Healthy Eating Plan

I am trying to find a balance between quick cooking and healthy cooking. We usually get home between 7-7:30 and DD is supposed to be in bed by 8:30. I want to do a family dinner where we all sit down at the table 3 nights/week.

Sound impossible? It probably is. DH and I have both put on weight since we moved out here. I figure it's the combination of 3 more hrs/day sitting (commuting) and more fast food meals (sadly, eaten in the car during said commute).

This weekend I browned 3 lbs of ground beef. Last night I used 1/3 of it in spaghetti and we can have it for lunch leftovers at work. I put the rest of it in the fridge.

Tonight I used it to make tacos for dinner. I made my own taco seasonings with herbs, tomatoes and green peppers that I grew (recipe to follow), and we had wheat tortillas, organic cheese, and local corn. On Wed. I'm going to use the rest of the meat in beef and bean burritos. It's a heavily beef week, but I think less variety will make things faster. Next week will be chicken week.

Stan Livingston's Tacos

chopped garlic
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp each of oregano, garlic salt, onion salt, paprika, chili powder
pinch of ground red pepper (I left that out)
2 tomatoes, chopped
3/4 C water
olive oil
I added a green pepper chopped up very fine

You add all of that to drained ground beef and let it simmer for a while. Right before I served it I added fresh oregano and cilantro.