Dear Taco Scientist: Family just doesn’t understand

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Photo credit She Eat's Here

Photo credit
She Eats Here

Dear Taco Scientist,
My Taco Cleanse is going great. After just a few days I noticed that my eyes were clearer and my heart felt lighter in my chest. I feel like colors are more brilliant and I laugh a lot more, especially after taking my supplements.

I’m writing to you because, even though I’m seeing so many benefits, my family just doesn’t understand my choices. My mother, especially, acts like if I don’t eat some dumplings I’m going to waste away. My father has tried to ban tortillas from family meals. I’ve had to resort to sneaking salsa in using my hip flask. How can I make them understand?

Help Please!

Frustrated and Hungry

Dear Frustrated,
Families are tough. Mine are immigrants to the US, and I can tell you, for a long time I thought it was easier to just avoid the subject of food altogether rather than get into the specifics of my taco-based diet. But, eventually, they had to learn that eating tacos all the time is just a huge part of who I am.

As time went on they have really come around. Just recently my brother-in-law enjoyed a vegan taco from a local truck here in Austin, and, believe me when I tell you, I never thought I’d see that day come.

Have you tried to cook them an amazing dinner to show them how filling tacos can be? If they are super traditional like my grandparents, they won’t even try it, and if that’s the case, you are just going to have to win them over with persistence and time. Remember that you weren’t born eating tacos all the time either, it’s something you had to learn about and come to on your own. Eventually they will see that Taco Cleansing isn’t just a phase, it’s a way to a better life!

Good luck!

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Taco or Not a Taco

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Taco novices often have a hard time distinguishing a taco from the many other tortilla-wrapped taco-like-objects in the world. Take this quiz to see if you can spot the taco.

Hint: In the Taco Cleanse, a taco has exactly one fold.

taco or not a tacoTo read answers highlight the text below.

a. NOT A TACO. They’re flautas, which some refer to as rolled tacos. But it’s not a true taco according to Taco Cleanse rules.

b. TACO. It’s jackfruit brisket, and the recipe will be in the Taco Cleanse book.

c. NOT A TACO. Those are delicious Bomb Nachos from the Vegan Nom in Austin, TX.

d. NOT A TACO. That’s a taco salad. Again, despite the confusing name, it is not a true taco. It is, however, an excellent way to transition into or out of a Taco Cleanse.

e. TACO. A tofu-fish taco, to be exact. Find the recipe in our book.

f. NOT A TACO. These are enchiladas.

g. TACO. The lack of traditional tortilla may be confusing for some, but the ice cream taco is indeed a true taco.

h. NOT A TACO. You animal. That’s a burrito.

i. TACO. That’s the Westagram taco, of course.

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Avocado Preservation Experiment

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Avocado, whether it be sliced or mashed, is a superfood, essential to taco cleansing. Unfortunately, the window to enjoy a creamy, buttery, perfectly ripe avocado is small. Over the years, many rituals and superstitions have arisen in an attempt to slow the closing of that temporal aperture. Here we have set up a simple experiment to see how well three of the most popular avocado preservation methods work.

All avocados were stored in airtight containers at approximately 36° F. The pits were removed for uniform surface exposure, but we recommend leaving the pit intact whenever possible. The containers were set up with 1 of 4 conditions: stored in air alone as the control, stored with lemon juice applied to the exposed surface, stored submerged in filtered water, and stored in air with a cut onion. See below for before and after photos.

avocadoday1 avocadoday7

We discovered that our control maintained ripeness beyond our expectation. The lemon juice coated avocado was most successful in prohibiting browning, but imparted a significant lemon flavor. The submerged half became a slimy, gray mess. The onion cohabitation performed worse than expected and imparted a slight onion flavor.

Based on our results, we can recommend storing in a small airtight container using the traditional lemon juice technique with the pit intact. However, because of the high vibrations avocados achieve, we suggest eating the whole avocado and preventing need for storage altogether.

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