Healthy Taco/Burrito Options

I love tacos as much as the next person. Unfortunately, tacos are often severely and unnecessarily high in fat, sodium, and chemicals. I understand that the FDA allows certain hard-to-pronounce chemicals to be used in the production of food, but really? We can't pronounce it and we don't know what it is, but we'll eat it? I'm not going to start an organic/all-natural diatribe here. Aaron and I often eat organic/all-natural food. One of our favorites is tacos. We have gone from making the Ortega taco kit a few years ago to making much healthier and even tastier tacos, now. Here are some ideas:

1. Make your own seasoning. Just read the ingredients list of a taco seasoning packet and this will be a no-brainer. This homemade seasoning is simple to make and tastes so much fresher than seasoning packets.
               1 Tbsp chili powder  (smokey, warm)
               1/4 tsp garlic powder (salty, herby)
               1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (spicy)
               1/4 tsp oregano (earthy)
               1/2 tsp paprika (sweetly warm)
               1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (smokey)
               1 tsp sea salt
               1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper (much fresher than pre-ground)
*Either add onion flakes... or add fresh onions to the meat.

2. Use healthy wraps instead of flour tortillas. This is a great way to watch the ingredients and add some flavor. Why eat plain tortillas? Spinach, sun-dried tomato, and whole wheat are good. This time, we used Jalapeno and Cilantro wraps.


3. Add some vegetables. We like spinach, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes on ours because they fill you up without adding fat.

4. Use lean ground beef. I cannot stress this enough. I understand that some people have the philosophy of Well, the 80/20 kind is cheaper. Well, when you consider that you'll be clogging your pipes draining off all that fat, leaving you with less meat, maybe you'll reconsider.

5. Make your own refried beans (or substitute) sans lard. It's so easy! Use a can of organic cannellini, black, or pinto beans, rinsed and drained, and run them through the food processor with a little olive oil and chili powder.

I hope you found some interesting ideas! Enjoy!

Voila! Our healthy tacos.