Mexican

Mexican Potato Bake

March 27, 2018
Cuisine

The only thing that I like just as much as Mexican food is potatoes. I like them in just about every form. This dish combines diced sweet potatoes, but you could substitute your favorite potato instead. Japanese sweet potatoes or red potatoes would be delicious!

With the addition of sweet peppers, chipotle peppers, ground beef, and mexican spices, you’ll whip up a casserole that’s spicy, addicting, and a nice change from typical mexican food.

…which is still absolutely delicious. Change is nice though!

I like to top mine with avocado and dairy-free cheese sauce. You could go crazy with so many different toppings for this! Sour cream, greek yogurt, green onions, salsa verde, the list goes on and on! It would all be tasty!


Print Recipe
 Mexican Potato Bake
Cuisine Mexican
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Cuisine Mexican
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large cast iron skillet (if you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can you a large soup pot or deep nonstick pan, and then transfer to a baking dish), sauté onion, peppers, and potato in oil for 5 minutes or until onions become translucent.
  3. Add ground beef to skillet and sauté 5 minutes while breaking the meat up.
  4. Stir in garlic and all of the seasonings to the ground beef and vegetable mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
  5. Remove skillet from heat.
  6. In a large bowl, whisk together coconut milk and eggs.
  7. Add milk mixture to the ground beef and vegetables and combine.
  8. Transfer skillet to oven (or transfer to an oven safe baking dish first) and bake for 20 minutes.
  9. Cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
  10. Top with avocado, cheese sauce (see recipe note for my dairy free Pepperjack Cheese Sauce), green onions, salsa, or jalapeños before serving!
Recipe Notes

Pepperjack Cheese Sauce

Share this!

Instant Pot Chori Pollo Sopa (Chicken & Chorizo Soup)

March 20, 2018
Cuisine

Chori Pollo has been a mexican favorite of mine since the first time I had chorizo. I almost always choose chicken over beef or pork, however, the combination of chicken with the spicy sausage is perfection and I can’t pass it up!

This dish combines all of those flavors with one of my other favorite things – SOUP! It’s also made in the Instant Pot – yet, ANOTHER one of my loves. However, you can make it on your stove top or in your crockpot, as well. It’s will just take a little bit more time.

Print Recipe
 Instant Pot Chori Pollo Sopa (Chicken & Chorizo Soup)
Cuisine Mexican
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Cuisine Mexican
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. With your instant pot set to "Saute", cook onions, jalapeños, chorizo, and chicken pieces for 3-5 minutes or until onions have began to soften. TIP: Sautéing your food for a couple minutes in the beginning will help the pot come to pressure quicker.
  2. Add remaining ingredients to your Instant Pot and stir to combine. Hit the "Cancel" button to take it off of "Saute" mode.
  3. Attach the lid and turn your valve to seal. Press the "Soup" button, adjust the time to 15 minutes, and let it cook!
  4. When the timer goes off, turn the valve to vent, and do a QR.
  5. Serve with chopped green onions, sour cream, avocado slices or my Pepperjack Cheese Sauce (dairy free). See recipes notes for a link to the recipe!**
Stovetop Instructions:
  1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, sauté onions and jalapeños for 5-8 minutes until the onions have become translucent.
  2. Add sausage and chicken to onions and peppers and cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Add spices, broth, and cauliflower rice to your pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
  4. Turn your soup down to low and let simmer until ready to serve.
Crockpot Instructions:
  1. Add all of the ingredients to your crockpot and stir to combine. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
Recipe Notes

*I thaw (or cook for a couple minutes) the frozen cauliflower and then pulse it in my blender for a few seconds to "rice" it. MUCH EASIER than breaking down a fresh head of cauliflower and "ricing" it. You can sub a bag of frozen riced cauliflower. It usually only comes in 12 oz bags; if you prefer not to use a partial second bag, reducing the cauliflower to 12 oz won't hurt the recipe.

**Pepperjack Cheese Sauce

Share this!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (Gluten, Grain, and Dairy Free)

February 6, 2018
Cuisine
Course

I honestly have SO MANY COMFORT FOODS! Chicken Enchiladas are one of those foods! However, this dish used to be filled with a bunch of stuff that irritated my husband’s stomach, and just wasn’t good for anyone to eat a bunch of! Therefore, I knew I HAD to convert it to Paleo…for my poor husband’s sake – it’s one of his favorite meals. I really didn’t want to live without these enchiladas either. I love the creamy filling when it mixes with the green chile sauce. You could definitely sub a red enchilada sauce in this dish too! I just prefer the lighter flavor of the green sauce with these enchiladas. I typically prefer red sauces with beef. That’s just me! You do you. 🙂

You might want to double this recipe too! They freeze wonderfully, if there is any left, that is! My husband has to practice serious self-control around these things – especially since they’re made with my Paleo Tortillas/Crepes! He actually prefers these to any other tortilla. They have a bit of an eggy flavor, compared to other tortillas, and they hold up so well, in comparison! I don’t know about you, but some brands of tortillas, just completely fall apart and tear whenever you try to roll them up! NOT COOL. These tortillas do NOT do that – I PROMISE!

Print Recipe
 Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (Gluten, Grain, and Dairy Free)
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings
medium enchiladas
Ingredients
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings
medium enchiladas
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Prepare 2 batches of tortillas according to recipe. See notes below.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except for the tortillas, enchilada sauce, and green onions/cilantro.
  4. To each tortilla, add 1/2 cup to the center and spread it out, vertically.
  5. Roll up each tortilla and place in a baking dish. You might have to use a couple baking dishes.
  6. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until all of the filling and tortillas are used up.
  7. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the tortillas start to brown and crisp up.
  9. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and cilantro before serving!
  10. If you can tolerate some dairy, feel free to sprinkle some raw, grass fed cheddar on top or top with a dollop of sour cream!
  11. ENJOY!
Recipe Notes

* Paleo Tortilla/Crepes

  • for the tortillas, I make them in an 8 inch non stick pan for enchiladas. Each batch makes 5-7, depending on how thick you make them.

** You can substitute almond, cashew, or coconut milk instead. If using coconut milk, try to use the creamier part of it - unless you can find "culinary coconut milk" (that's similar to Nutpods!). If using almond or cashew milk, reduce amount to 1/3 cup.

Share this!

Jalapeño Crema

December 4, 2017
Cuisine
Course

It’s no secret that our house loves spicy things, and particularly jalapeños. You’ll find that I often suggest adding them to things in my recipes. If I didn’t suggest adding them, chances are, I still put them in there when I make the dish. Believe it or not, not everyone likes them as much as my husband does. 😉

This sauce is a MUST-HAVE whenever we have anything of the Mexican cuisine. Plus, it comes together in just a few minutes! If there’s any leftovers, it’s pretty easy to find something to pour this over the next few days.

Print Recipe
 Jalapeño Crema
Course condiments
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Course condiments
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings
cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. With the exception of the coconut milk LIQUID, add all of your ingredients to a food processor and blend! Start with 1 tsp of salt...you can always add more.
  2. Add more coconut milk liquid until your desired consistency is achieved. If you can tolerate some dairy or have a favorite unsweetened yogurt, you can add some of that to it as well to make a thicker sauce.
  3. Now, go and pour this over EVERYTHING.
Share this!

Quick Instant Pot Chicken Taco “Pasta”

December 4, 2017
Cuisine
Course

I’m always amazed at how evenly and quickly my Instant Pot cooks meals. It is one gadget that I seriously can’t say enough good things about! It’s been a year with my IP, I should just get used to it…


If you don’t have an IP, you could still cook this on your stove top. Just bake your spaghetti squash separately (it’ll probably take at least 30-40 min, depending on the size) or microwave it , for a quicker cook…then add it to your chicken taco sauce. Still easy, it will just take a bit more time and you’ll have to keep an eye on that pot. That’s probably my favorite part of the Instant Pot, I can set it and not pay any attention to it until the timer goes off and it’s basically ready! I can’t complain about that aspect a bit!

This “pasta” is made with spaghetti squash – so it’s totally guilt-free! If you’re a taco lover, this is a nice change from your typical tortillas, meat, and veggies. I use my jalapeño crema on top of this too! Love the bright, spiciness it adds!


Switch things up on your next Taco Tuesday …or Taco Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, and whip up this guilt-free “pasta”!

Print Recipe
 Quick Instant Pot Chicken Taco "Pasta"
Course Dinner, Instant Pot, Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Toppings ~ Optional
Course Dinner, Instant Pot, Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Toppings ~ Optional
Instructions
  1. To your Instant Pot, add your onions, chicken, seasonings, coconut milk*, tomato sauce, and lime juice. *(if you don't have coconut milk, use 1 1/2 cups of whatever milk you want!)
  2. Wash and cut spaghetti squash in half - I do it the short ways, around the middle section - so you're left with two "cups."
  3. Line the pot with a double layer of tinfoil. You can use your trivet, if it fits. For the spaghetti squash I used, the handles of the trivet wouldn't allow the lid to close. If you can fit it all in there with the trivet, by all means, use it. It'd work the same.
  4. Place your halved squash on top of the tinfoil layer. Close the lid, seal the valve, press the "Manual" button*, then press the "+" button until the screen reads 8. The pot will switch to "On" while it preheats. *Make sure it's on High Pressure (if it is on Low Pressure, just press the "pressure" button to get it to High)
  5. Your pot will take about 15 minutes to come to pressure. If you want to speed this up, you could sauté the onions and chicken for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients. For me, this cuts the preheat time in half or more, also you could reduce the cooking time as well. However, then you have to stir and watch the pot more than before. So, do whatever YOU feel like doing. Experiment! When it comes to such a quick cooking time, if something isn't done enough to your liking, it's easy to add a couple extra minutes!
  6. When the timer goes off, do a QR (quick release), and open the lid. Remove your squash and divider.
  7. Make a slurry with the arrowroot powder and almond milk or water and add that to your sauce and stir. Your sauce should thicken in seconds. Personally, we like our pasta saucyyyy. If you want a thicken sauce, you can always make more slurry and add it. Once it's thickened, turn the pot off by pressing "Keep Warm/Cancel."
  8. Remove the inside of your squash, shred, and squeeze excess water out of it. If you don't do this, you will have a VERY saucy pasta - not necessarily bad - but definitely on the "wet" side.
  9. Add your squash to your pot and stir. Serve it up!
Share this!

Beef Enchilada Bake (with dairy-free option)

November 14, 2017
Cuisine
Serves 4
Prep time
10m
Cook Time
30m

In our house, mexican food is a food that we NEVER get sick of eating. However, these days, it’s highly-processed and it’s nutrient value is lacking. This casserole is far from that!

If you have enchilada sauce and tortillas already made or bought, this dish comes together in minutes! Making these two ingredients from scratch is not necessary, however, I like knowing EXACTLY what goes into the dishes that I create. Therefore, I like to make these myself. PLUS it’s hard to find these things without so many of the ingredients that I like to avoid. In other words, things that you don’t have a clue what they are as soon as you read them. I like to avoid those! I like my ingredients to be simple and known. 🙂 If making it all from scratch, this recipe does take a bit of time. However, it’s worth it!

Here are links to my enchilada sauce and tortillas. I promise, they are NOT difficult to make at all. Try  them out for yourself!

Almond Flour Tortillas

Enchilada Sauce


Print Recipe
 Beef Enchilada Bake (with dairy-free option)
Cuisine Mexican
Servings
Cuisine Mexican
Servings
Share this!