Taco Puffs

I'm not really sure what else to call these. A coworker and I were sharing recipes and she said these are how she usually uses up leftover taco meat. Now, I know it sounds ridiculous to have leftover taco meat and want something that isn't just more tacos, but for me it happens because I run out of taco ingredients at different paces, and meat seems to always be last.

My instructions on these weren't incredibly specific, but they are very simple, so I managed and they were pretty tasty. Jeff said he would be fine for these as a regular means of using up excess taco meat, so I consider that a win. He also said "Plus they're a different shape, so I like them." So, there's that. No, I did not have more clarity on what they were a different shape than. Than tacos? Than each other? We will have to live our lives with this mystery.

The cheese residue that would get stuck on my hands when I reached into the bag tended to make it hard to pinch the crescent roll seams closed, but I just kept a paper towel handy and wiped the residue off between the cheese and pinch steps.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
-Taco Meat (If you don't have any already prepared, I'd make some with ground beef and taco seasoning. Follow the instructions on the seasoning, but I doubt you'll use all the meat)
-Shredded Mexican Cheese
-Crescent Rolls (I used 2 rolls and had 3 left from about 1/2 a pound of leftover meat)

Directions:
-If the meat is not already prepared, do that. Follow the instructions on the back of the seasoning packet.
-Preheat oven according to the crescent roll instructions (mine were 375)
-Unroll the dough and separate the rolls. Put a little spoonful on each at the widest area and top with a little pinch of cheese.
-Seal the roll by pinching edges together in any way you can. I got creative with some of mine and they were all kinds of goofy shapes. The important part is to seal all openings as best you can.
-Place the sealed puffs on a baking sheet and bake according to roll instructions (mine said 10-12 minutes and were done at the 10)

Taco Salad

For the first several years of my life (well into high school) I was not able to eat lettuce.
No, wait, let me be more specific: I was physically capable of eating lettuce, but the act of doing so filled me with an unmatchable disgust. I was able to detect the tiniest speck of lettuce in my food, and I had the immediate reaction of spitting out the entire bite onto my plate. My parents thought this was gross and awful, but it was how it was.

Sometime during my senior year of high school, I decided to try to lose weight and eat healthier. I knew that my meal choices were limited unless I decided to get over this thing with lettuce, because it's super easy to make or order a salad (though I know several restaurants have managed to make them unhealthy, but that's a different matter). Right around when I first made this decision, my sister brought this taco salad to a family gathering. I tried it, and I loved it immediately. It was my gateway salad and thanks to it, I am able to eat some green leafy things (though not many... let's not go nuts here).

Sometimes at restaurants I will see salads on the menu that are similar to this one, and every time I order one, I am stunned when the server asks me what kind of dressing I'd like. There is a solid moment every time in which I stare at them with a completely confused look on my face and don't say anything, then ask them what they have, and choose something that sounds vinaigrette-y, but request it on the side. When the salad comes, I just remove the dressing cup and ignore it completely.
With the salsa and sour cream mixing together in this salad, you really don't need a dressing. It's delicious just how it is.

You can make this salad in varying levels of "completeness" depending on where you are eating it and how much you think will be gone in a sitting. If you are taking it to an event and expect it all to be eaten, mix everything together really well in a bowl and leave it for guests to help themselves.
However, if you're making it at home or expect there will be leftovers, only mix the romaine, beans, and corn into the salad bowl. After that, serve the other mix ins separately and allow each person to make their own. The salad can't be kept once the salsa is mixed in with it, and the chips just get pretty gross after sitting in it for a while.


Ingredients: (they're approximate because I usually just make my own personal bowl, so feel free to play around with it until you like what you have)
-Head of Romaine Lettuce (or bag if you don't feel like cutting it up)
-Can of Black Beans
-Can of Corn
-Tortilla Chips
-1/2 jar Salsa
-8 oz Sour Cream
-Shredded Mexican Cheese
-Optional: Cook some chicken or steak with taco seasoning to put on top

Directions:
1) If adding meat, prepare as desired. I usually cut up chicken breasts into cubes then cook them with taco seasoning.
2) Rinse and chop romaine and put in salad bowl
3) Drain cans of beans and corn, then add to salad bowl and mix well
 - here's where you stop and put everything on the table buffet style if you want to keep any -
4) Crumble tortilla chips into bowl
5) Add salsa and sour cream, then top with cheese
6) Mix well and enjoy

Taco Pie

When I told a coworker about our schedule change and need for more meal ideas, she responded with "Ooh, you should make taco pie! The recipe's actually called 'Impossibly Easy Taco Pie,' and trust me, if I can make it, you can make it!"
I admit I was at least slightly insulted because I'd only said "I need ideas for what to eat," not "I need to eat, but food is hard!" However, I got over it because "taco pie" sounds delicious.

I found it on the Betty Crocker website and, when I saw the ingredients, I had to categorize this in my group of "foods I have no problem serving my family and enjoy myself, but would not ever make to impress anyone." It is definitely impossibly easy; it is seasoned ground beef, Bisquick, and some tomatoes and chiles, but the result is not going to make your snooty mother-in-law believe you have become a domestic goddess.

First off, I completely removed the tomatoes and chiles for ours because eeeeew. Jeff made up for this by topping his servings with salsa which I consider a completely satisfying compromise, but I don't like these things in my food, so I don't know if people who do would still find it lacking. I also cut all of the cooking times down by a minute or two because our oven cooks hot, but I haven't figured out by how much, so rather than decreasing the temp I've usually just made a point to decrease cook time. I think it was still in a little too long for the first time (before adding cheese) but it wasn't burnt, so that's fine.

 

The end result was very tasty. I added a dollop of sour cream to mine and, as I said, Jeff put salsa on his. We only had two small slices leftover even though it said it was supposed to feed six, so I think if you were feeding a group you'd need two pies, or some side dishes so they could handle smaller portions. I also am not totally sold on pouring Bisquick over ground beef as a meal. I guess I'd rather take a page out of Jeff's book and have more "from scratch" steps because the Bisquick definitely feels like a cop out. Maybe I'll try a variety next time that uses Jeff's biscuit recipe and his homemade taco seasoning.

Recipe from the Betty Crocker website

-Aly