This morning was a bit warmer – today the radio said it was 68 degrees without a cloud in the sky.


Breakfast yesterday morning is becoming one of my favorites – egg beaters and spinach and Polish rye toast and kiwi on the side.
My work morning flew by, and before you know it, it was time to hit the gym! I did a challenging route on the bike machine – 9.5 miles (2 miles of hill climb!) and finished in 42:19. The pace bike beat me by five minutes – that’s my next goal – to beat the pacer bike on this route!

So I have the Homesick Texan to thank for lunch yesterday. Since I knew Tony and Hannah wouldn’t try the zucchini enchiladas, I made them for me and my co-worker. She and her husband have a rating system for dishes she makes – they pretend they own a restaurant, and if a meal is good, they say “this should be on the menu.” Well after my co-worker at these enchiladas, she emailed me and said: “Not only should this be on the menu, but in bold letters with arrows pointing to it!”
I did change her recipe up just a bit – by using a can of Rotel tomatoes and tomato sauce, and leaving out the onions.
Zucchini Enchiladas (printer friendly version here)
Makes 6 servings (316 calories, 13.3 fat, 31.3 carbs, 5.8 fiber and 18.2 protein)
Ingredients
10 | dried cascabel chiles |
2 | teaspoons oil, divided |
6 | cloves garlic, chopped, divided |
10 | ounce can diced tomatoes |
8 | ounce can tomato sauce |
2 | cups chicken broth |
1 1/2 | teaspoon cumin, divided |
1/2 | teaspoon oregano |
1 | pinch salt |
1 | pinch pepper |
1 | tablespoon jalapeno, diced |
2 | large zucchini |
1/4 | cup cilantro |
12 | corn tortillas |
1 | cup cheddar cheese |
1 | cup queso fresco |
Directions
- To make the sauce:
- In a dry skillet heated on high, take the chiles and roast them for about 10 seconds. Leave the heat on and cover the chiles with water. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat, put a top on and soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Remove stems and add chiles to the blender.
- Add the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, cumin, oregano and blend until smooth.
- In a pot, heat 1 teaspoon of oil on low, pour in the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- To make the filling, in a largeskillet heat 1 teaspoon of oil. Add jalapeno, garlic diced zucchini, cilantro and cumin and saute for 10 minutes. Add salt, cayenne and black pepper to taste.
- Preheat oven to 350. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in the oven for 5 minutes while oven is preheating.
- Take the warmed tortillas and using tongs, dip into the sauce. Shake off most of the suace, but make sure that it’s pliable. Lay the tortillas down, add a spoonful of the filling down the center with some of the queso fresco cheese. Roll and then place in a baking dish and repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Pour sauce over the enchiladas and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling.

I had never even heard of these chiles before, so I wasn’t sure of their heat content. I decided to stick with the original 10 chiles in the original recipe. This is at the upper level of still being flavorful heat. I just want to throw that out there – if you are worried about the heat, I would suggest cutting the amount to just five.





I first get a kind of smokey flavor from the chiles, and then you feel the heat – but its scrumptious! (I can’t even remember the last time I used that word!)

Then finished the top off with the remaining queso fresco and cheddar cheese.
My plate, with additional pickled jalapenos on top for good measure, and an ounce of tortilla chips.
So this weeks menu is operation clean freezer! I had Italian sausages that needed to be cooked up, so penne pasta made it on the menu.

And in anticipation of tonight’s edamame risotto, before I cooked the penne pasta, I cooked the frozen edamame for 3 minutes, removed, then brought the water back to a boil for the pasta.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but I showered, washed and dried my hair at the pool. Now all I have to do is get dressed and I am out the door.
Stats for Monday:
- 30 minute swim
- 42 minute 9.5 mile bike ride
Did you exercise yesterday?
I love that you are swimming for exercise – that’s something that I could never do…just too uncoordinated at it. What endurance you must be building, swimming for 30 minutes at a time! Great total body workout – go you!!!
OK, those enchiladas look and sound fabulous!
That pool water looks so much better than where I swim. I’m sure mine’s clean but it doesn’t look as sparkling. Maybe the outdoor factor of yours?
Those enchiladas look freaking awesome! They are definitely on my to make list. I hope I can find those little chilies at my Hispanic market.
LOL…I’ve been shopping from my freezer lately too. My grocery bills are nearly non-existent since I’ve discovered all the meat in there!
WATER SLIDE!!! haha i need to calm down. but seriously, we only have one outdoor pool in the city, which i guess is cuz its never the right outdoor pool weather really. but to have access to one that outdoors and with a water slide? thats pretty sweet! hope tuesday is treating you well <3