Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

Wash and cut 5 tomatillos in half, 1/2 onion cut in large chunks, 1/2 to 2 pablano peppers and 1 serrano pepper cut in half and seeded.

Rub with olive oil and top with salt and pepper. 

Put on sheet pan and broil until the tomatillos have brown spots and look squishy.Take serrano, tomatillos, and onions out and put in bowl. 

Bake the peppers at 400 degrees until they look almost charred on the outside. Remove from oven.

Put the pablano peppers in a plastic bag and seal.  After about 20 minutes take the pablanos out and peal the skin off. Let the peppers and onions cool.

You can either put the peppers and onion in a blender or use your immersion blender as I do. Blend well. Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds crushed by your fingers, and salt and pepper to taste.

Saute 1/4 onion and 1 serrano pepper in 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Add 1 pound ground beef,1 teaspoon cumin seed crushed by your fingers, salt and pepper to taste. Make sure you break up the burger. Add 1/4 C salsa verde. Set aside

Put 8+ corn tortillas in the microwave between two sheets of damp paper towels and cook 30 seconds. Keep these warm by only filling one at a time. Keep the rest in the paper towels.

Fill each tortilla with two tablespoons of the meat mixture and a pinch of cheese  (I used a sliver of yellow cheese, because I am cutting down on hubby's dairy). Roll up and put in a  9x9 greased glass casserole dish. Top with 1/3 C salsa verde. Make sure you get this sauce between each enchilada. Top with cheese.

Cook at 400 for 30 minutes. 

Top with a few leaves of cilantro and thin slices of red onion.

Serve with shredded lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes topped with red salsa.

 

Thanksgiving week shopping

What fresh produce did you buy this week? What is on your menu for Thursday?
Here in the south my menu is way out of wack. I have my favs and I won't go outside the box on special holidays like Thanksgiving (turkey), Christmas (ham), and Easter (lamb).

Onion, cucumber, apples, grapefruit (notice the large green in the back), white potatoes, yams, lemons, grapes, tomatoes, and a poblano.

Menu for the week:

Saturday/Sunday 
   Meatballs in homemade mushroom cream sauce over GF noodles, salad, and cottage cheese.

Monday/Tuesday
   Crock pot Lamb shank and white beans with onions.

Thanksgiving and day after
   Roasted turkey breast with bone, baked yam, GF dressing, potatoes with gravy, Famous Green Jello, homemade rolls, and lemon meringue pie.

GF Muffins

It is fairly easy to replace regular gluten flour with GF flour in recipes. Just find a multi-use flour you like. Since I don't bake as much my flour goes a long way.

My normal muffin recipe is as follows:

1 1/2 C GF flour
1/2 almond meal
3 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Mix this up and add:
1 beaten egg
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
3/4 C milk
Mix up. If the batter is to loose add a couple more Tablespoons GF flour.

I add various nuts to my muffins. I chop them down to bite size.
When adding any thawed fruit or fresh fruit remember to put fruit in a bowl with a tablespoon of GF flour BEFORE adding to batter. This coats the fruit and makes it easier to add to batter.

FOLD in fruit. Fill muffin tins to the full line. I like my muffins substantial.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and cook muffins in greased pans for 20 minute until a knife or tooth pick comes out clean.

Wine, Wine, and more TJ's Wine

Each week we buy wine at Trader Joe's. Here are a couple of our favs.

Healthy Lifestyle Living --- Step 1

I know it's hard to absorb all the information on living a healthy lifestyle for you and your family. Hopefully, breaking down this information in easy steps will help.

Sometimes it's easier to make one simple change and work on it until you feel comfortable, then attempt the next step. I will try to make each step as simple as I can, while giving you links to reputable sites so you can educate yourselves.

Because of our fast paced lifestyles and bombardment of processed food commercials many resort to prepacked meals and fast food. I understand life can be busy and time limited. Hopefully, my ideas will take very little time adding short cut tips and various cooking applications.

Step 1 "Cooking from Scratch" (2-3 times a week)

Tip:  Double or tipple your recipes and freeze meals for a later date or for lunch at work. Remember to label and date each frozen meal.

1. Make a list of easy meal recipes made with ingredients you are familiar with and can purchase in all supermarkets. 

EXAMPLES: Spaghetti, Pot Roast, Stew, Veggie/Meat soup, Scallop Potatoes with Ham, Short Ribs, Meatloaf, Salisbury Steak, Chicken Parmesan, Baked Beans.

Tip:   On a budget? Pick recipes with similar ingredients. Buy a max of two different meats/fish.

Remember READ the ingredients on any packaged product. If you cant MAKE or BUY any ingredient DON'T BUY THE PRODUCT. Find a similar one with real ingredients.

SHORTCUTS:

• Buy  multiple canned or frozen ingredients on sale.
• After grocery shopping wash and cut up produce you will use in several recipes. Example: Cut up onions, carrots, potatoes, and garlic for your Pot Roast and put them in a Ziploc bag. Label and date.
• Set out non perishable ingredients the night before if you are going to use the crock pot. You can even measure the dry herbs and put them in a sealed container.
• Organize your pantry. Label the shelves if need be. 
• Buy dried herbs in bulk. HEB is a gold mine of bulk dried herbs for literally pennies. Refill existing containers or get fancy and buy containers and put fancy labels on them.
• If you buy meat in bulk divide and conquer. Divide the meat, put in foil, and then in freezer Ziploc bags. Label and date.

Let me know if you have any great short cut ideas.

First Day-Gluten Free

Okay so today is our first day of a gluten free/night shade free life.

Breakfast was at the Black Walnut Restaurant. We didn't know they have a special gluten-free menu.
 I had a ham and cheddar cheese omelet with gluten free toast and a cup of strawberries.

Lunch today was a piece of gluten free bread from Trader Joe's and two slices of turkey breast from Costco. 

Tonight we had 1/3 pound grilled burger, yams, and brusell sprouts/bell peppers.
Yea, the picture shows bell pepper and two slices of tomato. That is all we have left in the house so we will eat it up and not buy anymore. The avocado spread had a couple spoons of Costco salsa. That too is the last of what we have. 

 

 

 

From the top: hamburger with avo/salsa, yams, olives, tomato, brussels sprouts/bell peppers. Amazing dinner

 I found a gluten free baking blog. Most of the time gluten free recipes have so many ingredients. This blog keeps it short and simple. After our first 30 days I will try some of her recipes.
See: Elana's Pantry

Gluten

The other day hubby was listening to Amy Myers, M.D.'s pod-cast on Financial Sense.

I have been suffering from continual inflammation in my joints now days and have been using 1000 mg of Turmeric each night and Valerian Root for relaxation. 

Since I read Amy's book I am convinced I am gluten and night shade veggie sensitive and if I continue on this road my inflammation could become chronic. Don't be afraid, the used book I bought was just fine.

Giving up gluten and night shade veggies is going to be tough. She recommends giving up three other things also, but I am going to try this first. My chiropractor once said that night shade veggies aggravate inflammation and to start taking 750 mg of Bromelain (extracted from the stem of pineapple). It's my form of aspirin, since I don't take any aspirin anymore.

Next week we will not eat any gluten products or night shade veggies for 30 days. Fortunately I am a carnivora so this wont be to bad.

Night Shade Veggies:

Potatoes (not yams or sweet potatoes)
Eggplant
Peppers (sweet and hot peppers including cayenne pepper, paprika, and Tabasco sauce)
Tomatoes
Tomatillos

I will buy Annie's Organic Salad Dressing for salads. We haven't added southern greens to our salads so I am going to try Trader Joe's Power Greens Mix. It has a combination of kale, swiss chard and spinach. I will add that to my Romaine. 

Without bad carbs I am bound to take off a few pounds. Gluten products like cookies, muffins, and such are filled with sugar. Getting rid of sugar is a good idea also. Remember, CANCER LOVES SUGAR.