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.

Navajo Tacos (EASY)

I really didn't want to go to the grocery store this past week. I scoured my cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer to see what I had on hand and how many meals I could get out of what was there. I made a list, and then racked my brain, and lo and behold, I came up with 6 dinners (which didn't even include the "rice-a-roni" packages). Whoo-Hoot!

One of those nights we had Navajo Tacos and Sopapillas (click here) for dessert. Now you COULD start by making your own dough for fry bread (click here for a recipe) OR you can do what I do... I use the frozen bread roll dough and put it in the fridge over night to thaw.


Dough for bread
cooking oil
ground beef*
taco seasonings
canned chili*
lettuce
tomatoes, diced
onions, chopped
shredded cheese
sour cream (optional)

If you are using the bread roll dough, like me, put two rolls together for each Navajo taco. Work the bread into a flattened state, about the size of a tortilla. Fry in hot oil about 5-10 seconds each side. Drain on paper towel. In skillet, brown ground beef, adding taco seasonings as you would for regular tacos. Pour chili into large microwave-safe dish and heat up, OR some people like to add it right with the ground beef in the pan. Once meat and chili are cooked build your open-faced Navajo Taco using any other type of ingredients you would use for tacos. Enjoy!

*I did not have chili on hand, so I used refried beans. Also, because I wanted to use what little ground beef I had left for spaghetti, I decided to use some canned chicken I had. I simply drained the chicken, added it to the skillet along with a packet of taco seasonings and a little water, and it was heaven. You can really do it any way you want... my kids LOVED them!

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!