Mexican Pizza

Had a successful dinner last night.  Found this recipe on pinterest and had gotten the ingredients so it was time to try it.  I think this would be a fun one to make everything in advance if I was having friends over and then everyone could assemble their own....

http://www.lifesambrosia.com/2009/02/mexican-pizza-recipe.html

I want to try this soon.

Flat Bread Tacos

When my kids were little I had my list of “go to” meals. Things we had over and over again. I didn’t try new recipes and experiment as much back then as I do now. I just wanted to get dinner on the table!

One of our standard meals was tacos. It was quick and it was easy – a pound of hamburger, some pre made crispy taco shells and a few toppings. For my kids it was basically ketchup and grated cheese!

Today’s recipe is a stepped up version of those tacos. Still quick and easy to prepare but a little more fun to eat!

I found the idea over at Real Mom Kitchenmonths ago and we have made them several times since. It is one of those “no brainer” type of meals. Love it!

Instead of taco shells it uses flatbread made quickly and easily out of biscuits from a can. The flatbread is nice and sturdy too so you can load it up with your favorite taco ingredients.

I tweeked the recipe a little by adding some taco seasoning into sour cream for the base of the flatbread taco (she used ranch dressing mix).

Just grab yourself a can of those Grand size muffins in a tube.

Use your hand or a rolling pin to flatten them out.

Use a large frying pan or griddle and “dry” fry the bread. Do not use any oil or butter. Cook each side of the flatbread until golden brown, approximately one minute per side.

Then start piling on the toppings. We started with a base of sour cream and taco seasoning. I just started adding the packaged taco seasoning into the sour cream until I liked the taste.

The ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning is next. You could also add some beans here but I’m not a big bean fan. The sour cream base helps hold on the meat!

And then the cheese so it will melt into the warm meat.

Some crisp, crunchy lettuce.

And finally, at our house, black olives. Now I think it would have made a prettier picture with some chopped tomato on it too but we had no tomatoes so just imagine a pretty, red tomato chopped on top!

One of the great things about this meal is that everyone can personalize it to their taste. Just set out an assortment of toppings and let everyone put their own combination together.

Flatbread Tacos

Printable Recipe

1 C sour cream
2 -3 tsps taco seasoning mix
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning (season to taste)
1 recipe of flatbread (see below)

Optional toppings: sliced ripe olives, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and shredded cheese

In a bowl, mix together the sour cream and taco seasoning to taste. chill until serving.(at least 30 minutes)

In a large frying pan, cook the hamburger over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add in the taco seasong and cook according to the directions on the back of the package.

To serve, spread each flatbread with 2 tablespoons sour cream mixture then top each with meat mixture. Add toppings if desired.

Flatbread

1 tube (16.3 ounces) Pillsbury Grand refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

With your hand or a rolling pin press out each biscuit into a 6-in. circle. You want a nice even thickness. In a nonstick skillet frying pan or griddle over medium heat, cook each biscuit for about 60 seconds per side or until golden brown. This is a “dry fry” Do not use any type of grease, oil, butter etc. You cook them in a completely dry pan.

Yummy Grilled Chicken

Bret and I have been doing this marinade for years. It really is just tweaking the recipe on the back.

I take several chicken breasts and put them in a freezer ziploc or a rubbermaid. I place a cut up lemon or two (squeezed) and a cut up onion in the container. I add a fajita seasoning packet. I also add a couple of tablespoons of oil and water. I let marinade for at least a couple of hours if not a day or two. You could easily add a pepper, but I rarely have those in my fridge.

When Mark and Amy were here, the chicken ended up marinading for a couple of days. It turned out great and flavorful, as always.

Lindsay's Mexican Stuffed Shells

Mexican Stuffed Shells

1 lb ground beef- browned and drained (salt & pepper it too)
18 jumbo shells- cooked according to package directions
1 8oz can tomato sauce
12 oz salsa
1/2 cup water
1 can green chiles, chopped
1 cup cheese (cheddar or Jack) grated
1 can french fried onions (or if you buy the huge cans like I do, use half of it.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375

Mix tomato sauce, salsa and water together, set aside. Brown ground beef, drain. Cook pasta according to package directions & set aside. Mix ground beef, green chiles, 1/2 cup sauce mixture, 1/2 cup cheese, 1/2 of the french fried onions. Pour half of the remaining sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Stuff the shells with the ground beef mixture. Arrange shells on top of sauce mixture in pan, pour the remaining sauce over the stuffed shells. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, add rest of cheese and french fried onions and bake until cheese is melted and onions are browned.

Crock Pot Enchilada

This recipe was pretty easy. I cut it in half. The presentation was nice but as Bret said presentation is nothin', if it doesn't taste good. Alex said he liked it but I think that was just because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. Bret ate all that was on his plate but I think he was just hungry. I would make it again but I would use more meat and not cook it on high for as long (as I burned the bottom layer or two).
The part that I liked the best was putting al. foil on the bottom and then when it was done cooking, I just lifted it out using the foil.

Ingredients:

• 2 packages (1 1/2 ounces each) enchilada sauce mix
• 3 cups water
• 2 cans (6 ounces each) tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt to taste
• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion, or to taste
• 1 sweet red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, minced, or use mild chile peppers
• 5 to 6 large flour tortillas (8-inch)
• 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1 can (12 ounces) refried beans
• your choice of garnishes

Preparation:

First, make foil "handles." Fold a 30-inch long piece of foil in half lengthwise. Place in bottom of a slow cooker with both ends hanging over top edge of cooker.The foil strip will make it much easier to remove the burrito stack when done.

Lightly grease crockpot. In saucepan, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with onion, bell pepper, and minced jalapeno or mild peppers. Drain off fat. Stir about 1/3 of sauce mix into the browned beef mixture.

Spoon a small amount of sauce into bottom of the slow cooker.

Spread a small amount of refried beans over one of the flour tortillas. Place the tortilla on top of sauce in Crock Pot, tearing to fit if necessary. Spoon meat mixture over tortilla and then top with a small amount of the shredded cheese. Continue layering until tortillas are used or within an inch of top of crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Lift burritos out by the foil handles and place on serving plate. Cut in wedges; garnish with chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced ripe olives, or your own favorite combination. Serves 4 to 6.

Nacho Bread Pizza - Not a winner

Got this from Rachael Ray and the fam didn't really care for it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/nacho-bread-pizzas-recipe/index.html