A Healthy Cinco De Mayo Spread for Busy Moms

A lot of people think that because I'm a chef I make these elaborate meals at home all the time. The truth is when you cook all day and am around food 24/7, the last thing you want is to come home and make an elaborate meal. That's not to say I don't enjoy cooking at home. I LOVE cooking at home on my days off but rarely do I make anything really elaborate or complicated. Between running a restaurant, managing two toddlers, a husband, my parents, attempting to have a life outside of work, all while trying to keep everything tight and put together, I find very little pockets of time where I can truly relax and cook multi-coursed meals. In an ideal world, I would love to create some gorgeous spread for every holiday and celebration for my kids. I grew up in a Shanghainese household. My grandparents (who didn't work) would make sure there were 6-8 courses every night for dinner. Sorry kids, that won't happen.

For most of us moms, we're glad we can even throw food on the table that we didn't order off an app, microwave or reheat in an oven. For most families, having a meal made from scratch, no matter how simple it is, is a win. So for this Cinco de Mayo, if you can't take your family out to your local taqueria or cantina, try making this stress free spread. Throw in some tortillas and chips for alternative serving options. You can make a salad with the beef, or nachos, or tacos.

Healthy Family Friendly Ground Beef Taco Meat

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 8 Minutes Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef (90% lean)

1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced

1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 tablespoon paprika

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons your favorite salsa

1 tablespoon avocado oil

Method:

Easy Tex Mex Salad

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 heads of romaine, washed and cut

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

2 avocados, sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 cup diced tomatoes or whole cherry tomatoes

Lay out everything on the dinner table. Pair the beef and salad with a side of salsa, sour cream, extra shredded cheese, chips, and tortilla (of your choice). Everyone can build their own meal, be it a salad, nachos or tacos. This recipe is lighter on the fat as we use 90% lean beef. You can opt to do turkey breast meat or go a little fattier for more flavor and choose 80% lean on your beef. When cooking for the whole family and oftentimes young kids, the seasoning needs to be toned down a bit. I always make sure I have hot sauce on the side. Hopefully this is a stress free spread you can make for your family this Cinco De Mayo.