Turkey Tacos

I bet y'all thought i'd stopped cooking and was feeding my family frozen pizza and mexican take out, ay? Well, this kitchen is small, but it works. I found the grocery stores and have gotten back in the kitchen. You may have noticed me complaining about my weight recently. Yes, i know i actually ALWAYS complain about my weight, but i put on 10 plus pounds during the move and away from my 6 day a week gym routine. It's time for that weight to go, and so we've been eating a lot of salads and cucumber dinners. They can get a bit old, and i start craving some protein so last night i made some tacos!

I can't really digest ground beef, and i find that most beef (especially the kind i can afford to buy) is raised unsustainably or is full of nasty things i don't want in my body. I ate beef at my mother's house because she gets it A. from right down the road B. from really nice folks C. from a herd that is raised organically and treated with zero growth hormones and very limited antibiotics. Grass fed good stuff, that! Anything i can afford to buy, however: not so great. So instead i buy ground turkey meat. It's great for spaghetti, tacos, burgers, meat loaf, anything you please as a great alternative to beef. Season it accordingly and you almost can't tell it's NOT beef, especially when you're not much of a beef eater. Tacos are a great quick and easy week night meal, can be made rather fancy or simple, and hit all the major food groups for a satisfying and healthy dinner.

One side note: my husband recently got a job, yay! As a seasonal worker for Gathering Together Farms, an organic farm about 2 minutes from our house here in Philomath. He's working hard for long hours and little pay, but he's bringing home more than his wages. I'm very proud of my husband who's always willing to do what he needs to do to support our family, and proud of his desire to learn new things despite the muscle fatigue. We want to become hobby farmers, but he's a city boy from Houston. What better way to learn than on someone else's farm? Not only is he bringing home wages and valuable knowledge, he also brings home as much produce as he likes. Count me one happy wife! So far i've gotten a fridge full of organic cucumbers, a tub of roasted salsa, carrots and a bell pepper and much more yet to come. Last night's tacos were made extra special with that organic bell pepper and salsa, and tonight's salad will be sourced entirely from the farm. Love it!

Turkey Tacos:

• 1 package (1 pound) ground turkey meat, 97% fat free
• Colorado Spice Company taco seasoning
• 2 organic onions from MY garden back in Austin
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 Bell Pepper halved and sliced
• Handful of Bella San Luci sun dried tomatoes
• Salt and Pepper/ Kaffir Salt (Salt that's been ground with dried kaffir leaves)
• Olives
• Shredded cheese and lettuce
• Tortillas (or not!)
• Salsa

Toss the onions, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and turkey in a large pan and heat on med/high. Add all the seasonings to taste, i like to use a lot of the taco seasoning to get it really tacoy tasting, haha. Cook until the meat is cooked through, stirring and breaking it up into little chunks all the while. Turn the heat down to med and add the bell peppers. Cook them until they've softened some but are not 'limp.' I like to leave this dish unlidded to let the liquid escape, nobody likes soggy tacos. Once the peppers are cooked to your liking, you can leave the taco meat on med/low until you're ready for it. Have shredded lettuce, salsa, cheese, olives and guacamole and/or beans if you like ready for garnishing. I usually heat my flour tortillas in a tortilla warmer, but it is packed somewhere far away. As a quick fix, but the tortillas you want to heat on a plate and put another plate face down to sandwich the first: makes a nice insulated little receptacle. Pop in the microwave for 30 seconds, turn the tortillas and heat another 15 or so, depending on how many tortillas you're heating and the power of your microwave. I like to prepare a taco but putting cheese in first, topped with meat/peppers, then all the other fixins. You can also just make a delicious taco salad sans tortilla.

Yum!  Does your family enjoy the occasional 'taco night'? Do you have any special recipe to go by?

This post is also part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop!