eat at home's Beef and Bean Taco Bake

I am always on the lookout for great recipes to try and share - I sign up for brand name newsletters, foodie magazines and websites - but I get most of the recipes that I really want to try from other blogger's...they are mother's like me - and know the value of fast, nutritious and easy to prepare meals.

Tiffany at eat at home is one of my very favorite foodie blogger's! She meets all the criteria listed above and surprises me all the time with her recipes and her willingness to just try something to see if it's good. This recipe is another version of her Black Bean and Corn Chicken Taco Bake!

When this week's recipe landed in my e-mail - I thought - WOW - I wanna try this out today! But...sadly - I didn't have the exact ingredients...

So I improvised...a lot.

Beef and Black Bean Taco Bake
Tiffany @ eat at home

Tiffany's Ingredients/My Improv Ingredients

1 lb ground beef/ 1 lb ground beef cooked with onions and bell peppers

1 15 ounce can Black beans/ Yah! I had this one!

1 jar black bean and corn salsa/ I didn't have jarred salsa on hand - so I made some myself.

6-10 corn or flour torillas cut into bite size pieces/ I had whole grain tortillas.

2 cups cheddar cheese / Yah! I had this one!


Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.



I loved was very easy and simple recipe to throw together...I love that it was a great way to get rid of a few things that I always have a bit of trouble using up by the end of the week like tortillas and bell peppers which have been known to be thrown away each week.

This would be a great recipe to make in batches - eat one for supper - freeze the other for those nights that you just don't have the energy or time to whip something up.




My whole family gives this recipe a resounding 5 spoons. We all wanted more - but sadly we ate it all!

Happy plates for everyone. :)

Teriyaki Beef -

Hubs and I went to Jamaica in the fall of 2008 and we ate at this restaurant that served us Teriyaki Beef, it was a huge success with my picky husband and he has been wanting it since we left.

So I found this recipe from THE FOOD NETWORK'S website and It was a HIT! I think next time I am going to try throwing in a TBS of brown sugar to make it a little sweeter.

Teriyaki Beef:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds roast beef, cut into thin slices-- We cut ours into like chicken tender chunks

Sauce:

• 3/4 cup low sodium Soy Sauce
  
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 to 3 tablespoons oil or butter

Mix together all sauce ingredients except the oil or butter.

Soak beef slices in sauce for at least 1 hour.

Fry in a saucepan in oil or butter for about 4 minutes per side, or until tender.

(We sort of boiled ours)

We made Rice in our handy Rice cooker to go with it! YUM

Also If you haven't ever seen or used Fresh Ginger, you can find it in your produce section and it looks like this

It has a wonderful fresh scent when you cut or chop it, and don't forget to peel it first. :)

We rated this recipe a 5 spooner...

**we also made a second batch at the same time for a FREEZER MEAL

Candied Chicken

Recently I was sent a 30meals in one day kit. Which included the "dinner is ready" book By. Deanna Buxton, it has more than 150 Freezer-worthy dinner recipes.

This Candied Chicken recipe came from that book. It was AWESOME and We doubled the recipe and put one in the freezer after it cooled.

Ingredients:
2pounds boneless skinless Chicken breasts
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
1 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
3/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 Cup Ketchup



Cut Chicken into strips,

Sprinkle Chicken with salt and pepper.


Place in a greased baking dish.

Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Pour off liquid.


Combine Syrup, Vinegar and Ketchup.

Pour over chicken. Stir to Coat. Bake uncovered 45 minutes at 350 degrees.


Baste Chicken with sauce every 15 minutes.

*and pull them apart like I had to... to get more sauce per bite

Remove from oven and serve.



Notes:

• If sauce is too thin, boil just the sauce on the stove top for a few minutes until the sauce thickens to your liking **we did this yum!**
  

Freezer Meal Notes:

• This recipe may Also be frozen prior to baking. Bake Chicken for 20 minutes and pour off liquid. Place chicken and Sauce in freezer bag. Label and Freeze.

• To serve Frozen dish: Thaw. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting every 15minutes.

We loved this, and rated it a 5 spoon
AND
already ate our second set out of the freezer !

**If your interested in learning more about freezer meals, and want some great recipes including this one go to 30mealsinoneday.com and tell them Brandy sent you!**