Tag Archives: tacos

Food

Coming Out Of My Shell {Baked Tacos & Hibernation}

Leave a comment

Hey y’all!

I’m here and I’ve missed you…

Seems like I’m just popping in again real quick to share a fun little recipe with you. It looks like that’s my M.O. lately….say Hello and remind you I’m here with a token post and some good food.

Yesterday was busy ~ we had church class and soccer simultaneously and that meant Elliott skipping out just this once on CCD and going to her 4:00 soccer practice. So it was drop off Holden at church, take Elliott to practice, run into Ralphs {and forget 2 items}, go pick up Holden at church, go back down to pick up Elliott, start dinner, call Jay to retrieve 2 forgotten items at the store, snap pictures of Holden’s class Terrific Tiger to document his {boring} evening with us, come to realize that Terrific Tiger should probably be thrown into the wash {aka given a bath} and spritzed with antimicrobial Febreeze before going into bed with Holden, blah. blah, blah.

However, amongst all this stuffed animal chaos and documentation for the class journal, I was excited about dinner because my IG friend, Elizabeth, posted some Baked Tacos earlier in the day. We had a box of taco shells in the pantry and a pound of ground turkey thawed ~ perfect!

Guys…..these are awesome! They kiiiinda remind me of the Jack in the Box tacos {which I haven’t had in a million years} that are a little softer at the bottom, but they are made with real, legitimate meat and equally as delish.

We had them last night and again tonight!

taco1

This is the recipe I followed. I just Googled {Baked Tacos} and went to the first one that popped up. The lineup sounded good {except that I had to have Jay stop for black beans} so I decided to go with this one.

Super easy…just sauté half an onion and a couple minced cloves of garlic. Add ground meat of choice {I used 1 pound ground turkey} and brown. Add a package of taco seasoning and a little water and let simmer on low for a bit. Drain and rinse a can of black beans and add to the meat along with a small jar of salsa {I used peach/pineapple and didn’t quite use the whole jar}. Preheat your oven to 400* and line up an oven safe dish with taco shells {I used foil tonight for easier clean up}. Fill shells with meat mixture and top with a little shredded cheese. Place into preheated oven for 6-8 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove and top with your favorite taco fixins {we used light sour cream, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato}. I added a slice of ripe avocado this evening and they were out of this world!

taco2

Just a fun twist for your average taco night.

They were most definitely missing some Cholula, but we were fresh out.

Next time.

Note: you will need a fork to scoop up all the good stuff that spills out onto your plate.

*****

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

Hoping to come out of hibernation now that the holidays are FAST approaching. This is my most favorite time of the year and I have a lot that I want to share so {fingers crossed} I will make time to blog more.

I really do miss it and just need to get my priorities straight…..

Easier said than done, right.

Happy Friday!

We have early morning soccer, another birthday party tomorrow afternoon and then hopefully hit a few of the bigger coasters at Magic Mountain after church with our new season passes.

Have a blessed weekend, friends!

XOXO

Food

Get A Pork Tenderloin STAT

3 Comments

We love Thai food in this house.

Peanutty, spicy, curried ~ we’re all about it.

I pinned this and couldn’t get it out of my mind.

: Crockpot Thai Pork :

I used a 1.25 lb pork tenderloin from Trader Joe’s {this was plenty for 2 meals for 2 adults}

¼ cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp lemon juice

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Cut the tenderloin in half and place it into your CP. Mix the above ingredients in a small bowl and then pour onto the pork. Cook on low for about 5 hours or until it shreds easily. Shred with two forks and skim off any fat. Add 1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter {I used creamy} and stir to incorporate. Enjoy immediately or keep on warm in crock pot until ready to serve. Sprinkle in chopped cilantro or Thai basil before serving.

I chopped some romaine and added 2 Tbsp Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette from Trader Joe’s to make a little salad to go onto the tacos.

Slice up a cucumber in long strips.

Building your taco from the plate up:

Warm some small flour or corn {I used white corn} tortillas on your burner or in the microwave.

Place a few cucumbers on the tortilla.

Put some pork followed by some of the romaine salad.

Top with some Sriracha for heat and some chopped peanuts for crunch.

These would also be fabulous as wraps in a larger tortilla, but all I had on hand was the corn and they were absolutely to-die-for.

I served with some garlicky Asian sugar snap peas…

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

Mix these three ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Mince 6 cloves of garlic and put into a pan sprayed with Pam. Cook, stirring constantly for a minute or so.

Add two 8-ounce bags of sugar snap peas and the marinade and stir over medium heat until all peas are coated. Place a lid on it and stir every so often until peas are tender and sauce cooks down {about 5-7 minutes}.

Then plate it up with your Thai tacos!

The flavors are amazing.

This meal is a must if you, too, adore Asian flavors.

Enjoy!

Flashbacks, Food

Homemade {Food Truck} Tacos

5 Comments

Korean tacos from the Kogi truck were Jay’s Father’s Day wish a couple years ago.

We checked Twitter and met the truck in Westwood for some Korean BBQ tacos that were out of this world.

Thanks to Pinterest, we can now make them at home.

I followed this recipe for the meat.

For the slaw, I just used one package of cole slaw mix and mixed it with the first five ingredients of this recipe and added a little squeeze of Sriracha. Let it sit and marinate for a couple hours and then get ready to build your tacos!

I used just under 3 pounds of meat {lean chuck roast} and cooked on low for about 8 hours…

These were to-die-for.

The meat and slaw would also be excellent in slider form or just pile a little meat on top of some slaw and call it a salad.

We don’t need no stinkin’ expensive gourmet taco truck!


Photobucket

Food

Tacos With A Twist

Leave a comment

Thresher shark wasn’t readily available for Fish Taco Friday this week so when I went to the seafood counter the butcher/fish monger suggested “swai” {pronounced sw-eye} for grilling on a cedar plank. I had never heard of it, but he likened it to tilapia and it looked like tilapia, so I said, “Swai not?” ~ I know, bad joke!

I got home and Googled it…basically it’s a farmed river catfish from Asia. Hmmm, I’m not a catfish person, but figured we’d try it anyway. I decided to do an asian inspired marinade ~ 2 tbsp. honey, 2 tbsp. soy and 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil. {for a pound of fish}

Jay grilled it on a plank along with some red pepper and red onion and I made angel hair coleslaw with rice vinegar, canola oil, sesame oil, brown sugar and fresh ginger {dressing measurements here}.

We just heated our corn tortillas, put a little bed of slaw, grilled peppers & onions, fish and a healthy squeeze of Sriracha.

You know what….they were actually really good ~ reminded me of our favorites from the Kogi Taco Truck!

I love the idea of taking a taco or burrito and mixing it up with asian ingredients. I’d like to try some Korean beef {bulgogi} and use some kim chee instead of a slaw. YUM!

*****

Happy Saturday and Happy Spring Break for those who are off!

Enjoy!

Food

Fruit Of The Sea

1 Comment

“You can barbeque it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it, there’s shrimp kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo, pan fry, deep fry, stir fry, there’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burgers, shrimp sandwiches, That… that’s about it.”

Private Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue forgot one important thing you can do with {the fruit of the sea}…

SHRIMP TACOS!

That was what was for dinner this Lenten Friday evening. I followed this recipe for the marinade.

{1 chipotle in adobo, chopped * 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil * Zest & juice of 1 lime * 1 tsp. cumin * 1 Tbsp. brown sugar * 2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped}

Marinate 1 pound peeled & deveined shrimp for 20 minutes. Skewer it up and grill for a couple minutes on each side.

Chop shrimp and then build your taco from the tortilla up! I would prefer these with small flour tortillas, but we’re trying to be more healthy so we used corn. Warm your tortilla on the stove top and then pile with shredded lettuce or cabbage, black beans, shrimp, chipotle lime crema drizzle {sour cream [I used reduced fat], juice of 1 lime & one chipotle pepper, chopped ~ mix together. Will be runny so you can drizzle it on…you don’t need much}, lowfat shredded cheese, cilantro confetti, avocado chunks, a squeeze of lime and a shot of Sriracha!

These were absolutely delish. The slight sweetness from the brown sugar is balanced out by the heat from the chipotles. Sweet & spicy shrimp tacos are a must for your Lenten Friday meals or just whenever! We will be eating a lot of these this summer, I’m sure. This shrimp would be excellent on a salad or in a burrito, too!

Now to find a recipe for that coconut shrimp Bubba was talkin’ about!

*****

Next Friday we hope to make thresher shark tacos ~ hopefully it won’t be too hard to find. If you haven’t had shark, you must try it.

Off to pour a little Friday night sumpin sumpin….

Have a great weekend!

Food

Givin’ Rubio’s A Run For Their Money

2 Comments

Last night for our Lenten Friday meal we had tilapia fish tacos.

At the risk of sounding totally stupid, I am going to have to say they were {thebomb.com}.

Jay grilled them on a cedar plank {along with garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt & pepper} which gives the fish an awesome smokey flavor.

We added shredded lettuce, grilled red & yellow peppers, a little cheese, some pineapple salsa, a shot of Sriracha and a squeeze of lemon.

Here is one all loaded up…

Finally found some corn tortillas that don’t fall apart ~ La Banderita {from Ralphs}. This meal was not only delish, but it was very affordable…the fish was $3.65 and the tortillas were $1.99 for 30. Elliott even loved the fish so that was one less short order I had to fill! Next Friday we’ll be making grilled shrimp tacos with chipotle lime crema.

Stay tuned for more Lenten recipes.

Happy Saturday!

Family, Food, Fun

Rocking the {Cedar} Plank

2 Comments

Sunday night din din…

Cedar plank salmon & tilapia tacos with honey-cumin and chipotle slaw, grilled romaine and corn salad with cilantro dressing.

Grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream for dessert!

*****

Jay cheated and used McCormick Grill Mates Baja Citrus to marinate the fish.

I just flaked the fish, added some honey-cumin & chipotle slaw and a little salsa:

Almost like Rubio’s!

{Next time we’re going to try small flour tortillas}

For the salad, I just cut a romaine heart lengthwise, sprayed with a little olive oil cooking spray and grilled for 2 minutes on each side. I added some grilled red pepper, onion and sweet white corn and topped with TJ’s cilantro dressing. {Have you tried this dressing? It’s in the refrigerated section and it’s remarkable. Thanks, Mom!}

This was our first “grilled salad” experience and it was delish. The lettuce still had plenty of crunch in case you were wondering about super soggy salad! Will definitely be grilling our rabbit food more often.

For dessert, I had some over-ripe peaches that we needed to eat up. I just added a tiny bit of water to a little brown sugar and glazed the halved, seeded peaches before Jay grilled them for a few minutes on each side. {No oil}

They paired perfectly with the vanilla ice cream I whipped up:

The grill still had some of the cedar plank smell on it so the dessert had a nice sweet, tart, smokey mix of flavors.

Grilled fruit rocks!

And so do cedar planks!

Check them out if you haven’t done so already. Perfect for poultry, shrimp and even lobster.

*****

I’ll leave you with a few other moments from our Sunday…

{Superchargerboy!}

Hopefully a sign of things to come this season…the Chargers being our superheroes IN the Superbowl!

***

There was a 40-acre brush fire about 4-5 miles from us yesterday.

We were on our way to the pool and were stopped in our tracks by a couple Sheriffs and this helicopter taking water out of the pond at our clubhouse!

Craziness to watch!

There were two ‘copters that would take turns running water to the fire.

Those heli pilots are amazing….how they just put it down in the tightest of spots, grab the water and run!

Too cool.

**

Watching ‘copters is hard work: