Meatless Taco's

I've given up meat in my tacos, and my family is okay with it.  There, I have admitted it, and I feel a lot better.  Lets be brutally honest, meat isn't cheap, and if for some reason you think that I am crazy saying this, then your pockets are deeper than the average household.

It all started when my taco loving family kept requesting tacos, but I had forgotten to defrost some ground beef, or didn't have any on hand.  I typically make yellow rice with tacos, because it is just a yummy addition to the other goodies inside, but a while ago I got to thinking about using my traditional brown rice as the base for my tacos.

If you don't have a rice cooker in your house and you love and eat rice as much as we do, I highly suggest investing in one.  I am not the gadget girl, I think that all those silly "makers" are fun for maybe once or twice, but in the end just end up taking up space and collecting dust.  (my only exemptions are my rice maker and bread maker).  please don't ever purchase me a panini maker or quesadilla maker or any other silly thing, I can achieve the same results myself thank you.

Back to my rice maker, I use 2 cups of dried brown rice, and prepare it as I always do. At the end of the cooking cycle when the button has popped I add 2 packets of taco seasoning mix with the recommended water, stir it in and close the rice maker again letting it sit for about 5 minutes or so.  I keep wanting to put it in at the beginning with the dried rice, but I haven't worked up the nerve yet to try and see how it would do.

I serve the rice as the base for each taco, and my family is happy with the results, the flavor they are looking for is still there, and I feel they are healthier because of the lack of fat.  We still get a healthy portion of protein because in addition to other toppings I always include black or pinto beans.

So there, I have done it.  I have admitted two things.  1 - that I have given up meat in my tacos, and 2 -  that I am human, and don't always plan a meal for the evening ahead of time.