{Foodie Friday} Easy Beef & Bean Tacos

TGIF! Today, I have a wonderful recipe I randomly decided to make a few days ago. I took a few recipes from Pinterest, Google, and Pioneer Woman and combined bits and pieces to make up my own recipe! I don't claim this to be some brand new, never-made recipe, it's just something I thought up in my head on a whim and it turned out delicious! 

 

Easy Beef & Bean Tacos w. Roasted Corn Salsa

 

*FYI: I totally blanked and forgot to take any pictures of the finished tacos and rice. But trust me, it looked beautiful and tasted great!

 

 

First, drizzle some olive oil into a pan and dump in some corn kernels. Roast them for about 15 minutes at 450 F. I then broiled them for another 5 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, chop half of a medium onion and a whole Roma tomato and dump into a bowl. Add crushed red pepper, parsley, and salt. I then added a teaspoon of jarred salsa. This is totally optional, but it helped add a little liquid and the flavors of whatever ingredients I was missing.

 

 

Brown a pound of ground beef and drain it. Feel free to grab a few pieces without burning your fingers...turn it down on low for now.

 

Add the roasted corn to the salsa, stir, and cover until ready to use. I refrigerated mine so it would be nice and old by the time everything got done.

 

Add a can of pinto beans to the ground beef pan (DO NOT DRAIN!!). Turn the heat back up to about medium while you do the next few steps.

 

Chop up some jarred jalapeno slices - I think I had 8 or 10.

 

Mix together flour, parsley, paprika, oregano, chili powder, crushed red pepper, coriander, and sugar. I used about 2 tbsp. flour, a tiny pinch of sugar, a pinch of the coriander, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, and then about a teaspoon of everything else. I dumped all of it into my mini food chopper so I could crush the coriander seeds a bit, but I was impatient and didn't do it very finely. However, the beans and beef simmered for about 25-30 minutes total, so the pieces weren't noticeable at all.

 

 

Dump in the taco seasoning a spoonful at a time. Mix it in and add additional water as needed.

 

Let it bubble and simmer for as long as you have. Prepare some Mexican rice -- we used Taco Bell rice that cooks up in just a few minutes! I had rice as part of this recipe, but I got distracted while talking on the phone, and I ruined it completely.

Serve the beef and bean mixture in taco shells and/or warmed tortillas with the corn salsa, shredded lettuce, and sour cream. Serve rice on the side and enjoy!

 

{Foodie Friday}: Italian Chicken Dinner (Slow Cooker)

I made this recently, totally made up, but it turned out DELICIOUS. Measurements are approximations.

This meal cooked for about 8 hours total on Low. It was impulse with me being up that early, but it was nice to have a clean kitchen and not have to worry about cooking later. and, of course, my mom is always happy to get a break :-)

Italian Chicken Dinner

Ingredients:

• 3 Chicken Thighs
• Seasoned Salt (Lawry's) and Black Pepper
• 2-3 tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• Baby carrots, sliced lengthwise in fourths
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 c. white wine vinegar
• Italian dressing packet
• 1 tbsp. Honey Butter  - store bought or homemade
• 1 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 sliced Roma tomatoes

Directions:

Season chicken thighs with seasoned salt and pepper. Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil over med-high heat and sear thighs, getting them as brown as possible.

Flip thighs over. Aren't they beautiful, besides the sickening raw pink? :-)

Remove the chicken to a plate and add 1 medium onion, sliced. Saute until lightly browned and translucent.

Add several sliced baby carrots and saute'. Then add 2 chopped cloves of garlic; season with salt and pepper. Add 1/4 c. white wine vinegar and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits. Let the 'sauce' boil until it reduces by about half. Remove from heat.

I made a "butter concoction" for the chicken. It is a homemade honey butter  plus soy sauce, and  an Italian dressing packet (the actual dressing, not the mix). I whisked this all together and set it aside.

Place the chicken thighs in the slow cooker. Be sure to pour in any juices on the plate.

Add the butter mixture, spooning or pouring, whichever. I make sure to get the whole top of the chicken thigh coated and spread it around with my fingers just a little.

Add two sliced Roma (plum) tomatoes.

Add the veggie-sauce mixture over top.

After about 6 hours, I took a peek.

Remove the chicken to a plate so you can thicken the sauce.

 

Thicken the sauce however you like. I did a cornstarch slurry with some of the juices. Once it's stirred in, replace the chicken and any juices. I let it go another hour and a half or so and served it with white rice and some pumpernickel bread with more honey butter. I apologize for not getting a good picture of the finished dish, it totally slipped my mind! Enjoy!

{Pin of the Day}: POTD

Last Pin of 2012 - I wish I had started doing these sooner! Then I can look back at the end of next year and compare. Oh well. Without any further blather from me:

Source: m.jamieoliver.com via Natasha on Pinterest

Have a SAFE and wonderful New Year! See you in 2013!

Foodie Friday - A Day Early!!

I know, I know, it's not yet Friday. But I'm writing it late enough! lol

I am including a couple of my favorite recipes I love to eat to help me with my diet changes.

Apple salad

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thinly

1 c. baby spinach

Dressing - 1 tbsp honey, approx. 1/2 c. olive oil (more as needed), 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 1.5 tsp dijon mustard, pinch black pepper

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar or other container and shake until combined. Add more olive oil as needed. Combine spinach and apple slices on plate or in a bowl and drizzle dressing lightly on top. Toss and enjoy!

Breakfast Hashbrowns

1 potato, shredded (use your food processor or a cheese grater)

Olive or vegetable oil cooking spray

salt and pepper, dried parsley

Heat a waffle iron. Spray with cooking spray and scoop potatoes into hot iron. Close and cook until golden brown (I like mine a little dark). When done, season with salt and pepper; garnish with a small sprinkle of dried parsley. I might just have these for breakfast tomorrow!

Foodie Friday

I know this is not a new concept or idea, but it is new for this blog. Something food-related will be posted every Friday, just to keep me on a decent posting schedule. I want something for Monday and Wednesday, too. (Back to the drawing board...or pile of scrap paper that needs to be sorted!) Today, i am going to repost (sort of) from my old blog (also named Inside Natasha's Head, but I deleted it before I looked through all of the posts, so some stuff is just lost now).

I tried Paleo, and will someday attempt vegetarian (my system can't handle coconut milk, so no vegan for me right now). There are some things I don't want to give up eating and some things I can't go without eating, and that's my personal decision. But so far I have:

• Cut my sugar intake way down - I don't eat alot of sweets anymore; occasionally, but other than the occasional bowl of cereal, I don't eat it much.


• No more processed meats - hotdogs and bologna. I'll sometimes snag a piece of my nieces fried hotdog but I don't eat this stuff anymore. once you watch certain TV shows, they can change the way you see certain foods. On that note, no more canned sausages, either, actually. (Vienna sausages)


• Carbs reduced - I don't eat much bread unless I have a burger or the occasional Subway. I do still eat pasta, just not often. Maybe once a week, if that!


• Reduced fried foods - Maybe once a week since we eat junk on Friday nights.


• More fruits/vegetables - I eat grapes. Alot of grapes. They are also naturally sugary. I can't win. But I will nibble on veggies (baby carrots, grape tomatoes) while I cook so I don't snack on something loaded with salt or sugar.


• Sodas and sugary drinks - I don't drink much soda anymore. Again, occasionally. We don't even make Kool-Aid much anymore because it doesn't go as fast anymore, so that wasn't hard to cut out.

However, as with everything, I still have things I need to work on, such as:

• Eating breakfast EVERYDAY. Some days I'm not hungry and I don't force myself to eat but then I'm starving later and my stomach doesn't understand quiet.


• Snacking unnecessarily - I have a huge problem with this.


• Figuring out my goal and weighing myself regularly - I don't know what number I want to get down to, but I'll never know if I don't step on a scale except randomly one day and I happen to have just eaten...


• Exercise - I have a perfect routine planned, I just need time to go the gym on campus. They have an indoor track that's 1/9th of a mile and I did 4 or 5 laps with a friend the day they gave us a tour -- so I know I can handle that! And the treadmills have TELEVISIONS on them! But  I would be totally happy with just my ipod the whole time.

Thanks for reading!

N