Soul Food Saturday

One of our favorite things is to make tacos. And the more variety the better; when I went to the cabinet one day to look for a taco seasoning I was disappointed to see that I was out and hadn't noticed on my last shopping trip. So I looked up a recipe and found a few ways to tweak the combination. New tacos were born this evening; I hope you love them as much as we did.

Chipotle Turkey Soft Tacos

1 tbs. olive oil

1 pound ground turkey

3 tbs. chipotle taco seasoning –recipe below

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 tbs. dried chopped onion

¼ c. water

3 c. shredded cabbage

8 medium sized tortillas (8 inch)

 2 c. shredded Mexican cheese blend (optional)

 Sour cream (optional)

 Hot sauce (optional)

In a medium pan add ground turkey, dried onion and chipotle taco seasoning. Cook until meat is browned and cooked through. Drain if needed. Add chopped tomatoes and water. Cook until tomatoes have softened and sauce has thickened. Remove from heat. Add tortillas to freezer bag and microwave for 20-30 sec. to warm through. Carefully remove from microwave and then from freezer bag to a plate.  Add ¼ cup of meat mixture to the tortilla. Top with cheese and cabbage. And sour cream, and hot sauce if desired. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Enjoy!

Chipotle Taco Seasoning 

1 tbs. chipotle powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. paprika

1½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

In a small bowl, mix all seasonings together. Mix to combine. Store in an airtight container, and use in your favorite taco or dip recipe.

Sneak It In Where You Can

All of you moms and dads out there know exactly what I meant when you read that title. There are certain foods that you sneak into your kids' diets whenever and wherever you can. You don't feel bad about being just a little deceitful because let's face it, when it comes to those veggies or other things they turn their noses up at every single time, you will get sneak them in no matter what.

In our house, there aren't many things my big or little boy won't eat. Yes, I know how lucky I am. And for those hating me right now, believe me I feel your pain. I watch parents and spouses struggle with the notion of having to not cook certain things because they will not go over well. So for me, it's more sneaking in substitutes trying to make things a little healthier here and there.

One way I do this is by using ground turkey in place of ground beef in many of my recipes. If you have never tried this, I highly recommend it. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was probably 2 years of me doing this before my husband ever caught on; and to this day I don't know if they boy has. Ground turkey works fabulously in tacos, sloppy joes, casseroles...really for the most part any place ground beef is called for. 

This recipe was one I had been thinking of trying for a while, and with our freezer beef running low, I knew it would be a great place to perform my magical trick. If you have made traditional tater tot casserole before, this will be a tasty twist on it. If you haven't, then it's a great place to start. 

It makes a fantastic weeknight meal, especially on those nights when the family is starving and dinner is something you're just ready to put a lot of effort into. Plus, you can sneak something a little more healthy onto the dinner table without them even suspecting. All they will know is it's delicious!

Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole

32 oz. bag frozen tater tots

1.5 lbs. ground turkey

8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 c. ketchup

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

3 TBS brown sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 medium onion, finely chopped, reserve some for garnish

Salt and Pepper to taste

Finely chopped dill pickle, for garnish, optional

Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a 9x13 pan. Place tater tots in pan. Bake for 12 minutes. While cooking, in a large skillet, sprayed with cooking spray, brown ground turkey until no longer pink. When almost done, add onion and saute together. In a medium bowl whisk together tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic powder, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Add to ground turkey. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove tater tots from oven. Add ground turkey mixture to pan. Top with cheese. Bake for 15 additional minutes until heated through and cheese melted. Allow to stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with extra onion and chopped pickle, if desired. 

Shared on The Country Cook April 25, 2014

Casseroles at Very Good Recipes

Weekend Company {Guest Blogger Bekki}

Good Morning! I hope you find yourself at the end of a fantastic week. I know like us, many of you are coming to the end of your Spring Break. Are you as sad as we are? Ten days certainly flew by! But we are making the most of these last few days. So I'm so thankful my dear friend Bekki is here to cook with you, while I'm out having fun with my "boys." So, grab a tall glass of iced tea, or go crazy and have a Bloody Mary (and if you do, have one for me too!) and join us in the EMM kitchen!

I just celebrated 3 years married to my amazing husband Josh. We share a home in

California with our fur babies, Minnie and Shadow.  After years of learning recipes and tricks from my mom, grandmothers and aunts I moved on to learn and teach cake decorating.  Enjoying every minute! All while learning tricks and tips of my own to improve on, and make healthier versions of my favorites. To later compile and write my own cookbook to share with all that love food as much as I do. I hope that these recipes bring you joy and sweet memories as they always have for my family and I.

  

Hello EMM Family, can you believe Spring break 2013 is now a  memory?  It feels like our year has just started and before we knew it, the sun decided it was sticking around with the warmer weather. Even with that, comfort food is always welcome in our home, and I am sure yours as well.

    This is a recipe, that is a spin off of a casserole my mom used to make for our family growing up. She called it her version of Tamale pie. She used  corn tortillas instead of making the cornmeal crust. It was a one pot meal that took no more than about 30 minutes to make and have on the table. This version is not much different. As you have probably already noticed my husband and I really enjoy spicy food.  This one is a pretty spicy, and for those of you who enjoy spice but not much heat, you can remove the membrane and seeds from the jalapenos before adding them to the pan. Use less or even omit them entirely. They will not change the dish at all. Also you can substitute the enchilada sauce for tomato sauce if you’d rather not have the spice at all.

But if you want to warm up your tummy and your taste buds at the same time, give this recipe a try.

Spicy Turkey Tortilla Skillet Casserole

1lb. Ground turkey

1tb olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tsp garlic powder

1 Tsp salt

3 jalapenos , chopped (optional)

1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes

1 c. enchilada sauce (medium)

1 14.oz can corn

1/2c shredded cheddar/jack cheese

6 corn tortillas chopped

In a large frying pan add oil, meat, onions, jalapenos, garlic and salt and cook until meat is cooked through and onions and jalapenos have softened. Stirring occasionally. Add, tomatoes, corn and  enchilada sauce and  stir to combine. Allow a few minutes for tomatoes and sauce to warm through.  Add chopped tortillas pieces and stir to combine, and incorporate tortilla pieces. Cover allowing sauce to soften tortillas. Stir often. After tortillas are softened add cheese and combine. Serve hot.

Serves 6

Optional toppings:

tortilla chips 

Sour cream

Additional cheese

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