Tacos... a simple and tasty treat

The thing that I love about tacos is there are so many options. What type of meat, if you're going to use it at all, the shell, the fillings... it can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be.

Tonight's tacos started out as a desperate search for an easy dinner that wasn't going to take too long. Well, I ended up going slightly overboard (again) and I ended up with a gourmet taco that was loved by all, even my picky toddler.

For the filling, we had two options tonight: venison and black beans with tomatoes. To top them, we had cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, salsa (my favorite is Salsa So Fresh), and sour cream. Our shells tonight were corn tortillas, but not the kind that you buy prefolded and crunchy. More like the kind you get at a taco stand.

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Meat filling:

Take one pound ground meat, whatever you have on hand. Tonight I used venison, since I'm married to a sportsman. If you're using a very low fat meat like I did, you may want to add a little olive oil.

Brown the meat on medium to medium high. Add 1/4 cup or one packet taco seasoning (I used McCormick, which I buy in bulk at Costco) and 3/4 cup water and simmer until the water is gone.

That was easy! My mom has a better taco meat recipe, but this one is so easy and simple that I usually make it in lieu of my mom's taco meat!

Black beans and tomatoes:

Rinse and drain one can black beans and put in a 2 quart saucepan.

Add to that one can diced tomatoes. Set the stove to medium heat.

Add one teaspoon cumin and one teaspoon ground coriander. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper, to taste.

Bring to a simmer.

Preparing taco shells:

My husband loves corn tortillas, so that's what I usually get, although I sometimes get flour for my daughters. I still buy them prepackaged, but I'm hoping to learn to make them soon so I can start making my own from whole grains.

Flour tortillas are easy: Just microwave for about 30 seconds still in the plastic wrapping. Comes out perfect every time.

Corn tortillas require a little more effort, at least from my husband's point of view. He likes them warmed on the stove in a little oil. I just heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saute pan on medium heat. When the oil is warmed, I add the tortillas, one at a time, giving them about a minute or less on each side. I then place them on a paper towel and serve immediately.

Favorite fast & easy lunch-- Dressed Up Mac & Cheese

"MOM! I want mac and cheese!" Every day when I ask Bugs what she wants for lunch, it's mac and cheese. Every. Single. Day. Needless to say, Mom gets a little tired of mac and cheese. Not only that, it's not terribly nutritious. So today, we compromised. OK, you can't really compromise with a 2 year old. When I told her we were adding vegetables, she freaked out. "I don't like veg-a-bowls. I don't want it!" I told her she could pick them out, but her sister liked vegetables so I was going to add them. She did pick some of them out, but most of them she didn't notice or forgot that she was supposed to be mad about eating veg-a-bowls. How sneaky of me!

To make this super easy lunch, you just need a box of your favorite macaroni and cheese, 1/3 bag of mixed vegetables, and a protein of your choice. I have Annie's macaroni and cheese, which I prefer because it uses organic ingredients and I understand all the words on the ingredients list, plus it uses less butter so it's slightly less bad for you. I also used a leftover smoked sausage cut into bits for the protein. You could also use lunchmeat, tofu, hotdogs, leftover cut up chicken, or whatever else you have on hand.

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Begin by boiling 6 cups of water, with a pinch of salt, and begin making the macaroni noodles according to the instructions on the box. When there are about 3 or 4 minutes remaining in the cooking time, add the frozen vegetables and the protein, cut into bite sized pieces. Alternatively, you can cook the protein or the vegetables in the microwave.

When the noodles are done, drain them in a colander.

At this point, I scoop out some noodles and vegetables for my one year old, Roo, and let it cool off for a minute.

Now make the macaroni and cheese according to the instructions.

Serve with fruit on the side.