Stuffed Taco Shells

I found this recipe for Taco Stuffed Shells here.

Ingredients:

1-lb. ground beef

1 pkg. taco seasoning

4 oz. cream cheese

12 large pasta shells

1 cup salsa

1 cup taco sauce

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1-1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips

3 green onions

1 cup sour cream

** Instead of large pasta shells I used 1 box of medium shells. Instead of the 2 different cheeses I used a taco blend shredded cheese. I did not use the green onions.

Step 1:

Cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells according to package. (My recipe then says to drain pasta and toss well with butter. I DID NOT toss with butter.)

Step 2: 

Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Step 3:

Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.

**I did not want to take the time to do step 3, so instead this is what I did...

In a bowl I mixed my pasta shells with my meat mixture until the pasta was well coated. Place the mixture in the baking dish and cover with taco sauce.

Step 4:

Cover and bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

Step 5:

After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheese on top. 

Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes with tacos.

T-Shirt Scarf

Yesterday at my MOMS group a friend of mine had on a t-shirt scarf that she had made. It was so cute and sounded easy enough that I thought I would give it a shot. I went to Michaels today and got some different color t-shirts for $2.50 a piece.

All you need is your t-shirt, a ruler (not a must but helpful), and a pair of scissors or a rotary cutter. I used an adult small t-shirt. If I do it again I would probably by an adult medium or large t-shirt just so that my scarf was a little longer.

First you need to cut off the shirt right below the armpits and cut the seam off of the bottom of the shirt. Then cut the shirt into 1" strips.

Each strip will look something like this.

After all of your strips are cut take each one and stretch it out.

I took one of the strips and cut it apart to wrap around all of the strips and knotted it to keep them all together.

Cafe Rio Chicken

I found this yummy recipe here.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. chicken breasts
4 oz. Zesty Italian dressing
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 packet of ranch dressing mixed with 1/2 cup of water
1/2 Tablespoon of chili powder
1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin

Place ALL ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.
Shred chicken with a fork and serve. (w/ salads, sandwiches, burritos, tacos, etc.)

FREEZES WELL!

Cheeseburger Pockets

Tonight was the first time that I tried these cheeseburger pockets and they were a hit! My boys used the words "Awesome"!

Ingredients:

                                           1/2 pound ground beef

                                           1 Tablespoon chopped onion

                                           1/2 teaspoon salt

                                           1/8 teaspoon pepper

                                           1 tube (12 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

                                           5 slices American cheese

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, salt and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer    pink; drain and cool.

2.  Place two biscuits overlapping on a floured surface; roll out into a 5-in. oval. Place 3 tablespoons meat mixture on one side. Fold a cheese slice to fit over meat mixture. Fold dough over filling; press edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with remaining biscuits, meat mixture and cheese.

3. Place on a greased baking sheet. Prick tops with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 5 servings.

Pricking the tips of the pockets help the steam escape during baking. If you don't do this, the pockets with puff up and may break open.

Addiction

Remember my post the other day about coffee and flavored creamer. Well I was kidding! Today you should have seen the look on the ladies face at the grocery store when all I bought were these 8-32 oz. bottlers of flavored creamer!

Today I was so proud of myself! Someone suggested to me that I include photos with my posts. So, today I decided to photograph while I made our dinner. I was making Taco Soup for dinner. Photographed all the steps and then sat done to blog about it only to find that I already posted the wonderful Taco Soup recipe! So, instead of posting a new one I just updated the one I had with some fun photos. Feel free to go check it out here. While eating dinner my little guy (who on this blog I will refer to as Trooper) proudly stated "Mom this is AWESOME!"

Learned a valuable lesson today. One I already knew, but was reminded of oh how true it is. I keep a Day Planner for a reason... so that I don't forget anything. Keeping track of 5 people's busy schedule is a job and if I don't write things down well I forget. My middle son (who on this blog I will refer to as Storm) had a dentist appointment. It was a last minute appointment scheduled and I was reminded of it yesterday afternoon, however I did not write it down in my Day Planner. So, at 5 minutes past the scheduled appointment time I got a phone call asking me where I was. Shoot! Oh well, guess it only goes to show that I too am human.

Flavored Creamers

Coffee.

Flavored creamer.

I need my coffee in the morning. Keeping up after 3 boys, making sure everyone is where then need to be when they need to be means that my morning needs to start off right. For that to happen I need to have my day start with coffee. Not just any coffee either. I need good coffee. Some may call me a coffee snob, but hey you do what you have to do and for me that is a good cup of coffee with some yummy flavored creamer.

I have my favorites. Peppermint Mocha, Vanilla Carmel, and Pumpkin Spice. My refrigerator ALWAYS has at least 2 of the 3 previously listed creamers. I go through creamers like some may go through milk, so you can imagine my excitement when today at the grocery store I found this...

BIG bottles of Peppermint Mocha! I was overjoyed, delighted, ecstatic! Its the little things in life I guess. :)