let's add food blogger to the list.

Contrary to the beliefs of some, I do occasionally eat more than a sugar packet a day (which is clear to anyone with eyeballs, but any who). My eating is always extreme, though- either I eat everything my chubby fingers can get a hold of, or I'll go a week living solely on raw fruit and veggies. This week, I was in total fat girl mode, so this weekend I've been trying to get myself back in check.  This was easy while I kept myself locked in my apartment, but after two rounds of Insanity, it was either go to the Wal-Marts and get some source of protein or die alone in a puddle of sweat in front of my tv. 

I went to the grocery with the intentions of making turkey meatloaf for dinner (sounds a little gross but i promise it is delicious!), but as I drove by Taco Bell, I got a major craving for a taco. But, to stay on my healthy track, I decided to try and make my own healthy version instead of going through the drive thru.

 So, for my super healty tacos, I used ground turkey instead of beef. 97% fat free all white meat turkey, to be exact. And instead of just using a packet of taco seasoning mix, I decided to season it myself. The seasoning packets can have lots of extra sodium and other icky unnecessary additives, so I just feel better about making my own taco seasoning mix- and it tastes just as good or better! I'm not one to measure, but I used a good amount of garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chilli powder, crushed red pepper, cumin and oregano. And you do need to season the turkey a lot more than you would hamburger, so be generous.

But, Rachel Ray taught me a little trick one time. Well she didn't teach me directly, like in person, but I did see it on 30 Minute Meals, so it still counts. So, the trick: Take a little bitty ball of the turkey and cook it first. That way you can taste it and make sure that it's seasoned correctly before you cook all the rest of it! This works really great for making hamburgers, meatloaf, any of that kinda stuff.   

Mini turkey taco! I got a little carried away with the mini-part on this one, but it still did the trick :)

Then cook the turkey just like you would if you were making regular tacos. 

Finished turkey.

 As I had consumed almost no fat today, I decided to make guacamole and get in some healthy fat, too, from my favorite fruit/veggie: avocado. Making guacamole is so simple, and is sooooo good. Just avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic and a little salt and pepper.  

Guacamole in the making

I got whole wheat taco shells to stay on the healthy track, and so I decided to use a shell to make my own tortilla chips. Just cut it into triangles, spray with some non-stick spray and sprinkle salt on them. Put under the broiler, and you have healthy chips in just a few minutes. And it seriously only takes a few minutes. It is VERY easy to nearly burn your apartment down if you forget that you're making chips. Not that I know that from experience or anything...  

My finished dinner!

 This turned out so much better than just getting a soft taco from the Bell. And so much healthier! (And yes, that is a shredded piece of string cheese on my taco. Because I have self control issues and may have eaten the entire bag of shredded cheese if I had gotten it, so I just got a three pack of low fat string cheese sticks and then didn't have to worry about being a super fat kid later on tonight. I think I have serious issues...but i can make a damn good turkey taco! It it wasn't for the whole pretty-much crazy thing, I'd be real confused as to why no boy has swooped in and put a ring on this catch! Ha, yeah right.)

UPDATE: I meant to add this last night, but got distracted by my post-taco food coma "Friends with Benefits, which is one of my favorites because it bears no reflection of my personal life at all. 

Since the basis of burning bright is music, i wanted to include the soundtrack to my cooking adventure. Last night, it was all about Fuel, shuffled through the Something Like Human & Sunburn albums. Some favorites from those two that you should check out, whether you be chopping up avocados or just looking for something to listen to: "Slow," "Sunburn," and my most favorite Fuel song ever, and really one of my favorite songs in general, "Shimmer."