quick meal idea with corn tortillas

I picked up a bag of corn tortillas the other day, and boy do they make for quick meals!


For dinner the other night I made a quick "taco" with the following ingredients:
- corn tortillas
- refried beans
- avocado
- salsa
- sour cream

1.  To start, warm your tortillas in a shallow pan on the stove.  I had my heat on medium high.  Keep you eyes on these, as they only take about 30-45 seconds a side to warm up.

2. add a heaping spoonful of warmed refried beans.  I had some leftover in the fridge from earlier this week, so I simply popped the Tupperware in the microwave and 40 seconds later I was good to go.

3.  add a slice or two of avocado.  Make sure the avocado is ripe, as there is nothing worse than a non-ripe avocado! It is ripe when you press it, it gives a bit.

4.  add a bit of salsa.

5.  add a bit of sour cream.

6.  fold over, and there you have it!

Smacznego!

wrap with veggies and chicken

This meal is prepared in about 4 minutes...no joke.  Is it the most healthy meal that I will post on this blog?  No.  But remember, I am a Libra which means I am all about balance.  When my pilot is away, I have to be quick and easy. 

I have mentioned before that wraps are a great canvas for quick and healthy.  I will show how I made these wraps, but I urge you to use what is fresh and available to you.  The opportunities are endless.

I took a wrap:

Added some laughing cow cheese:

and then added some fresh veggies:

I topped it off with some rotisserie chicken from dinner the previous night. 

Roll it, and add some grapes on the side.  There you have it.  Done!  Dinner in about 4 minutes.

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Other ideas for these wraps include:
- substitute the cheese with hummus
- add baby spinach, a super-food
- add apple slices for a sweet and crunchy addition

Quinoa with black beans, corn, and salsa

If you can make the time to make mac and cheese for your kids, then you can make this!

This is a simple recipe with only 4 ingredients:

- 1 cup quinoa (pronounced keen-whah)
- 1 can black beans (rinsed)
- about 1/2 bag frozen corn
- about 1/3 cup salsa

After rinsing 1 cup quinoa, combine it with 2 cups water.

Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes.  It cooks pretty much the same way rice cooks.  It looks like this when it is ready:

When the quinoa is ready, simply add the black beans, corn, and salsa.

Let the mixture heat up for about 5 minutes to heat everything thoroughly.

Done!

CC had two helpings!

As I said earlier, if you can make the time to boil water for mac and cheese, you have time for this!


*****
Don't be afraid to make quinoa.  I buy mine at Whole Foods.  As I mentioned, it cooks like rice, so you can do it.  It is a grain, and tastes like, well, a grain I guess.  It doesn't really have much flavor, and picks up the flavors you cook with it.  It is crazy good for you! It has protein, and full of phytonutrients and antioxidants. 

As for the black beans?  Holy fiber batman! Black beans also have a good amount of protein.  This food is just loaded with good stuff.  Check out whfoods, and you can read all about it. 

I urge you to read about the foods you are eating.  It makes you understand the importance of eating the right foods.  The right foods actually WORK for your body.  I hate to hear people snacking on nuts and saying "oh, I shouldn't be eating these."  You should!  Nuts are good for you!  Know what you are eating.

Who wants colon cancer?  Who wants heart disease?  The need for good foods all start once children are off breast milk, so it is important to achieve nutritional excellence early in life.  But, it is never too late to start.  Make the change!  Add healthy foods to your diet!