** I'll be honest with you - this is the second time I am writing this post because of internet / computer issues and frankly, it is not going to be as funny and awesome as the first one I wrote **
I made taco soup this week, well it was suppose to be taco soup, but the pasta cooked up all the liquid and it ended up being much more like a skillet dinner and it tasted awesome, so I didn't mess with it.
For Menu Planning sake we have "Taco Tuesday". Tuesdays are a very busy day around here and I enjoy knowing that I don't have to plan something that is maybe / maybe not going to get eaten.
I think the kids like to say, "Taco Tuesday" and I really try and mix it up when we get a little tired of it. We'll have fish tacos or like here... Taco Soup.
Another thing that I Love about making Tacos is that I can totally clean out my fridge and it doesn't look like leftovers.
The corn is leftover from the vegetable at Sunday dinner, the Pepper Jack Cheese is from when we had my dad over a few weeks ago, the Olives are left from make your own pizza night, and the bell peppers are from when Joseph's parents cleaned out their fridge before they left on vacation.
It looks like I am being super detailed oriented and spent hours chopping and preparing and being all creative, but really I am just being a smart little use-it-up girl!
The only thing that I didn't have on hand was Sour Cream. But I remember that Joseph has been talking about a friend at work that puts Cottage Cheese in a blender and uses that in place of Sour Cream and Plain Yogurt. Well I did have Cottage Cheese.
Cottage Cheese + Blender = Totally Awesome! (I can't wait to make dips out of it!)
Ingredients:
1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. box pasta (I think the traditional shape is elbow, but I got all wild with it * because I didn't have elbow*)
3 cans (15.5 oz. each) mild chili beans
1 can (14.5 oz.) whole tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce (I found some cans of V8 vegetable juice on super sale and bought them, no one likes them as much as I thought, so I have been using them instead of tomato sauce)
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix
1-1/2 cups water - You can use more if you want it more "soupy"
Toppings:
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
Salsa
Lettuce
Corn
Bell Peppers
Green Onions
Olives
Sour Cream (That Wasn't Really Sour Cream)
Tortilla Chips
Pretty Much anything else you have in your fridge that you can convince your family is a topping
Directions:
Brown meat with onions in large saucepan; drain. Return meat mixture to pan.
Add all remaining ingredients except toppings; stir, breaking up tomatoes with spoon. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low heat 5 min., stirring occasionally.
Top with everything and anything!
Just because something doesn't turn out exactly like you had expected or just like the recipe says, that doesn't mean it was a failure. So many of us are terrified of getting in the kitchen and failing.
Get our there kitchen adventurers - Dinner time is coming and you have totally got This!!
