30 Meal Magic

I started a project my friend Shannon posted and found on this blog. You put 30 meal recipes that are "tried and true" on notecards and bind them with a metal ring. This way you can have 30 meals to rotate and choose from for dinners that are easy to access, easy to shop for, and guaranteed to get eaten! Our family is small, but we typically "run out" of things to make and get bored with our options very quickly. Thus, we end up eating out A LOT. This is expensive and highly caloric. I'm anxious to have a quick and easy resource to turn to. So far, I've come up with 12 entrees, 5 or 6 sides, and 5 or so desserts along with 4 or 5 dressings and marinades. I'm splitting the four categories on my notecards, coding them 4 different colors and also trying to make a table that helps identify the ingredients I need to buy to make the dishes, organized by where I might find them in the store to make shopping easier. That last part is the one that's taking up a lot of time. I might not get that finished as quickly as my 30 meal notecards. To celebrate my project, I'm going to try to post a recipe from it every now and again. Please keep in mind that I'm a dietary anomaly. I don't eat any meat other than fish, I am allergic to dairy, and I have insulin resistance meaning my foods need to be low on the glycemic index. Essentially, that means low in sugar and void of white potatoes, white flour and fried foods. And with that sidenote, I present you with one of our favorite entrees that is quick and super easy:

Mexican Sloppy Joe's

1 package soy chorizo
1 jar cactus, chopped
1 can tomatillo verde sauce
½ yellow onion, chopped
Olive Oil
1 package corn tortillas

Cook onion on medium high in small amount of olive oil
Combine 3 remaining ingredients in pan with onion, heat on medium high
Heat tortillas in microwave

Place 3 tortillas on each plate, place a helping of mix on each tortilla.

Variation(s):
Use real chorizo sausage, cooking meat before adding remaining ingredients
Add cheese as garnish

Side option(s):
Nicaraguan Salsa
Black beans, refried, blended or whole

Nicaraguan Salsa

½ yellow onion
1 large tomato
1 avocado
Lemon juice
Pepper

Chop top 3 ingredients, place in bowl
Add lemon juice to taste
Add salt and pepper to taste
Mix

When my friend Kat first made nopales (cactus) for me, I didn't know what I was in for! But you know what? It's yummy! And it's precooked and marinated so it's ready to go in any latino recipe! It's usually available in the ethnic aisle of the grocery store. If you have a large latino community in your city, you can usually find nopales in a mexican store as well, for less. Enjoy!