A Healthier Taco

Craving tacos?? Dont be afraid to load it with healthy goodness, and avoid the grease!

Nothing is better in our house than taco salad nights, but due to an oven/stovetop that is completely out of order - I had to think outside the box and figure out a way to get delicious taco meat!

SLOW COOKING!

I love making meatloaf in my slow cooker, so I thought, how much easier can this get, taco meatloaf!
(I apologize in advance, I dont have a picture of the final product out of the slow cooker due to a very needy dog following me around the kitchen and completely distracting me!)

1-1.5lb extra lean ground beef
1 taco seasoning packet, low sodium (feel free to use your own taco seasoning if you have one)
1 egg

You can cook this in 2 ways, if your slow cooker is 5qt or smaller, you can spray your insert with cooking spray and put your meat right into it (same goes for using the slow cooker liners - just spray it so it doesnt stick!) *you can also put the meat directly into a slow cooker 5qt or larger too, but i have an even better solution for you!*

For the larger slow cookers, place your meat mixture into a loaf pan as you would if you were putting it in the oven.  *GREASE ELIMINATING TIP: place strips of aluminum foil horizontally across the loaf pan before covering with cooking spray, make sure there is a decent size flap over the edge to lift the meatloaf out after its cooked*  Fill your cooker insert with approx 2 cups of water (i didnt measure), and place your loaf pan into the slow cooker.

Either way - cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
If using a loaf pan, when its cooked, remove the pan from the slow cooker and pull aluminum strips with the meat on it out and place on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Allow the meat to rest at least 5 minutes before cutting.
If the meat is put directly into your slow cooker, allow the meat to rest for 5-10 minutes and you should be able to remove with ease, allow to rest on paper towel an additional 5 minutes to remove extra cooking liquid.

I paired my meatloaf with a side salad topped with reduced fat mexican blend cheese, a few drops of sour cream and 5 crushed up multigrain scoops chips, all topped with chipotle salsa. I then topped my meatloaf with half of a fresh avocado and more salsa!

Hope your weekends were full of fun, healthy and delicious choices!!