Ghetto fab Taco Meat

Its no secret, we love Mexican food here. Enchiladas, taco, mole, we love it all. Some form of tacos/nachos/tostadas/taco salad is bound to be found on our dinner table at least once a week.

Back in the day before I educated myself about nutrition and healthier eating I was a pound of burger and a packet of taco seasoning mix. Then one day I read the ingredients on that taco seasoning packet and was amazed at the JUNK in there!! Oh sure, theres spices but why is there partially hydrogenated oil? Why is it in there? Some of them have high fructose corn syrup too. Umm...again why? Why do we need corn syrup and almost plastic oil in tacos I ask??

Now a days I make my own taco mix. Its so much fresher tasting, has more flavor, less sodium and NO partially hydrogenated oils or HFCS. That makes a Kitchen Witch happy! I also throw in a fair amount of vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and beans - something the little Witch doesn't realize, so we're getting a serving of veggies in our tacos, gotta love that!

Taco meat is so very versital, last night it was transformed into nachos. Today for lunch it might become taco salad. You can change the meat too, with fantasitc results, try ground chicken for light fresh taste and save yourself a LOT of calories too!!

Oh, we call it Ghetto Fab because its not fancy gourmet like, nope its pretty ghetto. But man, sometimes its so good to slum it :)



Ghetto Fab Taco meat
serves 4-6
1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, pork)
1 can RoTel tomatoes or store brand tomatoes with chilies
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin, fresh toasted & ground if possible
S&P
1/2 onion diced fine
3 cloves garlic minced
1 bell pepper diced
1 can beans, pinto, black or kidney, drained & rinsed
1/4 c water
2-4T vinegar based hot sauce like Taco Bell mild sauce or Franks Red Hot (optional but it really doesn't add much heat, more of a subtle spicy tang)

Brown meat, drain fat well. Add onions, garlic and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes until the onions and garlic start to release their fragrance. Add seasonings and tomatoes, juice & all and the beans. Add the hot sauce & water if needed. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.



Makes awesome nachos, tacos, burritos, tostadas and taco salads.

Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
**nutrition is based on ground beef, values will changed with different meat**
Amount Per Serving (5 servings approx)
Calories 316.0
Total Fat 19.2 g
Saturated Fat 7.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g
Monounsaturated Fat 8.3 g
Cholesterol 68.0 mg
Sodium 484.1 mg
Potassium 483.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 15.0 g
Dietary Fiber 4.2 g
Sugars 2.5 g
Protein 19.5 g