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
-
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!
Did you make your own rice? What quantity does your “4 packages of prepared spanish rice” make?
It’s basically a brown rice with taco seasonings in it. I used an aldi brand but I would say it probably serves 4-6.
How much cheese can I add to this to keep it an E meal? I’m just starting THM and still learning the ropes! Thanks!
My best advice would be to just add a little to the top don’t mix it into the mix inside. You need to stay below 5grams of fat. If that helps at all. I’m always surprisingly amazed at how many times I can do without the cheese. I used to think I couldn’t live without it!
Do you thaw before baking?
How long to cook them and at what temp??
Aldi’s has a boxed Spanish Rice??
TIA
Sarita
I do thaw before baking and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Aldis does have a Spanish rice. I had to dig for it!
Approximately how many pounds of chicken make 5-6 shredded cups of chicken? I’m not used to cooking at this volume and don’t want to under or over shoot.
Are you making it for the salads? It depends on how many you want to make. I would say if you do 3-4 chicken breasts you can make 4-5 jar salads.
(Jill, I’m referring to the chicken chimichangas recipe.)
I’m Sorry I don’t know why I was thinking salads! Anyway for 5-6 cups of shredded chicken I usually do about 5-6 larger breasts.
I live in a foreign country therefore no Aldi’s. I am going to mix brown rice and taco seasoning for the Aldi’s Spanish rice. How many cups of uncooked rice would you guess is in each box? That would be helpful, thanks! By the way, I love your ideas : )
awe thanks so much! I would say it’s about 2-2 1/2 cups of rice in the boxes. They are not very big. I hope you enjoy the recipe and thanks so much for using my blog!
I can’t see the recipe?
Sorry this was one of my earlier posts the recipe is actually on the photo
Is it possible to include the recipe in the body of the blog? The picture is blurry and the words are difficult to read on my computer screen.
Yes ma’am! I apologize for not doing this in the first place. It was one of my first posts so I wasn’t using the printable recipe yet but I’ve got it updated for you!