healthy recipe

Mexican flavors galore

food

I don’t know about you but I am one of those people obsessed with Mexican food! I think we eat a full Mexican feast in our home at least once a week! Usually a Mexican feast consisting of tacos, enchiladas, fajitas…..can really throw away your new clean and healthy eating habits! I know it did for me when I moved here and I was probably consuming a 2000 calorie meal filled with zero nutrition and not even realizing it!

After a month long holiday of going crazy and not sticking to my new lifestyle, I woke up this week with a new agenda to healthy-fy all my favorite foods so I don’t derail again.

Firstly, I made batches of this Mexican seasoning that you can use however you want! Just a tablespoon of this as a dry rub and you can grill or stir fry any protein you like. 

Mexican flavors galore

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp chilli powder 

1 tsp paprika 

1/2 tsp red chilli flakes

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix together in a bowl, this should yield about 2 tablespoons but I made like a cup full and stored it in an airtight jar. 

Having made this, I wanted to try and see if I could create Fajitas at home and boy did it work! yay! 

Fabulous Fajitas 



With any fajitas there are a couple of components; chicken strips (or any other protein of your choice), guacamole, tortilla, pepper/onion stir fry, grated cheese and salsa. 

For the chicken strips:

3 chicken breasts cut in thin strips 

2 tbsp seasoning mix (from above)

Handful of chopped cilantro

1 Lime

Salt to taste

Mix together the strips, seasoning and cilantro and set aside for 15 minutes. 



In a non stick pan or grill cook the trips about a minute to minute and a half on each side giving a squeeze of lime all over each time. Set aside covered with foil. 



For the guacamole:

1 avocado; mashed 

1 tsp chopped onions

1 tbsp lime 

1/2 tsp of cumin (add more to your liking)

1/2 tsp of salt 

1 tbsp of chopped cilantro 

Mix together and serve. You can of course adjust the above to your liking! 

For the tortilla: 

You can buy flour tortillas from the store but I just used regular durum wheat ‘atta roti.’ Its a lighter and much healthier option. 

Salsa:

Since I made this dinner completely unplanned, I used a store bought salsa but you can definitely make your own!

12 small-medium tomatoes chopped

1/2 large white onion chopped

1 clove of garlic 

1-2 green chillies chopped and deseeded 

1 handful cilantro

1 tbsp lime juice

dash of sweetener either stevia or brown sugar

salt to taste

In a food processor, pulse all the above together to desired smoothness. I kept mine chunky and of course you can adjust each ingredient to your liking. Adding some roasted red chili is also delicious!

Lastly, I cut some onions and yellow pepper lengthwise and grilled till soft and fragrant! I also served some grated cheddar cheese on the side!

Serve each item separately and allow everyone to make their own fajitas or have some hard shell tacos if you are treating yourself! Another great way to enjoy this is to create a fajita on a bed of lettuce! That’s what I’m taking for lunch tomorrow with the leftovers!

Enjoy!

Simply simple: Roasted tomato and garlic soup in many ways!

food

I used to think I had to make every meal on the day until I discovered the art of freezing! Especially with soups and sauces, you can use them interchangeably and voila! you have a fresh and healthy meal too!

I made a huge batch of roasted tomato soup and had it as a soup the first evening with shredded chicken! Protein overload! Next afternoon, I used that same ‘soup’ and turned it into a pasta sauce with whole wheat pasta!

You can do countless meals with this versatile sauce, I am even thinking of baking chicken with it as a healthier version of chicken parm…hmmmm!

Not only is this recipe useful, tomatoes are packed with nutrients! They are known to support heart health, bone health and has anti-cancer benefits while being backed with anti-oxidants! Tomato-containing diets have also been linked in a few studies with reduced risk of obesity. Convinced?

So, this recipe should yield about 4 cups of soup but honestly it depends on how soupy you want it!

Roasted tomato and garlic soup with poached/stir fried chicken!

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Here we go:

Ingredients: 6 tomatoes, 12 plum tomatoes, 12 vine tomatoes
1/2 cup of celery
1/2 cup of white onions
1 whole garlic to roast and 2/3 cloves chopped
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp brown sugar
2 cups of water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place half the tomatoes and whole garlic cut through the middle in a roasting pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and salt. Roast till blackened and roasted. Depending in size of tomatoes.

2. Steam the remaining tomatoes and place into blender to purée.

3. Take roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic and purée them together and mix with purée from step 2. Set aside.

4. Take the juices from the roasting tray and blend together with basil leaves. Mix this to the tomato purée.

5. Sauté chopped celery, onions and garlic with olive oil until softened. Add salt and pepper to taste and chili flakes for heat (optional).

6. Add in the tomato and basil mixture into the sautéed mixture. Add in the water and let this simmer under low heat.

7. Add the cinnamon, sugar and kidney beans and stir occasionally until desired consistency is reached.

8. I didn’t do this as I like a hearty soup, you can choose to mash the veggies and put the soup through a sieve for a smooth consistency.

9. To make the chicken: Poach chicken breast in water and salt. Shred the chicken and stir fry in a non stick pan with cilantro for flavor.

So this afternoon, I turned this soup into a delicious pasta dish. I wish I had some mushrooms in hand; there’s next time!

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1. Sauté any protein/veg of your choice. I would use mushrooms!

2. Add in a cup and half of leftover tomato soup to the sauté.

3. Add in 3 tbsp of starchy water from the pasta.

4. Simmer till warm and add in the pasta!

Its simple, low calorie and you know every single ingredient in your meal! No excuses to buy store bought pasta sauce anymore!!

Enjoy!

Dinner: Sweet and spicy ground beef lettuce wraps

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Lunch is always slightly easier than dinner as you have the whole day to burn it off incase you eat something extra. Dinner on the other hand is less forgiving which is why by 7:30 pm, I eat the proteins and vegetables! 

I cross a Chinese restaurant almost everyday and today I woke up determined to eat a healthy version of my most favorite dish! Lettuce wraps without the excessive fats, sugars or MSG and I did it! 

I also served it to some guests I had over today and they loved it! I was so happy to have served something healthy and fresh! You can easily make the filling ahead and put it together when your guests have arrived! Very versatile! 

What do you need?

1 whole lettuce bulb

450 gram lean ground beef ( I used 5% fat ones)

(you could also use chicken or turkey mince)

1 cup diced peppers 

1 cup diced carrots 

2 tablespoons of good quality honey 

2 tablespoons of chili sauce or to make it even healthier use chili flakes/paste 

2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard 

2 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro 

3/4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 

3 sprays of your oil of choice 

salt and pepper to taste 

You will make enough for 3 dinners! 😀 

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In a bowl, mix together the honey, mustard and chili sauce with 2 tablespoons of water and set aside 

Spray on the oil into the pan on high heat 

Add in the garlic, peppers and carrot with a dash of water to soften and sauté 

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After sautéing for 2-3 minutes add in the ground beef and salt/pepper 

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Stir the beef and break it up and you will notice the ‘fatty juice’ collecting 

Put the lid on and drain that liquid out, it is the fats from the ground beef and its gotta go!! Ech! 

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Return the pot onto the heat and stir in 2/3 of the mixture of honey/mustard/chili sauce that you had set aside. 

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Close the lid and let it cook for about 10 -12 minutes more. Make sure to stir occasionally during that time. You will notice the char on the beef and peppers and then add in that remaining honey/mustard/chili sauce mixture and the cilantro. 

Keep tasting the beef as you cook! Thats just standard operating procedure 😀

Take it off the heat, arrange the lettuce and fill them in! 

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Enjoy while warm! I had it with a side of steamed mixed vegetables!

* You can also add in sweet and sour chili sauce in which case leave out the honey and chili sauce however I would highly recommend using a chili sauce and honey mixture as you eliminate the high amounts of sugar in those sweet and sour sauces. 

* A great alternative would be to use a freshly made chili paste! That would be ideal especially if you used a mixture of fresh red chili and roasted chili. YUM! I will surely do that next time!

Also I do apologize for not including the calories, thats because I don’t calorie count and you shouldn’t either especially when you are eating clean and healthy!