Everyone's Favorite Tex Mex Dish

For some reason, in my family, everyone loves Mexican food...well, it's probably Tex Mex in reality, but I don't know exactly what qualifies each. A few months ago, I had some taco seasoning and a bunch of ground beef, but no taco shells and no corn chips on hand (one of which is necessary for either tacos or taco salad), so I came up with something new that turned out to be one of my and my husband's favorite meals. I don't have an exact recipe, because I tend to use what I have on hand, but here's a general idea of what goes into this dish.

3/4 to 1 lb of ground beef, browned
1/2 of a 15 oz. can of crushed or diced tomatoes w/juice
2 cups frozen or canned corn (drain if using canned; thaw if using frozen)
1 1/2 cups rice, cooked (we like brown rice here; it's healthier)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup cooked beans, drained (I really like black beans in this)
LOTS of cheese (hey, we're from Wisconsin; it's a staple here)

(NOTE: We have little kids and somewhat picky adults, so we leave out peppers, onions, and green chilies in ours; feel free to accent your dish with these as you wish.)

Mix everything except the cheese together. Then shred the cheese (use 6-8 ounces). Mix in half the cheese with the rest of the mixture and sprinkle the other half on top when you're ready to bake it. I usually  bake mine at 350 degrees, uncovered) for about 20-25 minutes, or until it's a little bubbly, slightly brown. I usually bake mine in this old, vintage looking pyrex dish that I'm crazy about (It looks to be about 4-6 quarts; I'm not good at estimating, and I'm no chef).

Some variations: Use a whole can of tomatoes for a more "soupy" consistency and use this as filling in a whole wheat tortilla, rolled up. Use no meat and more beans for a vegetarian version. Of course, feel free to add onions, peppers, green chilies, salsa, less cheese (what??). Serve it with corn chips and sour cream.

This is a super easy meal to throw together, especially if you cook up a whole bunch of ground beef ahead of time and keep it frozen in 1/2 to 1 lb. increments. I'm always looking for fast, easy, cheap, kid-friendly meals for my family, especially those using ingredients we can find at Aldi grocery store (that really cheap place where you can find most things, but not everything--no whole wheat tortillas or brown rice here).

Newest Obsession

Mmm! I totally love rice crispie treats, and I think it's the marshmallow flavor I love best. I don't really understand how marshmallows have a distinct flavor all their own, being mostly just sugar, but I love the smell, taste, and texture of them. Anyway, I discovered a new way to make single servings of rice crispie treats that require so little work, and I'm just thinking that it's such an obvious thing that I wish I'd thought of it myself. I read about it here, and thought to myself, I must bookmark this page because this is something I must try.

All I do is take a handful (read: LARGE handful) of marshmallows, any size, and a pat of butter and stick them in the microwave until the marshmallows get all big and puffy and the butter is melted. Then I stir in the rice crispies until it looks about the right consistency. Then, if I can stand it, I let the mixture sit for a few minutes to solidify more and then chow! I haven't revealed this newfangled thing to the girls yet, because I'm not quite sure I'm willing to share it yet. I know they'd love it.

Gooey Goodness!

Fun Backyard Finds

Here’s a couple of pictures of things the girls and I discovered in our yard.

Onion Breath B & B Pickles

Our cucumber plants are pretty much exploding with fruit, so I finally had to find a decent refrigerator pickle recipe in order to use them up, and found one on Cooks.com that I tweaked a little. I knew my husband and I both loved bread and butter pickles, so I finally found one that sounded good. And I got to use up some green peppers from our garden as well. Jake’s the only who eats them in our family, and we’ve got tons growing. So here’s what I did:

These keep for a long time in the fridge, but I don't think they'll last that long.

12 cukes
2 onions, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced into strips
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. turmeric
3 c. vinegar
1 tsp. mustard seed
2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. salt
Put 2 tablespoons of salt over sliced pickles. Let stand 1 hour, drain. Combine vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed, salt and turmeric. Bring to boil. Cool and pour over cucumbers, onions, and peppers that have been layered in jars. Refrigerate. Let stand 1 week before serving.
Oh my, these are superb, especially if you like a little kick in your pickles. Next time I might add just a little more sugar, but I don’t know. I don’t really like sweet pickles, but these could you just a little more…maybe. Oh, but they’re awesome! However, Naomi says they’re too sweet for her; she likes dill pickles instead. So, maybe they don’t need more sugar. And maybe I need to make bunch of dill pickles. How I wish I had lots of jars so my fridge isn’t overloaded.

Hillbilly Muffins

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon this great website called Hillbilly Housewife…great name, I know. While I haven’t explored the whole site, I have found a number of useful recipes from their vast collection of quick, easy, and inexpensive meals and treats. There are some really cool things like how to make your own “convenience foods,” like hot cocoa mix, rice blends, baking mixes, etc. As outrageous as it sounds, there are also two separate one-week menus, complete with recipes for a family of 4; one is for $45 for the whole week for everything, and the other is $70, I think. I don’t know; I’ve never tried them, but I know grocery prices are high, so I’m not sure how old those plans are. For those of you who don’t feel the need to serve meat at every dinner, there are some great vegetarian recipes on the site as well.
OK, anyway…on to the muffins. I made these amazing muffins last night for breakfast, since we were low on milk for cereal and didn’t want to go buy any. They are raspberry muffins on the website, but I used a frozen mixed berry blend. I don’t have any pictures for these babies, because they got scarfed way too fast.

Below are the alterations I made:
I used half whole wheat and half white flour in place of all white flour.
I used applesauce in place of oil.
I used reconstituted nonfat dry milk in place of skim milk.
The first time I made these, I added white chocolate chips to the mix. And I think I used rolled oats in place of chopped pecans for the topping.

These are fast, quick, and easy. They’re relatively healthy if you want to use whole wheat flour and applesauce, too.

Better Than Coffeeshop Molasses Cookies

Though Ms. Betty Crocker just calls these babies Soft Molasses Cookies, I think I’m going to dub them “Better-Than-Coffeeshop Molasses Cookies.” Even my husband, who’s not as crazy about molasses cookies as I am called them amazing. Here’s how they go:




Mix together:

1 c sugar

1/2 c butter or marg., softened

1/2 c shortening

3/4 c sour cream

1/2 c molasses

1 egg



Stir in:

3 c flour (I used half white, half whole wheat…it makes me feel healthier)

1 1/2 teas. baking soda

1 teas. ginger

1 teas. cinnamon (*I didn’t have ginger, so I just did 2 teas. of pumpkin pie spice instead of the ginger & cinnamon)

1/2 teas. salt



Heat to 375. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes (I had to go a little longer w/my over) or until almost no indentation remains when touched. Cool 1-2 minutes, then remove from sheet. You can sprinkle them w/sugar or do what I did to make heaven in your mouth: frost them with this:

3 c powdered sugar

1/3 c butter or marg., softened

1 1/2 teas. vanilla

2-3 teas. milk

Mix until smooth & spreadable.

Easy Lemon Poppyseed Cookies

One of my favorite cookies to make is the easiest; I use cake mix, oil, and eggs and then experiment with additional flavorful things. Today, I made lemon poppyseed cookies with this method. Here’s what’s in them:

1 box yellow cake mix

1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1-2 Tablespoons poppyseeds

Mix all together. Roll into 1 inch balls and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Yummy!