Tacos, Only Healthier

First of all, I must apologize for the photo I am posting with this recipe, as it is not a picture of the completed dish, but one I took before I cooked it. The reason I do not have a photo of the finished product is simply this:  I wolfed it down too fast.

The last few weeks have been going by at a feverish pace at my house. It seems like we are all running in different directions, my family and I, and rarely meeting up. This pace is not normal for us, as we are generally laid back people who like to keep things simple. But throw in the fact that Hayden's school play is this Saturday, meaning rehearsals every night and a mad dash to get costumes/sets finished, a few extra meetings for my husband, and what seems to be the crescendo phase of his rec-league hockey season (lots of games, tournaments, and general hockey hullabaloo), and suddenly we are the typical too-busy family. 

I have been reminding myself often of late that there is no shame in making the same dinner dish again and again. If it is healthy and we all love it, why not? Just because I didn't reinvent the wheel does not make dinner a failure.  I am not a planner by any stretch--in fact, I am the very antithesis of a planner, but with my family's busy schedule lately I am finding it impossible to pull off dinner without some premeditation. Enter Taco Tuesday, a perfectly logical idea that is probably not new to anyone, and I can't really believe it's new to me (I call it a "well, duh" moment). 

No one really needs a recipe for tacos, but here are a few pointers for making Taco Tuesday a healthy dinner night:

• Use organic taco shells or, at the very least, use shells with the fewest ingredients possible. I thought my tacos were fairly healthy until I realized, you can stuff them as healthfully as you want, but if you use the wrong shells you're wrapping all that effort in trans-fats and high fructose corn syrup. In the picture is a raw flour tortilla, which we have been getting packs of from Costco. The ingredient list is the shortest I've been able to find. Of course, from Costco you have to buy them in bulk, but they freeze well. Divide the tortillas into amounts that you and your family can eat in, say, a week or so, because when they are frozen it is difficult to separate them to only thaw a few.

• Use organic meat, or beans, or both. We make ground beef tacos, and organic beef makes a world of  difference flavor-wise, in addition to avoiding hormones, steroids, antibiotics, pink slime, and other terrifying possibilities. 

• Use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

• Used chopped spinach instead of iceberg lettuce. Not to knock iceberg, but everyone knows spinach packs a mightier nutritional punch.

• Chop fresh avocados instead of using guacamole, if you are short on the time to make the guac. Fresh, organic guacamole can be purchased, I know, but where I live you have to pay an arm and a leg for it, if it can even be found!

• Lastly, another "well, duh" moment for me:  make your own taco seasoning. It's easy, and you don't have to worry about preservatives or MSG sneaking into your taco under the guise of "natural flavors". The recipe I use can be found at http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/46653/recipetaco-seasoning-i  It's delicious on ground beef and chicken.

Enjoy! Jessica