Taco Fiesta!

Last night I made a Taco Casserole for dinner. It wasn't bad and it came together pretty easily too. I found this recipe in my neighborhood cookbook yet again. I never realized how talented the neighbors were when it came to cooking. The recipe called for cream of chicken soup and ground beef. In an attempt to stay dairy free I made my own dairy free cream base and added almond milk. I should have tasted the base as I was making it because it was little too sweet as a result of the milk. It needed just a little bit more salt. Professional chefs always say you should taste your sauces during the preparation phase. I don't usually taste my cooking as I am making it. I believe I have learned my lesson with this one.

However, the cream sauce was mixed with ground turkey which I used in place of the beef because I like ground turkey more than beef. I also mixed in a can of vegetarian re-fried beans and a jar of salsa. By mixing the meat, beans, and salsa in with the cream sauce it gave it the extra saltiness it needed.

The recipe also had corn tortillas spread throughout the casserole. I don't usually like corn tortillas unless they are crisp, but they crisp up in this recipe.

After the casserole was done baking I served it with shredded lettuce, more salsa, and some chipotle Tabasco sauce. My husband liked the salsa and I liked the Tabasco sauce on top.

There was also cheese in this recipe, but again I am attempting to avoid dairy as much as possible so I used a non-dairy cheese. I have an acquaintance from high school who is vegan and she wrote a blog about this non-dairy cheese that is made from rice, so a few months ago I decided to give it a whirl. It isn't half bad and for someone who really likes cheese, I really like this non-dairy "cheese."
Don't ask me what the name of the brand is because I honestly cannot remember.

Below is the recipe to the best of my memory. I left the cookbook at home, so I am going off of memory.


Taco Casserole
1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned
1 can of refried beans
1 jar of salsa
About 6 corn tortillas torn into pieces
1 can of cream of chicken soup
splash of milk
shredded cheese of choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the browned beef or turkey with the beans and salsa, set aside. Mix together the cream of chicken soup and milk, set aside. In a casserole, add a layer of the meat mixture, then layer some of the tortillas on top, then add some of the soup mixture. Repeat the layers until used. Sprinkle as little or as much cheese on top and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until bubbly.

Serve with favorite taco toppings and sides.

Day 2: Lunch and Dinner

Lunch today was anti-climactic as it consisted of my leftover chicken and carrots from dinner last night, a bag of grapes, and some cashews for my afternoon snack.

Dinner tonight, however was fantastic! One of my favorite dishes is tacos! I love tacos A LOT! And I especially love hard tacos! Today as I was driving home contemplating what in the blazes I was going to make for dinner, a thought came to my mind, "What about turkey tacos?" Of course, though, this meant I had to get creative as I couldn't have taco shells, tortillas, salsa, cheese, sour cream, or even tomatoes!

In low carb diets, it is very common for people to substitute lettuce leaves in place of the bun or tortilla or whatever. So, I decided to borrow from this. I turned some iceberg lettuce leaves into taco shells. And I had ground turkey (which personally I have always liked in tacos) and some taco seasoning. The taco seasoning must be purchased from a health food store so you can ensure you are getting natural herbs and spices with no artificial crap. I shop at Sunflower Market where I live and they have some taco seasoning that I just love! It is the Simply Organic Spicy Taco seasoning! This stuff packs a punch but it is so good! So I cooked my turkey with my seasoning.

Cheese is a wonderful thing on tacos, but I can't have cheese, so I had to come up with something else. I also wanted a lettuce substitute as I was using the lettuce for my shells. I also felt like I needed tomatoes, but I can't have tomatoes, so I thought on this while I cooked my meat. For my cheese I shredded some carrots, so it even looked like cheese. It used to be common practice to use carrots for the orange coloring in cheese, so it works. For my lettuce I used red cabbage. It has a similar flavor and shreds nicely. For my tomatoes I settled on black beans. After the meat was done, I pulled out a lettuce leaf, put some meat on it, and then I topped it with my cheese, lettuce, and tomato substitutes. I rolled lettuce up like a burrito and took a bite and it was so delicious! I didn't think it would be, but it was quite good. The taco seasoning is so spicy you really don't need hot sauce or salsa or anything else like that unless you absolutely want it. The lettuce and carrots help keep my mouth cool, but it was still on fire when I got done eating!

Because my mouth was on fire I knew I needed something more than a glass of water to cool my mouth off, so I decided to make a banana smoothie for my dessert. I am addicted to these banana almond milk smoothies! I think they are my new favorite thing! And I freeze the bananas so the frozen banana in the milk makes it taste ice creamy! So, I whipped up a smoothie and to make it a little more fun I added some of the "candied" pecans I made last night for dessert! I put in a fun glass and then put in a bendy straw! Banana heaven it was!

Overall, I am feeling better about this diet today than I was yesterday! I will be taking my taco stuff from tonight and will be turning it into a taco salad for lunch tomorrow! I could eat tacos forever and never get bored so lunch tomorrow will definitely be awesome!

Turkey Taco Meat:

Taco Toppings And "Shells":

Completed Taco Before Rolling:

Banana Almond Milk Smoothie With "Candied" Pecans: