A Skinny Gal's Taquitos

I LOVE taquitos! They are small, tasty and can be eaten with your hands. The sad news...... they are loaded with calories and fat!! YUCK!!!! After researching some popular restaurant chains website, I found that a common taquito can have about 176 calorie, 9 grams of fat and 2 grams of saturated fat. That is per taquito people!!!!!

A few years ago I started the process of getting back in "shape" which caused me to hire a personal trainer. She was AWESOME.... but that's beside the point. She taught me some pretty great lessons to live by.
1) Calories are important but NOT as important as fat.

2) You should try to never have more then 7 total grams of fat per meal.

3) Always look at what your gaining out of the dish besides the bad stuff, i.e. protein, vitamins and minerals.

So, if we go back to these taquitos, we can see that they break at least the first two rules. And that is just per taquito; not the whole dish. So I started thinking up a way of slimming these little suckers down and not cut out the taste. The calorie counter I use does not let you put in odd amounts of items so the count is a little bit higher then how much is actually in these taquitos. Now, I'm not claiming these are the perfect diet food but..... if your going to splurge on something, make it a smart splurge.

Nutritional facts (per taquito):
Calories: 86.7 g
Total Fat: 2.9 g
Saturated Fat: 1.1g
Protein: 10.61 g

Ingredients

1 can (12.5oz) diced chicken, white meat, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can low sodium corn drained
1 can diced tomatoes and green chilies drained
1/4 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
2 tbsp. non-fat cream cheese
2 tbsp. HOT taco seasoning
1 pkg. 24 count corn tortillas-----you can also use low fat flour tortillas
Cooking spray


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray medium pan with cooking spray and heat on medium heat. Cooking spray cuts down on major fat and calories. Use it whenever possible. Cook onions for about 5 minutes. Add beans and corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, pour chicken into a medium mixing bowl and break apart chicken with a spoon. Add diced tomatoes and chilies, cheese, corn/bean mixture, cream cheese and seasoning. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

Work with about 5 tortillas at a time. Place them on a plate covered by a damp paper towel. Microwave for 15-20 seconds. Working quickly, place a heaping tablespoon of mixture on to one end of the tortilla. Roll tightly and secure with toothpick. Continue until all taquitos are made (may have to bake two batches). Bake for about 10 minutes are tortillas are crisp. Cool for 2 minutes and serve with plain Greek yogurt; a great alternative to sour cream.

Makes between 20-24 depending on size.

Greek Yogurt

LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff!!!  No fat and barely any calories. If that's not enough to convince you to try it then maybe this will..... you can use it in place of sour cream or mayo in tons of dishes. Here are some ways I use Greek yogurt.

1. SWAP OUT- I use Greek yogurt in my chicken salad instead of mayo. It actually gives the chicken salad an even better taste then mayo. Make sure to ease off of the salt when using the yogurt. It's already pretty tangy so adding a lot of salt intensifies that.

2. DESSERT- Mix the yogurt with some fresh or frozen fruit (I like blueberries) and a drizzle of honey. You have yourself a very yummy low fat, low cal dessert.

3. MARINADE- Yes, I said marinade!!! Yogurt is a very common marinade in the middle east. It is an easy way to marinate and it keeps the meat very moist. Try adding turmeric, cumin and curry powder seasoning to the yogurt for a middle eastern marinade. You can really add whatever herbs and spices you like.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta cheese is used in so many dishes from sweet to savory. Guess what? It's SO easy to make at home and not to mention, inexpensive. You can take this recipe and double it for a larger group or half it if your just making it for a snack. After making this ricotta, try adding different types of nuts, candied fruit or herbs to it. It's yummy!!!! You can also make this with skim milk if you are watching your diet.

Ingredients

8 c. whole milk

1 c. heavy cream

1 teaspoon  salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

You will need

* Cheesecloth or wet damp paper towel

* Sieve- looks like a colander but instead of large holes, it is made of very small wire mesh. You can get away with using your colander if you use the cheese cloth and your colander drains well.

Directions

Line a sieve with cheesecloth or a damp paper towel and place over a bowl.

In a large, heavy pot over moderate heat, bring the milk, cream and salt to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Add the lemon juice, reduce the heat to low and continue stirring until curds form, about 3 minutes.

Pour the mixture into the lined sieve and let drain, about 10 minutes. Remove the ricotta from the sieve to a medium bowl, discarding the liquid. Enjoy as is or add additional ingredients.  

"Fake Out" Garlic Aioli

3/4 cup fat free or low fat mayonnaise

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This is really good with most seafood.

Mini Garlic Tuna Sliders

This time of year everyone likes to roll out the grill and cook up the all American hamburger. For someone who is watching their waist-line, those tasty little cows can put a big dent in their diet. I got the idea for the tuna burger from the back of the flavored tuna packets. Unfortunately, even the package adds in some unnecessary ingredients that add extra fat. I went a head and tweaked this recipe to make it more figure friendly!

Ingredients
2 pouches Herb and Garlic Tuna
1/2 cup bread crumbs or crushed bran cereal (For those really healthy eaters out there!)
1/4 cup diced roasted red pepper
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1/4 cup non-fat sour cream
1 egg
1 Tbs of Ranch Dressing mix
1/8 tsp ground red pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and form into patties. This can make about 10 mini sliders or four regular burgers. Spray skillet or grill pan with non-stick spray. Heat skillet to medium heat. Cook patties 3-5 minutes on each side. Here are some options you can do with this burger"
1) Carmalize onions to pile on top with fresh lettuce and sliced tomato
2) Eat bunless. If you really just need a small taste of bread, do what I did. Take a normal hamburger bun and cut into eighths. Toss in a small amount of oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder and toast in the oven.
3) Serve with my "fake out" Aioli. Aioli is just a fancy word for garlic mayo. Its a little advanced so I came up with a way to make an easier version. See below.

"Fake Out" Garlic Aioli

3/4 cup fat free or low fat mayonnaise

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This is really good with most seafood.

***Nutritional Facts are a rough estimate

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe   4 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 179.6   Total Fat 5.5 g       Saturated Fat 1.3 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.7 g   Cholesterol 83.4 mg   Sodium 448.6 mg   Potassium 100.3 mg   Total Carbohydrate 16.0 g       Dietary Fiber 1.7 g       Sugars 3.9 g   Protein 17.9 g   Vitamin A 8.8 %   Vitamin B-12 3.2 %   Vitamin B-6 2.0 %   Vitamin C 10.5 %   Vitamin D 3.0 %   Vitamin E 0.4 %   Calcium 6.7 %   Copper 1.7 %   Folate 5.4 %   Iron 7.4 %   Magnesium 1.5 %   Manganese 6.2 %   Niacin 4.5 %   Pantothenic Acid     0.7 %   Phosphorus     8.0 %   Riboflavin 6.2 %   Selenium 4.9 %   Thiamin 8.7 %   Zinc 2.5 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

The River

I call this "The River" because I made this at the river for one of my friends bachelorette parties. It was a big hit and literally brought one of the girls back to life!!!!




Ingredients
‎1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
4 oz sour cream
1 can rotel
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can black beans rinsed
2 tbs carne gusado seasoning
1 tbs ground red pepper
Salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste
1 pkg corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar

*****This is the type of carne guisada seasoning I use. You can usually find it in either the spice aisle or the Latin food aisle.

Cook onions and jalapenos in oil for 5 minutes. Add meat. Add seasonings and cook until meat is brown. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together soup, rotel, sour cream and beans. Spray 13x 9 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom of the pan. Just enough to coat the bottom. Cover with tortillas; about 5. Spoon half of meat mixture over tortillas. Then put a third of soup mixture on top. Sprint with half a cup cheese. Layer again with tortillas, meat, soup and cheese. End with tortillas, soup and rest of cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Late Night Splurge

So recently, one of my girlfriends asked, " Well Jourdan, so you like to cook. What is a good dessert I can have that won't make me feel like crap later." Well my best tip doesn't require cooking AT ALL!!!!! Here is my TIP:


I love to buy bags of frozen fruit at the grocery store.... favorites are blueberries and pineapples! Grab a hand full of your favorite, put it in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to take the initial "freeze" off. Drizzle a small amount of honey on top and ENJOY!!! This little treat is SWEET, COLD and WON'T kill your waist line!!!!