Taco Cups

I have said this at least a dozen times... One thing that our family can all agree on eating is Tacos!  Here is another way to change up the regular old tacos and an even better way to serve them at a party!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Ground Beef
• Your FavoriteTaco Seasoning
• Refried Beans
• 48 Wonton Wrappers
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Salsa
• Sour Cream

Makes 24 Taco Cups

Cook the ground beef and add taco seasoning according to season packet.  Preheat oven to 375.  Place one Wonton wrapper in each space of a regular size muffin tin.  Smear (now that is one word I have NEVER used when writing a recipe lol) about a tablespoon of refried beans on top of each of the wrappers.  Sprinkle about a tablespoon of the taco meat in each cup, then sprinkle a little cheddar cheese on top of the meat.  Add another Wonton wrapper and gently press down.  Add a little more meat and cheese.

 Bake for about 10 minutes or until Wonton wrappers are golden brown.  Remove from oven and top with shredded lettuce, sour cream, and salsa.  I placed mine on a small bed of cilantro rice, but you could easily add the rice before the lettuce.  These little taco cupcakes are perfect party food or dinner time!

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Grilled Steak and Spinach Tacos

This is a perfect summer meal because you can eat it with the steak at more room temperature than straight off the grill (but eat it however you like).  That makes if not feel like such a heavy meal.  The pepper jack cheese adds just the right amount of spice and the tomatoes keep it cool!  Just a few basic ingredients for a delicious dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of Flank Steak
• 1 1/2  Tablespoons Montreal Steak Seasoning
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 8-10 Flour Tortillas (taco size)
• 12 Sliced Cherry Tomatoes
• About 5 Cups of Baby Spinach (1 6 oz bag)
• 1 1/2 Cups of Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
• Diced Red Onion (optional)

Serves 4-5 (two tacos each)

In a ziploc bag combine olive oil, Montreal steak seasoning, and minced garlic.  Add meat and marinate for about an hour.  Grill steak to desired temperature.  Let rest (uncovered- it's ok for the steak to cool a bit) for about 5 minutes, then cut in to strips.  Layer a handful of baby spinach on the tortilla, add steak strips, pepper jack cheese, slice tomatoes, and red onion (optional).  And there you go a PERFECT summer dinner!

This recipe was featured on the Magical Moms' July Menu.  Be sure to check out all of our monthly menus


Lots of AMAZING recipes on the Magical Moms' June Menu, Marvelous May Menu, Appetizing April Menu, and March Madness Menu.

Tex Mex Breakfast

I am always looking for creative ways to use leftover taco meat. Even though everyone at my house loves taco night, there always seems to be an abundance of leftover meat. I want to use it in a different way, so I decided to use it for breakfast. If you don't have leftover taco meat, you can use sausage or leftover steak or pork as well. This is really a simple recipe and it is easy to use substitutions. I kind of just use whatever I have on hand. I make this for just me and my husband, so the recipe is for 2, so just double it if you're making for more than that.

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes (I used Idaho because that's what I had, you can use red)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• Diced onions
• Peppers 
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning (you could use chili powder if you don't have taco seasoning)
• 2-3 Tbsp. taco meat (or other meat)
• 2 eggs
• Cheese (I used slices of Colby jack because I don't have any shredded cheese, but again, use whatever you got)
• Hot sauce, optional

Cut potatoes into 4ths and then slice. Heat butter in skillet, add potatoes, onions and seasonings.

Stir until well coated, then cover. Cook on medium for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add taco meat and heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Cover and remove from heat.

Here's my little helper, whisking up some scrambled eggs for his breakfast.

In a different skillet, fry 2 eggs. Add cheese at the end and leave in skillet just long enough to start to melt the cheese.

Place potatoe and meat mixture in bowl, top with fried egg. We like to serve with Red Hot. Delicious!

Tufano Salsa Dip

 

 The Tufano family holds a very special place in our hearts. Lucy, Tracy and Sherrie all met the exact same day while working together at Bath and Body Works and we have been friends ever since. Lucy often had us over to her house for get togethers. She always made sure to have snacks for everyone. This salsa dip was something that we could always expect her to serve. It is something that you can throw together very quickly and it tastes SO good!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Block of Cream Cheese
• 3/4 Cup Chi-Chi's Salsa (I am usually not a stickler about brands but with this it is a MUST!)
• 1 Cup Shredded Cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)
• Tortilla Chips (my kids really like it with pretzels)

With mixer blend together cream cheese and salsa. Add in 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Blend. Pour dip into serving bowl and top with remaining cheese.

Tracy's Taco Pie

We have always called this dish "taco pie" because it is made in a pie dish,but after making it this time and actually taking a picture of it I realize that we should call it "taco pile" because it doesn't always come out looking like a pretty piece of pie.  My family doesn't care though they eat it up every time!

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Ground beef or Ground Turkey
• 1/2 cupQueso
• Taco Seasoning
• 3-4 Burrito size Flour Tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar

Toppings

• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• Tomatoes

Brown ground beef and drain.  Put back in skillet and cook with taco seasoning directions as indicated on seasoning (including water).  Once that is done add in the queso and mix well.

Preheat oven to 350.  Next, in a greased 9 inch pie plate place one of the flour tortillas.  Add a layer of ground beef and shredded cheese.  Repeat until all layers are complete.

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  Let stand for a couple minutes then serve.

We served this with the Tufano Salsa Dip and Tortilla chips.

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Crispy Crunchy Oven Baked Tacos

Tacos are a Lewis family favorite so I am always looking for a way to change them up a bit.  We generally have soft tacos so the crunchy taco variation is always my favorite!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
• 1/2  cup diced onion
• 1 small can of diced green chilies 
• 2 teaspoons of taco seasoning
• 4 oz of tomato sauce
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Refried Beans- its hard for me to gauge this one because we are not huge refried bean fans.  I would say that I used about 1/3 of a 16-ounce can
• 8-10 Crunchy Taco shells- I like the Old El Paso "stand and stuff" because they stand up on their own.

Taco Stuffers:

• More Cheddar Cheese
• Diced Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Sour Cream
• Black Olives
• Salsa

In skillet brown ground beef and onion and drain.  Next, add in green chilies, tomato sauce, refried beans, and taco seasoning.  Mix well and heat through.

Preheat oven to 400.  Fill taco shells with meat mixture, top with cheddar cheese, and place in oven safe baking dish.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Top with your favorite taco stuffers and ENJOY!  My personal favorite combination is lettuce, sour cream, salsa, and black olives!

This recipe was featured in Two Magical Moms March Menu Madness.  Check out the entire menu and try out some of our other YUMMY recipes!

Magical Mom's March Menu Madness

Now there is a tongue twister for you!  Every month I put together a menu for the following month.  It really helps me to stay organized.  I know that if I don't have something planned, we will spend way too much time (and money) trying to figure out what to have for dinner only to order take out of some sort.  Putting the menu together helps me keep track of how often we have something, but most importantly it helps me make my weekly grocery shopping list.  I challenge myself to put one new recipe in each week.  I use my friends, family, other blogs, cook books for inspiration.  Sherrie and I often bounce things off of each other.  I love that she can try a new recipe and tell me what she would do differently and vice versa.  I also like to add in a few things that I can make double of and freeze it to use for lunches, later in the month, or the following month.  I will explain my freezer cooking and preparation later.  First I gather all of my supplies to the kitchen island. I have two good old fashioned recipe boxes, a couple of cookbooks (including the latest from The Chew), my ipad, and a file folder with previous menus and ideas.  The second thing I do is ask my family for requests.  Next, I break down the main dishes into categories: Beef, Poultry, Pork, Fish, and Pasta.  Since I usually get only a few requests from my very indecisive family(another reason the menu is a must!) , I have to look back at previous menus, search the internet, talk to Sherrie (of course), and inevitably there are always a couple of things that I don't make from the prior month's menu because of scouts, sports, or other commitments.  Lastly, I just start filling in trying to make sure that like menu items are spaced apart enough.
I have included links to most of the recipes.  I will try to get caught up with the older ones and I will definitely add in the new ones along the way!

March 2013

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1	2
					Two- Step Perogies and onions, Caesar Salad	Herb Butter Steakhouse Steak, Sautéed Mushrooms, Almost Cut Potatoes, Loaded Potato Topping
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Slow Cooker Green Beans, Redskin Potatoes, and Ham	Puff & Stuff Chicken, Better than Rice-a-roni Rice Pilaf, Steamed Broccoli	Honey I ate the Pork, Disney's Ohana Maui Scalloped Potatoes	Cha Cha Chicken Tacos with Mango Tango Salsa	Aunt Betty’s Chicken Noodle Soup, Ham and Cheese Calzone x2 to Freeze)	Crab Cakes, Oven Roasted Asparagus,Lawry's Potato Squares	Best Darn Pork BBQ, Connie's Coleslaw
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Slow Cooker 8 Spice Lemon Chicken, Simple Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese	Lazy Lasagna (x2 to Freeze), Garlic Bread	Chipotle Barbacoa Bowls with Cilantro Brown Rice and Corn Salsa	Ritzy Buffalo Mac and Cheese, Veggies and Dip	Grilled Chicken, Crispy Parmesan Potatoes, Honey Grilled Pineapple	Lemon Grass Skewered Shrimp, Rosemary pull apart bread	Spicy Bacon Carbonara
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Green (Cilantro Lime) Chicken Burritos	Cindy’s Baked Spaghetti, Salad	Creamy Garlic Ranch Pork Chops and Garlic Mashed Potatoes Corn	Mushroom Swiss Burgers, Garlic Herb Potato Wedges	Chicken Bacon Ranch Pockets, Salad	Family Movie Night Cheese Pizza, Connie's Caramel Corn	Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken, Steamed Asparagus
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Spicy Italian Shredded Beef Sandwiches, Cucumber Salad	Maple Dijon Chicken, Steamed Broccoli	Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, Flattened Redskin Potatoes	Crispy Crunch Oven Baked Tacos, Creamy Corny Rice	Mouth Watering Pot Roast, Carrots, Mashed Potatoes	Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Scampi Pasta	Perfect Picnic Chicken Salad, Broccoli Cheese Soup
31 Easter
Brunch Menu Still to be Determined. Turkey Breast,  Grandma's Green Beans

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