Taco Salad

Tacos are for the most part fast, easy, and delicious. For a while we had tacos once a week because they were easy, but by the time my husband and I had filled all of the taco shells and actually sat down to eat everything was cold. So after a few months we started making taco salad and now I think I have the perfect recipe for some pretty awesome taco salad.


What you'll need...

1 lb Ground meat (Beef, Turkey, Chicken, whatever you like.)
1 1/2 Cup Corn
Peppers (1/2 of a bell pepper or 3 sweet peppers.)
Shredded Cheese (Any kind you like.)
Lettuce
Salsa
Sour Cream
Spices
Chips or Taco Shells (Something to eat the salad with.)


Before you can do anything else you need to decide what you're going to use as your "utensil". If you're going to use broken up taco shells or store bought tortilla chips then your first step is over. However, if you're going to use homemade tortilla chips from either store bought tortillas or homemade tortillas start those first.

If you make your own homemade tortillas (we do) make and cook the tortillas through in a skillet. For store bought tortillas and the completed homemade tortillas place on a dry baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven. The baking time depends on the type of tortilla. Bake until as crispy and golden brown as you would like. You can make the ships before you start the rest of the salad or during.

Now on to the actual salad. Slice the pepper or peppers of you choice to bite size pieces and set aside. Brown the ground meat in a large skillet, once it is cooked place the skillet in the oven that is already set for your tortillas (if you are not using tortillas an oven at about 200 will work) to get the meat warm.

Sautee the pepper and cook the corn. While the vegetables are cooking grate the cheese (unless you have store bought pre-shredded) and cut or pull apart the lettuce to the size of your choice. Once the peppers and corn are cooked at both to the skillet with the meat. At this time also add any spices of your choice. (Parsley, garlic powder. and crushed red pepper are our spices of choice.)

Also sprinkle all of the cheese and a few spoonfuls of salsa on top and mix all of the ingredients together. Add lettuce, sour cream, and more salsa on top before returning to the oven to melt the cheese and warm everything. (You can add the sour cream and salsa after taking the salad out of the oven if you want it them to be cold.)


After removing the finished product from the oven eat straight out of the skillet using your chips or scoop onto plates or into bowls. You can eat this with a fork if you want but the chips give it something that makes it so much better. (Chips made from homemade tortillas are the best, I've tried all of the aforementioned types of chips/taco shells.)

Enjoy!

Two Cheese, Garlic, Herb Bread-sticks.

Hey Everyone! This is the first recipe I've written, I threw some stuff together the other day and like the result. This all stemmed from grocery shopping; we were at the deli counter which is right next to the bakery and a delicious scent caught me. Well, caught my nose? I was standing next to three cheese garlic bread-sticks. My husband wanted to get them but because I like to make things from scratch I told him that I would make them at some point during the next week. I finally got around to them yesterday and they were amazing. 

Enough rambling and on to the recipe...

(Two) Cheese, Garlic, Herb Bread-sticks. 

You will need...

One packet of dry active yeast (Or 2 1/4 teaspoon is you have the jars.)

1 1/2 Cups Warm water (Use water straight from the tap, just let it heat up for about a minute.)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (I'm sure that vegetable or canola would work fine.)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt 

3 1/2 Cups Flour (All purpose or whole wheat work fine, I've never tried gluten free though.)

2 1/2 Cups Grated Cheese Divided (Any kind of cheese and as many kinds as you like.)

Garlic Powder (To taste.)

Various dried herbs (To taste.)

In a medium mixing bowl combine one packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) of dry active yeast and 1 1/2 cups of warm water, let these sit for about five minutes or until the yeast has activated. (It will look slightly foamy.) Next add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil followed by all of the dry ingredients (sugar, salt, flour.)

The cheese, garlic and herbs come next. I use sharp cheddar and mozzarella, but you can use any cheese you want. Add 2 Cups of grated cheese (you can grate it yourself or use the pre-grated stuff) and garlic powder to taste. I use just over 2 teaspoons. For the herbs use whatever you like; for our house this is basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary and even though it isn't an herb, crushed red pepper. Like I said, use whatever you like. Add the herbs and/or spices to taste, I use a sprinkle of everything.

Once everything is added to the bowl mix and knead. I do this all by hand but you could easily use a stand mixer. If kneading by hand it takes about 3-5 minutes. Knead until smooth, adding flour as needed. 

Grease bowl with either olive oil or cooking spray. Cooking spray works great and doesn't make the dough all oil, which means less of a mess on your hands later. Return dough to greased bowl and cover. Keep the dough in a warm part of the house, for me this is pretty much everywhere. (Thank you California.) Let the dough rise until doubled in size, usually about an hour, but the longer you let it rise the better it seems to taste. (If something comes up and for some reason you can't bake the dough on the same day you make it store in the fridge over night and just let it rise again before baking.)

If you are going to let the dough sit for more than an hour come back about half an hour to an hour before you want to bake the bread to pre-heat you oven to 450. You can wait until just before you bake to turn the oven on but it takes longer for the bread to bake this way.

Once the dough as doubled in size turn it out on a lightly floured surface and roll it out. I use a rolling pin but you can do this by hand just like pizza dough (which is what it is). Roll the dough until it is about an inch thick and place on a greased baking sheet. (Cooking spray is the way to go.) Once the dough is on the sheet sprinkle with olive oil and remaining cheese. 

Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes (longer if you don't pre-heat your oven). You want the cheese on top to be melted and the bread to be slightly golden brown.

Let cool slightly and cut to size, this makes about 14 bread-sticks. Serve alone or with marinara sauce and enjoy!