Friday, May 16, 2014

On my bookshelf

I've been slacking on my reading this year. Last year I killed it with 64 books read.. I thought for sure this year I could do 65. Well I got a new job in March and haven't had my two hours of commuting every day to read and my hour long lunch break so I've been slacking in the reading department. I've only read 20 books so I'm 4 books behind schedule -- thanks to Goodreads keepin' track for me :)

I'm currently reading Nadia Knows Best from Jill Mansell. I really like that Jill's books are a quick read, so I decided to try this one out.
I'm always on the look out to add new books to my "to read" list. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Baked Stuffed Tacos

We have a new favorite Mexican dish around our house lately. Let me introduce you to Baked Stuffed Tacos!

These yummy tacos will be making an appearance more often in our house now. Best of all I almost always have everything I need on hand!

You'll need:

  • Refried Beans
  • Ground beef or turkey or whatever sort of meat you like
  • Shredded cheese
  • Hard shell tacos
  • Any toppings your family likes


Line up your tacos in a baking dish 8x8 or 13x9 depending on how big your family is. Add a spoonful of refried beans as your first layer in bottom of each taco.
Next take your cooked ground meat (cook it with your usual taco seasoning) and add a spoonful on top of the beans as layer number 2. I used ground turkey and nobody in my family even noticed because our seasoning is so good :)
Now take the shredded cheese, whatever kind you like. I used a taco blend and sprinkle it on top of the meat. If your family really likes cheesy tacos then add more cheese.
Now for the best part. Bake it! Put it in a 350* oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melty and everything has heated through. I usually use hot, freshly cooked meat so all you are really heating are the beans. For me the best part is that to get to this part has only taken a few minutes depending on if you need to cook the meat or not. And it was all super easy!
Oh yum! Look at that goodness. While everything was in the oven you can get all your toppings ready. Then let everyone top their own taco with what they want. Make it taco bar style to keep everyone involved and having fun.
My kids love these because they love the crunchiness of the hard shell tacos but they always get frustrated when they break apart after the first bite. Since these are filled with the refried beans they sort of act like a glue and help to hold the shell together. 

Try them out, let me know what you think!