1 pound ground beef
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt and pepper

1/2 cup cheddar, shredded
2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
4 tablespoons Salsa
4 tablespoons Guacamole
2 tablespoons sour cream

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno (if using) and spices and sauté until tender.
3. Add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
4. Layer lettuce on a plate and top with ground beef mixture.
5. Top with cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream and serve.

Makes 4 servings

2 medium avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 lime
2 tablespoons onion, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt

1. Mash all of the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.
2. Season with salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate before serving.

Makes 4 servings

1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons Splenda
1 tablespoon heavy cream

1. Stir cocoa powder and Splenda into boiling water.
2. Add heavy cream and top with fresh whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 1 serving

Homemade Guacamole is really easy to make, extremely nutritious and very
delicious. It's definitely important to have ripened avocados, so try to buy them a day in advance since it's often hard to buy them ripened just enough. If you need the ripening process to happen faster, you can put them in a paper bag with a
banana and they'll ripen overnight. Unfortunately, we didn't even have time for that and our guacamole turned out a little
chunky. Nevertheless, chunky guacamole is still good guacamole. This is a simple recipe, you can always add tomatoes and
extra spices like cumin or cilantro, if you want to. Guacamole makes a good dip for vegetables as well as an accompaniment
for spicy meats or, say, a Taco Salad.

This whole meal has, what, maybe 3 net carbs? Not surprisingly, taco salad is an apparent staple of many low-carbers; novice and veterans alike. How can you resist a salad that combines
everything from crisp lettuce to spicy meat and gooey cheese? The tortilla part of taco salad is rendered obsolete.
Everyone knows the real prize is the meat, cheese and all those fresh vegetable toppings. I ate this with a healthy dose of the homemade guacamole. I can't get enough of that stuff. Hot peppers are also a great way to add a lot of flavor with
hardly adding any carbs.

To go with the Mexican theme I decided to share a super-simple recipe for Hot Cocoa. Hot
cocoa is one of those things that I'm baffled has an instant version. There are only 3 ingredients, plus water! You have to be hard-pressed for time if you need an instant cocoa fix. It's not uncommon for me to drink 3 cups of cocoa or more a day during the winter. Everyone knows it's a perfect warm-up when you come in from the cold. After the crazy snowstorm we had today, I think I earned this one.