Mexican Fiesta Made Healthy

Last night I made pinto beans, Mexican rice, and cheese enchiladas!! They were so good. I haven't been eating Mexican food lately because of the calories and fat content found in the tortillas and cheese. But, I had been wanting to cook Mexican for a long time now, so I made some homemade food.

The thing I must say is that at least I didn't overdue it when it came to eating time! What I mean is, last year I would have easily downed 4 enchiladas with a cup of rice and not even blinked an eye. Today I limited myself to 2 enchiladas with about a half a cup of cooked rice, and about a half cup of pinto beans and a cup of nonfat milk. Then I ate a piece of fruit and drank some water. I feel good by eating this way!

Also, in preparing the enchiladas, I used Christine's trick of heating the tortillas in a pan without oil. Traditionally hot oil is used to soften the tortillas in the preparation of enchiladas but I adjusted this step. I am using a rice blend of white rice mixed with brown rice. Traditionally, we used white rice to make Mexican rice. So, at least I am trying to eat semi-healthily with the brown rice! And, even though I fried the rice in oil, I used just a little bit of oil, and I used a good kind of oil, canola oil. I also added some peas at the end to the rice, mainly to use them up. But, by using the peas in the rice, it gave the rice a bit more of a healthy slant to it. And, the beans were just cooked in hot water over low for a long time, and I added a little bit of salt to taste. I'm quite proud of myself for omitting the oil in preparing to soften the tortillas. I could have made this meal a little bit healthier by adding a small salad or shredded lettuce to it. Maybe next time! Finally, I like to garnish my enchiladas with green onions, both for flavor and presentation.

The only thing that could have made this meal better would have been the enjoyment of this meal with another person. I should have invited someone to eat with me.