Taking Old and Making it New!

Hey All!

Happy Tuesday!  APRIL IS FINALLY HERE!  The question is...where is SPRING?  It's cold here in Janesville!  Can it get warm please?  I was very lethargic today; probably because of the cold and the fact I did not sleep very well last night.  [Whoops!]

I love the month of April because it counts down to my birthday!  I love celebrating my birthday!  My friends and I always know how to have a good party and a good time.  Last year, we went out for sushi and then hung around the house, taking about 10,000 pics of us!  Here is one of them:

This year we are doing The Color Run on May 3rd to celebrate [despite the fact my birthday is earlier than that]. That's going to be a fun time! The night before we are going to an Irish pub where I hope to indulge in something yummy with a helping of some good fresh Pino!

Again I was going to post something about traveling and fitness, however again, something "got in the way."  This time though, the "got in the way" thing was a happy accident and not a rant.  So here I share my story:

Last night I made an AMAZING dinner and I want to share it with you!

Last week I made Mango Tilapia.  It's a good dish, but the problem is I created a lot of extra "mango salsa."  So much mango salsa that I couldn't just use it for chips and dip.  No--I needed to make something with it.

So gathered my spices and other goodies and cooked and cooked...

And my Sweet and Sassy Taco Salsa Meat Mix was born!

Super easy...and super spicy! [I love super spicy foods!]  I had to eat it with chips otherwise I would have burned my mouth.  I found it pretty filling, although I would have liked to added something else to compliment the spicy salsa with it.  Next time I'm thinking an avocado might help cool the spicy taste a bit.

Here is my recipe:

Sweet and Sassy Taco Salsa Meat Mix
half of a container of ground turkey meat
2 tablespoons of hot spicy sauce [I used Verde Salsa!]
onion
2 slices of Swiss cheese, cut into small squares
Mango Tilapia Salsa [tomatoes, garlic, mango, lime juice and cilantro all combined together in a blender.]
1 tablespoon of lemon juice [or juice of one lemon]
1 tablespoon of paprika, Chile powder, red pepper flakes and powder ginger
mole sauce [I used a heavy lime juice sauce.  Any sauce from a can of chipotle beans or jalapenos can be used.]
pepper to taste
fresh cilantro, to garnish

1.  Brown meat for 2-3 minutes.  Add spices and mix thoroughly.   Allow to cook for an additional minute more, allowing the spices to give a strong aroma.
2. Add mango salsa and mix together for another minute, stirring continuously.
3.  Add sweet cheese, onion and hot spicy sauce.  Continue to cook until the cheese is mostly melted. 4.  Add mole sauce and hot spicy sauce.  Mix together.  Squeeze a lemon or add lemon juice over the meat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5.  Add fresh cilantro, serve warm over tortilla chips!

What makes this clean?  Well, I used as many natural ingredients as possible.  Yes, I added some "bottled" ingredients [the mole sauce and hot sauce technically fall under the processed foods], however those ingredients were made from the most natural products possible.  I therefore believe it is a "clean dish."  However, if you are worried, you can always just use jalapenos instead. And if you cannot get a hold of "mole sauce" just add some extra chili or some other spice that will "spice up your life!"

What did you think?  Want to give my recipe a try?  Anybody that does, please let me know how it works!  Let me know what your twist is on it and what you'd do differently!

Happy Healthy Cooking!

<3
Em