Birthday taco mix

For my birthday today, I made a massive taco salad for breakfast. Lots of green, some carrots. Dressing was a 50-50 mix of extra hot roasted habanero salsa and organic peppercorn ranch. Added a big old plop of my taco mix I spent two hours making yesterday and topped it off with organic yellow corn tortilla chips I smashed in my hand.

Why do I say "taco mix?" I didn't use all meat, nor did I go with vegetarian. I used a two pound container of ground beef with a bag of frozen corn, a can of spinach and two cans of black beans to make a massive pot of taco filling.

I didn't measure my seasoning. Keep pouring it in as everything simmered under water:

- chili powder

- cumin

- garlic pepper

- paprika

- hot paprika 

Crazy mexi steaks

I created this crazy Mexican inspired steak sandwich to use up some leftover steak sandwich meat from my mother in law. The meat came with some fried peppers and hot peppers.

There wasn't enough left for three full sandwiches so I fried some corn tortillas in butter and put some sliced smoked Gouda inside each pair.

I piled some various lettuce on top of that, then the reheated steak meat, then Parmesan and then salsa.

Good stuff.

Brussel sprout taco

I've been on a taco salad kick the last few days because my mother in law brought taco fixings and I find this far more fun than hard shells. Iceberg lettuce, extra hot salsa, cheese, Goddess dressing (I don't have ranch, blue cheese or even sour cream), taco meat and the best part-- my home canned sweet and spicy corn salsa.

Tonight after work, I had the munchies and thought I'd have these leftover Brussel sprouts in a wrap with salsa and cheese. It hit the spot, though my husband thinks I'm nuts.

Chicken-spinach casserole Mexican style

We don't have much food left in the house. We made a family pack of chicken breasts last night. We froze some and my husband made some into stir fry for dinner.

Today I made some into a casserole.

My husband made some penne while I made a cheese sauce. I started with two tablespoons of butter on low heat with a tablespoon of flour. I mixed them with a rubber spatula and then added about two teaspoons chili powder and one teaspoon cumin.

When that incorporated nicely, I measured out 1 cup of soy milk, which I doled out a bit at a time mixing everything together. I gradually added about 3 ounces of extra sharp cheddar and the rest of a can of jalapeño-cheddar dip (about 2 1/2 tablespoons). 

Next I added about 1/4 cup diced black olives and 1/2 cup mild salsa.

Then I added a block of frozen spinach I'd thawed.

We mixed the noodles and the sauce, added the chicken, stirred, covered and baked at 350 for 45 minutes.

Before serving I sprinkled with the crumbs from the bottom of a bag of Simply Balanced organic blue corn/flax chips.

This was very delightful. I could eat all of it. Wind chill is 4 degrees. It was a casserole kind of day.

Garden Taco Night

I am happiest when I am cooking. I don't mean that when I cook I become happy, I mean that when I am happy I cook. And I do good stuff. Not the eat for survival stuff. 

The chicken sitting adventure is going well. We got 18 eggs today and rushed home and made thick egg sandwiches on rye before school.

I whipped up some soft taco filling: ground beef, beans that I made today not from a can, the last batch of corn preserved from a local farm last year and diced pepper from the lady who owns the chickens.

Spices for the batch include paprika, cumin, chili powder, hot chili powder and garlic powder. I use a lot of each, to taste.

Vegetarian Mexican night

I made burrito-y things with a vegetarian filling. Homemade guacamole, a mix of farm fresh corn, garden grown green pepper, black beans, sour cream and salsa. 

My guac today was a small batch as I only bought one avocado (what was I thinking???). 

- one avocado

- one small tomato from my garden chopped

- splash lemon juice

- sprinkle of garlic powder

- hearty shake of chili powder

- slight shake of cumin

Stir, chill.

The filling:

- one green pepper diced

- three cobs corn, corn removed

- 1/2 teaspoon four color peppercorn medley

Cook in saucepan for about 10 minutes on low, with just a pinch of cooking fat.

Add one can black beans. (Mine are reduced sodium and well-rinsed. Normally I make my own from scratch and freeze them but haven't got around to it lately.)

 Shake of chili powder. Increase heat to medium, stir and heat until good and warm.

Taco night

Here's our approach to tacos:
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/07/tacos.html?m=1

Tonight I mixed 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 cup local corn (frozen from last summer), and black beans for the filling.

Burrito bar

Dinner tonight was make-your-own-burrito with the following ingredients:

- tortilla
- Fresh Express iceberg garden salad
- homemade corn salsa, the last from my summer canning season
- black beans
- Morningstar black bean burger, crumbled
- green giant cheesy rice with broccoli, which I seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder, fresh ground black pepper and cumin

Crazy Southwest Pizza

I saw something similar to this on the back of a can of Del Monte corn at work.

I made one of my multigrain pizza crusts, this one with organic white flour, unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, dark rye flour, sorghum flour, and corn meal.

For the sauce, we used Archer Farm raspberry salsa. Then we piled on spinach, pinto beans thawed from the freezer, and leftover turkey.

Someone ate all the black olives so that's out.

We topped with some of my home-canned corn salsa and a cup of grated cheddar cheese from the farm. We intentionally kept the cheese minimal because of girlie's ears.

It's now baking and before I serve I'm going to sprinkle with the crumbs of organic blue corn tortilla chips.

Child soft tacos

We're reinstating the child-makes-one-meal-per-week policy and she opted for soft tacos.

In the skillet, she combined:
- water
- about 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 finely diced garlic clove
- 1 pinch Indian chili powder
- 1 pinch Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

- 1 lb ground beef
- about 16 ounces corn
- about 16 ounces beans
- 1 bell pepper from the garden, diced
Cover with water and boil at medium to medium high for one hour, adding more water and stirring every 15 minutes

Greatly anticipated nachos

Tonight's nachos were incredible.

We made guacamole this morning:
- 2 ripe avocado
- several small tomatoes from my garden
- chives from my garden
- lemon juice
- extra virgin olive oil
- one clove garlic chopped very tiny
- one small red pepper from my garden
- a pinch cumin
- a pinch fresh ground pepper
- a pinch chili powder

The nachos tonight included beans I had cooked and stored in the freezer, sour cream, velveeta (a gift), Archer Farms raspberry salsa (my favorite was on clearance at Target), sour cream, the guacamole, and the homemade corn salsa we canned last week.

The corn salsa tasted incredible! It was so sweet and zesty. My husband said it went really well with the guacamole.

Make your own quesadilla night

The make-your-own quesadilla bar had the following items:

- chicken
- black beans
- cheese
- black olives
- fresh spinach
- buffalo blue cheese dip

For the top, a variety of salsas to choose from:
- Archer Farm raspberry
- tequila lime from Aldi
- mango salsa from Aldi

Homemade guacamole and burritos

I bought an avocado on a whim over the weekend. So this led to a small batch of guacamole last night. I improvised some ingredients, kept forgetting to buy a lime.

LAST NIGHT'S GUACAMOLE (vegan)
Ingredients
- 1 avocado, mashed
- about 1 teaspoon canola oil
- about 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons diced green chilis
- 1 small tomato, seeds removed and diced

Mix all ingredients except tomato and chilis. When well mixed, add the remaining ingredients. Let flavors blend for about an hour before serving.

My sister-in-law had given us a box of Rice-a-Roni Spanish rice so I handed it to my seven-year-old and told her to prepare it. I told her it wasn't home cooking, but it was good practice in following directions which would help her learn to read a recipe.

She did great.

Meanwhile, I sliced the leftover sirloin from valentines day and gathered more chilis, tomato, lettuce and a multitude of salsas to make burritos.

Taco 'clearance' feast

We started taco beef in the Le Creuset skillet for our taco 'clearance' feast (so-named for all the goodies we got at Target.)

This is the taco post, though I didn't use beans today since we have refrieds instead of whole.
http://angelfoodcooking.blogspot.com/2010/07/tacos.html?m=1

Yesterday we got the following items on clearance or at a reduced cost:
- refried beans
- multigrain tortillas
- Spanish rice
- salsa
- avocado
- bagged salad

Taco rice?

For breakfast, we had leftover scones, bananas and Greek yogurt.

For lunch, daughter requested rice. I put some in the steamer with chili powder and fresh cilantro from the garden.

Then in my skillet I put about a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oiland a teaspoon butter. I threw in frozen corn, the taco meat I made in March (thawed via the microwave)and the last of the black beans I have cooked.

I ate this weekend

I ate this weekend.
After what I feared would be never-ending torment of liquid diet options, I ate.

It was wonderful.

And, of course, even the small meals I make for myself make me feel very heavy and gross.

It’s been a week since I posted. Part of that was the fall out from disappointment. I went to the dentist Thursday and she reconstructed my one tooth in only a few moments. The second tooth refused to numb. I received so many chemical shots that my mouth wouldn’t open for two days. Yet, the tooth was not numb. So, I left the dentist with only one tooth repaired.

And that night while eating a french fry, a chunk of filling (I think) came out of my mouth.

I almost wept.

But once that jaw eased open again, I had a salad of iceberg lettuce. And thin sliced radishes. Then a small plate of pancakes.

Which reminds me: my husband, at my request, substituted peach yogurt for the milk in the pancakes. Yum.

Had dinner at the Mexican restaurant. Burritoes con mole.

And then last night, I ate a hamburger with a fork. My husband, again at my suggestion, got basil and sorrel from the backyard herb garden and added them to the meat. Turned out very nice.

I meant to take pictures, but every time I had a meal in front of me, I forgot. I was too intent on eating!

Tacos

I don't know what got into me, but I decided to make tacos.
I made the homemade tortillas this afternoon and found this site:
http://www.mex-recipes.com/tacorecipes.html

QUOTED FROM THE SITE:
Ground beef
(I prefer ground chuck)
Salt
Chili powder
Paprika
Cumin
Garlic powder or 2 cloves
Bell pepper
Onion

Instructions for taco recipe:

Let's take 2 pounds of ground beef in 2 quart sauce pan add 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of chili power, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder or 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 2 tablespoons of paprika. Enough water to cover meat.

Bring to a boil. Simmer over medium low heat about an hour. I will check in about 15 minutes take a potato masher break up the meat a little don't want it to cook up in lumps.

Repeat this process 2 or 3 more times. Also make sure we don't run dry of water. Add water if needed. Hour over already!

OK, add 1/2 medium chopped onion, 1/2 medium chopped bell pepper, continue cooking 20 or 30 more minutes.

MY VARIATIONS:
I used 1/2 ground beef from a local farm and 1/2 black beans (the ones I made in the crock pot over the weekend.)
I omitted onion, and used one green pepper from my garden.
I turned up the heat a little on the stove, not the taco meat, because I didn't start early enough.

And I'm using my Le Creuset skillet instead of a saucepan.

Tortillas

My daughter and I made tortillas this afternoon, using a recipe we found online. I used to have a different one, but I didn't feel like looking for it.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tsp salt (I used iodized sea salt)
- 2 tsp canola oil (many tortilla recipes use more traditional fats like shortening)
-3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients.

In separate container, mix wet ingredients.

Spoon wet ingredients into dry ingredients one tablespoon at a time, using a fork to stir into dry ingredients. Will form a pebbly dough.

Knead five minutes. Let rest 20, with a damp towel.

Break into pieces and roll into balls each the size of a golf ball. I got seven.

Let rest ten minutes. Roll into circles. Fry in dry cast iron skillet for 30 seconds on each side.

Update

It may look like we've been slacking off in the food department, and I guess in many ways that's true.

Sunday, before we went to Build-A-Bear, I made the family open-faced little cracker sandwiches as an early lunch. Each vegetable cracker from Wegmans had a slice of deli ham and a hunk of extra-sharp cheddar. Very popular around here.

For dinner, we ended up going for an early dinner at Mex Tex Trio. For some reason, every time I eat there I crave Mexican for days until we go back and eat again. So much for scheduling family eating out nights. My husband and I both had burritos con mole and our daughter ate her weight in their salsa and had a chicken burrito.

For breakfast yesterday, my daughter and I had leftover Fred the Bread and Morningstar Vegetarian sausage patties. For lunch, my husband and I had leftover Mexican and I made our daughter nachos-- half a can of black beans, some shredded cheddar and some mango salsa also from Wegmans.

For dinner my husband made cheese ravioli with red sauce.

And for breakfast, my daughter requested something hot and I'm not feeling like a short order cook so I thought I could compensate for lack of vegetables and serve Veggie Patch Broccoli Cheese Bites for breakfast. Why not? They're hot.

Making the best of naughty

We were exhausted... and my daughter got her "big girl" bike today and it had been a frustrating day for me so I thought to lighten the air, I'd take everyone out for Mexican. It would have been inexpensive if we all shared the $12 pile of HUGE nachos, but I opted for several appetizers.

I justified the expense by saving enough nachos and sausage dip for lunch tomorrow (we have chips here to refresh them) for my husband and I.

Then we ordered dessert.
Not a good fiscal move.

But our daughter selected rice pudding and couldn't finish it, so guess what she's having for breakfast...

So dinner for 3
Lunch for 2
Breakfast for 1
plus tip=
$55

I can live with that.