Tacos to Clear the Sinuses

Ever since our last “Taco Night” I’ve been waiting for the right time to have a repeat of that delicious dinner!  Healthy doesn’t always come to mind when you hear the word Taco, but when you use lean ground turkey, add some black beans, lots of veggies, and avocado you have yourself a nutrition-packed meal with lots of protein and fiber. 

The Trader Joes near me always has a little section of shelves with their “new products” and a month or so ago I saw they had their own Taco Seasoning mix!  Perfect!

(stole this from Google images)

It’s been sitting in our pantry just waiting for Taco Night to return.

Sunday night was the night!  I wanted to do it on a work night so I could take leftovers for lunch the next day :)

Followed my same process as last time:  cooked the lean ground turkey + a little olive oil in a pan, then added the taco mix, 1 can black beans (rinsed), and sliced green peppers and red onion.  I also added about ½ cup water (taco mixes I’ve used in the past always call for water, this one didn’t but I find it helps disperse the seasoning and create a “sauce”). 

Also similar to last time I created a big salad! 

• Green leaf lettuce
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Turkey taco filling
• Sprinkle of cheese
• Greek Yogurt (our sour cream had gone bad)
• Fresh cilantro!
• Salsa (could of done without this because…)

Looks good right?  Well, yes it was good…but two bites later my mouth was ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The package did not state anything about the heat factor, no “mild”, “medium”, or “hot” options.  This should have had HOT written all over it.  I’m not a spicy food lover per say, but I can handle an average amount of heat…I’d usually go for the “medium” salsa over the “mild”, and love putting Franks Red Hot and Sriracha on various foods…but this was a little much.  Even Brian was dying and he can handle more heat than I can.  Granted, he put salsa AND sriracha on his before trying it!! 

We both surrendered to a small glass of cold milk.  I knew milk was a great antidote to spice, but they aren’t kidding!  It immediately cooled off my mouth.  We also both added a lot more Greek yogurt…Brian basically added a small spoonful to each bite haha. 

I still say “Yay” to taco night, but sorry TJ’s I think I’ll go back to the other brands.  I even wrote them an email about it.  Not a huge deal for us, but that could totally ruin a meal for someone who really can’t handle much heat…they should at least label the package “spicy” or something, because not everyone reads in the ingredient list.  I scanned it when I purchased it to check for any “crap” ingredients, but then re-visited it to see what was making my mouth burn and turns out the THIRD ingredient was cayenne pepper!!!  No wonder!!