Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Multipurpose Taco Meat
After 14 years of marriage I had an
epiphany while making taco meat. If you add beans it stretches the
quantity to twice as much. I will now present you with the most multipurpose, easy, budget friendly dinner of all. Get ready to save money!
Brown your beef (I'm using 3/4 of a pound), and drain the grease. Then drain one can of black beans and add to the ground beef. My beef was from the freezer and the beans were in the pantry. No shopping required!
Add 3/4 cup water...
Add 3-4 tablespoons of McCormick Taco Seasoning.
Simmer until the sauce is thick and delicious.
Here's the multipurpose part...Make it into a Burrito! Jason added salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese with a "Daddy" flour tortilla.
Or make it into taco salad! Heidi put her taco meat on a bed of corn tortilla chips with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Or make it into a taco! You can toast your taco shells in the oven using the directions on the box. It makes them so much more delicious than right out of the box! Liz is a taco purist, she added taco meat and cheese. She's often anti-vegetable. But that's okay because so am I. We get our vitamins so don't judge us!
If ground beef is $1.99/pound and a can of black beans is about $0.50-$0.79 than the beans are half the price of the meat. It may not sound like you've saved much, but if I cook Taco Meat once a week for 14 years of marriage, here's some math fun for you.
Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
3/4 lb. ground beef = 1.99*3/4 = $1.50
1 can black beans = $0.50 (thanks to the caselot sale at Smiths!)
Total = $2.00
Once a week for 14 years = $1,456
NOT Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 pound = $1.99
another pound of ground beef instead of a can of black beans = $1.99
Total = $4.00
Once a week for 14 years = $2,912
Savings = $1456 over 14 years or $104 a year
What would you do with $104? And this is just the money saved on one meal. Imagine if you had a whole collection of budget meals? Never underestimate how much you'll save by being wise for every meal.
And what if I bought dry beans and cooked them? One pound of dry beans is about a dollar and makes a huge quantity of cooked beans. I also have a recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning! Let's save those recipes for another day...
Multipurpose Taco Meat
Serves 6 (that's $0.33 per person, not including toppings)
3/4 or 1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
3/4 c. water
4 T. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or more or less depending on how hot you like it)
Extras:
Taco Shells or Flour Tortillas or Tortilla Chips
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
1. Brown and drain ground beef. Drain beans and add to beef.
2. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning (mine is McCormick, it's 3/4 c. water and 4 T. mix) and add to beef and beans. Simmer until thickened and heated through.
3. Prepare extras and serve with hot taco meat.
4. Plot how to use all your extra money...
Brown your beef (I'm using 3/4 of a pound), and drain the grease. Then drain one can of black beans and add to the ground beef. My beef was from the freezer and the beans were in the pantry. No shopping required!
Add 3/4 cup water...
Add 3-4 tablespoons of McCormick Taco Seasoning.
Simmer until the sauce is thick and delicious.
Here's the multipurpose part...Make it into a Burrito! Jason added salsa, lettuce, tomatoes and a little bit of shredded cheddar cheese with a "Daddy" flour tortilla.
Or make it into taco salad! Heidi put her taco meat on a bed of corn tortilla chips with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Or make it into a taco! You can toast your taco shells in the oven using the directions on the box. It makes them so much more delicious than right out of the box! Liz is a taco purist, she added taco meat and cheese. She's often anti-vegetable. But that's okay because so am I. We get our vitamins so don't judge us!
If ground beef is $1.99/pound and a can of black beans is about $0.50-$0.79 than the beans are half the price of the meat. It may not sound like you've saved much, but if I cook Taco Meat once a week for 14 years of marriage, here's some math fun for you.
Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
3/4 lb. ground beef = 1.99*3/4 = $1.50
1 can black beans = $0.50 (thanks to the caselot sale at Smiths!)
Total = $2.00
Once a week for 14 years = $1,456
NOT Budget Friendly Taco Meat:
1 lb. of ground beef instead of 3/4 pound = $1.99
another pound of ground beef instead of a can of black beans = $1.99
Total = $4.00
Once a week for 14 years = $2,912
Savings = $1456 over 14 years or $104 a year
What would you do with $104? And this is just the money saved on one meal. Imagine if you had a whole collection of budget meals? Never underestimate how much you'll save by being wise for every meal.
And what if I bought dry beans and cooked them? One pound of dry beans is about a dollar and makes a huge quantity of cooked beans. I also have a recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning! Let's save those recipes for another day...
Multipurpose Taco Meat
Serves 6 (that's $0.33 per person, not including toppings)
3/4 or 1 lb. ground beef
1 can black beans
3/4 c. water
4 T. McCormick Taco Seasoning (or more or less depending on how hot you like it)
Extras:
Taco Shells or Flour Tortillas or Tortilla Chips
Lettuce, chopped
Tomato, diced
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole
1. Brown and drain ground beef. Drain beans and add to beef.
2. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning (mine is McCormick, it's 3/4 c. water and 4 T. mix) and add to beef and beans. Simmer until thickened and heated through.
3. Prepare extras and serve with hot taco meat.
4. Plot how to use all your extra money...
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Strawberry Pineapple Milkshakes
We took a parenting class at church. They taught that if a kid wants to help you with a task, just let them help. It doesn't matter if you can do it faster or better. The teachers said that the time will come when they won't want to help you, so when they do you need to let them! Apparently all my kids are at the helping age because I always have helpers in the kitchen.
Yes, all the boys have knives. It worked out great. So don't be afraid!
Yikes! Be afraid!
Get your helpers to hull your strawberries. That's a fancy way of saying get rid of the leaves. Then chop up the strawberries. This recipe is perfect for kids because it doesn't matter what size they chop them up or if the dice is uneven. It's all going into the blender anyway.
Add sugar to your strawberries and mix. I added about 1/4 cup to 3 or 4 cups diced strawberries.
Taste test it if you want! Then let it sit in your refrigerator for about an hour.
On to the pineapple! Pineapples are in season right now. If you can't find a ripe pineapple and your pineapple is still pretty green, you'll want it to ripen on your counter for a day or two. You know a pineapple is ripe when the bottom smells like a delicious pineapple and it has a nice yellow tint to it.
This pineapple is perfectly ripe. Let's cut it up! I had my helpers watch since I used a BIG knife. Safety first! Cut off the pineapple's top and bottom.
Then slice off the outside inedible layer.
Poor pineapple! You're no match for my big knife!
Cut the pineapple into four long spears.
Then cut the core out of each spear. I know it looks like I'm about to slice off my knuckle. I didn't. And Steve was a great cameraman!
Then slice each spear into two or three long spears.
Next, cut each spear into 1" chunks.
After an hour in the fridge, check out your strawberries! See that juice at the bottom?
The sugar combined with the strawberries to make a delicious strawberry juice. These strawberries are perfect for strawberry shortcake (but that's a different recipe).
Add some of the strawberries and juice, and some pineapple to the blender and mix until it is creamy. Add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream and mix it up. You're done! I fed this to my family after a hard day's work in the yard. They said it was the best smoothie they ever had. Since it's actually a milkshake I don't know how to take that... They said I was the best mom in the world so if you want some appreciation, this is the recipe for you.
Strawberry Pineapple Milkshakes
Serves 3-6
2 pints of strawberries
1 pineapple
1/4 c. sugar
several scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
1. Hull and chop strawberries. Mix with sugar (about 1/4 cup sugar for every 3-4 cups strawberries). Let sit in the refrigerator for one hour.
2. Chop pineapple.
3. Add strawberries and juice, and pineapple to a blender and mix well. Add several scoops of ice cream. Serve and bask in the glory of your admiring fans!
And remember, a pineapple should never touch human skin:
Yes, all the boys have knives. It worked out great. So don't be afraid!
Yikes! Be afraid!
Get your helpers to hull your strawberries. That's a fancy way of saying get rid of the leaves. Then chop up the strawberries. This recipe is perfect for kids because it doesn't matter what size they chop them up or if the dice is uneven. It's all going into the blender anyway.
Add sugar to your strawberries and mix. I added about 1/4 cup to 3 or 4 cups diced strawberries.
Taste test it if you want! Then let it sit in your refrigerator for about an hour.
On to the pineapple! Pineapples are in season right now. If you can't find a ripe pineapple and your pineapple is still pretty green, you'll want it to ripen on your counter for a day or two. You know a pineapple is ripe when the bottom smells like a delicious pineapple and it has a nice yellow tint to it.
This pineapple is perfectly ripe. Let's cut it up! I had my helpers watch since I used a BIG knife. Safety first! Cut off the pineapple's top and bottom.
Then slice off the outside inedible layer.
Poor pineapple! You're no match for my big knife!
Cut the pineapple into four long spears.
Then cut the core out of each spear. I know it looks like I'm about to slice off my knuckle. I didn't. And Steve was a great cameraman!
Then slice each spear into two or three long spears.
Next, cut each spear into 1" chunks.
After an hour in the fridge, check out your strawberries! See that juice at the bottom?
The sugar combined with the strawberries to make a delicious strawberry juice. These strawberries are perfect for strawberry shortcake (but that's a different recipe).
Add some of the strawberries and juice, and some pineapple to the blender and mix until it is creamy. Add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream and mix it up. You're done! I fed this to my family after a hard day's work in the yard. They said it was the best smoothie they ever had. Since it's actually a milkshake I don't know how to take that... They said I was the best mom in the world so if you want some appreciation, this is the recipe for you.
Strawberry Pineapple Milkshakes
Serves 3-6
2 pints of strawberries
1 pineapple
1/4 c. sugar
several scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
1. Hull and chop strawberries. Mix with sugar (about 1/4 cup sugar for every 3-4 cups strawberries). Let sit in the refrigerator for one hour.
2. Chop pineapple.
3. Add strawberries and juice, and pineapple to a blender and mix well. Add several scoops of ice cream. Serve and bask in the glory of your admiring fans!
And remember, a pineapple should never touch human skin:
Easy Fajitas
This recipe is fast, easy and cheap. It was invented by my Mom, and I tweaked it a little bit. Time to get New Mexican for dinner!
I mentioned before that I almost never cook with fresh meat, it's usually frozen. For chicken, I like to buy 10 lb. bags of frozen chicken breasts from CostCo. These are boneless and skinless and cost $2/lb, or $20 for the whole bag. This is a great price for NM stores and it means I always have frozen chicken in my freezer.
Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, you'll need 2 or 3 or 4 chicken breasts. It really depends on how much meat vs. vegetables you want. I like a 50-50 mix. Put your chicken breasts on a plate and thaw in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You may want to flip them over halfway to help them thaw evenly.
While you're waiting for your chicken to defrost, slice up 1 yellow onion, 1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper. The onion and green pepper are both very affordable. The red on is the more expensive item in this recipe. If you don't want to pay twice as much for the red pepper as the green pepper, you can substitute a green pepper for the red pepper. I usually see green peppers for 50 cents, and red peppers for $1.69. A great sale price for a red pepper is usually $1 or less in NM.
This recipe is also a great freezer meal. If you see red and green peppers on sale, buy several. Slice them up and put each one in a sandwich baggie. With frozen chicken and peppers, half your meal is ready in the freezer anytime you feel like fajitas.
Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a skillet and heat to medium high or high. When it is hot add all three vegetables (frozen or fresh) to a skillet and saute in oil until caramelized and tender. Here is how they look when you start sauteing. If it looks dry in the pan just add in some more oil by the tablespoon. Stir the vegetables occasionally so they won't burn. Slice up your chicken while your vegetables are cooking.
Here is a picture when they are done. You can see a little bit of char on the peppers and the onions are light brown.
Remove the vegetables from the pan, add some more oil and then add the chicken. Some of that caramelized goodness will still be on the bottom of the pan so just stir around the chicken and it will pick it up and flavor the chicken. Sometimes frozen chicken lets off a lot of moisture. If you have a lot of moisture in the bottom of the pan, take a paper towel and soak it up (just like soaking up hamburger grease in the previous post). When the chicken is just done, add about a cup of your favorite salsa.
Let it cook for a minute or two at a simmer to thicken the salsa and coat the chicken. Use a salsa you really like since the flavor will condense. If you have people in your family that don't like a lot of spice, use a milder salsa. You can also use less salsa, or none. Then other people in the family can just add salsa to their finished fajita. We like it mildly spicy so 1 cup of a medium salsa pleases everyone in my house.
Then add the vegetables back in until they reheat. Time for fajitas!
There are three kinds of flour tortillas. Let's call them Daddy, Mommy and baby. Daddy size (also known as "Burrito") and Mommy size ("Homestyle") are great for this recipe. Baby size ("Gorditas") are a little too small for this recipe, but would still be delicious.
Warm your tortillas in the microwave until heated through. When top with your chicken mixture, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole and/or more salsa.
Let's have a fajita folding lesson! Fold up the bottom (to catch the deliciousness, you don't want that goodness dripping on your plate, then you have to lick your plate like Jason).
Then fold one side...
Then the other! How easy is that?
Now who can tell me the NM state question?
Easy Fajitas
Serves 4-6
2-4 chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut in strips
1 red pepper, cut in strips
1 cup salsa
6 tortillas
Toppings:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese
Guacamole
1. Defrost chicken breasts. Cut vegetables.
2. Heat oil in a skillet to medium high or high. Saute vegetables until tender and caramelized. Remove vegetables to a bowl.
3. Cook chicken until just done. If there is a pool of liquid in the pan, drain it or soak it up with a paper towel.
4. Add salsa and simmer for a minute or two until salsa is thickened and reduced slightly.
5. Add vegetables back to pan until heated through. Serve with warm tortillas and toppings.
I mentioned before that I almost never cook with fresh meat, it's usually frozen. For chicken, I like to buy 10 lb. bags of frozen chicken breasts from CostCo. These are boneless and skinless and cost $2/lb, or $20 for the whole bag. This is a great price for NM stores and it means I always have frozen chicken in my freezer.
Depending on the size of the chicken breasts, you'll need 2 or 3 or 4 chicken breasts. It really depends on how much meat vs. vegetables you want. I like a 50-50 mix. Put your chicken breasts on a plate and thaw in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You may want to flip them over halfway to help them thaw evenly.
While you're waiting for your chicken to defrost, slice up 1 yellow onion, 1 green bell pepper and 1 red bell pepper. The onion and green pepper are both very affordable. The red on is the more expensive item in this recipe. If you don't want to pay twice as much for the red pepper as the green pepper, you can substitute a green pepper for the red pepper. I usually see green peppers for 50 cents, and red peppers for $1.69. A great sale price for a red pepper is usually $1 or less in NM.
This recipe is also a great freezer meal. If you see red and green peppers on sale, buy several. Slice them up and put each one in a sandwich baggie. With frozen chicken and peppers, half your meal is ready in the freezer anytime you feel like fajitas.
Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a skillet and heat to medium high or high. When it is hot add all three vegetables (frozen or fresh) to a skillet and saute in oil until caramelized and tender. Here is how they look when you start sauteing. If it looks dry in the pan just add in some more oil by the tablespoon. Stir the vegetables occasionally so they won't burn. Slice up your chicken while your vegetables are cooking.
Here is a picture when they are done. You can see a little bit of char on the peppers and the onions are light brown.
Remove the vegetables from the pan, add some more oil and then add the chicken. Some of that caramelized goodness will still be on the bottom of the pan so just stir around the chicken and it will pick it up and flavor the chicken. Sometimes frozen chicken lets off a lot of moisture. If you have a lot of moisture in the bottom of the pan, take a paper towel and soak it up (just like soaking up hamburger grease in the previous post). When the chicken is just done, add about a cup of your favorite salsa.
Let it cook for a minute or two at a simmer to thicken the salsa and coat the chicken. Use a salsa you really like since the flavor will condense. If you have people in your family that don't like a lot of spice, use a milder salsa. You can also use less salsa, or none. Then other people in the family can just add salsa to their finished fajita. We like it mildly spicy so 1 cup of a medium salsa pleases everyone in my house.
Then add the vegetables back in until they reheat. Time for fajitas!
There are three kinds of flour tortillas. Let's call them Daddy, Mommy and baby. Daddy size (also known as "Burrito") and Mommy size ("Homestyle") are great for this recipe. Baby size ("Gorditas") are a little too small for this recipe, but would still be delicious.
Warm your tortillas in the microwave until heated through. When top with your chicken mixture, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole and/or more salsa.
Let's have a fajita folding lesson! Fold up the bottom (to catch the deliciousness, you don't want that goodness dripping on your plate, then you have to lick your plate like Jason).
Then fold one side...
Then the other! How easy is that?
Now who can tell me the NM state question?
Easy Fajitas
Serves 4-6
2-4 chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 green pepper, cut in strips
1 red pepper, cut in strips
1 cup salsa
6 tortillas
Toppings:
Salsa
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese
Guacamole
1. Defrost chicken breasts. Cut vegetables.
2. Heat oil in a skillet to medium high or high. Saute vegetables until tender and caramelized. Remove vegetables to a bowl.
3. Cook chicken until just done. If there is a pool of liquid in the pan, drain it or soak it up with a paper towel.
4. Add salsa and simmer for a minute or two until salsa is thickened and reduced slightly.
5. Add vegetables back to pan until heated through. Serve with warm tortillas and toppings.
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