Taco Salad, with Doritos!

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UPDATE: I've updated the pictures in this post, but it's the same amazing recipe. 

This recipe is another perk to marrying Jake. Since we met his mom has made this quite often for a quick, but delicious, family dinner.

Because this meal is best served cold it is a great make-ahead dish.  I think that is why Gail would make it when we all got together – she wasn't slaving away in the kitchen and could have fun with everyone.

Jacob and I make this taco salad at least monthly. Curiosity led me to add sour cream as a topping and I will never look back. It's amazing. 

Taco Salad with Doritos

1 lbs ground beef
½ onion, chopped (okay to skip onion if you are not a fan)
1 can Bush’s Chili Beans in Medium Sauce
1 bag shredded cheese
3 tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 bag Doritos, crushed into pieces*
Catalina Salad Dressing (use as much or as little as you like) 
1 head lettuce
Sour Cream**

Cook ground beef and onion, drain grease.  Remove from heat and add Chili Beans (with sauce).  Mix well.  Transfer to storage container and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Best served as a cold topping to the salad.

2 Options for Serving:

1. If serving to a group, combine all listed ingredients in one big bowl and serve.
2. If serving to a smaller group or for your family, allow everyone to make their own salad by putting each ingredient out buffet style. 

Jacob and I do buffet style; this allows us to eat for multiple meals and make much better leftovers.

*Tip: Smash up the Doritos in the bag before opening. You know you're going to use the whole bag so this keeps your fingers from getting messy and make it super easy to serve. 

**Update (7-9-13): I added a dollop of sour cream to my salad last time and it was amazing! Probably going to make that addition going forward.

Source: My mother-in-law, Gail 

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Strawberry, Cream & Pretzel Salad

I have had this dish at a number of potlucks and picnics and LOVED it.  I finally stumbled upon the recipe and decided to give it a whirl!  Plus we had a potluck at work and I knew it would be a good side dish. 

I love the combination of sweet and salty with the pretzels, sugar, and strawberries.  It’s light enough to balance out a heavy meal as a side or just a dessert dish.

I hope you’ll try it at your next get-together!    

Here we go! 

Strawberry, Cream & Pretzel SaladAdapted from National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Terri Thiede

Ingredients:
2 boxes, 3 oz strawberry Jell-O
2 ½ cups boiling water
10 oz frozen strawberries

3 tbsp sugar
2 cups crushed pretzels
¾ cup melted butter

2 cups powdered sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
9 oz Cool Whip

Step 1: Combine 2 ½ cups boiling water with both packages of Jell-O.  Add in frozen strawberries.  Chill until almost set.  (About an hour or so.)   

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour melted butter into 9 x 13 pan.  Add on crushed pretzels and sugar.  Use your hands (or spoon) to combine and press into crust.  Bake for 15 minutes. 

Step 3: Combine powdered sugar and cream cheese until well blended.  Fold in cool whip.

Step 4: Top Crust with Step 3 (cream cheese mixture) and then Step 1 (Jell-O).  Chill two or three hours before serving.  GREAT dish to make the day before the party! 

*Note: I didn't let my Jell-O set up enough so it did blend with the cream a bit, but flavor was still the same!  I would just make sure Jell-O was almost set before putting it on top. 

Enjoy!  Thanks for stopping by!    

Jacob's Chili

I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 14th of August and it pretty much was a weekend long birthday party!

On Friday night Jacob surprised me with fancy chocolate from Andre’s. SOOO good. I pretty much snacked on those all weekend. Obviously I had to try them before I could capture a good picture.

Then we went to a baseball game; we thought it was going to rain cats and dogs but it didn’t.

Saturday my mom and dad came to visit. We hit up a couple garage sales and antique stores – didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without. We finished the night by watching The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (great movie) and ate some Oklahoma Joes BBQ (delicious).

My parents left Sunday and Jacob and I did our normal Sunday grocery shopping and TV watching. I love my lazy Sunday’s so it was a wonderful day. Jacob volunteered to make his famous chili so I was off the hook for dinner. Score!

He loves making his chili and it always turns out so good. It’s fun to see him do his thing in the kitchen too. Jacob also makes a killer chicken noodle soup. I’ll share that one with you next time we have it.

And once again, we demolished the whole batch of chili before I could get a blog style picture. Opps!

Here we go…

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

½ onion, chopped

Can of Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed

Can of Chili Beans in Medium Sauce

Can of diced tomatoes, drained

46 oz can of Tomato Juice

4-8 tsp Chili Powder

Brown ground beef with onion. Drain grease and add to large soup pot.

Add in Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed), Chili Beans, Tomatoes, and Tomato Juice to soup pot. Stir to combine. Add in Chili Powder to your liking.

Bring soup to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve with a little shredded cheese on top and crackers. Also tastes really good with fresh cinnamon rolls if you have them.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!