If you know me, you know that Mexican flavors and tomato based products are wonderful in my sight! I mean, even ketchup is gold around here. Tomatoes have the right acidity to make any bland food just pop. Of course I’m also one of those crazy people who loves all things tomatoes and yet I won’t eat a normal tomato!
With that in mind, my meal for this week is Mexican-based! As I write this I am enjoying some rest and relaxation on the beach in Mexico! How fitting!
I am trying some seriously authentic dishes down here. My children are being blessed by the stocked freezer at home, including this meal:
Trim Healthy Mama (THM) Chicken Chimichangas!
These chimis are a THM E meal (healthy carb meal). They have so much wonderful flavor. I used the on-plan low carb mission tortillas for the shells (for non-THM readers you can just use any tortilla shell). Some of them I wrapped them up but I also made some more of a layered casserole. (Think…like lasagna… shells filling shells filling, etc).
I topped with a little cheese but you want to keep that to a small amount to stay in E mode. I have to admit I used to think I couldn’t live without the cheese but really now I don’t even add it and I don’t miss it. If you do want to add cheese just make sure you are keeping it under 5 grams of fat to keep this as an E meal and not a crossover.
Now to the good stuff…the ingredients are listed on the photo (and also in a printable recipe below) but I would like to share my easy directions. I love to cook my chicken in the crock pot…it’s super easy…just throw it in and let it go for 4-6 hours. When it is done I take my pampered chef masher thing (that’s the technical name) and shred it.
After that is done I divide my chicken between my crock pot and another big bowl. I add all the other ingredients except the cheese and tortilla shells. When it is all mixed up I simply spoon it into tortilla shells, add some cheese, and roll them up.
To make the casserole first layer with tortilla shells, then filling, repeat and end with a tortilla shell layer. Top with a sprinkle of cheese. When you are ready to enjoy these just thaw and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
THM E Chicken Chimichangas
Ingredients
- 5-6 Cups Cooked and shredded Chicken
- 3 Cups Salsa
- 2 T Cumin
- 1 T Oregano
- 4 Packs Spanish Rice
- 2-4 Packs Mission Low Carb Tortilla Shells
Instructions
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Makes 4 9x13 pans.
Combine all and roll up in the shells. You can also layer this between the shells like lasagna if that is easier. I try to leave cheese out of this but you can spread a little shredded cheese on top if you think you need it. Remember though to stay in E mode you need to stay under 5 grams of fat.
Bake at 350 30-40 mins
My family absolutely loves these type of tacos! Baked tortilla shells are awesome they get a little crispy and are just fabulous when they come out! This is also a wonderful meal to bless other families with because it is something different than the pasta and casseroles people usually make!
Vacation Blessing!
Now you know that I am Mexico and I left my six children at home with our amazing sitter. Normally planning food and everything for us to be gone would stress me out to the max. Not this year… leaving my family for 12 days was much easier because I have my freezer stocked. My children are also not eating packaged mac and cheese, pizza and chicken nuggets all week. They are eating wonderful healthy meals that are very easy for my sitter to prepare.
Not only does this freezer cooking help me on a regular basis at home but it makes vacation prep much less intimidating! Thanks for joining me today and make sure you take the time once a week to stock your freezer too…you will be so thankful when dinner time rolls around that you have taken the time to be prepared and conquer dinner!
