Taco Salad

Lets get strait to the point. Food! Naturally (for me) being pregnant means being constantly hungry or tired. Those are the two things I obsess about, when can I take a nap, and what should I eat next. It's a simple life, but it does take some planning. For example, hungry as I seem to be, I just can't eat everything I used to, nor do I want to. Tuna is banned, chicken makes me queasy, and loads of pasta clog up my system if you catch my drift.

My taste preferences right now are for stronger flavors, like Mexican and Asian food. I made a delicious pan of stir fried tofu and broccoli with rice a few weeks ago that was pure heaven! But I'll spare you the details since most folks aren't fans of tofu. My newest craving is now taco salad. Last weekend I took John's parents and Renee out to our favorite Mexican restaurant here in town, Los Cabos. Aside from chowing on the chips and salsa, I was overjoyed by my decision to get a taco salad. (Side note: as a pregnant person, I seem to have a lousy ability to choose what I want to eat, often ordering something, then as soon as I take a few bites, my brain or stomache decides it's just not a good idea after all.)

So realizing that I can't possibly afford to eat out every day, I was on a quest a few days ago to figure out how to make my own taco salad. I decided to copy the same basic layout that I'd had at Los Cabos. Layer of beans, layer of rice, layer of meat, then on top of that the lettuce, cheese and tomatoes and topped off with a scoop of sour cream and salsa. I could have added olives, now that I think of it, but I seem to get too hungry and impatient to finish chopping them.

At Los Cabos your taco salad comes in a delicious, edible, deep fried tostada bowl. So I substitute crumbled corn chips. My other main concern really was coming up with a recipe for Mexican rice. Well thanks to the internet, I ran across this helpful little website, with lots of links and suggestions to get me started. And then, culinary (and pregnancy) bliss, sitting down to a meal I know I can and want to eat!

Last night, thinking I was starving, I made a heaping bowl of taco salad that was reaching well above the limits of the breakfast cereal bowl I had started it in. My solution: upgrade to a glass mixing bowl! So, shamelessly, I dumped the contents of my salad into the mixing bowl and sat down to dinner with my family. Renee and Daddy got quite a giggle out of that silly sight!