Meal Makeover

I've really noticed in the last 6 months that which our mothers warned us would happen - the point where I can't just eat anything, exercise sporadically, and look and feel as great as I did when I was a teenager (all right, I was about 15 pounds heavier 10 years ago, but that was because I worked in a chocolate shop and regular sampling was a requirement of the job, I swear). As a result, I carefully plan my meals 5 days a week (and exercise *some* caution on the weekends). In my planning, I have noticed we've been eating a LOT of fat. There were some easy changes we could make - switching to low-fat mayo for our homemade dip, and reducing the amount of sausage-based meals. However, there were some changes where we had to get creative, namely, ground beef.

We would eat ground beef every day if we could, but it's probably not the best food to be eating that often, even if you buy lean varieties. However, we also realized many of our ground beef recipes don't involve actually tasting the meat - such as tacos.

As a result, I created a vegetarian alternative - without sacrificing too much protein. Introducing:

Quinoa Tacos

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa

1 cup water

1 recipe taco seasoning

taco shells

taco fixings (we had tomatos, lettuce, green pepper, and cheddar cheese)

Instructions

1. Rinse quinoa, if required (ours requires a 3 minute rinse)

2. Add quinoa and water to a pot and bring to boil

3. Stir in taco seasoning, cover and simmer for time specified by manufacturer (ours recommends 15-20 minutes)

4. While it is simmering, prepare taco fixings.

5. Fluff quinoa with fork and spoon into shells

6. Top as desired. Remember - vegetables are good for you, so use lots! (Or, if you're like me, make a taco salad!)

Tastes almost exactly the same, but has 16 grams less fat! (Alas, only a quarter of the protein, but it does have all the important amino acids)

Don't have a taco seasoning recipe that you like? Check out ours here!