Salsa Fresca - A La Casita Restaurant Copy-Cat Recipe

Try this addictive salsa recipe inspired from the restaurant called La Casita, in Springville Utah.

La Casita is famous for their Salsa Fresca. Customers take it home by the quart.

It is quite tomato-y and hot, with visible cubes of white onion in it. I have not tasted garlic in it and it isn't in their description, so I don't think La Casita uses it here.

I recreated their salsa at home, since I do not have access to the restaurant anymore. Tis is a simple reipe, yet a lot of people find this salsa addictive. Try it and see what you think!


See this post about La Casita and a recipe for their chicken salad: http://kitchencheetahs.blogspot.com/2015/05/copy-cat-la-casita-chicken-salad.html


La Casita Salsa Fresca Copy Cat Recipe:

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. minced white onion
1 t. sea salt
1/4 to 1/2 t. hot pepper flakes, to taste
1 tomato, diced
1 yellow chili, minced (or green)
1 t. fresh cilantro leaves, minced


Method:

Mince the onions and chili pepper in a food processor. Quarter the tomato and add to the food processor, pulse until chopped. Add the cilantro and pulse.

Add the seasonings and canned tomato. Pulse just to barely chop.

Check for seasoning. Eat immediately or chill before serving.

This is best the day that it is made.


Enjoy,

Leila.

Family Style Chili - A much better copy-cat of Stagg Classic Chili! Plus a note about nightshades...

Family Style Chili

This makes a big pot of delicious chili that is great to serve at family gatherings. It can easily be made ahead and reheated if needed. The flavor is well-rounded yet mild enough that kids love it too. Our recipe is reminiscent of a commercial brand of chili called Stagg Classic Chili. Homemade is always better, and this chili is no exception. I did not set out to re-create Stagg's chili, it just happened.

Our recipe is easier to digest than some chilis, and is nice and tomato-ey as well. It is also less acidic than most tomato-based chilis, due to a touch healthy sweetener being added.

Note that green peppers assault some people's taste buds. If you are one of these people or have a family member who is, just replace the green pepper with a red bell pepper, or even a yellow one. Green bells are technically unripe anyway, and are the most bitter tasting of the three. Red bells are usually the sweetest.

Goji berry bush

Bell peppers are also a member of the nightshade plant family, and some people are sensitive to that, if so, omit the bell peppers (and the tomatoes for that matter!). By sensitive, I mean, some folks experience arthritic-type symptoms when they consume members of the night shade family. Maybe I should just call this nightshade chili! Uh, OK, don't eat this chili if you want to avoid vegetables from the nightshade family.

Other members of the night shade family are: chili peppers (all), potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams), tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, goji berries, cape gooseberries... Just so you know.

Cape Gooseberry fruits

So, back to the chili recipe! It makes a hearty, delicious meal and I think you will love it.



Family Style Chili Recipe:

2 pounds organic ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, diced small (about 1 cup)
3 stalks celery, diced small (about 1 cup)
1 green bell pepper, diced small (about 1 cup)
3 cloves garlic, smashed with some of the salt
1 1/2 T. chili powder, to taste
1/2 t. cumin powder
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 15-ounce cans organic kidney beans, undrained
1 15-ounce can organic great northern white beans, undrained (or a 3rd can of kidney beans)
1 6-ounce can organic tomato paste
1 28-ounce can organic diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can organic crushed tomatoes
1 cup organic chicken stock
1 t. organic beef base
1 c. purified water
3 T. Golden Lakanto zero-cal sweetener or organic coconut palm flower sugar (replaces brown sugar)
2 t. sea salt or BioSalt, to taste


Method:

In a soup pot, saute the ground beef with the onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic until the vegetables are tender, breaking up the meat and stirring frequently.

Add the remaining ingredients, mixing together well.

Simmer, covered for about 90 minutes, to blend the flavors well.

Check for seasoning and adjust if needed before serving.


Serving Ideas:

Serve over buttered and seasoned baked potatoes for a gluten-free meal.

Serve over steamed and buttered summer squash for a low-carb meal.

Serve in a bowl with gluten free organic corn chips, cheese, and sour cream on top.

Serve with homemade organic corn bread and raw honey butter.

Serve over homemade gluten-free macaroni and cheese.

Serve over steamed tamales.

Serve in a bread bowl topped with cheese.

Serve any way you please!


Photos of the process:

Enjoy,

Leila.

Easy Beef or Buffalo Mexican Taco Meat (No commercial flavor packet used!)

Favorite taco meat

Here is our family's favorite taco meat. it is incredibly easy to make and it tastes so much better than taco meat made with those commercial flavor packets you can buy at the store. I actually hate the taste of those flavor packets, but my mom always made hers from scratch...Yes, I know I'm spoiled.

You can make this taco meat with either organic ground beef, ground buffalo, or beefalo. Even ground turkey works.

At times, I have also added up to 30% of a soy protein meat substitute into the mix, to extend the meat. I pre-hydrate the meat substitute first before adding it to the rest of the meat. Then I add the onion, garlic, and seasonings and saute it all together. I do prefer the 100% meat version, but my family hasn't seemed to notice the difference.

I like to make a big batch of taco meat and keep the leftovers in the refrigerator for quick meals later in the week. This meat also freezes well.




Best Taco Meat Recipe:

2 pounds organic free-range ground beef or buffalo
2 onions, minced
8 cloves garlic, smashed with the salt
1 t. sea salt or BioSalt
1 t. onion salt
2 t. Ancho chili pepper powder
2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. paprika
1 t. organic beef base
40 grinds black pepper
1/4 t. psyllium husk powder
1/4 c. purified water


Method:

Brown the meat with the onions and garlic over medium-high heat in a large skillet, until the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through. Break the meat up as it cooks.

Add all of the seasonings, psyllium, and water and simmer until thickened.

Taste for seasoning and serve while hot.

Serve as a topping for a taco salad, inside organic corn tortillas, or gluten-free flour tortillas.

Saute the meat with the rest of the ingredients.

The finished taco meat- beef in this case.

This large grater is fun for shredding the cheddar cheese.

Heat deodorized coconut oil until a piece of corn tortilla sizzles and quickly browns.

A piece of corn tortilla sizzling away...

Fry your desired amount of corn tortillas.

Fry the tortillas until they start to brown. For stiff shells, bend in the center and fry a little longer.

Place tortillas between layers of paper towel.

Putting the taco fixings on the table.

Start putting on your taco fixings: first the meat, then cheese, then lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc.

A beautiful plate of tacos!

YUM!

Enjoy,

Leila.

I've changed my mind...about changing my mind. (Expanded recipe collection at Kitchen Cheetahs now modified)

This is an update on this post I made a while back...

I am removing some very tasty (although "naughty") recipes from Kitchen Cheetahs. The white flour/white sugar recipes have found a new home. 

Please visit my new blog: beauteandthefeast.blogspot.com for recipes for my:

 Magleby's Incredible Chocolate Cake
Perfect Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Copy Cat Tiger's Milk Bars
Positively Evil Cinnamon Rolls
The Best Amazingly Chocolaty Texas Sheet Cake
German Puff Pancake
Superior Chicago-Style Cheesecake
Super Moist & Easy Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
Garlic Parmesan Bread Twists (Pizza Factory Copy Cat Recipe)
Moist Mississippi Mud Cake
Best Moist Banana Bread
Elegant Orange Blossom Crepes

AND MUCH MORE...

I will also be posting articles about beauty, aromatherapy, mind stuff, and more. I have been contemplating this move for quite a while. Both blogs will be active and I hope you enjoy them.

This is the previous post below:

*****

Kitchen Cheetahs will focus solely on Healthy Clean Eating.

I know I originally said that I would not post any recipes containing white flour or white granulated cane or beet sugar on Kitchen Cheetahs.

Enjoy the sweetness of life.

I changed my mind. I may change it back. I'm not sure yet...

Me, contemplating...

I thought about having a "NICE" blog (Kitchen Cheetahs) and a separate "NAUGHTY" blog for the OTHER recipes. You know the ones...sinfully delicious, hopelessly tempting, sugar-laden... foods on most people's NO-FLY-ZONE list.

Well, You get to make your own food decisions. I'm not here to tell you what to do.

After much contemplating, I decided I want all our treasured recipes on one blog. I trust you can sort through this growing recipe collection and find what fits you best at this time. And times change. Our dietary choices evolve as we do.

This food lifestyle blog has something for everyone at any stage of life.

I have noticed in my almost 2 months of blogging on Kitchen Cheetahs, that people are looking more at the traditional and familiar recipes than they are at the 'healthiest' raw food ones. My recent posts for my BEST Easy Spaghetti Sauce recipe and my Copy-Cat Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salad recipe are good examples of this.

Our favorite protein-packed bean sprout mix.

It also appears that 'healthified' versions of favorite familiar recipes are great as long as they don't cross over the line of being too weird tasting (as in, don't call carob chocolate).

I get it. Our comfort foods are the foods we were raised on, not that we don't ever get adventurous with our palate, we do. It's just that we generally get cravings for those foods from our childhood, something to think about as we are feeding our own young and growing children.

My daughter who has learned to eat healthy from a very young age.

I believe there is a time and a place for everything.

I also believe in moderation in all things.

I feel that if I take great care of my body on a daily basis, there is room in my life for an occasional piece of Texas Sheet Cake, chocolate mousse, buttery garlic Parmesan bread twists, or chocolate chip cookies, real ones.

I am fortunate in that I do not have any allergies to foods or otherwise. I am blessed with good health and I am very grateful for it. I choose to educate myself and live a healthful life. It has been my personal decision to occasionally partake of those foods some people label as evil or fattening. I decided not to feel bad about that.

 I do not think it is healthy to lay guilt trips on yourself. 

Make your choice and then ENJOY your choice.

There is to be joy in life.

If you decide the choice you made doesn't work, make another choice.

  Choose wisely.

Kitchen Cheetahs will still focus on delicious healthy foods and provide you with better alternatives. We continue to experiment in our test kitchens and look forward to sharing our discoveries with you. It is easy to find the types of foods you are looking for here.

Kitchen Cheetahs has several food categories to choose from, like:

Gluten-Free
Sugar-Free
Dairy-Free
Nut-Free
Low-Carb
High-Fiber
Raw-Foods
Vegan
Paleo
and more...

Kitchen Cheetah's goal is to provide the BEST recipes. PERIOD


Your comments and feedback on this topic will be appreciated. Tell us what you want to see more of.

Thank you,

 Leila.


Meet Moki, our health conscious mini dachshund...

Moki is hoping for one of his favorite treats: RAW CARROTS! (He loves the bean sprout mix too.)

Zzzzzzz

"What's that you say?"

"Your'e putting White Flour and White Sugar recipes on THIS blog?!"

"Yes Moki, I am. People can listen to their own inner body wisdom. We have no need to worry."



Author, Leila (and Moki).

Leila's Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup - Easy and Delicious!

Leila's Easy Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup

I created this soup after I made a bunch of chicken stock from a couple of Costco rotisserie chickens. I wanted a Mexican-style soup that was loaded with healthy vegetables, had a hit of smoky flavor and was not creamy.

This soup turned out super! our family loves it and we have really enjoyed the leftovers. It is warming for these cool fall evenings we are having.

I really like the zucchini in this soup. I used a huge tough zucchini from our garden for this soup. I peeled it and then removed all the seeds. I then chopped it into small cubes. The older zucchini stay nicely firm in simmered soups. If you have tender zucchini, add it towards the end of cooking time, so that you don't turn it into mush.


Leila's Smoky Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe:

1/2 pound bacon
1 extra-large onion, minced
6 large cloves garlic, smashed
2 stalks celery with tops, minced
3 large mild chiles, fire roasted and then cored, seeded and minced
4 tomatillos, minced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 14.5-ounce can petite diced tomatoes with chipotle chiles
1 7-ounce can La Victoria Fire Roasted diced green chiles (this brand has the best roasted flavor)
3 quarts chicken stock (home made is best)
1 bay leaf
1 t. ground cumin
2 14.8-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 29-ounce can Mexican-style hominy, drained
2 zucchini, cubed
1 T. sea salt, to taste
35 grinds fresh ground pepper, to taste
2 to 4 cups shredded cooked chicken meat
Smokey paprika, optional, to taste


Method:

Over a gas flame, char the whole chiles, then remove stem and seeds and mince. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, fry the bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and crumble, then set aside.

With the bacon fat left in the pot, saute on medium-high heat, the onion, garlic, celery, chilies, and tomatillos, until the onion becomes transparent.

Add the canned tomatoes and canned green chiles. then add the chicken stock.

Add the bay leaf, cumin, canned beans, hominy, and diced zucchini. Bring up to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and let it simmer about 30 minutes.

Season the soup with the salt and pepper, to taste. Add the crumbled bacon and shredded cooked chicken meat. let simmer a few more minutes before serving. Check the seasoning.

Garnish the soup with sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro, lime wedges, corn chips, as desired.


Notes:

Use gluten-free corn chips if desired.

If avoiding corn, omit the hominy and corn chips.

If dairy-free, omit the cheese and sour cream garnishes.

For a vegan option, omit bacon and saute the vegetables in deodorized coconut oil. Add smokey paprika to give a nice smoky flavor. Use vegetable broth in place of the chicken stock. add an extra can of beans in place of the shredded chicken.

In place of the canned petite diced tomatoes with chipotle chiles, use regular diced Mexican or plain diced tomatoes. Add these additional seasonings: 1/4 t. Mexican oregano, 1/4 t. dried chipotle powder, 1/4 t. additional cumin, to taste.

Enjoy,

Leila.

Speedy Thai Turkey Snacks - Low Carb, Gluten-Free

Thai Turkey Snacks

Try this quick tasty snack next time the munchies hit - You will be doing yourself a favor with this high-protein, low-carb treat.

This is a very tasty and very quick use for canned turkey or chicken. Our low-carb, sweet Fiji Hot Sauce is the perfect accompaniment to this mayonnaise based meat mixture. Topping with fresh basil leaves adds a little cheer and flavor dimension. Use Thai basil if you have it!

I like this as a quick lunch, served along side some fresh sliced fruit. I love that it's so low-carb when used to top cucumber slices. I do love the taste of sesame rice crackers though...

If you are short on ingredients, you can omit the Fiji Sauce and basil, but that kinda takes all the fun out of it. Don't get me wrong, it's still good though.

Try this for a lunch at work, or take on a picnic and serve with a salad and fruit. Serve this to your kids as an afternoon snack. When you get the munchies before bed, eat this in a romaine lettuce leaf, or on top of cucumbers, and you will have avoided the tempting high-carb snacks most people reach for. It's SO easy to make, it's hard not to try this recipe :)



Thai Turkey Snacks:

1 can turkey or chicken meat
1/4 c. mayonnaise, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
seasoned salt, to taste
cucumber slices or artisan GF sesame seed rice crackers
Fiji Sauce (Thai chili sauce) See recipe on this blog
fresh basil leaves


Method:

Drain the juice from the canned turkey or chicken and place the meat in a small bowl.

Add a dollop of your favorite mayonnaise, to taste. Mix together well.

Season the meat mixture with ground black pepper and seasoned salt to taste.

Portion the meat mixture on top of the cucumber slices or crackers.

Drizzle the tops with Fiji Sauce and place a basil leaf on top.

Serve immediately.

A good cracker to serve with the meat filling.

Doesn't that FIJI SAUCE look good?

Enjoy,

Leila

Flower Child Carrot Raisin Salad - Healthy & Fresh! Plus a Chef Secret Revealed...

Flower Child Carrot Raisin Salad  

This is not your ordinary carrot raisin salad.

Try this fresh tasting, healthy, high fiber, easy to make salad for lunch or as a side for dinner.

I am a flower child, it's true. My mom made this for me a lot while I was growing up. I loved it. I still do, I just do not add the rice polish (an health food ingredient from the 70's).

There are versions of this salad served at buffets, which have soggy raisins, wilted carrots, sweetened coconut shreds and canned pineapple tidbits added - YUK. This is not that salad.

This salad is fresh, with crunchy seeds and chewy raisins, a little sweet, with just the right amount of tang to make things interesting.

The dressing is healthy too. It has a nice protein content from the yogurt and sunnies (sun flower seeds). Please make sure your sunnies are fresh. Rancid seeds will ruin your salad.

I am going to reveal a excellent chef's secret to you now...

Add a PINCH of ground cinnamon - just a pinch! If wisely done, you don't taste the cinnamon, but my-O-my what it does to lift the flavor! This is an "extra-super chef's secret" (to quote my mother, Nancy Glazier), to use an "under the radar" pinch of cinnamon in many sweet recipes.

Now you know.



Flower Child Carrot Raisin Salad Recipe:

1 quart (packed) peeled and grated organic carrots
1 c. plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt
1/3 c. Best Foods or Hellman's Mayonnaise (or your favorite brand)
3 T. raw honey, or more to taste
1 to 2 T. raw apple cider vinegar, to taste
1/2 t. sea salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 1/4 t. rice polish, optional
1/2 c. organic raw shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 c. (packed) organic raisins


Method:

Wash, trim, and peel the carrots. Grate in a Cusinart food processor, or by hand.

In a serving bowl, mix the dressing ingredients together to taste. It should be tangy and sweet.

Mix in the rice polish powder, if using

Add the grated carrots to the dressing, and add the sunflower seeds and raisins.

Mix well to coat and serve immediately.


Notes: 

If you plan on serving the salad later, add the raisins at serving time, that way they are chewy instead of mushy.

Enjoy,

Leila