Easy Tex-Mex Meal

A few summers ago I got a bunch of BHG and Pilsbury cook books for 10cents at a garage sale. They are great for quick easy meals. This morning Matt and I were both hurting from a long weekend of fun, friends, food, and beer. Lots of beer. I pulled out one of the cook books that features 7 ingredients or less to find something for dinner tonight. Matt picked out Spicy Tex-Mex Pizza.

The original recipe has 4 ingredients. I decided to spice things up and add a few more ingredients. I basically threw stuff together and should have cut the amounts of everything in half. So now I have 1/2 the ingredients left over to create another meal later in the week. This was so easy and super tasty. It will definitely be making an appearance in our house again.

Spicy Tex-Mex Pizza
Adapted From: BHG Simple Meals, 7 Ingredients or Less



1 12-inch thin-crust Italian Bread shell (such as Boboli) or Italian Flat Bread
1ish tbs EVOO
1 Cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1 15 oz can of black beans
1 11 ounce can corn
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1/2 cup diced pickled jalapenos
1 seasoned chicken breast, cubed
Ground Cumin to taste
Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Dried or Fresh Cilantro to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spread EVOO on pizza crust. Combine beans, corn, chopped veggies, and chicken in a large bowl. Add Cumin, Cilantro, and Red Pepper Flakes .

2. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese on the pizza crust. Add bean mixture (I used about 1/2 of it). Top with remaining cheese.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until pizza is heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes. Cut into wedges, and serve with salsa.

Makes 6 servings.

One Dish Delight

I found this recipe in my favorite Betty Crocker Cook Book. M didn't want to have anything to do with the recipe because it had the word tamale in it. Little did he know there isn't a tamale in it. (Not quite sure where the name comes from.) We both loved it. This recipe is simple but rates pretty high on my mess scale! My tiny kitchen was a disaster afterwards. I'm not quite sure why.

3 Bean Tamale Pie
Prep: 25 min Bake: 25 min Oven: 400 Makes: 6 main dish servings



Don't make fun of the "garnish"... I'll explain that in a second.

1 cup chopped green sweet pepper
½ cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon, cooking oil
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 15 ounce can pinto beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 15 ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed, drained, and slightly mashed.
1 6 ounce (2/3c) veggie juice
1 4 ounce can diced green chili peppers undrained
1 tsp chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 8.5 ounce package corn muffin mix
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup cilantro parsley

1) Grease a 2 quart square baking dish or 10 inch quiche dish, set aside. In a medium skilled quick sweet pepper, onion, and garlic in hot oil until tender. Stir in kidney beans, pinto beans, vegetable juice, chili peppers, chili powder, and cumin; heat through. Spoon bean mixture into prepared dish.

2) Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions: add cheese and cilantro, stirring just until combined. Spoon cornbread mixture evenly over top of bean mixture. Bake uncovered in a 400 degree oven about 25 minutes or until golden. If desired, serve with salsa or sour cream.

Ok, now on to my garnish..... M loves to garden. Since we live in an apartment and can't have a garden, he has one at his brothers house. These teeny, tiny carrots are the fruit (ha, pun intended) of his labor. He pulled a couple carrots to see how they were doin. After he ate the carrots he wanted to throw the top of them away. I wouldn't let him and used the greens to garnish my dish!

Always a Crowd Pleaser

Today at work we had a food day! I love and hate food days. Love 'em because they give me something to look forward to at work. Hate 'em because I sa-wear I gain 5lbs by the end of the day. We always have fabulous food and today was no exception. I've really been craving my aunt's taco salad lately and today was the perfect excuse to make it.

Aunt Kathy's Taco Salad
(the pictures suck because I took them at work in the land of fluorescent lights, cubicles, and fugly yellow and blue walls.)


1 pound of ground beef or turkey.
1 bag of crushed tortilla chips
1 pack of taco seasoning/ salt and pepper to taste
1 8oz Wishbone Italian Dressing
1 can 16 oz kidney beans Rinsed and drained
1 4 oz jar of taco sauce/salsa
1 head of lettuce
1-2 large tomato sliced into wedges
1 large red onion sliced in rings
1 bag of cheddar cheese

1) Cook meat as you were making tacos. Drain and set aside.
2) Rinse and drain beans. Set aside.
3)Make your salad with all the above ingredients except for the chips, Wishbone and the taco sauce.
4)Right before serving crush tortilla chips and put on salad mix with the Wishbone and taco sauce.



Since this was for work I prepped everything the night before and combined the lettuce, tomato, and onion. I kept the beans and meat separate and added them the next day at work. (Instead of one can of red kidney beans I added 1 can of white kidney beans and 1 can of red beans, it's what I had on hand) After that I crushed my chips, and added my Wishbone and Salsa. This makes a ridiculous amount of salad and I only recommend making it if you are going to be serving it to a large group.