Monday, January 21, 2013

Size Does Matter!

Get your minds out of the gutter!  My goodness Ladies!  I'm not talking about that!  I'm talking about the size of a meal!

I'm a bulk eater.  I can eat and eat and eat without feeling hungry.  That's why the old Weight Watchers Core plan or any plan where you can eat as much as you want as long as the foods came from a certain list do not work for me.  I can't seem to recognize when I feet full.  Weight Watchers even used these little balloons to illustrate hungry, satisfied, and full; but there's still a major disconnect between my stomach and my brain.

That is why I am always in search of a way to eat a lot for a as few calories as possible; and my homemade taco salad is one of my favs for getting full while being healthy!  Check it out!

So, how do I make it?  First things first, the black bean/corn/cilantro mix.

Black Bean & Corn
2 cans black beans - drained and rinsed
2 cans whole kernal sweet corn - drained and rinsed
1 bundle of cilantro - chopped
1 red onion - chopped
lemon or lime juice

Mix everything together and added lemon or lime juice to taste.  That's it!  If you're not watching your sodium (like me), try adding some garlic salt.  That makes it UBER tasty, but alas, no garlic salt for this Resolute Fat Girl.

Now for the salad.  Here's what I use, and I layer it as listed.

Amy's GREAT BIG Taco Salad
3 cups chopped lettuce
1 cup black beans and corn
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes 
11 whole grain tortilla chips
4 oz lean ground beef (95% fat free) with taco seasoning
1/4 cup low fat shredded cheese (your choice)
1/4 cup low fat sour cream

Here's how it all works out - calorie and nutrition wise:
Calories:  617
Fat:  25
Carbs:  34
Protein:  47
Fiber:  3

For Weight Watcher peeps, that's 14 points.

How does my taco salad stack up to the competition?  Chipotle has a startling 1,210 calories and 54 grams of fat!  One of those tasty taco salad shells are more than half my whole salad at 351 calories and 11 grams of fat.  Wendy's Baja Chili salad is 730 calories and 47 grams of fat.  Last but not least, Taco Bell's salad is 780 calories and 42 grams of fat.

Now, keep in mind, you do not have to make your salad this big.  There have been many an evening where Philip and I have cut this in half and been just fine.  Simply cut everything in half except the lettuce.  With the smaller salads, I usually still do 2 cups of lettuce.

Tasty tasty tasty!

2 comments:

Shirley said...

Oh Amy, this really resonates with me. I never feel full. It's as if I have no cut off till I feel sick.

I love the recipe and will try it for sure. I will let you know how Lee and I like it.

Amy, thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings in this blog. I know your are helping everyone that reads it.

Will you be sharing any new recipes with us? Do you take requests? I'm interested in healthy desserts using fruits.

Jamie said...

"Amy's great big taco....salad" Love it! :)