New Adventures...

I’ve come to realize that just about everyday in my life is an adventure in its own special way.  I may not be jumping out of an airplane, exploring a foreign city, climbing a mountain or even training for a bikini competition, but I’m getting by….. just making it one day at a time.  I'm an independent, homeowner, (somewhat) young, single female working and living in one of the biggest cities in the country.  That's a challenge and adventure in itself.  I am going to chose to make everyday an adventure.  There’s always something new to try, something new to learn or some way to push your comfort zone.  My goal is to find that something each and everyday.   I’m searching for some great things to combine to loves of my life: food, exercise, and adventure.

Here’s the plan for my new blog updates.  I’ve going to try out new trails and running routes around Atlanta and give my critiques and reports of each one.  This will allow me to explore new parts of the city…. While I’m hittin the streets I’ll also be checking out local restaurants and trying the most exciting items on the menus.  If they’re worthy, they’ll get a good review too. Think: Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern meets Man vs. Food meets Atlanta Running Guide.  I'm still searching for a catchy, fun title.... maybe something like Dining, Dashing, and Daring.  Oh yeah, if anyone knows Andrew Zimmern, can you hook a girl up?  I'd love to meet him.

While going through the past eleven weeks of training for the bikini competition I realized that cooking isn’t so scary.  If I start simple, I can actually make some pretty good things without killing myself or any unsuspecting dinner guests.  I began searching for “quick, easy, simple, healthy” recipes.  I put together quite the collection to get things kicked off. 

I’m starting to train for the 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon in June so I decided to do some speed work on a track today so since I really didn’t explore any new neighborhoods on a run I guess I’m left to report the new beef taco recipe that I tried.  I found this recipe in an old Shape Magazine.  Basically this is a make over of the traditional ground beef taco and “lightening” it up with some quality ingredients. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 red bell pepper, cut into ½ inch chunks (couldn't find red, so I used orange)

1 green bell pepper, cut into ½ inch chunks 

4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

¼ cup of bulgur (this was a new one to me…. had to ask the nice man at Kroger where to find this one J)

8 ounces ground sirloin (Laura’s Lean Ground Beef 8% fat)

½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder (couldn’t find this so I used my own combo of Mrs Dash no salt Southwest Chipotle and regular chili powder spices)

½ teaspoon ground cumin ( I used ground cumin seed…. Is there a difference?)

1 15 ounce can of low-sodium crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes)

¼ teaspoon salt

8 6 inch corn tortillas (I used Kroger Wheat Tortillas 96% Fat Free)

4 ounces crumbled feta (lowfat)

2 cups shredded romaine

So now it’s time for the action…. I donned my Piggly Wiggly apron and got down to business.  Yes, that’s right.  The Piggly Wiggly collection doesn’t stop at just t-shirts.  I also have an apron that my aunt and uncle found at a Piggly Wiggly on Hilton Head Island.  I started by chopping the peppers, scallions, and garlic.  Next, I heated the olive oil and added the peppers, white scallions, and garlic.  Cooked this for about 7 minutes until the peppers were crisp and tender.  Next step was adding the bulgur, then the beef, chili powder and cumin.  I cooked this until the beef was no longer pink.  Then I added the tomatoes and salt.  Once that started to boil I brought the mixture down to a simmer and covered for ten minutes. 

Here's the colorful pepper, garlic, onion, and beef combo.  I loved all the beautiful bright colors!

I’m a really messy cook.  Not my mother’s daughter…. She would have died in my kitchen tonight.  So I used this time to tidy up the kitchen.  The dinner was starting to smell fantastic…. I was so excited to taste my new creation!  I heated up two tortillas.  You can do this by holding them over a burner for a few seconds, or heat them up in the microwave/oven…. Whatever you prefer will work just fine. 

This is just half the mess.... somehow I flipped the spatula out of the pan and got this concoction all over the kitchen floor!

After ten minutes of simmering, your tacos are ready!  I scooped half a cup of taco filling in each tortilla and then topped them off with the shredded romaine, crumbled low fat feta, and green scallions. 

So I know this isn’t part of the recipe, but I poured myself a glass of red wine and set the table for a scrumptious dinner! I'm no wine connoisseur so I just picked a red that I got for Christmas and haven't been able to enjoy yet.  Maybe learning more about wine pairings would be a good addition to the food reports.....

Ta-da!!!!  Time to chow down!

Here’s the nutritional breakdown for two tacos (sans wine of course) 

399 calories, 15g of fat (34% of calories) 7g saturated fat, 44g carbs, 22g protein, 9g fiber, 224mg calcium, 4mg iron, and 672 mg of sodium. 

This is according to the Shape recipe and for the originally listed items, not the substitutes that I made…. But I still think it gives a pretty good snapshot of the meal.  This meal was delicious!  I really impressed myself.  I’m looking forward to the leftovers for lunch tomorrow J   At first I didn't think two tacos would be enough.  But, I was pleasantly surprised that this was the perfect serving size.  I felt full but not painfully Thanksgiving full.

Let me know if you try this recipe or if you have any suggestions for new combinations or variations.  I’m sure this would work well with grilled chicken strips too.  Or maybe ground turkey breast.