Creating a Healthy Dinner - Mexican Style

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Barbacoa Tacos — “Three corn tortillas f...
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Mexican food is a style of food that is bursting with flavor but is unfortunately usually loaded with calories and fat. With a little planning and creativity, however, you can have a delicious Mexican meal that is actually good for you.

Many Mexican meat dishes use pork or beef. Make a habit of substituting either lean beef or chicken as your meat. Main dishes such as fajitas, enchiladas, or tacos are very versatile and can use almost any type of lean meat, including seafood.

The next most prominent ingredient in any Mexican dish is cheese. Use low fat cheese instead or experiment with different kinds of cheese such as Swiss or Mozzarella. These two cheeses tend to be lower in fat and still taste great.

If the recipe calls for cream cheese, simply use a low fat or non fat version. Another option is to slightly reduce the amount of cheese used in the dish. While cheese is a great source of protein, it also packs in quite a few calories and grams of fat.

Sour cream is a common ingredient found either in a dish or as a side topping. As a side dish, you could eliminate it altogether or use creative substitutions such as plain, non fat yogurt, avocado, or salsa. If it is needed in a recipe, try low fat or non fat.

Refried beans are a flavorful side but are typically made with lard and therefore extremely high in fat. You can buy non fat refried beans, which also have less calories and taste just as good. Another option is to serve black beans and add various spices and vegetables. Black beans are high in protein and low in fat.

Lettuce is an essential topper for your tacos. Rather than using traditional ice berg lettuce, which has virtually no nutrition, substitute a leafier green such as Romaine lettuce, Belgian endive, radicchio, arugula, or even spinach. You could always mix these other types of field greens in with iceberg lettuce for a great healthy combination.

Tortillas are perhaps the staple of Mexican dishes. Traditionally, they too have been made with lard. You can buy a plethora of different health-conscious tortillas at the super market including low fat and low carb. The best option is to get wholemeal tortillas. You can also find them with a variety of spices and seasonings added in. You could always make your own at home. All you need is wholemeal flour, oil, water, and salt. This could be a fun way to involve the whole family.

When sautéing vegetables or meats, use less oil and use a lighter version such as olive oil. Only sauté vegetables until they are crisp-tender so you preserve their nutrition.

The article is written by Chelsi Woolz on the topic of healthy Mexican meals for dinner. When you are creating a Mexican cuisine for dinner, think of using healthy ingredients such as extra light tortillas, so you can stay healthy and still satisfy your taste buds.

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Eating Healthy For Vegetarians

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Fresh Swiss chard
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The vegetarian way of eating can be a very healthy style of eating. The rules still apply with healthy eating, although you should add variety, balance, and moderation.

A vegetarian is someone who avoids all types of meat, whether it is hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, or even fish. Vegetarians are also sometimes classified by the type of food they are or are not willing to eat. For example, Lacto-ovo vegetarians will avoid animal flesh yet they will eat eggs and most dairy merchandise. A Vegan on the other hand, will avoid all food that has any trace of animal origin.

Because they don’t eat meet, vegetarians will often wonder how they’ll get enough protein. Although you may not realize it, the average American actually consumes more protein than he actually needs. For the lacto-ovo vegetarian, dairy products are an excellent source of protein. Vegans on the other hand, get their protein from nuts, seeds, and soy products.

Along the lines of beans, there are several to choose from, including green or red lentils, peanuts, split peas, pinto, soy, kidney, and many more. Some of them you are already familiar, such as kidney beans in chilli, refried beans in Mexican dishes, red beans and rice, and pinto beans. Although some beans taste good as they are, others are available with different flavours to help enhance their taste. Nuts are high in protein, although they deliver a lot more fat than beans, which means you should enjoy them in moderation. By having one cup of cooked beans, you’ll get the same amount of protein as feeding two ounces of meat!

The nutrients of concern for vegans, who avoid all types of animal food, are vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D. In the average North American diet, the primary source for B12 is animals. To have an adequate uptake of B12, vegans should regularly consume vitamin B12 supplements or foods, which contain vitamin B12, such as soy products or milk?

For calcium, vegans can rely on orange juice or soy milk, as they are fortified with calcium. Beans and leafy green vegetables will also contain some calcium as well.

Although all types of vegetarians rely on simple food groups, controlling your vitamins and calcium intake is something you should always do. This is very important for feeding healthy, as well as staying healthy. If you control what you eat, you’ll have many years of healthy eating ahead of you.

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor For further reading please check out: Grilled Cheese

Article Source: ArticleSpan


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