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We love tacos. We love potatoes. We can't help but love taco-stuffed potatoes. This also may be one of the only times you have to eat a taco with a fork. Let me tell you, it's oh so worth it. And I know there's nothing traditional about these "tacos" (trust me, when I try to spin something like this to my Hispanic husband, I have to call them "southwest potatoes" so he will agree to eat them without a lecture). Like a traditional baked potato, set up a topping bar to hit everyone's preferences and make it an interactive dinner! This recipe is quick and easy, family-friendly, and would be great for a dinner party!
Skip this section if you don't care about my life and just want to get to the food:
WE ARE BACKKKKK!! Man have I missed getting on here and blogging. My brief hiatus was brought to you by the most trying time in my entire life. My 28-year-old brother casually had a brain tumor and 2 emergency surgeries, my husband had to fly down to get my in-laws, whose health was questionable, from their home in Mexico to California to be closer to their medical care team (rather than in the mountains of MX, 2 hours from the closest hospital), and another super significant life event which I will get into at another time. All of this happened within two weeks. During this time I was tasked with being the author of my brother's CaringBridge page. People apparently loved my writing, and I am apparently funny?? If you came here for funny, I am sorry to disappoint you. Unfortunately, it's easier to harass your brother on a medical blog than it is to harass food on a food blog.
(Trigger Warning) I discussed this on our Instagram Stories today but thought I would also put it in here to describe some of the shifts I plan on making with my content. During those couple of weeks where we had some major life things going on, I discovered I had, and have always had disordered eating habits. I had been stress eating, all the carbs, all the ice cream, all the comfort food. And then I got on the scale. I was the heaviest I had EVER been in my entire life. I felt completely out of control and awful. Instead of giving myself grace, because my weight was the least of my worries during that time, I went in the complete opposite direction, which I, unfortunately, am all too familiar with. For me, the easiest thing to control in my life is my food and what I am putting in my body. So in a time where I felt completely out of control, I started restricting. Like majorly restricting. There were days where I wouldn't eat anything until dinner. Or I would have a piece of cheese for lunch and a bowl of broccoli for dinner. I was still eating, and in my mind, this would fast track me to losing all that weight and feeling better and in more control of something in my life.
In fact, all of that restricting did the complete opposite. I didn't lose any weight at all. My blood sugar was so low that I was visibly shaking. I had zero energy to do anything functional at all. I didn't clean my house for weeks because I simply didn't have the energy. I chalked this up to all the stress I had going on. In reality, in seeking to feel better and validated through a number on the scale, I felt a million times worse than when I was stress eating all the ice cream. I had a revelation one day about what I was actually doing to my body. Instead of providing it with balanced nutrition, I was restricting it from nutrients it needed to function properly. I've tried every diet from keto, paleo, whole30, 21-day fix, no meat, high protein, literally everything. None of them worked for me and frankly, all of that restriction probably completely screwed up my metabolism.
So, going forward, I am focused more on balanced nutrition. Not labeling any foods as "bad" or "fattening."My content will probably reflect that. The one thing that will likely stay the same is a focus on whole, not processed, foods. A lot of my personal content so far has been leaning very low carb, which isn't sustainable. I think there is a place for carbs, sugar, fat, and indulgences in everyone's diet, albeit in moderation.
OK THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK. LET'S GET INTO THE GOOD STUFF NOW.
Ingredient Breakdown for Taco-Stuffed Potatoes
Russett Potatoes
Healthy source of fiber, vitamin C, B6, potassium and maganese
Ground Beef
Healthy source of protein, iron and fat
Spices:
Garlic and onion powder
Chili Powder
Cumin
Optional Toppings:
Cheese
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Onions
Limes
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Tips for Recipe Success
Cooking the ground beef:
Take the block of ground beef and split it into 4 even pieces. On a preheated medium-high skillet, place each piece on the skillet and press down, making sure to leave a moderate amount of space between each piece. This allows for a good browning of the meat.
After 4-5 minutes, flip all 4 pieces and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.
After both sides are browned then begin to mince up the meat into bite-size morsels that we all know. Doing this step too early crowds the pan too early, which in turn steams the meat instead of browning it because it doesn't have any room for the moisture to escape
Cooking the potatoes
Use whichever method works best for you! I find the easiest for me is wrapping them in foil and popping them in the oven. Feel free to microwave them, instant pot them, or cook them the way your grandma taught you!
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