Grain Free Taco (aka Taco Style lettuce Wrap)

Grain Free Taco AKA Taco Style Lettuce Wrap

Ingredients:

• Refried Beans (I make refried beans from dry beans)
• Cooked Ground Beef (I cook in bulk and freeze to make this a quick fix)
• Tomato
• Cheese of choice
• Green Leaf Lettuce leaves, whole (or you can just make this as a salad)
• Sour Cream (just a little bit)
• Spices to taste (I use these Mrs. Dash flavors)

I slice tomatoes instead of dicing so its less messy... unless I'm making this salad style

I mix a little bit of refried beans into the taco meat to extend it (because, hey, meat is ExPenSive!) and also to make it stick together a little bit more for less mess!

Add the tomato and get ready to fold and eat!

Viola!  Grain Free Taco!

Verdict:  Um, yeah.  I've had one of these every morning this week.  I LOVE it.  Having the seasoned ground beef and beans already put together in the fridge or freezer has been perfect for a quick fix meal!

OAMC:  Add some extra ground beef to your Once a Month Cooking plan and leave seasoned ground beef and refried beans to your list to make this a quick and healthy fix for your family!

What are your favorite quick fix meals?  How many grain free meals do you suppose you make in the course of a week?

Clean Eating #146: Salad w/Toasted Spiced Almonds

Salad with Toasted Spiced Almonds

I used to buy those 'flavored' almonds at the store for our salads... but of course those are full of MSG, which we are trying to avoid.  So I grabbed my slivered almonds and thought I'd give it a go.  As you can see, I left them in a bit too long.  It seemed like nothing was happening, then I got distracted for a second and boom, brown almonds.

Oh well, we all loved them anyway.  I LOVE having crunchy things in my salad.

Easy as pie.  Wait, pie isn't even easy.

• Take about a cup of slivered almonds and spread them out on a baking sheet.
• Spray lightly with Olive oil (if you don't like spray oil, you might be able to get the same effect by tossing them in a bag with some oil)
• Sprinkle with seasonings (I used chili powder and garlic pepper)

This was SO easy and so yummy.  My hubby didn't even notice that they were in the salad until he started eating and he asked, "YUM!  Where did you get the almonds?  That is a fantastic flavor combination!)

WINNER!:)

Clean Eating #145: Super Easy Pasta Salad w/Tomatoes & Shaved Parmesan Cheese

 Pasta Salad w/Tomatoes & Shaved Parmesan Cheese

I did it, I finally made some cold pasta salad that I actually enjoyed.

Actually, it was kind of funny because I LOVE pasta.  A LOT.  But I like it HOT, the cold version has always turned me off.  Even this time, I'd take a bite or two and think, "nahhh... no thanks."

10 minutes later I'd be sitting down doing something and think, "Man.  I want another bite of that."  I'd take a bite or two and again decide that I didn't care for it.

By the end of the day, I'd eaten all the leftovers... which amounted to at least two servings:)

I guess I'm getting to that point of being able to get past the fact that pasta "isn't supposed to be cold"

Ingredients:

1 box whole wheat linguine

3 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (to coat, you may want more/less)

McCormick's "Perfect Pasta" seasoning blend to taste

1-2 tomatoes, diced

3/4 cup of cooked lentils

Salt to taste

Directions:

Prepare the pasta to your taste.

Drain and add EVOO, Sesonings, lentils and diced tomatoes.

Top with shaved Parmesan Cheese

Cool in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Serve as a side dish or entree (or just keep picking at it in the fridge all day, but I warn you, you may eat too much that way!:)

Now I want to really experiment with different flavors, beans and veggies in my pasta salads... I'm on a roll!  What are your favorite pasta salad ingredients?