Substitute

I love taco Tuesday! Tonight's dinner is a recipe redo, to make it a little better and a whole lot healthier.

Instead of ground beef, I'm swapping in ground turkey. I'm also adding shredded carrots, beans and corn to the meat to boost up the nutritional value. Added bonus-using lettuce instead of taco shells!!

1 lb ground turkey
3 scallions, diced
1 c kidney beans
1 c shredded carrots
1 c corn
1/2 c cilantro
1 jalapeño diced
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp minced onion
1/2 c vegetable broth
Lettuce leaves, avocado, shredded cheese & garnishes to serve

Sauté scallions, jalapeño & carrots in pan with a bit of broth or water. Add ground turkey, cook thoroughly. Stir in beans, corn. Add broth and seasonings, heat through and combine well. Serve over lettuce leaves with garnishes.

Feliz Navidad

To make menu planning easier, and for me to keep my sanity, each day of the week has a theme-pasta Monday, chicken Thursday, international or fish Friday, and my personal favorite taco Tuesday. Tonight we are having taco tot casserole. It's cold and snowy on the plains, so this is the perfect warm you up fill your gut kind of meal. Added bonus: super quick and super easy. To make you need: 1 can creamed corn 1 c corn 1/2 c diced scallions 1 small can rotel sauce 1 1/2 lbs ground meat 1/2 c taco cheese 1 pkg taco seasoning 1 small bag tater tots Preheat oven to 375. Brown meat and add taco seasoning Put the meat in a 13x9 pan. Add the regular corn. Mix the rotel sauce and creamed corn and pour over pan. Top with shredded cheese. Layer tater tots on top. (Can be made ahead or frozen at this point) bake for 40 minutes.

Taco Tuesday: Mexican lasagna

Tortillas
Refried beans
Enchilada sauce
Shredded taco cheese
Quinoa
Vegetable broth
Taco seasoning

Cook 1 c quinoa in 2 c vegetable broth, stir in taco seasoning. Preheat oven to 375. In a baking dish, place tortillas, top with quinoa. Add tortillas, top with refried beans and sprinkle some cheese. Finish with tortillas and pour enchilada sauce over it. Sprinkle cheese, bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, salsa and diced scallions.

Taco Tuesday: Cafe Rio pork and peach cobbler

http://www.wondermomenvy.com/2009/06/cafe-rio-pork-salad-copycat-recipe.html

I love, love, love Taco Tuesday in my house! Mexican food is a close second behind chinese for a favorite cuisine. Tonight's delectable is Cafe Rio pork over cilantro lime rice.

For the pork, I am using a pork steak that I am cooking in fajita seasoning, and then dicing.

Then you add black beans, rinsed and drained and seasoned with cumin.

Then, you cook the rice. Mix it with 1 tsp lime juice and 1/2 c chopped cilantro.

Layer it in a tostada bowl: rice, beans and pork on top.

For dessert we are having peach cobbler. This is a recipe I learned at Bonneville Junior High in Home Ec (right after I learned to make green jello salad, but that's a different story)

For the cobbler, you need:
1 box cake mix
1/2 c butter, melted (I actually use 1/4 c melted mixed with the fruit juice)
1 can peaches

Preheat oven to 350. Put peaches in a greased 8x8 baking dish. Mix cake mix and butter together until it has the consistency of crumbs. Pour batter over peaches. Bake for 20 minutes and serve hot with ice cream.