I was just in the mood for Mexican.

**White House says economic indicators are positive, tariffs will improve cost of living**

I heard on TV yesterday that Walmart would be going up on prices (due to tariffs) at the end of the month. I went out early this morning to Walmart to do my Trump Proof Tariffs shopping. I know you can’t prepare for something this devastating. What an idiot! And he’s going off to Qatar to get “bought off” with a multi-millions dollar jet. Hell, if he can say that little girls only need 3 dolls and not 35, then how in the hell can he get all the toys he wants for Christmas? What a useless fuck.

I asked one of the in store shoppers where an item was located, or if they even had any in stock. It was the Del Monte “Zucchini in Italian Style Tomato Sauce” which I have eaten for over 30 years. Not sure if I ever bought it at Walmart, but it’s been around that long. *And I once cooked some zucchini & onions at home with a little tomato and it came very close to being as pleasing as the “store bought.” She said they didn’t have any in stock, and wasn’t sure they ever had. She also said she hadn’t heard that Walmart was supposed to go up on prices at the end of this month.

So, I’m out shopping and visiting several grocery stores, and Pate’s Farm Market, and one thing, I’m at Food Lion across town and ask a couple of FL employees if they had the Del Monte Zucchini. The woman found it quickly, and even noted that it was on “Closeout.” I think it was $1.89 so I bought about four cans there. Later, at a different Food Lion, I found a couple of cans but they were a little more, but still less than $2 a can so I bought one more can. Hoping that I will find another Food Lion that has a good deal on this. I’ve found I can open a can and eat the whole thing and be very satisfied. *And surprisingly today, I went into another FL to buy an avocado and happened to look at the Del Monte Zucchini, and they were on “Closeout” for only $1.19, so I bought six cans. Wow!

Oh, the other thing and I think it was at an ALDIs, I bought a can of refried beans, and a can of diced tomatoes with chilies. I also decided to buy some ground beef (at FL) in order to make some tacos for lunch. I knew I already had a few blue corn tortilla shells left from my earlier “Black Bean & Quinoa” meal (with homemade salsa & quacamole). *The Wegman’s Blue Corn Taco Shells are a dark blue, like most other blue corn products. They are not the rosy red shells shown on the box above, and they have good flavor. I heated a couple of taco shells in my new toaster oven and I think this did make them less likely to break apart while eating.

I mashed up a half of an avocado with one chopped tomatillo for a simple guac. I cooked some ground beef in a small skillet, adding some chopped onion & cilantro, and some of the “diced tomatoes with chilies” and some taco seasoning and a little sweetener. And after I removed the ground beef mixture, I put some of the refried beans in the pan, along with some bacon grease.

So, now I had the warmed blue corn taco shells and I put a layer of the refried beans along the bottom of the shell, then the ground beef mixture and finally the guac & tomatillo on top. The warmed tacos didn’t break apart. I had some of the ingredients left over in a bowl and I added a little Ranch/Cilantro/Lime dressing. *I’ve added Ranch Dressing dry mix to this dressing and it’s good.

This meal was delicious and I would like to repeat it sometime.

NOTE [05/18/25]: ‘Sometime’ ended up being the next day, yesterday, but I couldn’t find an avocado. And after I had warmed the taco shells, I saw that one of them wasn’t spread apart, so I ended up breaking both shells and putting the refried beans and the ground beef mixture on top of each of the four halves. They held up well. Still need the guac mixture and sour cream, or the “Cilantro-Lime Dressing (w or w/o Ranch Dressing). *I think the red cabbage slaw, with onion & Mung bean sprouts would work well with this meal also. **But who needs another 172 calories added to the already 809 = 989… That’s almost like eating at Hardees or Smithfield’s Chicken -n- BBQ.

It takes about a week to grow the Mung bean sprouts and I just put the latest batch in my refrigerator a day or so ago. I start with 1/8 of a cup of beans and that produces enough sprouts for a week or so… if I put them in my cabbage slaw or in a stir fry or two.

I have just enough of the refried beans and the diced tomatoes with chilies to make a third meal. If this meal doesn’t affect my blood sugar, or weight, it is definitely worth repeating. [end NOTE]

[06/06/25] I made my Mexican Meal again, but used Black Beans to make my refried beans and it looked and tasted great. After I blended most of the beans, the smooth paste was almost purplish. I left about 20 beans out of the blender, and smushed some of those with a fork to give the overall look of the refried beans as more rustic. I used a little sour cream on the refried beans. I scooped out about half a large avocado. I added some chopped cilantro to the ground beef & diced tomatoes w/ green chilies. I broke up several blue corn tortilla chips. Oh, I also threw in some Red Cabbage Slaw (with the Mung bean srpouts). This is just a very pleasing meal. The flavors all work together, and it is multi colored and multi textured, some of it smooth, and some of it crunchy. And, I have enough leftovers for a whole ‘nother meal. [end]

Items In This Meal	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
ground sirloin – Ground Beef, 4/1 ounce	200	0	11	22	75	0
Onion, 3/1 tbsp, chopped	12	3	0	0	1	1
Olive oil, 1/1 tsp	40	0	5	0	0	0
Wegmans – Blue Corn Taco Shells, 2/1 shells	130	15	7	2	0	0
Casa Mamita (Aldi’s) – Traditional Refried Beans , 1/1 cup (130g)	220	36	3	12	960	2
Aldi’s – La Masa Rica – Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, 1/2 cup	25	4	0	1	380	3
Avocado, 1/2 avocado	120	6	11	2	5	0
Tomatillo, 1/1 medium	11	2	0	0	0	1
Cilantro Lime Dressing – Dressing, 1/1 tsp(s)	12	1	1	1	0	0
Animal fat, bacon grease, 1/1 teaspoon	39	0	4	0	6	0
Total	809	67	42	40	1427	7

Okay, I know that 800 calories is pushing it. Anything over 700 would take a second look. And the sodium level is exorbitant. Maybe refried beans with much less sodium. But, the sugar levels seem to be spot on.

So I went looking for low or no sodium refried beans, and to my surprise there are almost no refried beans that don’t have a bunch of salt, even when they are labeled as “low-sodium.” *And now early in my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that it would be best to buy the canned low-sodium pinto beans and make the refried beans myself. I see that Target has “Organic Low Sodium Pinto Beans – 15oz – Good & Gather™” for $1.19 for a 15 oz. can [120mg sodium 5%].

For a serving size of 1/2 cup (130g) of Good & Gather Organic Refried Pinto Beans:

Calories: 110
Total Fat: 0g (0% Daily Value)
- Saturated Fat: 0g (0% Daily Value)
- Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg (0% Daily Value)
Sodium: 120mg (5% Daily Value)
Total Carbohydrate: 21g (8% Daily Value)
- Dietary Fiber: 5g (18% Daily Value)
- Total Sugars: 1g
  - Includes 0g Added Sugars (0% Daily Value)
Protein: 7g
Vit. D: 0mcg (0% Daily Value)
Calcium: 40mg (4% Daily Value)
Iron: 2mg (10% Daily Value)
Potassium: 460mg (10% Daily Value)

The label also indicates that there are about 3.5 servings per container.

Seasoning ingredients for the “Casa Mamita (Aldi’s) – Traditional Refried Beans“: Salt, Tomato Paste, Lard, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Spice, Natural Flavor, Paprika. I liked the flavor of these refried beans, so seasoning the pinto beans similarly should give similar pleasing results.

ADDENDUM [05/19/25]: So, I stopped at LIDL to get some orange juice and while walking up one aisle to the checkout, I happened to see some low/no sodium pinto beans, and then some no sodium diced tomatoes with chilies. I think both cans were under 90 cents each. I bought one of each. I then drove over to Target and found the “Organic Low Sodium Pinto Beans.” They also had diced tomatoes with chilies, but they weren’t low salt.

If the flavor is there for the LIDL items, plus a little salt on my part, I should be able to greatly reduce the sodium from the ALDI items.

I used about 1/2 a can of the low/no salt Pinto Beans, and 1/4 can of the low/no salt diced tomatoes with green chilies. The calorie count was still 800, but sodium was reduced to 84 mg (+the salt I added back), and 10 g of sugar. The original sodium was 1400 mg and 7 g of sugar. That’s a whopper of a drop in sodium. *It’s almost impossible to buy the already prepared “refried beans” with low/no salt, but it’s easy to buy the salt free pinto beans and make tasty refried beans.

This looks promising:

La Banderita Blue Corn Small Street Taco Tortillas, 14.9 oz, 18 Count $2.24 [Walmart]

I tried these and if heated and tasty food is put on them, they are okay, but unheated, and eaten by themselves they are almost tasteless. I prefer the more salty blue corn tortilla chips, or a blue corn taco shell (split) and heated.

The surprising health benefits of blue corn tortillas

*I did buy a bag of milk chocolate chips, but later noted that they charged me $1.10 more than the listed price. I had taken a picture of the bag and the price and it showed $4.69 but on the ticket it was $5.79. Have to go back for that refund.

They applied the refund to my credit card at my request, but when I told the clerk that I was planning to go get another bag of chocolate chips, she told me they would correct the price at the register, but I would not be able to go back for more. I noted that all the Ghiradelli chocolates were priced at $4.69. Earlier this week I heard WRAL say that some persons who were told they would get a refund at Harris Teeter, did not get the refund, so this is something to keep track of. Just because they say they have refunded you, you need to make sure.

[end]