Sloppy Soft Taco's

Greetings Everybody,
Sometimes there just isn't alot of food in the fridge, freezer or pantry, and when that happens it's important to dig down and get creative.

Tonight was one of those nights.

We are on a pretty tight budget right now, but as always...God provides!!!

So, tonight I have a recipe for you guys.
We have all heard of Sloppy Joe's right?

Here's a modification of that concept...

Sloppy Soft Taco's

These are a hit in my house.

You can modify this in a zillion ways, but here are some basic ingredients:

1 pound hamburger meat

1 package small flour tortilla's 

1 medium purple onion 

1 medium zucchini 

1 yellow bell pepper

1 can of Italian Stewed Tomato's

1 can of black beans

Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Cumin, Dried Cilantro...season to taste

and

The Secret Ingredient (step 6 below) season to taste, but don't use too much.

Sloppy Soft Taco's:
1.  I start with a medium sized skillet & pure coconut oil. (The coconut oil gives the onion a really sweet undercurrent of taste.) When the oil is hot enough, I sautee sliced onions, zucchini, and a yellow bell pepper into a really nice blend with garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and some dried cilantro.  

HINT:  Season it to your tastes...a little...or a lot. Feel free to add other veggies to the mix and experiment. I often add yellow squash and mushrooms.  

HINT:  I also like to brown slices of chicken breast and/or beef fajita meat instead of hamburger meat...it actually makes for a much prettier presentation.

2.  Open, rinse and drain the black beans, and then stir them into the vegetable mix.
3.  Open and drain the liquid from a can of italian stewed tomatoes, then add to the vegetable mix while stirring it all together.

HINT:  I really prefer to dice up fresh tomato's, but improvised with the canned ones.

4.  Set the vegetable mixture aside for a wee bit.
4.  In a separate skillet, brown a pound of hamburger meat, rinse and drain it well. 
Use a paper towel to wipe out the skillet before adding meat back into the skillet. 
5.  Put the rinsed and drained meat back into the skillet, add the vegetable mix, stir, taste, and add more seasoning if needed.
6.  Next add the SECRET INGREDIENT:  just a wee bit of Ketchup...careful not to add too much.  

HINT:  I prefer Salsa as the SECRET INGREDIENT, but Ketchup can be substituted.

7. Stir it all up, heat for a few minutes to allow all of the seasoning to meld.
8. Warm up the flour tortilla's.
9. Plop a generous amount of the mixture on a tortilla, gently fold it over and serve.
10.  They are pretty filling, so plan on Women eating 1-2, Men eating 3-4, Kids 1, and give it your best guess on the Teenagers. But basically,  I would say that if you double the recipe you can feed a large family pretty inexpensively.

HINT:  Hubby and I ate this for supper tonight and have enough for supper tomorrow. This recipe holds up well for leftovers and usually tastes even better the 2nd day.   

HINT: Sometimes I add shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream on each  serving...the presention is prettier and of course it tastes great too.

HINT:  Most of the time humans tend to take blessings for granted. I am as guilty of this as the next person.  As it happens though, tonight I am keenly aware that my supper was a blessing from God.  He helped me make a really good but really inexpensive meal...out of not very much. It was delicious and it was a joy to serve this to my hubby tonight. The reason it was a joy is not that cooking supper is the highight of my existance...but rather,  the joy came from realizing that every single ingredient used to make supper tonight was a gift from God. He helped me make something that tasted good. 

I am reminded of a specific scripture...

Psalms 34:8
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.


In Him,
Grace