I LOVE Mexican food.

Most days, if I could choose any meal to sit down to and wasn’t worried about calories going into my body, I’d start out with a couple of baskets of tortilla chips and salsa, then I’d move onto about 4 plates of beans, rice, flour or corn tortillas, and any Mexican entrée filled with beef, chicken, and cheese.  Oh, and throw a couple margaritas in there 🙂  It seems as though when it comes to Mexican my stomach is a bottomless pit, and I usually leave the restaurant or dinner table stuffed to full capacity, ready for a nap, and feeling a little guilty.

During the summer months Mike, T.J., and I go out to eat a lot more often than we do in the winter, especially after a round of golf.  We have a few Mexican restaurants here in Mason City that we love and probably frequent a little too often during the summer months.  Throughout the winter, when I’m home-cooking a lot more, we have a few Mexican recipes that we’ve enjoyed including my favorite – Enchilada Casserole which is absolutely delicious and great for a meal at home or to take to a potluck.  If we’re looking for something a little lighter I’ve come up with a few lower calorie but still tasty meals such as  Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas – On the Lighter Side, Margarita Lime Chicken, and Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas.   All are mouth-watering, fairly easy to make, and get us by when we can’t make it to the restaurants we love.

Another one of my favorite and easiest Mexican-inspired meals to make are fajitas.  This has often been a popular meal on Crock Pot Wednesdays because I can throw all the ingredients in the crock pot within about 10 minutes, let them cook on low for 4-5 hours, and when we are ready to eat all we have to do is spoon the fajita mix into our tortillas and add all our favorite toppings.  Unfortunately, when we’re watching what we eat this is usually out of the question because the tortillas we love are loaded with calories.

This week I was really craving fajitas and was determined to have them for Crock Pot Wednesday.  During my run on the treadmill last Saturday, I was watching Ree Drummond, my fave, love her! – she’s what gets me through this long winter of run after run on the treadmill…will spring ever get here?  Anyway, she was trying to make lighter versions of some of her favorite recipes.  One of them was a low-carb burger where she substituted iceberg lettuce for the bun. A light went off in my head and that’s what led to Lettuce-Wrapped Seafood Fajitas, and they were a hit!  They were VERY low-calorie while still filling and will definitely be a repeat meal!

Here’s what you’ll need on your grocery list:

**This recipe makes enough to serve 4 people – making 2 fajitas for each person.  In the pictures, I have halved the recipe, which is easy to do and made it in a smaller crock pot.  If making the full recipe you will need a large crock pot.**

12 oz small Shrimp, detailed, deveined

2 (6 oz) cans White Crab Meat (I’ve also made this with Imitation Crab Meat)

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Yellow Bell Pepper

1 Orange Bell Pepper

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 small Onion

1 cup sliced Fresh Mushrooms

2 tbsp Low Sodium Fajita Seasoning

1/4 cup Water

8 leafs of Iceberg Lettuce

**Optional Toppings – Salsa, Sour Cream or Plain Greek Yogurt, Cheese

Begin by cutting peppers and onion into long slices.  Add sliced peppers, onion, and mushrooms to the crock pot and stir to combine.  I love how beautiful all the colors look!  Obviously, you can use whatever kind of peppers you would like but I like including all the colors because of how beautiful they are combined together…I’m a nerd 🙂

Add shrimp and crab meat to the crock pot.  Stir to combine.

Sprinkle fajita seasoning over contents of crock pot.

Pour water over contents of crock pot, stir to combine, and cook on low 4-5 hours

Enjoy the delicious aroma that engulfs your house while this goodness slow cooks away in your crock pot.

When you are ready to eat, carefully remove 8 full Iceberg Lettuce leaves and lay on serving plates to resemble fajitas.  Spoon fajita mixture evenly into each leaf of lettuce and top with your favorite condiments.  We used salsa, Mexican shredded cheese, and Plain Greek Yogurt.

Roll like a traditional fajita and enjoy!!!

These are a little messier than traditional fajitas so make sure you have some extra napkins, but they are so good it will be hard to believe they are actually good for you!