What's For Dinner?

Isn't that always the question? What's for dinner? If I had a dime for every time I asked, and in turn was asked that question, I'd be able to pay my Visa credit card off.  =)
Well I'll tell ya what's for dinner tonight...... TACOS!
Oh, but no, no, no, my friend.....you must forget what you think you know about  the unsatisfactory and fattening tacos of yesteryear.  I'm gonna take that traditional boring taco and "Zhoosh" it up a little bit.

This weekend I might have overindulged on my diet a bit. Ok, I did overindulge. 
Today we're getting back to business. Here is my rendition of healthy (buy yummy -I promise)  taco night. Featuring my rainbow taco bar. By the way, I mentioned at work today, I was making a taco bar and they said ..."Vanessa. You do realize there is only two of you at home, right??" And again I say.....no need to be unfabulous about it.
Gosh, why must they always be the pin to my balloon?! -___- 

The Breakdown 
Let's start with the meat. You can do ground turkey, ground beef or ground chicken. Usually, whatever is on sale works just fine! I went with lean ground beef. Depends on how healthy you wish to eat. A drop of olive oil in the pan to help it brown. Sprinkle with a little Adobo, onion powder and garlic powder. I do away with that packet of taco seasoning - it's nothing but garbage. I used to do half a packet, but now I just do away with it altogether. Whether you're eating healthy or not, it's just orange, salty grossness and it's a watered down way to "season" your taco meat. In addition to those dry spices, I added a healthy squirt of ketchup, a few dashes of A1 Steak Sauce and some dashes of hot sauce - holy flavor! So good! I would have thrown in some worcesteshire sauce if I had some, but if you do, by all means amp up that flavor.
I wish I could give you an exact recipe with perfect measurements for everything, but we do "sprinkles" and "dashes" and a lot of eyeballing around here! I am no chef by any stretch of the word- I just make stuff I enjoy and I share what I think other people might enjoy as well. 

You know how I know this recipe is good? My husband - "Mr. Steak & Potatoes..... and Pizza" is a very tough sell on new foods or foods in general. We sat down tonight to eat and a few bites in he says..."What did you do to the meat? DAMN! This is good!"......BAZINGA!


Taste The Rainbow
Soggy lettuce? boooooo! Garden tomatoes? Eh. We can do better.

- I started with my purple cabbage slaw - the one I made two weeks ago. Seen here.

- Plum tomatoes. I feel they are firmer, crunchier and tend to hold up better. No sog.
I like their bright red color also. Garden tomatoes tend to look like a washed out orange?
If you want me to stay on this diet, I'm gonna need a little more enthusiasm, Mr. Tomato. 

 - Avocado. I know, not your typical taco condiment (unless you're going with guacamole).
I want no bells, no whistles. Straight up, cut avocado. No salt, no lemon, nothing added.

 - 2% reduced fat shredded cheese. You can't tell the difference between this and full fat shredded cheese. I guarantee it.

- Reduced fat sour cream. You can go fat free if you'd like. To me, the full fat is too thick and rich and the fat free is too watery. Reduced fat is juuuuust right. Like Goldilocks and her porridge.

- Regular bottled taco sauce.

Now obviously, you can omit any ingredients you don't like as well as add in anything you do like. The rainbow taco bar is endless. You can do black olives, cucumbers, sprouts, radish, shredded carrot, etc. Do what works for you. 

 Check that bad boy out. Who wouldn't want to eat that?! 
I ditched the fried taco shells and bought whole wheat tortilla skins. Set the oven at 350, warmed them up for about 5-7 minutes to make them toasty but still pliable.

The sweet tang of the slaw,  the crunch of the tomatoes, the cool creamy guacamole, the cheese and then the zip of the flavored meat - ugh this taco was everything to me tonight. I had two. And that  is totally ok because I loaded up on my rainbow of veggies and had a small serving of the lean beef. The textures are there, the flavors are there and the shitty tacos with all of that salt, fake flavor and fat is not!

Another tip I learned when watching your weight is to build the taco in reverse. Most of the time people pile on the meat and then their veggies and toppings. To control myself, I load up the taco with my "rainbow" and then sprinkle the meat on top and do a lil' dollop of sour cream.

This was so good, look what's for lunch tomorrow.....

Taco salad! I did incorporate salad greens this time since I am nixing the tortilla skins. 
Gonna need a bit more of a base. I piled on my cole slaw, plum tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, ground beef,  splash of taco sauce and my reduced fat sour cream.
Leftover healthy food at dinner always helps me stay on track the next day.
I actually get full and there's no guilt.

Hey.....it might even allow for a 3:00pm chocolate chip cookie!

Happy eating y'all! Hope you zhoosh up your taco night too!

xo
V.V.!