I found this recipe and decided to try it out…yummy!

Clean Eating Carne Asada Fajitas

Ingredients:
2-3 lb flank or skirt steak, about 1 inch thick
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 limes, juiced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
11 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp smoked paprika

--Corn Tortillas

Directions:
Combine white vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, garlic and spices together in a bowl.  Mix well.  I like to pour my marinade in a freezer Zip Lock baggie with the meat and let it marinade for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours).  Make sure to flip the bag of meat/marinade to get both sides!

After it's finished marinading, grill the flank steak (doesn't take long on grill).  You can also broil the steak on the tap rack for 6 minutes, then flip steak and broil for 5 more minutes for medium.  Cut the steak into slices top with toppings listed below and serve on heated corn tortillas.

Toppings:
Guacamole
Cheese
Sautéed peppers
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Onions


Homemade Guacamole:
2-3 Avocados
Cilantro (as much as you like)
 1-2 limes, juiced
tomatoes, diced
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
chili powder (to taste)
cumin (to taste)

Pork Carnitas Recipe - 21 Day Fix Approved Recipe

AMAZING AWESOMNESS!!!  Yep…that pretty much sums it up!

Nothing beats Mexican food in my house…and I've found when you're making different kinds of tacos or fajitas (at home at least) you can go really healthy and really clean, which makes you feel like you're cheating on your clean eating diet!  ;)

When I first saw this recipe posted (thank you Melanie Mitro for this amazing recipe!) I knew my family would LOVE this!  So, I put in on my meal plan for later in the week…and couldn't even wait until Wednesday…had to make it right away! (fortunately my pork loin came in a 2 pack!)


Ingredients:

• 3 lbs Pork Loin 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cup of water

Making the Rub:

• 2 TBSP of chili powder
• 2 tsp of cumin
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cloves

Directions:

1. Mix all spices together except the bay leaf in a bowl.
2. Rub down the entire pork loin with spices and place in a slow cooker.
3. Add the bay leaf and water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Keep an eye of the pork to make sure the water doesn't absorb and the pork dry out.  (If you need to add more liquid, do so!)
4. Pork should pull apart easily to shred it.

Once you can shred it easily, take it from the crock pot, shred and then place back into the crock pot.  Stir meat and coat with juices.

21 Day Fix followers:
Fill a red container with this meat to portion out properly.

Ingredients for the Carnitas:

• Corn tortillas
• Black or Pinto Beans (canned)
• Romain lettuce 
• Diced Tomatoes
• Diced Avocado
• Shredded cheese

Cilantro Lime Topping (this is to topping on the cake…don't skip this part!!)

• Greek yogurt (1/2 to 1 cup depending on how thick you want it)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 1 lime cut into wedges for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a bowl for the dressing and set aside.

Add the drained beans with 1/2 cup of water to a pot on the stove over medium heat.  Cook until heated through.  Gently mash with a fork until they reached desired consistency.

Lightly spray your corn tortillas with cooking spray and place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Crisp in the oven on 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes until desired crispiness.

NEXT STEP:  Assemble the good stuff!

Take a crisp corn tortilla and add the fixings to make a delicious carnitas.
Add a dollop of the cilantro lime topping and dig in!!

21 Day Fix Followers:
Containers needed for this recipe: Red, yellow, green, blue…measure and enjoy!

• Yellow - beans and tortilla
• Blue - Cheese
• Green - Tomatoes and lettuce
• Red - Pork

To find more recipes for 21 Day Fix Click HERE!

Clean Eating Shrimp Fajitas

I don't buy shrimp very often, but was walking thru Trader Joe's and saw shrimp, so thought I'd get some!  So I went searching for something yummy to make with it.  Well, you can't go wrong with Mexican!!

It's a super easy meal and can be thrown together in a flash!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil, I'm on a coconut oil kick right now!)
• 1/2 lb of shrimp peeled and deveined
• 1/4 tsp himalayan sea salt
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper (or mixture of red, yellow, green)
• Fresh lime juice
• Hard or soft whole grain tortillas or you can use leaf lettuce instead of the shell

Then you can add toppings to go with it!  Greek Yogurt (instead of sour cream), black beans, avocado, tomato, lettuce, salsa, brown rice, steamed corn, cheese for the kids!

Preparation:
Place oil in a pan and heat on medium.  In a small bowl combine the shrimp, lime, sea salt and stir.  Then place in a pan and cook for 4 minutes or until done.  Remove shrimp from pan and add in the onion and peppers and brown.  Stir in shrimp and toss to combine then croon into whole grain tortillas.

Enjoy!