One of our most favorite types of food is Tex Mex. It’s probably good we have no access to those endless chip bowls and bubbly queso dip..but every once in a while we just NEED it. I have been on the hunt for some healthy recipes that remind us of back home. I have been googling knockoffs for some time now. The most recent find was a Chipotle knock off for barbacoa beef. I did it in the slow cooker and served it with cilantro rice and lots of fresh toppings. I had always wondered what people used the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for. This recipe was a way to try them out!   They smell, smokey and warm but are super spicy! I made the mistake of sneaking a little of the sauce after smelling it just to gauge how spicy I wanted out meet. Wowser! It’s hot. Both times I have made this recipe I have made it with less peppers.  The meat never came out too spicy…in fact Seth had to stop the boys from eating it all one evening!

Gina’s Weight Watchers blog is one I have been finding some good finds on lately, including this barbacoa recipe.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/barbacoa-beef.html

I followed her recipe mostly…I used less peppers, added a little beef broth (because I cooked mine on low all day in the slow cooker and I didn’t want it to dry out, and I used the whole roast without cutting it up so I could cook it longer and not have to check it through the day).

When I looked up the beef to add to this post I saw she has a slow-cooked pork as well. We will be trying this soon!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/01/slow-cooked-sweet-barbacoa-pork.html

Don’t be scared away by the Weight Watchers name. I personally avoid all things Weight Watchers because I know my personality enough to know that if I ever attempted it I would become OCD about the points system. That’s another story altogether but anyhow, I like her recipes because they are lots of fresh, simple recipes. If she calls for reduced fat stuff we normally use regular because Switzerland isn’t on the low fat, fat free craze that the US is on. I prefer the real stuff in moderation than the chemically stuff. But that is just me.

Pappasito’s with the Seckinger clan before coming to Bern.

I think Seth would be lying if he tried to say it’s only worth it to fly home for family. I am pretty sure if I talked enough about tex mex over the next couple of days he would book us tickets home. But that would be super manipulative so I will continue to try my knock off recipes and save the money on flights home.