Jan 23, 2017

Taco Rice Salad

One of the many changes I'm making this year is trying to get back into shape. For me, this means the physical (exercising), mental, & and in particular the nutrition part. As of late, I've been eating out a lot quit a bit. As someone who really enjoys cooking, its been hard. It has also taken a toll on my body. Personally, I can tell when I eat crap because I feel like crap. 

In the last few months I have been buying cooking books again. One of my favorite ones is prefect for this time of year where people are trying to reach weight loss goals:


This is the Cooking Light Mix & Match Low-calorie cookbook.  This cookbook has great options for every meal plus snacks. They also include tips on what the best choices are when it comes to weight loss.

One of the recipes that I've made from this book so far is the Taco Rice Salad.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey
2 cups wild rice
2 hearts of Romaine Lettuce, chopped/torn
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 pack taco seasoning (I bought mine at Sprouts)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese
Optional: Spoon of salsa

Instruction:
-Microwave bag of rice in water for 6 minutes, drain & set aside.
-Cook meat for 10 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.
-Microwave corn for 5 & a half minutes.
-Drain meat & place back into pan.
-Add rice, corn, seasoning, & black beans to meat.
-Pour taco seasoning & 1/2 cup water to meat mixture.
-Cook the mixture for 5 to 8 minutes on medium.
-Place one cup of lettuce in a bowl.
-Top the lettuce with 1/2 of taco rice mixture.
-Place 1/3 cup of shredded cheese on top of taco rice.
-Add spoonful of salsa on top.

In the cookbook, they made a dressing with sour cream and salsa. I made my own ranch dressing. The thing I like about this meal is that you can make this as a salad, do the taco rice mixture by itself, or even make it vegetarian by taking out the meat & adding more vegetables to it.

I'm going to try to start posting a recipe at least once a weeks from the food that I make. One thing that has been working out for me is that I started buying all the food that I'm planning to eat for the week on Sunday & make my lunches for the first three days of the week that night. I usually make my dinners for the week on Monday night. I'm very lucky in that I do have a full pantry most of the time so I can shop in there, just having to go to the store for one or two items.

Peace & blessings all. Have a great start of your work week!!!

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