KEVIN AND AMANDA'S CHEESEBURGER MACARONI

This meal is like a grown up chili mac, and some people have also declared it an adult version of Hamburger Helper.  Here is what you need to know: it's creamy, meaty, perfectly spiced, filling, delicious leftover AND I've made it at least 10 times.  I've used ground beef almost every time, but I've also used ground turkey and shredded chicken.  Both tasty, but I definitely prefer the beef.

This recipe doubles easily, but this time I actually tripled it.  A group of us rented a cabin for a celebratory birthday weekend, so there were many mouths to feed.  I chose to make this because it's a favorite of the birthday boy and it couldn't be easier to prepare. 

This was the first time I've had a talented photographer offer to document the cooking process.  This pasta has never looked so delicious.  These pictures are just fabulous.  THANKS, BRAD!  The photos make me want some cheeseburger mac right now.  Anyone else tempted to lick their screen??? 

If I'm giving shout outs, I'll give one more to my other half.  I like to call him my "Cheese Sauce Apprentice" because he volunteers is forced to make the cheese sauce each time we have this.  He didn't even know what a roux was the first time he made this!  Now he's an expert. 

You'll find the recipe here.  The only change I make is to use a heaping cup of macaroni, maybe an extra third or fourth of a cup.

Boil the pasta in all the other ingredients- easy!

There is something about not using an additional pot for boiling pasta and not using a colander to drain it that just makes me so happy.  The pasta will soak up the liquid and then it'll be time to add the cheese sauce!

Looks ready for some cheese

Stir in the cheese sauce (and make a big mess!)

Ingredients

1 lb lean hamburger meat
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)
1 HEAPING cup elbow macaroni

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 mins until macaroni is tender.

Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce:

2 Tablespoons butter
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.

BAKED TACO CASSEROLE

I've been seeing lots of recipes floating around online for baked tacos.  You fill your taco shells with cooked meat, beans and cheese, then stand them up in a casserole dish and bake them.  Then you add your cold toppings.  Sounds fabulously easy!  I headed to the store and found these super cool shells:

I was looking forward to super stuffing them with delicious filling!  I opened the box like an excited child on Christmas morning, and this is what I found:

Christmas is RUINED!  I was faced with a few options: cry, go to the store for more shells, or be an innovator.  Crying is for babies.  The store was filled with people stocking up on toilet paper, milk and bread for the snowstorm.  Only one option left.  My uncle had actually just texted earlier that day to let me know about a little enchilada casserole he whipped up.  He had tons of enchilada filling, sauce and cheese, but not enough stamina to roll all those enchis.  Instead, he layered it in a baking dish and said the results were outstanding.  Thanks for the inspiration, Uncle Dave!

First, brown and crumble a pound of ground beef.  Add an undrained can of chili beans, a cup of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning.

Medium heat gives the perfect kick!

Simmer the meat mixture until the liquid reduces, about 10 minutes.

Before

After

You want it to be a little liquidy, so the taco shells don't stay completely hard and crunchy.  I've had casseroles with flour tortillas, which turn into a gooey mushy layer.  Corn tortillas are good, but kind of disintegrate in the liquid.  Taco shells seem like the happy medium!  Time to layer.  Broken shells, meat mixture, cheese, repeat.

Ingredients

1 lb extra lean ground beef (or turkey)
1 can medium heat chili beans
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup salsa
1 box taco shells
2 cups shredded cheddar (or mexican blend or whatever you'd like!)
sour cream, salsa, lettuce, toppings!

Preheat oven to 350.  Brown and crumble ground beef.  Add undrained beans, taco seasoning, and salsa.  Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, until mixture has thickened.  Remove from heat.  Break taco shells and place about half on bottom of 8x8 baking dish.  Add half of meat mixture and spread to cover evenly.  Sprinkle on one cup of cheese.  Repeat layers.  Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes.  Uncover and broil for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is perfectly browned and melty.  Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then cut into 4 pieces.  Serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

Disclaimer:  I may have seemed incredibly optimistic throughout the ordeal of a ruined baked tacos recipe.  This is why:

My cooking partner for the evening.

THE BEST 7 LAYER BEAN DIP

When I was a child, my genius family had the ultimate epiphany: Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner are the SAME MEAL.  Eating the same holiday meal only a month apart didn't bring much excitement to our lives, so we had to come up with a solution.  Embracing our Mexican heritage, we decided to start the tradition of Mexican Christmas.  Did I mention that in addition to being geniuses, we are also trailblazers?  Anyway, my very non-Mexican mother’s contribution every year is the incredibly authentic cornerstone of Mexican cuisine, 7 layer dip!  I’ve tweaked her classic recipe over the years and have taken over her Christmas appetizer duty, so she can focus on her true love, BAKING CHRISTMAS COOKIES!  Seriously, this dip is so good that I’m pretty sure my sister-in-law married my brother just so she could enjoy it annually.  Hi, Lindsay, xoxo!

Doesn't this just scream Christmas?!

Now listen, I know there are a lot of 7 layer dips out there, but this one is just slightly more delicious.   Most people don’t realize there IS a solution to those thick bean dips that always break your chips.  COOK THE BEANS!  Trust me on this one.  I made the dip for my friend Tara’s baby shower and she could not stop commenting that there was just something about it that made it slightly better than when she makes it.  We went through our methods/recipes step by step and finally figured out that when she makes it, she just opens the cans of beans and plops them in the dish.  Nope, gotta cook em!  Better texture AND color.  Trust.

The secret ingredient.  Sour cream mixed with taco seasoning.  I could just eat this with a spoon and be happy.

Ingredients:
1 can refried beans, 16 oz (use regular, fat free, vegetarian, with green chiles, etc.)
1 container sour cream, 16 oz (don't use light or fat free; it won't taste the same)
1 packet taco seasoning (Old El Paso is delicious)
Guacamole, about 12 oz (make it or buy it!)
1 jar Chi Chis thick and chunky salsa, medium heat
2-3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
Shredded lettuce (iceberg is best)
Chopped tomatoes
Extra salsa, if desired

Heat your beans in a saucepot on the stove, or even in a bowl in the microwave.  Stir constantly and you will notice your beans become a lovely, velvety smooth consistency in no time. Let your beans cool on the counter, giving them a stir from time to time to let that heat escape.  Or, if you’re impatient like me, you can stick them in the fridge for a quicker cool down.

Once beans are room temp, evenly spread them in the bottom of an 8x8 dish.  Pour on the salsa and spread it evenly.  Sprinkle on your first layer of cheese.  Layer on the guacamole, smoothing very carefully with a butter knife or the back of a spoon so you don’t disturb the cheese.  In a small bowl, mix the taco seasoning and sour cream.  Spoon this over the guac, spreading evenly as you go.  Now add another layer of cheese.  Top with lettuce, chopped tomatoes and a little extra salsa if you’re feeling wild.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for about an hour first.

A few notes: use a very chunky salsa, or use a slotted spoon when adding the salsa layer.  You don't want it to get watery.  Also, I did not use fresh tomatoes in this batch because it's December and the tomatoes at the grocery store looked sad.  That's usually the top layer.  My friend, Krysta, is GF so I used Old El Paso taco seasoning and their original refried beans, Daisy sour cream, and Chi Chis salsa.  Just read labels and this can easily be GF or even vegetarian.  Just gotta get vegetarian refried beans.

Layer 1: beans

Layer 2: salsa

Layer 3: cheese

Layer 4: guac.  I'd just used my inhaler, so my shaky hands made this blurry!  Nerd alert.

Layer 5: taco seasoned sour cream

cheese (repeat layer, doesn't count!)

Layer 6: shredded lettuce

Layer 7: salsa/tomatoes

SHREDDED RANCH TACO CHICKEN

I love taco night!  I am definitely a ground beef fan, but when I saw this recipe for shredded chicken tacos, I had to try it.  It couldn't be any easier.  All you do is throw stuff in the crockpot!  Are you ready to find out the list of ingredients required to flavor your chicken?  Get a pencil.  Here is the list:

Yup, that's it.  You just have to promise me one thing: DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF THE CROCKPOT UNTIL THE TIMER GOES OFF.  A lot of people like to get a peek while their crockpot meals are cooked.  Uh... isn't your lid made of glass?  Why are you taking the lid off?  It just adds cooking time and dries out your food.  This chicken needs to be juicy and flavorful so please please please just leave it alone.  Here, I'll show you how exciting it looks while it's cooking:

Is your curiosity squashed now, or what?  Anyway, take a look at all that delicious liquid that is created when this cooks.  Yum.

Oh, and this is how weird it will look before you cook it.

Once it's done, shred away!

If you have a gas stove, getting tortillas nice and toasty over the open flame is a must.  So perfectly crisped and soft all at the same time.

The first night we had this, we put it in the toasted tortillas with cheese, lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, creamy chipotle sauce and hot sauce.  With the leftovers we made salads and added some black beans.  You could also serve this in burritos, quesadillas or tostadas.

We also had sides of rice and delicious refried black beans.  This rice is fun to pair with Mexican dishes because it reminds me of the authentic kind in restaurants with corn, carrots and peas.

Ingredients

2.5 lbs fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders (you could also use frozen)
1 1/2 packets taco seasoning
1 1/2 packets ranch seasoning

Place chicken in crockpot.  Sprinkle both seasonings over the top.   Cover and cook on low 6 hours.  That was the perfect amount of time for fresh, large chicken breasts.  If using frozen chicken, cook for 6-8 hours.  Tenders cook quicker than breasts, adjust cook time accordingly.  Shred chicken with two forks.  Cover and cook for another 15 minutes, to let the chicken soak up all the juices.

Simple perfection.  Mmmmmm.