we don't eat fish tacos every night....

yes. we probably eat grilled fish tacos or salads w. lean protein most nights of the week...but sometimes we venture out....a little...

the other night i made chili and strawberry spinach salads (random combo, i know)

for chili:

1 pound lean ground beef ( or turkey) today i used 97% lean beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic , crushed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon cocoa (confession- i make this chili all the time at my house. so i have cocoa powder on hand. james did not have any and i am lazy. so i threw two dark chocolate hershey kisses in the pot. not kidding. its the same thing, right? the chocolate is the secret ingredient so i couldn't leave it out.)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce
1 can (32 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15 oz) beans, undrained. (kidney, black, whatever. i used black today)

Cook and stir ground beef, onion and garlic in 3 quart saucepan until
beef is brown: drain. Stir in remaining ingredients except beans:
break up tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer,
stirring occasionally, 1 hour.

Stir in beans. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. simmer uncovered, stirring
mixture occasionally, until of desired consistency. ( about 20
minutes.) then top it with whatever you like.

for the salad:
spinach
sliced strawberries
thinly sliced red onion
slivered toasted almonds
sprinkles of crumbled blue cheese

dressing:
i just mixed 50% balsamic vinegar with 50% light blue cheese dressing . i call it balsamic blue cheese dressing. yeah, real creative....

oh, and i sprinkle on fiber one "croutons".....gross, huh? i LOVE fiber one. but i am also crazy. james orders his without the fiber bomb

james loves chili....or does he?

turkey meatballs and spaghetti squash

there's been some good foodspiration going on in blog-land. lucho's been juicing it up...seems like he's on a yam kick...james has been the kettle chip fairy, spreading the love for some good training tips from Cody....and benson made me jealous with his italian chow.

Also over on mark's daily apple, there are 10 great ways to "eat green".


james and i have been super busy over here (more work for both of us than usual), but still eating well. here's some of the latest:

turkey meatballs with spaghetti squash....

1 spaghetti squash

cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds. preheat the oven to 375 degrees. brush in olive oil, salt and pepper. place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minute to one hour. After its soft...take it out of the oven and scrape the flesh with a fork to get the "Spaghetti"... Season as you like it with salt, pepper, olive oil, maybe a little sage or parsley


turkey meatballs with marinara
1lb 99%lean ground turkey
2 egg whites
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 an onion-diced
3/4 cup diced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
worshteshire sauce- a bunch of shakes
parsley, salt, pepper, oregano
sprinkle o cheese (i used part-skim mozz)

i sauteed the onions, garlic and mushrooms with a little bit of olive oil in the pan. i heard that by adding in mushrooms, the lean turkey would stay moist and hold together in meatballs better. after that, i mixed up all the ingredients and formed into 8 balls. put them in a saute pan over medium heat and brown on both sides (3-4 minutes a side? clearly from the picture i made mine "crispy") then dump in as much spaghetti sauce as you like (i like organic ones with low-ish sugar content- you really need to look at the labels on red sauce, they vary SOOOO much. whole foods 365 brand has some great choices)

yum!
that's it for now.. i also made some good chili and strawberry-spinach-balsamic salads this week...more on those later...and i think we're doing some healthy thai apps in the next few days.okay, time for dessert. bye!