Oven Tacos

A recipe my mom posted on her blog that I want to try out. It looks and sounds really good.

Oven Tacos
Copied from MommyImHungry

2 lbs ground beef (or turkey/chicken)

1 small onion diced

1 small can diced green chilies

1 recipe for Homemade taco seasoning (below)

1 (8 ounce) can low sodium tomato sauce

1 (16 ounce) can fat free refried beans

2 cups shredded reduced fat Colby-jack cheese

18-20 hard taco shells {if gluten free, be sure they are}

Optional Condiments-
Lettuce (shredded)

Tomato (diced)

Salsa

Guacamole

Sour Cream

Olives, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large skillet brown ground beef and onion over medium-high heat. Drain off any excess liquid. Return to pan, add chilies, refired beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. Mix well and cook for a few minutes if mixture seems runny.

Spoon the taco meat mixture into the taco shells and place into a 9x13 inch baking dish, standing up. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the taco meat in each shell. Place into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the tacos are heated through. Remove from the oven and top with any optional condiments for serving.

Taco Seasoning

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix all together. Store in an airtight container.

I used all of this on 2 lbs of ground meat with a little water mixed in.

We Failed but Didn't Give Up

A couple of weeks back I decided to grab the stuff to make home made salsa, along with some canning stuff to make it all last. I got it home and Sean went to work with the cutting and slicing, while I hunted down the food processor and recipe. I had gotten enough for two batches, since Sean wanted to try a recipe that he found that was a little different then the one I had used. Even after boiling it and letting it stand both batches were the most disgusting salsa we had ever tasted.

But we didn't give up. The other day we went and grab some more ingredients and went to work again. This time using different canned tomatoes, next batch will be whole tomatoes, and no Cilantro. After boiling it, we thought it tasted way better then the pervious batches, and set is aside to let it cool. While it cooled we made homemade chips out of corn tortilla, and some chicken quesadillas for lunch. (You can find the recipe we used at the bottom of the page. Don't forget to boil it for 10-15 min and let it cool.)

Sean really enjoyed it, which is kinda surprizing. Some of the things I grew up eating he can't stand but then I did change some of them and added ingredients to others that he doen't like. Like green bell peppers and onions, or anything with rice.

Homemade Salsa Recipe:

1x can of Diced Tomatoes

2x can of Rotel Tomatoes

1x Jalapeno Pepper

1x Lime (for juice)

1/4 tsp of Cumin

1/4 tsp of Salt

1. Mix ingredients together in food processor and blend to your liking.
2. Boil for 10-15 min.
3. Let site til cool.