The week has started off great. Weather is starting to warm up, with lows in the high 20s and low 30s, which is considered warm here in the winter. I think it feels great. My hands have a little bit of frostbite damage, so the cold runs have been brutal. My sister always freaks out when she sees my hands after runs. I am hoping it won’t turn into anything serious, and I am always making sure I have adequate gloves and hand warmers when needed.
I went through a hiatus of no cooking. I know, weird. I just didn’t have any desire to cook after a day of chasing around R, getting errands or working. I was exhausted and with Marc working so late, there was no point for dinner, especially with R loving leftovers. My meals were mediocre and consisted of a lot of squash or chili’s. Something easy and of little effort. Now I am feeling more up to cooking again and wanted to be more experimental in the kitchen.
This meal may not seem too much of a creative dish, but it was well liked and relatively easy to make. Mexican dishes always go over well in our home, and casseroles or lasagnas are great because they are easily made into leftovers and take little time to prepare.
Instead of using beef in our Mexican casserole I chose sweet potatoes and black beans as the main filling. I love sweet potatoes, and they prove to be a very versatile food. I wanted to make sure we had our vegetable intake, so threw in some frozen veggies and spinach, added some taco seasoning, onions and green chili’s and started to layer. I love how the vegetables are easy to miss with all the great favorites.
I love it topped with salsa or avocados. It’s made with enchilida sauce and Mexican cheese blend as well. I think you will find pleasing to your taste buds. And if you don’t want a quick so the kiddos can enjoy it, use mild enchilida sauce and omit the green chili’s. It’s easily made vegan, by using vegan cheese and it’s Gluten Free. Just make sure to use non-GMO corn tortilla shells.
Now lets get to the recipe!!
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed into bite size pieces
- 2 Tbs oil
- 2 cup frozen vegetable blend (I use the Vegetable Medley from Trader Joes), thawed
- 1 16 ounce can black beans, drained & rinsed
- 2 cups spinach or spinach, kale blend
- ½ packet Taco Seasoning (I use Trader Joes)
- 1 28 ounce can red enchilida sauce
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chilies (optional)
- ½ sweet white onion, chopped
- 12 corn tortilla shells
- 1-2 cups shredded Mexican Cheese blend
- Avocado & Salsa for topping (optional)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In large frying pan, add oil and heat over medium heat. Add in the cubed sweet potatoes. Fry until soft and cooked through.
- In large bowl add the frozen vegetables,spinach kale blend, black beans, green chilies & onion. Once sweet potatoes are done, add the sweet potatoes and taco seasoning to large bowl and stir until combined.
- In a 9X12 inch pan, pour some enchilida sauce into the bottom. Add 4 corn tortillas, and sprinkle a little more sauce.
- Add half the sweet potato-vegetable mixture on top of corn tortillas. Sprinkle a ⅓ of the cheese. Top with 4 more corn tortillas.
- Pour more of the sauce over tortillas, add the rest of the sweet potato mixture. Sprinkle cheese.
- Finally, top with 4 more corn tortillas, the remaining enchilida sauce and cheese.
- Cover with tin foil and bake for 30-45 minutes, until cooked through.
- Serve with your favorite toppings.
Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit
How do you manage the cold weather runs? Any problems with frost bite or cold hands and feet?