Taco Pasta

What do you get when an Olive Garden receives Taco Bell's shipment of ingredients?
TACO PASTA!

There's a short little clip about the steps of taco pasta... as you can see it's pretty darn simple. It's also a great roll-over meal to have after you make tacos!

What you're going to need (for 3-4 servings)

-2 cups dry pasta (whole wheat works great)

-1/2 cup ground beef

-1/2 cup beans (can have more, this is just what I had after taco night)

-1/2 cup corn (again, give or take depending on what you have)

-2 tomatoes, chopped

-1/2 cup salsa

The steps to supper:

1. Boil pasta until nearly done, then drain all but aout 1/4 cup of the water

2. Heat the salsa, tomatoes, corn, beans and beef

3. When hot, add to the pasta and place on a burner

4. Reheat, stirring often. It may not seem like the sauce is thick enough, but it should thicken as you heat - if not you can always add a little sour cream or cream cheese to thicken

~Serve with chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, sour cream-anything you'd regularly add to a taco!

Perfect for a quick and easy (not to mention healthy) supper, and kids LOVE it!

Fruit Salsa

Dipping stuff is so much fun! Don't cha think? 

Well this fruit salsa is a very versatile dipper! It's amazing with salty dippers such as pretzel things, bagel things, salty crackers, heck-even chips! But super amazing as a double sweet dip/dipper combo with carrying vessels such as cinna-sugar tortilla chips. graham crackers or even slices of fruit! (Fruit overload?! Sorry, never heard of it...)

This recipe also couldn't get much easier-just chop/puree all the ingredients and let it chill for awhile and you're in business! (the dipping business that is!)

That's really it! Just take all your ingredients and throw it all in a big bag and shake shake shake! 

Ingredients: 

*be aware-these ingredients are just my favorite combo-you can switch it up however you wish!

-2 apples (I like using the very sweet Fuji variety)-chopped

-2 kiwi-peeled and chopped

-1 lb. strawberries-chopped

-2 TBSP sugar (or any sweetener of choice)

-2 TBSP. fruit preserves

-1/4 cup fruit juice of choice 

~I've done this before with raspberries instead of strawberries, and once with pineapple juice and pineapple instead of apples-YUM!

Perfect for your next girls movie night! Tailgate! Playdate! Party... lazy night at home! Anything :)

Delicious on crackers!

If you guys do some variations on this, let me know! I love a mix-up! 

Spicy Cabbage Salad

Did you just make my Runza's and now have an obnoxious abundance of cabbage that you don't know what to do with? No? Hmm-maybe that's just me...but it doesn't matter...you can still make this salad, even if you have to go out and buy cabbage.

It's extremely simple and the results are a creative and new flavorful way to enjoy cabbage. It's a nice remix on the traditional taco salad or cabbage slaw.

Did you know that cabbage contains fiber and helps lower cholesterol? Also-it is full of sinigrin (a cancer fighting chemical! ...who doesn't want more of those?! ) Salsa can help speed your metabolism and both tomatoes and peppers are chalk full of antioxidants!

Ingredients:
-1 head of cabbage
-1 jar salsa
-2 tomatoes
-1 onion
-2 peppers (if you use two different colors it makes it all the more fun!)
-any additional 'taco' like toppings; i.e. beans,

Warning! This salad makes a LARGE amount-like enough to feed a hungry group of BBQ go-ers in the middle of June after a long day in the fields! So...if you are enjoying alone feel free to size it down :)

Directions:
1. Chop all ingredients (except salsa because, well...it doesn't need chopped!)
2. Mix with salsa and let sit 2 hours at least! ...this helps bring out all the flavors

Nutritional Info:


...alright so I don't exactly have the nutritional stats-but don't get upset! I have a very good reason! It will all depend on how big your head of cabbage is, what your salsa is made out of and how much you eat! Please forgive me :)

Taco Salad

Time for a recipe makeover! Taco salads have far too long been touted as a health food but mysteriously hiding grams and grams of fat, carbohydrates, sodium and nothing in the categories of vitamins or minerals! I can hear you now... "But it's a salad!" I know...I know... but 'salad' doesn't always = healthy :(

Stop crying! I'm here to help! I've got a taco salad recipe that will knock your socks off! You won't miss any of the fat, carbs, or sodium your previous healthy salads were filled with. And, since you are such wonderful blog followers, I'll even make the salad full of vitamins, minerals AND fiber! I'm sure you're thinking something this good can't possibly be true, or at least tasty, but I promise you it is!

Still don't believe me? Alright skeptics, just try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Makes 1 Salad:
Ingredients:
-1 cups spinach
-1/4 cup beans of choice (here I used Pinto, but black are just as tasty!)
-2 ounces ground beef (best if browned with taco seasoning)
-2 TBSP Low fat Shredded Cheese
-1/4 cup corn
-Chopped tomato, onions, peppers
-Salsa

Directions:
1. Warm beef, corn and beans
2. Top spinach with beef, corn and beans
3. Top with cheese
4. Add tomato, onions, and/or peppers
5. Top with salsa

Additional Ideas:
-Eat with  my Homemade Pita Chips
-Top with low-fat sour cream
-Make a 'Ranchero' sauce for your salad (2 parts salsa, one part low-fat Ranch dressing)
-Add various vegetables: different beans, chopped carrots, different peppers, jicama, etc.

Nutritional Info: