The Great Food Debate

No, I don't mean anything related to ethics, or whether or not it's ok to eat fast food...I'm talking about something a little more contentious- the debate that happens each week between my lovely husband and me when it's time to go to the grocery store. If both left to our own devices, we would likely have very different diets. Mine would be primarily vegetarian...don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not putting myself on a pedestal here because (unfortunately?) it has little to do with health, although that is a part of it. I actually find raw meat kind of disgusting and would rather never have to cook it. I'm also slightly lazy when it comes to cooking and meat takes much more time to cook. Corey would probably eat a lot more fried foods, I'm guessing, and he likes to have meat at every meal. We have been able to come to some compromise of sorts and I thought I'd share some recipes that work for both of us here. The compromise is really around eating kind of healthy foods, if I had to put it in a couple of words (see that "ish" by the healthy in my subtitle?). We also both love Mexican food so that helps.

Disclaimer: I'd never, ever claim to be a healthy living blogger. ;) I'm probably not going to cook quinoa anytime soon.

Chicken Tortilla soup (created by my friend Olga at Mango & Tomato):
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped
2 chicken breasts (you'll notice three in one of the photos below: I cooked 3, but used 2 for the soup)
salt & pepper
15 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes
32 ounces chicken broth
kernels from one corn (I used one can)
2 cups black beans
You'll see in Olga's post that she cooked some gorgeous chicken that I'm sure would make this even better! I just cooked the chicken for a few hours in a slow-cooker and then followed the rest of her directions (click on the recipe title to follow along).

My good friend Heather sent me this great recipe from Cooking Light:

Slow-Cooker Beef-and-Bean Tacos

1 (2-pound) London broil

1 (1.25-ounce) package taco seasoning mix

Cooking spray

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles

1 (16-ounce) can fat-free refried beans

12 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomato

3/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Trim fat from meat; rub seasoning mix over both sides of meat. Place meat in an electric slow cooker coated with cooking spray; add onion, vinegar, and green chiles. Cover with lid; cook on low-heat setting for 9 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker, reserving cooking liquid; shred meat with two forks. Combine meat and reserved cooking liquid; stir well.

Warm beans and tortillas according to package directions. Spread 2 tablespoons beans down the center of each tortilla. Spoon a heaping 1/3 cup meat mixture on top of beans. Top each with 2 tablespoons cheese, 2 tablespoons tomato, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

One other thing that tends to work for us is kabobs, since you can have a great mix of meat and a variety of veggies. We like to eat this with grilled corn and asparagus, or roasted new potatoes.

It's a constant struggle but we're working at it!