Fried Nacho Tacos

Fried Nacho Tacos

{{Printable Recipe Here}}

Three of my favorite words. Mmm... These are "Nacho" Mama's Tacos!

All kidding aside, if you are like me and love recipes with 5 ingredients (6 if you count the cooking oil, but who's counting?) or less and cooks in 20 minutes or less, then this is a must try! This recipe came about because I didn't have any motivation to cook an elaborate dinner tonight and my food storage/deep freeze is always stocked with these items.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasonings
1/4 C. water
1 can cheddar cheese condensed soup
18 soft corn tortilla shells (white or yellow)
cooking oil

Step 1.
In small skillet brown ground beef over Med-Hi heat. Drain fat.

Step 2.
Stir in 1 packet of taco seasonings, and ONLY 1/4 C of water. (This is less than the packet instructions.) Stir until seasonings are evenly distributed.

(I know, I know - it looks like Kitty had an accident, but I promise it's sooo delish!)

Step 3.
Stir in cheddar cheese soup until well mixed. Turn off heat.

Step 4.
Heat 2-3 tbsp cooking oil in new skillet. (I love my electric skillet for this.)

Step 5.
On a plate, place a stack of about 18 tortillas and microwave about 1 minute. This helps keep the tortillas pliable and from tearing when folding.

Step 6.
Place one spoonful of cheesy-meat mixture on one-half of a tortilla shell.

Step 7.
Fold tortilla in half and fry a few minutes each side, until golden brown.

Step 8.
Placed fried tacos on a plate lined with paper towel to help absorb excess grease.

Step 9. EAT & ENJOY!!!

p.s. I love to dip mine in homemade ranch dressing. MMMMMMM!

Super Easy, Super Yummy Homemade Chili

Because I buy things like canned diced tomatoes and beans in bulk, we always have a TON in our food storage.  While 10/$10 sales are great, check price clubs and case lot sales.  Last year I got a ton of beans for like 10 cents a piece at a case lot sale on double-coupon Wednesday.  (Thanks Winegars Grocery!)  I also buy a lot of canned dice tomatoes in bulk whenever I can get them for 50 cents a can or less.  This year we also went in together with 7 other families and bought a cow.  This gave us about 60 lbs of beef for $60.  What a steal!   In essence, this chili cost me less than $4 to make and will feed my family of 6 two meals easily. Maybe even 3, depending on their appetites on any given day.

But don't worry.  Even if you haven't bought a cow recently, you can still make this pretty cheap.  Definitely healthier than store-bought or restaurant chili and much cheaper!  (Freeze leftovers.  Great over baked potatoes too!)

2 lbs ground beef (or turkey)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 small sweet peppers (or 1 bell pepper), chopped
2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp chili powder
4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon (yes, cinnamon!)
2 - 8oz cans tomato sauce
4 cans diced tomatoes w/ chilies
4 - 14.5 oz cans beans (any kind you like. pictured: Kidney, Black, and Navy), undrained
1 can sweet corn, undrained.

Brown meat with garlic, onion, pepper and spices.  Stir in everything else.  Heat until just starts to boil.  Cover & simmer 30-40 minutes, until ready to serve.

Note:  I drain 2 of my cans of beans and leave only 2 undrained.  Just depends on how thick or thin you prefer.  For extra thick & chunky chili, drain all beans as well as the corn.

Chicken Enchiladas for a Crowd

This makes 60 enchiladas, and most people eat 2-3.  So, I'd say you can easily feed an army of 20-30 here!

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbsp lemon juice
grill seasoning
1 can (16 oz) fat-free Refried Beans
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 C fat-free sour cream
2 cans (16 oz ea) enchilada sauce
60 small corn or flour tortillas*
4 C shredded cheese, divided (I prefer Colby Jack)

Preheat oven to 350.  In skillet or grill pan, cook chicken in lemon juice and seasonings.  Remove from pan and shred. (I love to shred mine in the food processor or blender.)  Place shredded chicken in mixing bowl.  Add beans, soup, tomatoes, and sour cream; mix well.  In bottom of large baking pans spread thin layer of enchilada sauce; set pans aside.  Heat 20 tortillas 10 at a time in microwave about 1 minute.  Scoop 1 tbsp cream mixture onto each tortilla shell and roll up.  Place seam-side down on baking sheet.  Repeat until all tortillas are filled and on the baking sheet.  Spread remaining sauce evenly over enchiladas and top with cheese.  Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

*I use corn tortillas as they are 2 WW points per enchilada, vs. 5 WW points for flour.

Chevy's Sweet Corn Tomalito

If you have a Chevy's Mexican Restaurant near you, then you will know what I am talking about. We used to have them here in Utah, but the last one finally closed a few years ago. They serve a scoop of Sweet Corn Tomalito on the side of every main dish.

In my opinion, if you like cornbread, you will like this. I hope you like it as much as we do. I've scoured the internet and here is the simplest recipe I could find.

Note: You can find Masa in the Mexican food aisle at your grocery store. You'll only need a little bit, so if they have small bags, I'd go for one of those.

Chevy's Sweet Corn Tomalito

{Printable Recip Here}

5 Tbsp butter, softened

1/4 C Masa

1/3 C sugar

1 Can Corn, drained & divided (or 2 C thawed & drained)

1/2 Water

1/2 C Cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp + 1 tsp milk

1. In mixing bowl cream together butter, masa and sugar until light and fluffy. 1-2 minutes. 
2. In food processor or blender add 1/2 the corn and all of the water. Puree until smooth. 
3. Add the corn puree and remaining corn kernels to the creamed mixture and mix well. 
4. Add the corn meal, baking powder, salt and milk and mix well again.
5. Pour mixture into lightly greased 8" square pan; cover tightly with foil. 
6. Fill a saucepan or double broiler with water (I used the pot from my rice cooker and a round pan, because the fit was perfect). 
7. Place pot of water over med-high heat on stove stop. 
8. When water begins to boil, place foil-covered pan on top and steam approximately 50 minutes. It should have a moist texture, but not runny. Over baking will dry it out.

*Tip: One recipe contributor stated she bakes hers by placing the covered dish in a larger roasting pan filled with water. The water reaches about 3/4 inch up each side of pan. Although it takes longer to bake, she feels this produces a better result. For this method, bake @ 250 degrees F for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Chimichanga Chowder

I had some stewing chunks I needed to use, but just wasn't really in the mood for beef stew. I searched through my cupboards and fridge, and whaddya know -- I got a hairbrain idea for a Tex-Mex chowder. This is sort of a cross between taco soup and taco chili, except it has refried beans and the fact that it's cream based makes it a chowder. Since both chimichangas and burritos have refried beans, we thought we could call it either Beef Burrito Chowder or Chimichanga Chowder. In the end, Chimichanga Chowder won out. I hope you give it a try! We loved it!

1 lb beef chunks for stewing

seasonings**

1 jar salsa

1 can corn, drained

1 can refried beans

1/4 C sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 - 1 soup-can water

Brown beef chunks with desired amount of seasonings. Drain fat and place beef in bottom of crock pot. Add remaining ingredients to crock pot and stir well. Cook low 6-8 hours or high on 4. Serve with shredded cheese and crushed corn chips if desired.

**Seasonings may include 1 packet of taco or fajita seasoning, a few dashes of chili powder, etc. I used about a teaspoon of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.

Dessert Taquitos

After making a batch of Creamy Chicken Tacos for dinner I had a few corn tortillas left and decided to make dessert too. Traditionally, a Taquito is a small, meat-filled corn tortilla, rolled up and then deep fried.

Small Corn Tortillas

cooking oil

Filling (I had some strawberry-rhubarb pie filling left over)

Cinnamon & Sugar

Additional toppings, Hershey's syrup, Powdered Sugar, etc.

Warm tortillas in microwave enough to handle without tearing. (I do about 90 seconds). Spread desired filling onto tortilla. Roll up and then press into cinnamon-sugar mixture. Heat cooking oil in skillet. Ready when drop of water sizzles. Place each Taquito in skillet and brown on all sides. Drain for a few seconds onto paper towel. (Don't leave too long on paper towel and the sugar mixture becomes sticky and will adhere to the paper.) Top with additional toppings if desired and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Tacos

Have I ever told you about my roommate from my early college years when I lived in Hawaii? Ardis was, and still is, like a sister to me, and boy, that is one sister who can cook! We swap recipes from time to time and some of my family faves have come from Ardis. You may remember her Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken or her Simple Salsa Fresca. Well, today I am gonna share with you another family fave. I love this one because it is simple and tasty and my kids always ask for more! Hope you like it as much as we do! Thanks, Ardis!

1 pkg corn tortillas

1 12 oz canned chicken, drained (can also use turkey chunks)

1 8oz Cream Cheese

Shredded Cheese, optional

cooking oil

Warm tortillas on paper towel in microwave until they can be rolled or folded without tearing. (I usually do about 90 seconds.) Spray bottom of saucepan lightly with cooking spray. Add chicken and cream cheese. Melt cream cheese over MED heat and stir well to combine. Turn heat to simmer. Heat cooking oil in large skillet on MED heat. Ready when droplet of water sizzles. On each tortilla spoon a little bit of the cream cheese mixture. My family is a bunch of cheese-heads, so I also sprinkle a little shredded Colby Jack on top too. Fold taco in half and place in warm skillet. Brown on both sides and drain on paper towel. Makes about 12-14 tacos. Serve with Fresh Salsa if desired.

Mexican Casserole

A few weeks back I was in a pinch, needing something easy and "quick" (meaning, didn't need thawing) for dinner. I had almost all of the fixings for tacos, but no shells. Then I noticed about a half bag of tortilla chips in the pantry, and THIS recipe is what came to life. My kids absolutely loved this. I loved it so much I secretly hoped for leftovers so I could take it to work for lunch the next day. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! I will definitely make this again!


1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 C Sour Cream (or can substitute 2 Tbsp milk if preferred)
3-4 C Tortilla Chips (can use Frito's Corn Chips)
1 Jar Salsa
2-3 C shredded cheese

In skillet brown ground beef, draining fat. Add taco seasonings according to packet directions. Mix in cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Combine well and set aside. In 9x13 pan or casserole dish start with layer of slightly crushed chips. Spoon salsa over chips. Spread layer of creamy mixture over salsa and top with half the cheese. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Cover tightly with foil and bake @ 350 F about 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10-15 until cheese is melted. Serve warm with additional sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc., if desired.

Since we still had plenty of chips left, we served this over crushed tortilla chips for some added crunch!

Simple Salsa Fresca (mild)

So, back when I was visiting my old college roomie, Ardis, during Spring Break we ate and ate and ate and ate! Did I mention that we ate? Tee hee...


Anyway, she is one FABULOUS cook! And one night we had these DIVINE Creamy Chicken Tacos and she whipped up some of this HOMEMADE Salsa Fresca as well. I could not eat enough! That visit was about a month ago, and I've made this recipe at least 4 times since. It tastes great, and I think it tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have had a chance to "share" a little bit with each other. Here is Ardis's recipe for fresh salsa, or what I am calling Simple Salsa Fresca! Enjoy!




6-8 roma tomatoes (or garden tomatoes)
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
3-4 garlic cloves, more or less
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded
juice from 1/2 lime (optional)
salt, to taste


Coursely chop veggies and place in blender. Pulsate until well blended. Add salt to taste. Chill until ready to serve. Best if eaten within 5 days of making. Keep refrigerated in airtight container.



For medium or hot salsa you can experiment by adding a few of the jalepeno seeds or by using other peppers, such as a habenero.

Taco Chili

A bunch of the ladies in the hood assembled some chili gift jars a few weeks ago. I decided to make one for myself, and altered the recipe just slightly. It was soooo good! This is a fairly mild chili and my kids enjoyed it, even the one that "doesn't like chili" loved this.

2 - 2 1/2 C chili beans*

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, if desired

1 packet taco seasonings

1 small can tomato sauce

1 - 14 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices

1 - 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, with juices

4 - 4 1/2 C Water

1 1/2 C crushed tortilla chips

shredded taco cheese (optional)

Sour cream (optional)

tortilla chips or crackers

Place beans in large stock pot and cover with water. Bring water to boil and let boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover with lid. Let stand one hour. Drain water. Rinse beans and return to pot. In separate skillet, brown ground beef with onion, then drain fat. Add meat to beans in pot. Sprinkle entire packet of taco seasonings over meat and beans. Then add tomato sauce and both cans of diced tomatoes in juices. Stir to mix well. Add 4 1/2 C water and place pot on stove over HIGH heat. Bring to boil and let boil for two minutes. Turn heat down to low, cover pot and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender. Add crushed tortilla chips and cook over med-high heat to thicken. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and more tortillas or crackers if desired.

*I like to use 1/2 C kidney beans, 1/2 C white chili beans, 1/2 C pinto beans and 1/2 C black beans.

For hotter chili, add 1 or 2 hot peppers to mixture before simmering.

Easy Cheater's Sopapillas

So - what do you make when you have frozen bread roll dough, but want something sweet? You make Sopapillas. Seriously... You can make your own dough from scratch or they even have Sopapilla mix, but these are soooooo good, and I always buy the frozen bread rolls on sale just to make stuff like this. Also - Sopapillas are basically the same thing that Utahns call "Scones". (but in the east, Scones are more like a muffin/biscuit thing.) Anyway... Here is all you do.

Take one thawed roll-dough, and sort of knead it and stretch it out into a rectangle-type shape. Fry in hot oil 5-10 seconds, until desired doneness. (If you don't have a deep fryer, then just fry a few seconds each side).

Then you can brush with honey butter and add anything else you'd like. We have done powdered sugar (as seen here), cinnamon-sugar, and raspberry jam.
I hope you try this. And if you have kids, get them involved in "forming" their own before frying. So simple and Soooooooooooo good!

Glazed Tortillas

Flour Tortillas
Cooking oil
Glazed Icing (click here)

Cut flour tortillas into wedges. Heat oil in frying pan on MED heat. Oil ready when drop of water sizzles. Place tortilla wedges into hot oil, just a few seconds each side; till golden brown. Drain on paper towel. While still warm drizzle glazed icing over tops. Let cool.

IF you have any leftovers, store in airtight container.

Chili Verde Nachos

So, this was another one of those "Crap! What do I have on hand that I can turn into dinner?" moments. I decided that Nachos were acceptable for dinner if they had meat in them. So, this is what I came up with:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 C (more or less) Chili Verde salsa

2 cans condensed cheddar cheese soup

refried beans

sour cream

tortilla chips (we made our own by frying quartered corn tortillas)

Brown chicken in skillet. Add salsa and mix well. Add both cans of condensed cheese soup. Mix well and heat through. Turn heat to low. Cover and simmer until ready to eat. Fill plate with nachos. Top with Chili Verde Nacho sauce, Refried beans, sour cream, and anything else you might have, i.e., salsa, onions, black olives, etc. Ole!

*The only complaint that we had at our house was that I couldn't keep the chip basket filled; the kids were eating them as fast as I was making them.

Skillet Enchiladas

I originally got this recipe from RedHead in my neighborhood. However, I have since simplified and tweaked it a little to fit my family's taste. Give it a try...see what you think.


1 lb ground beef
1 can green Chile enchilada sauce (we use mild, which is spicy enough for the kids)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
10 white corn tortillas
2 1/2 -3 C shredded cheese (Colby Jack, Cheddar, etc.)
Sour Cream, optional

In large skillet, brown ground beef. Stir in enchilada sauce and both cans of condensed soup. Mix well. Turn heat down to low and let simmer. In microwave heat tortillas about 2 minutes. Place handful of cheese in each tortilla, roll up and place in skillet, spooning sauce over tops. Cover and let simmer another 5-10 minutes, until cheese inside is melted. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Dang Quesadillas!

Tonight is EASY mexi-night at our house, which means...Quesadillas! (Grandma to Napoleon Dynamite: "Fix yourself a dang quesadilla!")

Easy Bean Quesadillas

Flour tortillas
1 can refried beans
1 container sour cream (8 oz should be plenty)
2 C shredded cheese

Spread refried beans on one-half of the tortilla and sour cream on the other. Cover entire thing with cheese. Fold over and heat in non-stick skillet, lightly browning both sides till cheese is melted.

Also - you can line a baking sheet with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray, and "bake" the quesadillas @ 350 for about 8-10 min, until cheese is melted.

Serve with additional sour cream and salsa, if desired.

Tostadas & Lemon Cream Cake

I did not have a plan today. And I did not prepare yesterday by going to the store. I had no idea what we would be eating after church. I figured if all else failed, it would be eggs & toast...y'know...breakfast for dinner. Alas, after a quick scour of my fridge & pantry, I decided to make Sunday Dinner with the following ingredients. Oh - and by the way - dinner was ready in under an hour.


TASTY TOSTADAS (serves 4)

4 corn tortilla shells
Cooking Oil
1 lb boneless chicken
4 slices provolone cheese
1/4 C butter
1 packet taco seasonings
2/3 C water
1 can cream of chicken soup

Heat oil in small frying pan. One at a time, place tortilla shells in oil, frying on both sides until crisp. Set aside on paper towel to drain. In large frying pan, melt butter. Cut up chicken, add to pan and brown. Once chicken is browned, add taco seasonings and water; mix well. Tear up slices of cheese and add to chicken, stirring to melt. Once cheese is melted, add can of soup, stirring until heated through. Place as much chicken mixture as desired atop each crisp tortilla.

Now - if I HAD planned ahead, this would also be good with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, sour cream and guacamole all layered on the top. Oh, and If I had refried beans on hand, I would have spread the tostada with the beans BEFORE topping with the remaining ingredients. As it was, the kids loved it and would definitely eat it again.
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LEMON CREAM CAKE


2 C mini marshmallows
1 lemon cake mix
cooking oil, eggs, water according to package
1 can lemon cream pie filling

Lightly spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Evenly spread mini marshmallows on bottom of pan; set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour over marshmallows. Spoon lemon pie filling over top of cake batter. Bake according to package directions. Cake is done when inserted toothpick comes out clean.

The cool thing about this cake is the marshmallows rise to the top and form a caramelized top coating. The pie filling will sink to the bottom and cook like a cream sauce. This sweet and tangy combination eliminated the need for frosting. My kids are not big cake-eaters unless it is chocolate, but this cake they love!