Svelte Enchiladas & a Mindful Marg

Skinny, low calorie, weight loss, why does everything have to sound so diety? In America, we live in a strange paradox; overall, we are a very unhealthy country but are totally obsessed with health.

Weird, right?

​Contrary to popular belief, healthy food does not have to taste like a shoe, and weight loss oriented goals do not have to eliminate all the enjoyable things in life, case in point: the svelte enchilada and mindful margarita. ​

In this article we are staying away from words like skinny and weight loss because more negative connotations typically come to mind than positive.

Personally, skinny makes me think of the underweight models seen on magazine covers or the housewife on an obsessive journey to get back to her high school weight.

When I think weight loss, I think of the focus obsessively being on weight, numbers, and literally loss. This does more harm than good to our psyche, while the process should instead be about how it makes us feel: stronger, more energized, more in control of our life, etc.  

When I imagine svelte on the other hand, I see someone who is strong, lean, elegant and healthy.

​It is less diet and more lifestyle, as is being mindful about what you eat and how it affects you; thus, the mindful marg! Okay, a little cheesy I know, but let's get to how to make this healthy and delicious dinner!

Svelte Enchiladas 

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can diced tomatoes w/            green chilies
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can black olives
• 1 lime
• Cilantro
• ​2 Avocados
• 1 ear of corn (or) can of corn
• 1 package corn tortillas
• 1 cup of salsa
• Cheddar cheese
• ​Olive oil
• Fajita seasoning
• ​Light sour cream

Directions

1. Heat a deep skillet or pot with a table spoon of olive oil and put in your chicken, black beans, tomatoes, salsa, corn, fajita seasoning, and about a half cup of water. Let this simmer on low heat for 45-60 minutes, or until the chicken is shreddable. 

2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees once the chicken is ready to shred. Warm up your corn tortillas for about 30 seconds, this will keep them from crumbling when you put in the mixture. Scoop a small handful (but don't literally use your hand, you're not a barbarian) into a tortilla and roll it up, with the opening face down in the pan. Repeat this until the pan is full and pour over any extra mixture on top. Sprinkle some cheese on and then throw that bad boy in the oven for about 15-20 minutes!

3. While your enchiladas are getting cooked to baked goodness, squeeze some fresh lime into the light sour cream container, chop and add some cilantro, add a teaspoon of olive oil, teaspoon of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. Mix together and you have now made a healthier crema for on top. 

4. Once your timer has gone off, pull them from the oven and while they cool, slice your avocado, olives and then sprinkle those and the reminder of the cilantro on top. Drizzle the crema on and you have now created a less expensive and healthier version of a night out at your local Mexican restaurant! Ole! 

Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 2 Enchiladas

• 450 kcal 
• 19g Fat 
  
• 44g Carbohydrates,
  
• 30g Protein

Mindful Margarita

This recipe is so simple and delicious, part of me wants to cry tears of joy. Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but this is an amazing alternative to a normal margarita that, will run you between 450 and 1100 calories (depending on size), and between 50-150g of sugar. Holy crackers. 

In a sense, there are two extremes with alcohol consumption, the people who are heavy handed on their pours, and those who obsessively count portion size or restrict consuming them altogether.

​Being mindful is a balance that falls in between these two extremes. It's nice every now and then to have a drink at the end of a long day, and when paying attention to your health, in general it's important to know what you put into your body.

Mindfulness is knowing that you can substitute your standard ingredients for alternatives that are going to be way better for your body, and drink in moderation by picking 8-12oz. glass sizes and leaving the 16-20oz. glasses in the cupboard.

Ingredients

Moderate alcohol consumption is defined as up to 1 drink per day in women, and 2 drinks per day for men. A standard drink is 12oz. beer, ~5oz. of wine, and 1.5 ounce shot of hard alcohol - the higher the proof, the higher the calories.

• 1.5 oz.  Camarena Silver Tequila (95 kcal)
• 1 oz. J. Brandt Triple Sec (80 kcal)
• 2 tsp Rose's sweetened lime juice (20 kcal)
• 1 oz. each of lime and lemon juice (16 kcal)
• Lemon or lime flavored soda water (0 kcal)
• Total = 211 kcal  ​

Compared to the Cantina marg, that's not too bad at all!

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