seasoned with sun

I’ve decided to break up the ordinary life stories every once in a while by throwing in a few posts on things other than giving you my daily play-by-play. Blog post idea numero uno: RECIPES! I know, not the most original idea, but I thought it would be fun. Since I’m a new wife and trying my hand at this whole domestic business, I thought it would be fun to share some of the yummy things we dine on.

I’m letting you all know now, I much prefer baking over cooking. For that reason, I’m warning you all that these recipes may lean more towards baked treats than full meals. I’m sure you won’t mind that little fact a bit once you’re enjoying a freshly baked cookie J

So here we go, the first recipe. Kyle and I actually had this for dinner last night. I was really wanting some Mexican food so I pulled out my trusty Seasoned With Sun cookbook.

Jennifer’s boyfriend, Jason, is from El Paso and gifted this great book to each of the Simar girls. So far, everything from this cookbook has been great… thanks Jason!! Last night we tested the taco salad recipe and it was delish…

Old El Paso Taco Salad

1 ½ pounds ground beef

2 large fresh tomatoes, diced (I just bought 1 BIG one)

1 ½ cups diced onion

1 cup chopped celery (we left this ingredient out)

3 to 4 ounces corn chips (I just guessed on how many to put in)

1 10-ounce can Old El Paso Tomatoes and Green Chilies

1 cup diced bell pepper (I used a red one)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chile powder

1 16-ounce box pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed

½ teaspoon cumin

1 large head lettuce, coarsely cut

 

Brown ground beef, drain and set aside. Saute onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic in remaining juices. Combine meat with vegetable mixture and spices; simmer 20 minutes. Toss lettuce and tomatoes together in large bowl and add slightly crushed corn chips. In top of double boiler, combine canned tomatoes and green chilies with cheese (I don’t have a double broiler… a regular pot is a-ok!!) Stir frequently until melted. When ready to serve, add hot meat mixture to lettuce; toss. Pour cheese sauce in a bowl and serve as dressing.

 

I was a little worried that this wouldn’t be enough to fill us up, but it was perfect for dinner! We have enough left over for Kyle to be able to enjoy while I am away. The ‘dressing’ is basically just queso (and by that, I mean it is queso). We didn’t put tons of it on our salad so we were able to enjoy salad, queso, Kyle’s AWESOME guacamole and the tortilla chips that didn’t go into the salad. Delish!!

 

Hope you all have great weekends. I am off to make sure my bag is packed and ready to go. I'll be back Monday after my weekend of sister fun!!