Taco Tuesday: Taco Lasagna

Okay, it's Tuesday again. That means we're having a taco inspired dinner in our home. We could probably live off of tacos, but I like a little variety. So, I limit my sons taco time.

Today, I'm bringing back a favorite from my now complete, 100 Days of Pinterest challenge. It's a super easy dish that is worth the effort. It's Taco Lasagna!  It's REALLY good. I'm telling you, write the ingredients down and go to the store right now. It's going to become a favorite.

Let's keep it short and sweet today. We've been having unseasonably cool temperatures in Ohio these past few weeks and I want to get outside for some fresh air. Here's the recipe.

Taco Lasagna

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey or beef
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup water
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Stir in black beans and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
2. Place two tortillas in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Spread with half of the refried beans and beef mixture; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese.
3. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Yield: 9 servings.

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Yeah, it's that simple and well worth it. 

Since you all know I have Taco Tuesday in my home,  I'd love to hear what you have going on in your home! Email, Facebook, or Twitter with your weekly meal favorites. 

As always...

take care!

NB

Taco Tuesday: Egg Roll Taco

We love taco nights in our house. That being said, I found a great recipe on Pinterest for Egg Roll Tacos. These things are fabulous and a nice little change from the regular old taco shells. 

Here's how to make them:

 Taco Egg Rolls

Originally posted on awkwardkitchenette.com

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
8-10 egg roll wrappers
1 package Mexican shredded cheese



Step 1: Brown and drain ground beef.

Step 2: Season according to taco seasoning instructions.

Step 3: Turn off heat, and mix in shredded cheese with taco meat.

Step 4: Fill egg roll wrappers.

Step 5: Brush egg rolls with olive oil. 

Step 6: Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, flipping egg rolls at 8 minutes.

Step 7: Serve hot with sour cream!

These things are really good! I think you could even add some re-fried beans and other diced up veggies to really make these things plump. I want to try adding a little rice the next time around. 

Do you have an amazing taco Tuesday recipe to share? I'd love to give it a try. 

As always, thanks for reading.

Take care,
NB 

100 Days of Pinterest: Day 84 - Homemade Tortillas

The fourth of July weekend went as fast as it came. It was a whirlwind of projects and painting. My husband and I finally painted our bedroom. We officially have a grown-up looking room. It was this Easter egg purple that drove me nuts and now it's a rich, warm, burgundy color. MUCH better.

My husband also re-purposed and antique dresser we purchased off of one of those Facebook rummage sale sites. It went from old to new in less than a week. I'll post pics of it in my next post. Today, I'm stuck on the couch. I did something to my back and I can barely walk. Oh the life of a 35 year-old!

This weekend, I worked on some more food pins. Since I have become a foodie (or maybe I've always been one, but just didn't know it), I have been searching Pinterest for recipes that fit my finicky eaters requests. Of course, since we have taco Tuesdays it only made sense to make homemade tortillas for our taco night. The recipe I found, which was originally posted on The Cafe Sucre Farine (thecafesucrefarine.com), was so simple and turned out much better than the store bought, processed discs of flour that I normally have been buying. I couldn't keep my guys from eating them. My oldest son's friend loved them too. He said they were good without anything on them. They are!

If you're like my family and love bread and tortillas, then I suggest you give these a try for your taco night. The recipe makes 16 tortillas and can be easily made in a few hours. If you start them around lunch time, they'll be more than ready for dinner.

Here's the recipe:

BEST EVER! HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

1 hour

These are so simple and unbelievably delicious!

Author: Chris Scheuer - http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2013/08/best-ever-homemade-flour-tortillas/

Recipe type: Bread

Cuisine: International

Serves: 16

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup warm water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the dough hook attached mix dry ingredients until well combined. Add oil and water with mixer running at a medium speed. Mix for 1 minute, stopping several times to scrape the sides of the bowl. After about 1 minute, or when mixture comes together and begins to form a ball, decrease mixing speed to low. Continue to mix for 1 minute or until dough is smooth.
2. Transfer from mixing bowl to a well-floured work surface. Divide dough in half, then in half again. Continue until you have 16 fairly equal portions. Form each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand as much as possible. If dough is sticky, use a bit more flour. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes before proceeding.
3. After rest period, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Roll each dough piece into a rough circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, keep work surface and rolling pin lightly floured. Don’t stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other or they will get soggy.
4. When pan is very hot, place one dough circle into pan and allow to cook about 1 minute or until bottom surface has a few pale brown spots. The uncooked surface will begin to show a few little bubbles. If tortilla is browning too fast, reduced heat a bit. If it’s taking longer than a minute to see a few pale golden brown spots on underside of tortillas, increase heat a bit. Flip to other side and cook for about 30 seconds. You want the tortilla to be soft but have a few small pale golden brown spots on surface. Remove from pan with tongs and stack in a covered container or zippered bag till all tortillas are cooked. This will keep them soft and pliable.
5. Wipe out the pan in between tortillas if flour is started to accumulate.
6. Serve warm or allow to cool for later use. When ready to use, place a slightly damp paper towel in the bottom of a container (with a cover) that will hold the stacked tortillas. Microwave, uncovered for 15-25 seconds (start with 15) or until warm, then cover to hold heat while serving.
7. The tortillas will keep well stored in an airtight container or zippered bag at at room temperature for 24 hours or can be frozen indefinitely. To freeze, separate tortillas with parchment paper or waxed paper and place in a zippered bag before placing in freezer.

That's it! Simple enough, right?  I think you'll love these as much as I do. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can knead these by hand. It will just take a bit longer. I'd love to see more recipes for homemade tortillas. These claim to be the best, but are they?  You let me know.

Thanks for reading!

Take care,
NB

100 Days of Pinterest: Days 24-26 - Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells Recipe

I know. I slacked this weekend. I just had to get my garden going. I did follow through each day and do at least one Pinterest challenge for the day. My husband even did one too. He re-purposed a skid into a wall-mount wine rack for our kitchen. He even stained it a reddish color, because I love red! Above is a pic of his little bit of awesomeness he created.

I didn't have enough wine to fill it up with, so I improvised with some pictures of my sons and some decorative glass. I am one of those women who LOVES glass. I have some in every single room in our home. If I find a unique piece at a garage sale or auction I buy it (as long as it's not pricey and is unique).

As for my Pinterest attempts this past weekend, I found some delicious winners. Here's what I tried.

Saturday:

 I made Easy Pepperoni Calzones.  These things were awesome. I didn't just make pepperoni ones either. I made a few ham, cheese, and green pepper ones too. They did not last long. I had a little extra dough as well, so I rolled up some pepperoni bread sticks. As you can see from the pic on the right, I also sprinkled them with a little parmesan for that added flavor. They were really good and super easy to make. I just flattened the dough into an oblong shape, laid pepperonis down the middle and then twisted it up. Of course, you'll need to pinch the dough together to keep it from coming apart. They're good and you could basically put any meat or cheese that you want into them.

Sunday:

Beef Teriyaki Sticks and Homemade Teriyaki Sauce were on the menu for Sunday. Since my husband has a cold and I didn't feel like firing the grill up without him, I decided to make the beef sticks inside and cook them under the broiler. It only took about three minutes under the broiler before they were ready. When they came out I brushed them with some of the Homemade Teriyaki Sauce and sprinkled a little Smoked Hickory Salt on them. My youngest son saw them and grabbed one right up. He loved them and expects me to make these again in the future. I paired the beef sticks with some of my favorite, Basmati rice. This was a good one, but I think next time I'll marinate the beef in the teriyaki sauce before I cook them.

Monday:

 Monday night's meal was by far my favorite one so far. I made the Taco-Stuffed Pasta Shells.  If you haven't figured it out yet, Mexican food is my favorite! I love it. I could eat it every single day. These shells were so simple to make. I started off by browning a pound of ground chicken. Like I said, I don't rely purely on beef. Plus, the ground chicken was on markdown. The cheaper the better and who likes to see a good chicken go to waste? Not me! After I combined the bean, chicken, and cheese mixture I diced up some cilantro and added it to the salsa. Cilantro is a magical Mexican food herb that is a must! It's great added to salsa.  I followed the rest of the recipe as it was and these suckers came out SO good. I whipped up a batch of rice with Red Gold tomato sauce, some fresh cilantro, and some ground cumin to pair along with it. What?! Rice again? Yep. I liked this one so much I added the recipe from Somewhat Simple's website below.

Taco-Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients:

• 1 box of dried jumbo pasta shells, cooked according to package directions, rinsed and drained
• 1 pound ground beef, turkey, or chicken
• 1 package (1.25 ounces) Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1 can (16-ounce) can refried beans
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese – divided
• 1 jar chunky salsa – divided
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• Sour cream (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spread 1/4 cup salsa over bottom of casserole dish.
   
2. Cook beef in large skillet until brown; drain.
   
3. Add seasoning mix and water; cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until thickened.
   
4. Add beans and 3/4 cup cheese; mix well.
   
5. Fill pasta shells with beef mixture; place on baking dish, filled side up.
   
6. Spoon remaining salsa over shells; top with remaining cheese.
7. Cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with green onions and remaining cheese. Serve with sour cream.

I did not need to make the whole box for a family of four. Especially since I added a rice side dish. You'll have to figure out how many each person will eat and then make a few extra. If you have a large family, make the whole freakin' box, plus some. I ended up refrigerating about six leftover shells. Can't wait to see how they taste for lunch this week.

To end my post I want to welcome my new Ninja Ultima Blender to the family. I have been in search of a blender that can keep up with my family and I feel confident that the Ninja Ultima can do just that. Not only does this thing blend, it can also puree, grind meat, grate cheese, mix cake batter, and many other things. The Ninja will come in handy with my Pinterest challenges and I can't wait to put it to work. We broke it in today by making some mango, orange, and peach smoothies. This thing is amazing. It crushed the ice so perfectly. So, if you're looking for a kitchen item that can do more than just blend, you need to look into the Ninja Ultima Blender. I love this thing!

Find me on Pinterest: Woman in the Man Cave


Take care!

NB

100 Days of Pinterest: Days 11-14 - Taco Lasagna

Okay, I know I've slacked on posting lately. The weather has been so nice I've been keeping busy outside and in the garage. I'm a clean freak, so I had to get my clean on.

Since I have to play catch-up with my Pinterest challenge posts, I'm going to give a basic rundown of everything I've done. If you want to see the challenges I've completed, stop by my 100 Days of Pinterest board and check them out.

Saturday, I worked on cleaning up an old window frame my friend gave me. I'm going to use it in my flower garden. I'll post pics of that one once it's flower time. I'm also working on making some crates that an awesome woman named Michelle from Stillwater Technologies Inc. gave me after I posted a request on Craigslist.

On Sunday, I made some Queso Blanco Dip. In the process of making this dip I sliced a chunk of my hand. Funny part about this was I had told my oldest son that he can't touch my new knife, because it's incredibly sharp and could cut his finger off. Fifteen minutes later, I'm cutting an onion in the completely incorrect manner and it slides right into the base of my thumb. Pinterest Challenge 1 - Me 0

My husband made a few shelves from skids. We are going to use one for a wine rack and one for pictures. They turned out really neat and once those are hung I'll be sure to post a pic of them.

Monday, I made what I consider our favorite Pinterest attempt yet. It's a Taco Lasagna and it's a definite must try! It was easy, affordable, and a nice twist on lasagna. The recipe called for beef, but I like to switch out beef for turkey whenever I make tacos. I think it's because when taco seasoning is used, you really can't tell the difference and it's a healthier option. Also, I found organic black beans and I used organic onions and green peppers. Might as well make it as healthy as possible. I love this one so much, I'm including the recipe in this post. However, you can find it on my Pinterest page too. Visit the Woman in the Man Cave Pinterest page and follow along. You can suggest pins to try as well. 

9 ServingsPrep: 20 min. Bake: 25 min.  Recipe originally posted on: tasteofhome.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup water (add more as needed)
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
• 6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
• 1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
• 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend

     DIRECTIONS:

• In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for minutes. Stir in black beans and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.      

•   Place two tortillas in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Spread with half of the refried beans and beef mixture; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese.

• Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Yield: 9 servings. 

 When it came to spreading the refried beans on the tortillas, I went ahead and spread it onto them before I put them into the dish. I think it was easier than sticking them into the 13x9 first. I also did not put half the can of refried beans on each layer. I put just enough to have a nice coating. Also, once the dish was done cooking, I removed the aluminum foil and then put it back in for five minutes to crisp the top level tortillas a bit. As for the Mexican diced tomatoes, I used the Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice and Cilantro for a little added flavor, but you can flavor it up the way you want. This is one of those dishes you can make and not worry about messing up.

As for today's challenge I made some of the 15 Minute Donuts from scratch for dessert. I did not end up with perfect little donut circles like the Pinterest challenge shows, but they did taste pretty good and were an easy recipe to throw together. Certainly worth a try!

Okay, I think that's enough for now. I hope you give the Taco Lasagna a try, because it's amazing. If you do try it stop back by and let me know how you liked it.


Take care!

NB