Encouragement, Food

Tasty Tuesday and Slim Taco Dip

16 Comments

Hi friends! It’s a Tasty Tuesday and today we have a really tasty Slim Taco Dip to share!I don’t know about you, but I just love a tasty taco dip as an appetizer at a party or as a side dish on Taco Night! Well, I have been trying to make my recipes just a little lower calorie as I am trying to make some healthy choices. This is a challenge in our house because we really love our food to be hearty and full of flavor! And if we don’t like it, we won’t eat it. So we are a little on the picky side! Well we tweaked this recipe with some changes that make it a little bit healthier with no sacrifice on flavor!

It’s a cold dip, no baking necessary. And it is absolutely delicious!

So without further ado, let’s begin!

Ingredients:

  • 1 bar reduced fat cream cheese softened
  • 1 30 oz can refried beans
  • 1 4.5 oz can chopped green chiles
  • 1 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)
  • 1 cup shredded lettuce
  • 1 medium tomato diced
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onion
  • 1/4 cup sliced black olives
  • 1 avocado diced

Begin by spreading the refried beans in a 9×13 dish.

Spread the chopped green chiles over the refried beans. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese and cup of Greek yogurt.

Mix in the reduced sodium taco seasoning.

Spoon this mixture over the refried beans.

Smooth the cream cheese and yogurt mixture evenly with a spatula over the refried beans.

Chop the lettuce,

And spread over the top of the dip. Then sprinkle the cheese over the lettuce.

Chop the green onions, and avocado.

Arrange these pieces plus the black olives and diced tomato over the dip.

And voila! It is ready!

I served it with crisp veggies, some watermelon, salsa,

A taco salad made with ground turkey, and tortilla chips.

This is exactly the type of food my family loves!

The dip is so nice with crisp veggies!

It’s so easy to make, and the flavors just come alive! Your family will love it!

I don’t know about you, but I love a good challenge! And I have been challenged to try and take some of our favorite foods and make them a little bit healthier! Truth, I was concerned about whether the Greek yogurt would taste as good as the sour cream I usually use in this recipe. But I gave it a shot anyway. Guess what? You can’t tell the difference! If anything, I may like it better! And my husband felt the same way! We never missed anything by switching to the reduced sodium seasoning. Even the reduced fat cream cheese was a win!

And switching our ground beef with ground turkey… well I never saw that one coming and here we are today excited to try new things that help us feel better! It reminds me of that classic book “Green Eggs and Ham” “Would you like green eggs and ham?”

We had to be willing to open our minds and try it. Sometimes that can be hard, admittedly we can get stuck in our ways. But you know what is so liberating? To allow yourself to try some new things and then discover that maybe you actually like them!

I have a Facebook group for women who want to get healthier and include more exercise in our lives. One woman challenged us to try a “Sugar Free September” and I cut back on sugar, and you know what? I feel so much better!

We used to drink a whole lot of diet soda in our house. And back in March I decided to try quitting it. Guess what? Now I don’t miss it at all! Changing your mind on something is really a delight! It’s like you’ve thrown the play book out the window and you are writing the story over with fresh new ideas! Don’t you love that idea? This holds true in lots of areas of life! Just because we’ve done something one way for years and years doesn’t mean you have to stay locked in those same habits and choices. You can rewrite the whole story! And it’s really fun!

I hope you have a fantastic rest of your week!

I’ll be back Friday for another Fashion Friday!

Love Always,

Amy

All of life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Lynne Kennedy

Amy Lynne Kennedy

Amy is married to her high school sweetheart, Troy. They have raised two sons and live in Michigan. She graduated with a degree in education, and loves fashion, fitness, food, fun and most of all she truly loves all people.

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16 comments

  2. Amy, I have found so many healthy alternatives and it is fun to experiment! I never use sour cream anymore and no one ever notices a difference between sour cream and greek yogurt.

    Your recipe looks yummy!

  3. We have worked hard to make our recipes healthier too. In fact, i was just talking to my friend who is a nurse, and was explaining how the low fat versions of things are actually worse for you. Eat the fat and be careful about the sugars in things is how she put it!!
    XOXO
    Jodie
    http://www.jtouchofstyle.com

  5. Hi Amy,

    I always love your posts, and this one is yummy. You are right: it is easy to adapt our tastes. I actually prefer olive oil and lemon, instead of butter, on potatoes, etc. It’s possible to detect the sweetness in low sugar foods, such as dark chocolate, health bars, even milk, by way of its lactose. A sweet tooth can be sated with chocolate milk of just milk and unsweetened cocoa. A favorite treat is black tea with milk (cashew milk for me) and unsweetened cocoa, drunk with a dark chocolate bar. It’s very filling. Cocoa is filling!

    Before I became vegetarian, I discovered that turkey tastes better in tacos, than beef, as it is lighter.

    If you want to make this recipe even lighter, you could use labneh cheese (strained yogurt) and fat free retried beans to which you’d add olive oil, to make them creamy.

    ??

    Tricia

    1. Thank you so much! I never knew all those things! I have struggled with the fat free beans because of the unpleasant consistency, so your olive oil tip is a great one! I also will try the olive oil and lemon instead of butter! I’ve been doing “dry toast” no butter for awhile now when I have eggs. I will try the cocoa idea as well! Thank you!

  6. Also, a fun twist on the watermelon can be had by taking a cue from the southwest and our Mexican neighbors: Serve it in wedges to be dipped in a mix of lime juice, tobacco, and salt. (but not too much salt ?)

    2. ? Clarification: the labneh cheese would replace both the Greek yogurt and cream cheese. Also, cottage cheese is delicious on a baked potato. Especially with the lemon, olive oil, and salt, and lots of pepper. Sorry if I sound like a know it all, but when I was in my twenties I played around with recipes and healthful alternative ingredients. Whole wheat flour actually makes a chewier, nuttier chocolate chip cookie. A huge hit at a party. And I used to reduce the butter, replacing it with tofu! No one noticed. Don’t let me get going. ??