Taco Night Makeover

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Are tacos a favorite at your house? Taco night at our house used to mean a package of ground beef or chicken and a taco kit from the grocery store. Well, don't forget the cheese! They always hurt my tummy and didn't really taste all that good either. Then I started becoming obsessed with eating real food and decided to make over our family taco night.

All of the following changes at once might be overwhelming, so choose which changes work for you, if any, and try them out. Then you can keep building on it until you have a meal you can be happy with. This is the order of the changes our family made.

Change #1: We started buying grassfed beef. It is an easy change and grassfed beef really offers many more health benefits from your typical CAFO beef.

Change #2: Buy organic veggies to put in the taco. We love spinach instead of lettuce as well. This might cost a little more, but then you don't have all the pesticides and nasty things to worry about, some of which you cannot wash off! You can also choose to grow your own, making it even better.

Change #3: Make your own taco seasoning. I have been using a similar version to Kelly the Kitchen Kop's recipe for about a year now. I love it and so does my family. And you can change it up if you feel it is not spicey enough or think it is too spicey. I love that. Plus you can choose which spices to buy and mix, including organic if you like.
I make a big batch of it so that I don't have to make it all the time. I keep it in a mason jar and just pull it out on taco night (or fajitas, or quesadillas, or etc.)

   1/2 cup of onion powder                                            (8 parts)
   1/2 cup of minced onion                                            (8 parts)
   1/2 cup chili powder                                                  (8 parts)
   1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper                                 (1 part)
   2 tablespoons of dry oregano                                    (2 parts)
   1/2 cup of sea salt                                                      (8 parts)
   1/4 cup garlic powder                                                (4 parts)
   1/4 cup of cumin (or more according to Kelly)         (4 parts)

In case you don't want to make your batch quite that big, you can use the "parts" break down. Just replace the parts with whatever measurement you like. It could be teaspoons if you rather. Or you could go bigger and change the parts to cups. Whatever works for you.

Change #4: Make your own salsa (or here) and/or guacamole. Making guacamole is pretty easy to do and there are so many tasty variations.

Change #5: Make your own tortillas. I just tried making my own last week when I realized I had forgotten to pick some up for some fajitas I was making. It was really quick and easy. Plus, you can use Einkorn or gluten free flour. It was as simple as mixing up a couple ingredients, dividing it up in balls, rolling and then a minute or less on each side in my cast iron pan. I could not believe how quickly they came together.

Our tacos are a family affair now, bringing everyone in the kitchen. The kids help chop veggies or prepare small bowls of toppings that everyone can pick and choose just how they want it. And we made changes a step at a time so that it wasn't a huge pain in the butt for everyone, including me. I was able to get used to the extra steps and fit them in our schedule. Healthy eating doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can choose to make steps towards real food each time you are preparing a meal.

Does your family enjoy a taco night? What makes your taco night special?

Two Little Steps to Eating Healthier

 

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There are so many different diets and set of "rules" out there for what is healthy. I think it is overwhelming and can be stressful when trying to choose what is the most healthy for you and your family. Healthy foods can be different for different families, just like healthy is different for various cultures.

When I first started transforming what my family had been eating, I thought I had to pick one group or camp and be perfect. And you know what? It was awful! My family hated me for trying to change EVERYTHING they were eating all at once and it was a ton of work for me to try and redo everything all at once. Most of my family does not have food allergies. I think I might be the only one, so far for sure. So we didn't have to drop anything right away for those reasons. So once I got over trying to be the perfect paleo person, I took a step back to figure out what would work for my family and what was important to me. I want them to be healthy, but I knew had to take some baby steps towards changing what they were expecting for dinner.

Here are two steps that anyone can do:

#1: Add more veggies!
If you have been eating most of your food from a can, box, or some other package, you most likely are not getting enough veggies. And my family wasn't either. So I have been working hard to include (and sometimes sneak) more veggies at all meals. I was caught the other day putting spinach and kale in a smoothie, but when the kids tried it, they could not taste it. And I convinced them that the little bits of green in the smoothie were cool. So now I don't have to sneak it anymore.

We had a big veggie garden before we started moving a lot. Hopefully we will get back to that soon. The kids loved to pick the veggies and eat them fresh. And there is just nothing like home grown veggies. The flavor, the smells... oh I love it.

#2: Make your own food. 
It is a lot easier to eat healthy if you are making it yourself. Do your kids like cookies or mac 'n' cheese? Mine do too. And when I tried to take that away, they revolted! But what I can do instead is limit how often they have these things and also make them myself so I know exactly what is in it. It does take a little bit longer, but with creative planning and help, you can keep this to a minimum. And it tastes so much better. I will write more on how I save time in the kitchen when possible, but one idea I do want to share is that you don't have to plan something extensive every night. Some nights we have really simple dinners. If I have meetings or tutoring or big projects we eat something simple or eat leftovers. On the other nights, I make something that takes more time. Again, it is all in the planning. And if you are not used to cooking your own items, you will want to find some great recipes that are tasty and will help you get comfortable in the kitchen. One of my favorite family friendly and delicious websites would be Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

 

Every single thing I have tried off her site has been amazingly delicious. I will switch out some ingredients to make it even healthier, but her recipes are just fantastic. The comments on each recipe really help as well. Just tonight we made homemade pizza using her simple dough recipe. I just switched the flour for Einkorn and then chose our own toppings. It was fantastic. We added some veggies on the side to munch on as well. It is a much better choice than ordering out or a frozen pizza. And it was super easy and quick. Now, I am not trying to say that pizza is the healthiest food ever, but it is a simple switch that makes pizza night a better choice and keeps the kids from feeling deprived.

How do you keep your family eating healthy? Are you trying to make healthier choices for your family?