I Love Tacos but...

MommyL2015 wrote: »

I sometimes make a taco salad type of thing where I take one hard shell and break it up, add the meat, cheese, veggies and salsa all to a bowl and eat that. I can sit and eat about 6 tacos, but this way I can still eat a big bowl full, but only have one or two shells. The hard ones are only about 60 calories each, so it's not all that bad. I don't do sour cream, so that never goes on my tacos anyway.

I do exactly the same thing!! In fact I just finished a big bowl for about 420 calories!

shell1005 wrote: »

PeachyCarol wrote: »

shell1005 wrote: »

I will never live in a world without tacos. That would be unacceptable.

I usually make mine at home, but when buying them out...I just do a nice calorie estimate.

As a vegetarian, it took me a wee bit to make a version that was similar to the tacos I had growing up, but I made one that is basically the same, but no meat and healthier.

We have a vegan taco truck here and I go there often. Yum!!

What do you use for the filling, Shell? The Beyond Meat crumbles?

I will be making tacos this week, methinks.

I usually use some kind of crumbles...either Morningstar, Gardein or the Beyond Meat. I usually just buy whatever is on sale or that I have a coupon for. And then I add in mushrooms, diced tomatoes and some kind of beans. Sometimes I am CRAZY and add in quinoa. It makes it have a really nice consistency.

I don't like to use the prepacked taco seasoning because I find it to be overly salty. I make my own with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes.

I add mushrooms every time I do anything with beans. I'll try a mix of lentils, crumbles, and mushrooms. I make my own seasoning too.

OP, this is a good recipe for taco meat seasoning I like to use. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/46653/taco-seasoning-i/

It's only 5 calories per serving (makes ten total, so it amounts to "about" a teaspoon), and it's so amazing and delicious you can use the LEANEST ground beef (which I find flavorless without this and avoid), or chicken or whatever. It's also great for sauteing the peppers in. I think the last time I made tacos I had three and discarded the upper part of the shell (thus consuming only about a third of the shell where the other food actually is) and it amounted to 331 calories. And that was BEEF. With peppers, onions, and low-fat blended mexican cheese (pre-shredded).

That sounds like a lot, but these were stuffed tacos and I had three and it was way too filling, like sick-overfull. Coulda got away with like 180-200 if I'd slowed the heck down;)

ETA: the packaged Taco Bell seasoning is 3 times the calories, which is why I brought this one up

Black bean taco...easy on the cheese and sour cream... not too bad calorie wise. Tastes great/less filling.

poodledoodlepop wrote: »

They are so darn high in calories even the soft shell chicken ones, and the worst part is I get mine out of a taco truck and don't know the nutrition info... How do you deal with food when there is no way to figure out calories? Also please Friend me if your looking for friends! I am!

Funny, I thought tacos were really low in calories. When I was doing weight watchers they were about 4 or 5 points a taco so about 180-250 calories. That isn't bad. When I make my own tacos I leave off cheese and sour cream and just use a whole grain, beans, vegetables and salsa and they are very low in calories.

I love tacos ... they are my comfort food ... and my husband and I do make them ourselves so I know how many calories I'm dealing with.

The shells, unfortunately, are rather high in calories, but the rest of the stuff isn't bad. So I usually have them on a weekend when I'm exercising and can burn off those shells.



We have to make them ourselves because, sadly, tacos are not an Australian thing. So hard to find a place that sells them here. It's one of the things I really miss about Canada. Tacos and perogies.

Machka9 wrote: »

I love tacos ... they are my comfort food ... and my husband and I do make them ourselves so I know how many calories I'm dealing with.

The shells, unfortunately, are rather high in calories, but the rest of the stuff isn't bad. So I usually have them on a weekend when I'm exercising and can burn off those shells.



We have to make them ourselves because, sadly, tacos are not an Australian thing. So hard to find a place that sells them here. It's one of the things I really miss about Canada. Tacos and perogies.

Corn tortillas are about 50 calories each - I don't think it's that bad at all!

uggh the addiction is real! Tacos and Tex Mex are everything! I reserve them for "cheat days" because I love them so

ETA - I eat chicken on corn tortillas with pico and a slice of avocado for breakfast sometimes - pretty low cal and I have also eaten them on lettuce and loved them as well. What can I say? We're in love

ohhh and fish tacos. yaaaasss, please!!

I eat homemade tacos at least 3-4 times a week (sometimes more). I use chicken, homemade taco seasoning (after learning the recipe, I'll never use the packets again), tomatoes, red onion, salsa verde, fat-free sour cream (I use the FF kind because I freaking LOVE sour cream and I can use more this way), and sometimes red/orange/yellow peppers. There's a brand of tortillas that I use called Ole Xtreme Wellness (I get them at Kroger) that are 50 calories per tortillas, give or take a gram or two. (These recently went from 90 calories to 50 calories, made with flaxseed, olive oil and some other stuff - they aren't exactly like tortillas, but close enough for me.) Depending on how many tortillas I use, it's anywhere from 290 calories to 400 calories for a meal.

I'll still eat a taco out here and there (we have an awesome taco truck in town that makes its way to my work neighborhood every so ofen), but I really like the ones I make at home, and they are FILLING.

This is a good recipe to try if you can go without the shell:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/04/turkey-taco-lettuce-wraps-3-pts.html

If you're like me though, you sometimes want the crunch. So I'll make a taco salad, extra extra lettuce and tomatoes, and add in a half serving (I weigh out about 15g) of doritos or a tortilla chips and crush them in my hand and add them to the bowl. Perfect amount of crunch for only about 60-80 added calories. I typically prefer full fat dairy as its more satiating, but when mixed with other ingredients like in a taco salad, I'll go light and not notice much of a difference in taste.

Taco salads or lettuce wraps are one of my favorite foods when I'm craving high volume with low-ish calories.