Taco Tuesday on Sunday Because...TACOS!

School has resumed. While I will miss the more laid back approach to life that summer affords, I relish in the sanity provided by predictable routines. Bedtime is within 30 minute range each night. Wake up is the same (ok, maybe a few minutes off if I hit snooze). School drop off and pick up are at predictable times, with minor adjustments for school activities. But the routines I cherish the most: Breaking bread together. Since my son and I became a family nearly six years ago, we start and end each day with a meal together. Breakfast is sometimes just cereal and fruit and dinner is, well, also sometimes just cereal and fruit. But we sit down together. Sometimes we talk and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we're angry with one another and sometimes we're deeply appreciative. Sometimes the meals are amazing and sometimes we order Plan B pizza. But we begin and end the day together, at the same table, dining on the same foods and sharing an experience.

Tonight was Taco Tuesday on Sunday because, I mean, because tacos what else do you need to hear?

Store bought salsa and taco seasoning is so over-laden with sodium that I have learned to make my own. Not only does this help keep my sodium in check (and, thus, help control my blood pressure) but it also tastes better as I can adjust it to our taste buds. So I wanted to share my recipe with you today. I almost exclusively use Penzey's Spices because they're damn good! And now with their political statements, I definitely try to stick with them as it's important to stick up for what's right in America. So here you go, adjust as you wish:

1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/2 Tablespoon Chipotle powder
1/2 Tablespoon Ancho Chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 1/2 teaspoon smoked cumin
2 teaspoons roasted garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried minced onion (I used kroger brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked mexican paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt

You can tell we like it spicy and smokey. Adjust to suit your taste buds. I find I use stronger spice combos to offset the reduction in salt.

Brown 1 lb of hamburger or meatleass meat. Drain the grease. Return to heat. Add 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix, a couple tablespoons of water and a couple tablespoons of fresh salsa (or whatever you have, I'll write that recipe down another day). Heat back up and let water evaporate.

The amount of sodium reduced in this recipe compared to a typical store-bought taco packet is incredible! I can't even do the math BUT this recipe basically makes enough seasoning for three lbs of seasoned taco meat at just under 750 mg of sodium (so 250 per lb of taco meat. each one makes at least 8 tacos for 30 mg of sodium each, more or less) compared to one package of McCormack having 190 mg of sodium per taco! My son and I ate three tacos today for a total of 90 mg of sodium. Store bought we would have had almost 600. Boom! There you go y'all! and I swear it tastes so much better!

You won't go back to store bought. I usually will double this recipe and it'll last me several months. Bon apetit, y'all!

Jazz Up Your Salad

In the past, when I heard the word salad I thought dull, boring, iceberg lettuce DROWNED in dressing maybe with a few slivers of carrot and radish. Toss on some Bacos Bacon Bits if I was really fantasizing. 

So it is easy to understand why salads were...unappealing to me. UNTIL I began to jazz them up! 

Now my regular salad ingredients include the usual suspects (mixed greens, carrots, tomato, bell pepper, etc.) along with:

Blueberries

Sliced strawberries

Apple pieces

Smoked salmon (OMG y'all, forreal!)

Smoked gouda cheese (see a theme?)

All kinds of nuts and seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, almond, walnut)

Cranberries (fresh or dried)

even certain flower petals (pansies, nasturtium, squash/zucchini) can be added! 

Since redefining what a salad can include, I really CRAVE them sometimes. I try to have at least 3-4 "colors" and 5 different ingredients in each of my salads. This ensure I have a variety of vitamins and nutritional intake as well as increasing my fiber intake. As I am approaching 40, I have been doing some research on the health benefits of proper fiber levels and they seem to be plentiful including lowered risk of heart disease, diabetes, and possibly some cancers, too!  An added bonus, because of all the delicious flavors, I usually only add less than 1 Tablespoon of salad dressing, reducing calories, fat, sugar and most importantly to me salt content! 

So what are your favorite salad additives? I am ready to jazz it up even more!