Tag: cumin

Barbacoa

Barbacoa

Savannah meal preps and shows me up with her kitchen skills all of the time. Why she doesn’t start Not Just Sunday Dinner Too is beyond me! She works long hours, especially during tax season, and because she does not eat dairy or eggs, she does best to eat at home. 

Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I meal prepped last week! I made three different meals using a large chuck roast, 1 lb. ground pork, and a few additional ingredients. I now have Egg Roll Bowls, Barbacoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers, and Barbacoa Bowls in the freezer, ready for those nights when I just don’t feel like cooking. 

The word “barbacoa” refers to both the preparing of the meat and the meat itself. It can be lamb, goat, beef, or pork. It was traditionally steam-cooked underground, but the slow cooker is an easy method for tender and juicy results. The flavor of the meat is incredible! I found this recipe on lemonblossom.com.  Kathy has incredible recipes that will keep you scrolling for days!  

Barbacoa makes a great taco. As I mentioned, I made stuffed poblano peppers and barbacoa bowls.  To assemble the barbacoa bowls, place cooked rice or riced cauliflower in your bowl.  Spoon desired amount of shredded beef, with juice, into the bowl.  Top with your favorite toppings and squeeze fresh lime juice over the top.

Barbacoa
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Barbacoa

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 to 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeds removed plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
  • 4 garlic cloves chopped
  • 4 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 pound chuck roast
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • 2 bay leaves

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, add vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, salt, and cloves. Pulse until smooth, set aside.
  • Trim extra fat from the chuck roast and discard fat. Cut into big chunks, about 2" to 2 1/2". Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  • Heat oil over medium high heat in a heavy bottom skillet or Dutch oven. Sear meat in batches on all sides until browned.
  • Add the meat to a slow cooker. Pour the braising liquid and broth over the meat. Add the bay leaves.
  • Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 - 10 hours.
  • Using two forks, shred the beef in the crock pot. Stir to combine with the juice.

 

Summer Vegetable Turkey Chili

My friends, Sandra and Alan, recently shared their abundant harvest of squash and zucchini with me. We have grilled it, fried it, and baked it. Most recently, I decided to make a summer vegetable chili. I know chili is something we usually all make in the colder months, but it was terrific!

I started with ground turkey for a lighter chili. I removed the seeds from both the zucchini and yellow squash, and I cooked it just long enough for the squash to be tender-crisp.

Made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and the fresh squash, I will most definitely keep this recipe around! Not only was it delicious, but it was also low in carbs. I served the chili with shredded cheese and sour cream.

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Summer Vegetable Turkey Chili

Course Main Course, Soup
Servings 8
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can petite diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1 (15-oz.) can black soy beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 (4-oz.) can green chiles
  • 1/2 cup chopped poblano pepper (approximately 1 pepper)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 8 ounces water
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons chicken boullion powder
  • 1 cup chopped yellow squash
  • 1 cup chopped zucchini

Instructions

  • Cook turkey in a Dutch oven until no longer pink.
  • Add tomatoes, soy beans, chiles, pepper, onion, water, chili powder, paprika, cumin and chicken bouillion powder. Cook on medium-low for 30 minutes.
  • In the meantime, cut squash and zucchini lengthwise. Discard the seeds buy using a small spoon to scoop out. Chop and set aside.
  • Add the squash and zucchini to the Dutch oven. Cook until the squash is tender-crisp.
  • Serve with desired toppings.

Notes

Nutrition:  Net Carbs = 5 g.; Fat = 11 g.; Protein:  15 g.; Calories = 196

 

Keto Chili

 

I have been busy “ketoizing” some of my favorite recipes.  Mainly cold weather foods that my family enjoys.  There are a few that I am getting a little frustrated with, Beef Stew being one of them.  I have discovered an excellent potato substitute, but I just have not found the taste I’m looking for.

Chili is also one of our favorite meals.  There is nothing quite like curling up on the couch with a fire in the fireplace,  a hot bowl of chili, and your favorite movie.
 
I recently read about black soybeans and could not wait to try them!  It took me a while to find them, but I finally found them near my Mom’s house in Cumming, at Whole Foods. (Since making this I have found the black soybeans at Ingles in a neighboring town.)
 

The nutritional facts on a 1/2 cup of black soybeans is 8 grams of carbs and 7 grams of fiber — pretty awesome, making them have only 1 net gram of carbs.

Soybeans are high in protein and fiber, low in saturated fat and cholesterol, lactose-free, and a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.
I thought they were terrific and have plans to stock up on a few cans the next time I visit my mom.

3 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder was perfect for my family, but if you are cooking for people that don’t care for the heat and spice, you may want to add less.  I added diced avocado to my bowl, along with sour cream and cheese and it was fantastic!

 

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Keto Chili

Course Main Course
Servings 8
Calories 392kcal
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 3 slices bacon diced
  • 2 lb. ground beef or ground venison
  • 1/2 c. diced celery
  • 1/2 c. diced yellow onion
  • 1 (14.5-oz.) can beef bone broth
  • 1 (10.5-oz.) can Chipotle Rotel tomatoes
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 3 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder or to taste
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp. Swerve brown sugar
  • 1 (15-oz.) can black soy beans rinsed and drained

Instructions

  • Cook bacon in Dutch oven until crisp, remove from pan and drain on paper towels, set aside.   
  • Add onion and celery to the pan and cook, stirring, until tender.  
  • Add beef and cook, breaking up, until cooked through.
  • Pour mixture into a slow cooker.  
  • Add broth, Rotel, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, Swerve brown sugar, and soy beans, stir to combine. 
  • Cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours.  
  • Serve topped with shredded cheese, sour cream, and reserved bacon.

Notes

Beef:  
3.5 g carbs
20 g fat
43 g protein
392 calories
 
Ven ison:
3.5 g carbs
17 g fat
43 g protein
362 calories

Lightened-Up Cowboy Beans

Lightened-Up Cowboy Beans

 

Cowboy Beans is a recipe that I posted back in September of 2015.  They have been a favorite of Not Just Sunday Dinner readers for a while now, and one of my all-time favorites.  As mentioned then, I was raised on beans and cornbread.  Not one of my favorite meals when I was growing up.  In fact, there were a few meals I dreaded and beans and cornbread was one of them.  Funny how things you hated as a kid can turn out to be one of your favorite things.

I have changed up the recipe, ever so slightly, to lighten it up just a bit.  It’s still every bit as delicious as before.  This recipe makes a big pot of beans!  As noted on the recipe, I did not measure the finished product to see exactly how many cups where in the pot.  When I sat down to figure the points I just guessed at 10 servings, there may actually be more servings than 10, which could lower the points value even more.  However, using 10 servings as my guide this recipe has 3 Weight Watchers Smart Points per serving.

Lightened-Up Cowboy Beans
 
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Ingredients
  • 6 pieces Canadian bacon
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1 lg. onion, peeled and diced
  • 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced (or jalapeno)
  • ½ lb. Mexican chorizo sausage
  • 5 (15.5-oz.) cans pinto beans, drained, rinsed, and drained again
  • 1 (10-oz.) can Rotel
  • 1 (12-oz.) bottle of light amber beer
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1½ tsp. dry oregano
  • Chicken broth, as needed
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to grill to 325°F.
  2. In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon until done. Remove from pan to a paper-towel lined dish and set aside. When cool to the touch, dice the bacon.
  3. Remove the chorizo from it's casing. Add to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned through. Remove the sausage to another paper-towel lined dish and set aside.
  4. Add the garlic, onion, and serrano chiles (or jalapeños) to the Dutch oven. Cook for a few minutes, or until the onions start to soften but watch closely so that you do not burn the garlic.
  5. Add the bacon, sausage, pinto beans, tomatoes, beer, cumin, and oregano; stir to combine. If the mixture seems a little dry, add chicken broth 1 cup at a time.
  6. Cover and place the Dutch oven on the grill or in the oven. Bake the beans for 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. These beans are traditionally soupy, but if they seem too soupy, remove the lid during the last 15 minutes of cooking. If the seem dry, stir in a little chicken broth. Stir in the cilantro during the last 15 minutes of cooking and taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed.
Notes
This make a big pot of beans. I did not measure the cooked pot of beans to see how many cups it makes. However, when I figured the points I used 10 servings. Each serving = 3 Weight Watchers Smart Points.

 

Mexican Seasoning Blend

Mexican Seasoning Blend 2

We recently moved Savannah home again. She will be doing an internship in January, and it was impossible to find a six-month lease near the college. So, for six-months, she will make the daily drive to college.

I questioned how living together would be after she has been on her own for so long. I’m trying really hard to remember she’s not a child any longer. It is coming with some benefits also. She has become very independent…she doesn’t want me doing her laundry, and she has become an excellent cook!

Fajitas is a specialty of hers, and I am using every excuse I can think of to have her cook them often. Her secret is this awesome seasoning blend that she makes. I even seasoned a roast with it, and it was delicious.

Savannah does not have an exact measurement for the meat and veggies. To feed two people, she typically uses one to two boneless, skinless chicken breast, two green bell peppers, one large onion, and two to three Roma tomatoes.

Savannah seasons her meat with salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Then saute’s it in a little oil until done. She then removes the meat from the skillet to saute green bell peppers and onions. Once the veggies are tender, add chopped Roma tomatoes and a heaping tablespoon of the fabulous seasoning, plus the juice of half a lime. Add the meat back to the skillet, stirring to combine and serve.

Try this tasty Mexican seasoning blend on burgers or grilled meats for extra wonderful flavor!

Mexican Seasoning Blend
 
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Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. Mexican oregano
  • ½ tsp. ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp. chili powder
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Store in a small jar.