Friday night, I made fish tacos for dinner with roomie. We’ve been going out to eat a lot during the weekend so we decided to make one of our favorite dinners. Mangos were on sale for 50 cents at Whole Foods which inspired the meal.
For the salsa, I chopped up 2 mangos, 1/4 cup of cilantro, juice from 1 lime, 1/2 a jalapeño, 1/2 cup chopped onion (white but should have been red), 1/2 of a chopped tomato, salt and pepper to taste. We pulsed it a few times in my food processor.
I bought tilapia from the fish department as the meat of the dish. Roomie battered his in flour and spices before sautéing it in a skillet. I baked mine with spices at 400 for about 15 minutes for a gluten free alternative. He mixed together lime juice, cilantro and greek yogurt for a creamy topping that he loves to make and I’ve convinced him to use greek yogurt over sour cream. He topped his as well with cabbage for crunch.
I made a deconstructed fish taco, mainly because I was really excited about a quinoa dish I got at the salad bar. It was black beans, corn and peppers mixed with quinoa. I added extra mango salsa too. To keep my meal from being overly carb heavy, I opted to layer the chopped cabbage on the bottom. 
Next I added my baked tilapia with a little bit of the lime yogurt and the quinoa mixture on the side. I wished I had a ripe avocado for some heart healthy fats but sadly the one I bought was not ready. 
Lastly, I loaded up on the amazing mango salsa and plenty of cholula for spice. It was amazing and only cost about $20 to make for the both of us. The majority of that money coming from the fish and my salad bar creation. Eating in saved us about $40 at least this Friday night.
Benefits: In addition to saving money, my meal was also gluten free which is always a toss up when it comes to Mexican. As part of the Tone It Up diet plan as well, the carbs were lower for my evening meal. If you are trying to lose weight or watch it at least, eating your carbs earlier in the day is best as you need them for energy to fuel through your busy day. As the day winds down, you don’t need as much. You need more protein to repair and rebuild your muscles and body while you sleep. I’m not a carb-o-phobe, I just prefer them earlier in the day. For more gluten free tips, check out the Udi’s Community to share your recipes and learn your options.
My Man Challenge
Roomie has challenged me to eat like him for a week. This means, no funny quinoa side dishes instead of tortillas. Beer. Pizza. Meatball subs. No dessert or mini cupcakes. No snacks. No green juice. Just three meals a day. Would you do it? Would you try your man’s diet for a week if he challenged you?
Omg I would totally do the man challenge. It would be even better if the challenge was to trade diets with a man. That would be a hilariously fun blast of a week. That was the most ridiculous sentence I’ve ever typed I think!
Your fish taco/salad looks so good!!!
My husband and I already eat the same pretty much -- sadly, I probably eat as much or more than him (I chalk it up to the fact that I work out much more!).
Kim I am totally with you! I eat much more as I work out more, eat to loose right? 😀
Yes!
Ha what a fun idea. Can’t wait to see your recap on this challenge.
Ha I did it once and regret it. The week of my birthday I decided to eat to trade how I ate….I gained TEN lbs. Seriously. In one week. Not to mention I felt bloated, disgusting, my clothes didn’t fit and my body ached. Never again.
could be fun just watch the portion size or you will feel sick 🙁 will he eat like you in return? that’s the only way it’s worth it
YES! That would be really fun. And interesting to see the results.
My husband challenges me with things like this all the time. THat’s how I became vegan in the first place. Now he is trying to talk me into trying paleo for a month… not so sure about that one.
Hey Taylor. Just wanted to say that I’ve been paleo for over a year and it’s completely changed my body for the better (health-wise not just on the outside). There are a ton of blogs out there of former vegans who have switched to paleo. You will still eat a ton of veggies, but get your protein from high-quality lean meats rather than legumes. If you ever want to talk about it, feel free to reach out 🙂
Just another shout out for Paleo! We’ve only been doing it a week, but I love it!
I definitely could not eat like my husband! Too much time lapses between meals and at times he’s very strict about what he eats. Give me my 5-6 meals and a sweet treat, please! Your fish “taco” looks delish!
Um, holy yum. I need to make those. I should trade diets with my husband! I have a horrible sweet tooth and he never wants sugar. I feel like I would lose5 lbs the 1st week haha.
i made this last night! corn tortillas instead of flour and i’m golden.
then one vodka/club soda and i’m reaching for the leftover reeses pieces…
sigh
My boyfriend and I have talked about this and we both agreed we couldn’t. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 6 years, so his diet would probably kill me 😉
He is a veggie-hating carnivore (serious veggie hater. Corn, potatoes and tomato sauce are about the limit). And not like, a normal American carnivore who eats chicken and steak, but he hunts and eats deer, rabbit, etc. So no. No way!
This looks DELICIOUS! Fish Tacos is not something I would ever have thought of eating -- but that mango salsa looks too good to ignore! It’s interesting to see how other people eat as food is such a personal thing, and everyone has a different opinion! I could talk food for hours!! 🙂
It would be really interesting to see how you feel on that diet--probably a lot less energized!
Hi Sarah,
I LOVE the ‘Man Challenge’ idea. It’s inspired me to write a post on my little baby fledgling blog about the different approaches men and women take to losing fat and getting fit.
I think we could learn a bit from the boys!
Here’s the link if you’d like to take a look. I credited you in the post, hope that’s ok:
http://www.eatcleanandgetlean.com/2013/04/thursday-thoughts-doin-it-like-dude.html?m=1
Give Boston a big hug from me,
Lindsay xx