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Taco Stack with Black Beans and Corn Recipe

July1
Taco Stack with Black Beans and Corn Recipe
Recipe Type: Entree
Author: Reese Andrews
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 6
I used On the Boarder mild salsa for this recipe. It’s got a nice balance of spices and isn’t too hot or too vinegary. Preheat the oven while you’re browning the beef and simmer the beans while the stack cooks. Serve with jalapenos, sour cream, and avocados if you have them.
Ingredients
  • Taco Stack
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. onion powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. pepper
  • 1 small onion, chopped, divided (you’ll use half the onion with the beef, the other half with the beans)
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 – 2 t. taco seasoning (or 1 t. cumin plus 1/2 t. oregano)
  • 3/4 cup salsa, divided (you’ll use 1/4 c. with the stack, the rest with the beans)
  • 4 small flour tortillas, cut into quarters
  • 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
  • Black Beans with Corn
  • 2t. oil
  • 1/2 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 lg. can black beans, drained
  • 1 sm. can corn, drained
  • 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, not drained
  • 1/2 c. salsa
  • 1 t. cumin
  • 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped (you can even leave the stems in)
Instructions
  1. Stack:
  2. Place beef in medium saute pan
  3. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper and begin to brown beef.
  4. Just as most of the beef is no longer pink (but some of it is still pink), add 1/2 of the small, chopped onion.
  5. Cook the beef and onion until the beef is no longer pink, then add the garlic.
  6. Continuing cooking until the garlic is softened, about 3 minutes.
  7. Add the taco seasoning and cook 5 minutes on medium heat to blend flavors.
  8. Spread 1/4 cup of salsa on the bottom of a round casserole dish.
  9. Layer tortilla quarters on top of salsa to cover as much as possible. You’ll probably use 7 or 8 quarters.
  10. Spread 1/2 of the beef mixture on top of the tortillas.
  11. Sprinkle the beef mixture with 1/2 cup of cheese.
  12. Layer tortilla quarters on top of cheese to cover.
  13. Spread the remaining beef mixture on top.
  14. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the beef.
  15. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.
  16. Beans
  17. Saute the onions on medium/high heat in the oil for 3-5 minutes until softened.
  18. Add salt and pepper and garlic. Saute 3 minutes longer.
  19. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, and salsa and stir.
  20. Add the cumin and stir.
  21. Lower heat and simmer while the stack is cooking.
posted under Entrees, Recipes | No Comments »

Beef and Vegetables over Noodles recipe

June26
Beef and Vegetables over Noodles
Recipe Type: Entree
Author: Reese Andrews
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 8-10
Super simple supper with ground beef, canned vegetables, and egg noodles. YUM!
Ingredients
  • 8 oz package of egg noodles
  • 5 strips bacon
  • one onion, chopped
  • three cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 lbs. ground beef
  • one can sliced carrots, drained
  • one can kitchen sliced green beans, drained
  • one can mushrooms, drained
  • one can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • one can beef gravy PLUS half a can of water
  • salt
  • pepper
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • oregano
  • basil
  • poultry seasoning
Instructions
  1. Do NOT cook the noodles first. Wait until you’ve completed the beef and vegetables. See below.
  2. Cook the bacon in a large saute pan and remove the bacon leaving the drippings.
  3. Brown the onions in the bacon fat until they start to soften.
  4. Add the garlic.
  5. Cook for 3 minutes to release the garlic aroma.
  6. Add the ground beef and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  7. Boil the noodles in salted water according to package instructions.
  8. Cook the beef with the onions and garlic until it’s no longer pink. If you use a low-fat beef, you won’t need to drain it.
  9. Add the drained vegetables and the can of gravy to the beef mixture and stir to combine.
  10. Add the seasonings to taste. For 2 lbs. of beef, I used 2 tsp. of Worcestershire sauce, a T. of basil, 1/2 T. of oregano, and 2 T. of poultry seasoning.
  11. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered while you cook the noodles.
  12. In a large pot, bring the water for the noodles to a boil. (taste the beef mixture and adjust seasonings to your preference)
  13. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook according to package instructions. (usually 7-10 minutes)
  14. While the noodles cook, stir the beef and vegetables. If you want a thick sauce, add a T. of flour and stir constantly to thicken.
  15. Serve the beef and vegetables over the noodles.
  16. The sauce is pretty basic so offer additional seasonings such as salt and pepper, Cajun seasoning, even cheese or sour cream!
posted under Entrees, Family, Mom Stuff, Recipes, Reese Andrews, Secrets | No Comments »

I’m Gonna Write a Book

June26
Mother Necessity helps with recipes

Necessity really is the Mother of Invention in the kitchen

Not the kind of book you might expect me to write; a book about my kids, my dogs, or MacGyver. I’m gonna write a cook book.

I’m still working on the perfect title, but here are some ideas:

Crap I Found in my Pantry and Turned Into Dinner

Crap I Found in my Fridge and Turned Into Dinner

Crap I Found in my Pantry That I Put WITH the Crap I Found in my Fridge and Turned Into Dinner

Hmmm…I may have to write sequels.

Wait! NO! I GOT IT!

Desperate Dinners

That’s PERFECT! (by the way, I just put that under copyright, so don’t even try to steal it)

My cookbook, Desperate Dinners ©, will be crammed full of tasty, quick, easy pantry-purging meals that will satisfy extraordinarily picky teenagers and a husband who’ll eat anything to make you happy.

The inspiration for my new venture stemmed from my 21 years of poor planning. I know people who actually go to the grocery store WITH A LIST. Not only is it organized by aisle, it’s comprised of products they actually intend to use. I love that concept. Not enough to fully embrace it and learn the art of meal planning, but I sure do admire my BFFs who can pull it off week after week.

My romps to the grocery store typically take place AFTER one of my Desperate Dinner © nights when I have rendered the pantry and/or fridge completely devoid of anything edible. Maybe I’ll write a book called Desperate Grocery Shopping (also just copyrighted, thank you), too. It could be a prequel or a sequel, depending on how you look at it.

So, Desperate Dinners are the result of poor planning and nearly barren shelves. But as School House Rock alluded to, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.,” and, by gum, some of my most desperate dinners were my best!

Until I get my act together, however, and actually compile the recipes in some sort of book, I’m going to do my darndest to document them here. That way, when my kids say, “Hey, that was actually pretty good. You should make it again.” I won’t have to look at them with a frozen, horrified stare realizing I have no idea what ingredients I used to make it. (I have literally rummaged through the garbage before looking for the empty cans that might have gone into that night’s recipe.)

Here’s to Desperate Dinners with a nod to Mother Necessity. “Mother Necessity With her good intentions, Where would this country be Without her inventions?”

 

 

 

posted under Recipes, Reese Andrews, Secrets | No Comments »

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