Here in Los Angeles we make tacos out of anything that stands still long enough to put a tortilla around, LOL, so I would say my favorite alterna-taco is made with the Yves vegan stuff and Taco Bell powdered seasoning - with fresh salsa made from my garden and slices of avocado.

Believe it or not, I have tomatoes in my garden RIGHT NOW! It's the first time I tried doing winter tomatoes, they are the Alaskan kind that can handle short days and chilly nights, our winter is like Alaska summer. They are good, just not too prolific. Only getting 2 or 3 a week, but tomatoes are my fave diet gift, love love love me some tomatoes!

I LOVE quinoa. However, be aware of the calories as they are steep! I love to stuff Pasilla peppers with a mixture of quinoa, pepper and tomato pulp and just a hint of queso fresco - then bake @ 400. mmm

Oh yeah! The kids love it when we have "roll your own" night (I love to see people's reactions when my kids ask for that in public. lol) I set out the sushi rice, seaweed, cukes, omlettes sliced into strips, pickled radish & ginger, shredded carrots, green onions, wasabi and chinese mustard - then its everyone for themselves.

I never really thought of what I eat as alternative as I shop at an asian store every week so everyone is buying what I am. lol

Some great good-diet foods I make are:

• Tom Yum (thai soup)
• Pho (Vietnamese soup)
• Sushi (of course)
• Fish tacos with papaya/mango/avacado salsa
• Geoduck salad (its a big clam - make it like conch salad)
• Squash flower baked eggrolls
• Leechee salad

Fish tacos!! Alright! Now you're talkin my language.

Sushi is very very popular among my friends, I just HATE it. Using the H word, h-a-t-e. I hate whatever that seaweed taste is! And it's all I can do to not borrow a cigarette lighter and COOK THAT FISH!

I wish I liked sushi cuz it's a skinny-girl food but it gags me.

I love snack foods that can be a meal, like whole grain pita chips and red pepper hummus with raw veggies. Problem is when I make the Velveeta chili dip with veggie chili and 2% velveeta... always make too much.

One of our local supermarkets has started offering brown rice sushi, which is insanely good! Its a little sweeter and chewier than regular sushi and fills me up.

mmmm... i <3 sushi! i thought i was the only one on the sushi diet- i eat it all the time! one of the markets around here has a sushi chef working all day and he sees me and my best friend coming every time! haha

i'm brown rice, extra avocado, no mayo... yummm!

Mmmmmm sushi, I want some! Me and hubby used to go out to our favorite sushi place almost every week, but right now it's not in the budget. I've been thinking of rolling my own...

Anybody do that? Is it hard? I bought a sushi mat last year, but haven't put it to use yet.

i have a sushi mat and this "sushi maker" that's supposed to make it easier (AND make heart shaped sushi! haha) but i really prefer the mat. it's not too difficult (once you make a couple really jacked up look rolls, that is) but i don't know what it is... i guess i just haven't perfected my recipe and really prefer store bought or restaurant sushi. not that it's inedible or anything! i'm just lazy maybe? :P i think it's the rice- i keep adding stuff like a "recipe" says and i should just cook it plain. once i master my recipes i think i'll make my own sushi for breakfast every day! hehe

mmmm......getting hungry reading this thread . .

I was ruined for Mexican food when I went to L.A. We ate a couple of mom & pop type Taquerita (sp?) places, kind of like a Mexican version of eating at a mom & pop diner, everything homemade by the family that owned it. I don't think I will ever eat Mexican food that good again unless I actually go to Mexico . . . I am sure I won't find that taste again in Canada. I have a friend from Florida who lives here now who refuses to go to Canadian Tex-Mex restaurants!

You're right bopeep, I will just have to learn to cook it myself. There is a Latin American grocery store within walking distance of my house - I need to shop there more often.

Sushi is actually really easy to make - of course it's not as good as the fancy restaurant sushi, but it's not bad at all, and it's so much cheaper!

K8-EEE - shshi doesn't have to have seaweed or raw fish! Most of the popular stuff does have it, but there's plenty without either! You can cook that fish if it's what you prefer!

mauvaisroux - actually, you can cook a lot of tex-mex food with food you buy at Loblaws or whatever your main groery store is. You'll just have to make everything from scratch. Refried beens are easy from canned or dried black beans. Tortillas are in the bread section (or you can make your own - fairly easy), and everything else is what you choose! The only thing I find hard to find are tomatillos, so I often grow my own.

Fish tacos are new to me - what's in them? They sound yummy!

Tomorrow night I'm making tabouleh and hummous (got the chic peas soaking now). Kind of carb-heavy with the pita bread, but mmmm... I'll stick to protein and veggies for the rest of the day.

BP

I just cook a pot of rice (we always have a 25 lb bag of jasmin) and add either Mirin or create a rice vinager-sugar syrup (small amount). At the moment I've gotten into the habit of just serving the rice plain - it's just as good.

I used to use a bamboo mat sushi roller wrapped in plastic, but with 'roll your own' night we just fill and roll up by hand - really easy. You can also roll them into cones which is also really easy. You can also roll for cutting without a mat if you just make the roll nice and tight. No trick to it.

It's about getting the healthy, tasty ingredients into the seaweed and into your mouth! lol

ROLL YOUR OWN TONIGHT!!!