Mexican Hamburger Casserole

I’ll venture off of my normal meals and into one of my not so healthy recipes! Tonight I made Mexican Hamburger Casserole. It’s not the healthiest meal out there so I don’t make it as often as I do my other recipes. This meal is actually one of my mom’s recipes which I stole from her! It’s fairly easy and makes a ton of leftovers, unless you’re cooking for more than two.

This meal calls for ground meat, which I haven’t tried replacing with turkey meat yet, but I’m sure it tastes all the same. While your oven is preheating to 400 degrees, start browning the ground meat. Once the meat is fully cooked, drain the meat and then add a package of store bought taco seasoning. Now that the meat is ready, mix together in a large bowl one package of regular cornbread, one package of jalapeño cornbread, one cup of milk, two eggs, and one can of cream style corn. Make sure it is fully blended and you have broken both the eggs. Spray your 9x13 pan with Pam and pour a thin layer of the cornbread mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. Next, add the meat that has been seasoned with the taco seasoning, spreading it out evenly across the pan. If you prefer cheese, add a layer of grated cheese on top of the meat and then pour the rest of the cornbread mixture on top and spread evenly. Cook the casserole anywhere from 30-45 minutes. A great tip to see if the casserole is finished cooking, is to take a toothpick and place it in the center of the casserole and if it comes out clean, dinner is ready!

This meal is extremely easy and consists of only six ingredients. It makes a ton so be prepared for leftovers for the rest of the week. If you enjoy onions or jalapeños don’t be afraid to add it up and change it to what you like. The best way to learn in the kitchen is to play around with what you know works and make it all your own.

Taco Soup

Sticking with my Mexican food, I’ll share my love of soup. I work part-time at law firm so during the Christmas holidays I work full time. Bringing the same lunch to work everyday started to get boring and old, so a co-worker and I decided we would start making lunch at the office every Friday. When it was her week to bring lunch she made taco soup. I fell in love and have made it ever since.

My co-workers version calls for ground beef but you know me and I switched it to ground turkey. If you don’t enjoy veggies I still think you should give this soup a try. This recipe calls for two cans of yellow corn, one can of black beans, two cans of chopped tomatoes (Rotel is fine), dry Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning and taco seasoning. While the turkey is cooking add all the cans in a large crock-pot or the largest pot you have. Make sure to add all the juice, it’s the best part. Stir in the ground cooked turkey meat as well as the packet of dry ranch dressing and taco seasoning. You may add salt if you like. Once the soup has reached a boil, it’s time to eat.

This soup can be eaten with cornbread or chips. I prefer to eat my soup with shredded cheese on top with either Fritos or potato chips. The crunch as well as the saltiness from the chips makes it much better. This soup makes a lot so be prepared for seconds and leftovers. If you’re ever in need for a great soup recipe during those cold months, pull this one out and give it a try!

Easy Enchiladas

I recently started cooking enchiladas and now I am obsessed. I began running out of ideas for dinner, so I called my mom for some newdinner recipes. Once she said enchiladas I knew it would be another meal I could do that is cheap and easy. With this meal you can also add my taco recipe and some homemade guacamole or salsa.

Enchiladas are just as simple as tacos. I start by cooking my turkey meat while my oven preheats to about 350 degrees. Once the turkey meat is cooked, I add store bought taco seasoning. Once again, I like some heat so my taco seasoning has some kick to it. Now that the turkey and taco seasoning are mixed well, I heat my tortillas up in the microwave. A good tip for heating up tortillas is getting a damp paper towel and wrapping the tortillas in it. This creates moisture which helps to not dry out the tortilla. I use a normal 9x13 casserole dish and cover the bottom with enchilada sauce. Once everything is ready to go, I create an assembly line of my tortillas, turkey meat, cheese, and every now and then I’ll add grilled onions. I use corn tortillas which are easier to break so be careful not to over stuff them. Now that the enchilada is made, place it face down in the enchilada sauce and to make sure it doesn’t open back up place a toothpick in the middle. When all your enchiladas are placed in the casserole dish cover it with more of the enchilada sauce and top it off with shredded cheese. Cook them until the cheese is melted.

This meal has become one of my favorites because I always have plenty of leftovers for the next day. Enchiladas are an easy meal to create variety with. If you don’t enjoy turkey meat, switch it to chicken or pork. It is whatever you prefer. If you have never made homemade enchiladas or weren’t sure you could, this is a recipe you can’t mess up! Enjoy!

Grillin' Turkey Burgers

This is my all time favorite burger! It is just like any other burger but of course, with turkey meat. When I ask if someone has ever had a turkey burger I always seem to get the same response, a blank and confused stare. I soon go into how much I love them and how good they are for you. I try and explain that it is simply just a change in meat, just like if you were to change the type of bread you eat your sandwich on or even just simply changing from ham to bologna for lunch.

Most of the time when I cook turkey burgers for dinner I prepare the food while my fiancé grills the burgers outside. I start with the ground turkey meat and add fresh minced garlic, chopped jalapenos, chopped onions and Tony Chachere’s.  Note: If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can always use garlic powder. Once everything is mixed well, I slightly score the meat to make it into four equal patties. While the burgers are outside on the grill I like to sauté onions, squash, and zucchini if I have it. Every now and then I will add zucchini to the grill outside as well. Once the burgers are close to done I add a nice piece of melted slice cheese to the patty. Everyone adds different fixings to their burger so there is never the same turkey burger.

Turkey burgers are a weekly meal made in my kitchen. Not only do I enjoy them but my fiancé does as well. He loves grilling outside on his barbeque pit and it is less work I have to do in the kitchen! If you have never tried turkey burgers, you are without a doubt missing out on a tasty burger. Add whatever you like, it only makes the ending result taste better!

Taco Night

Taco night is again another easy meal to make and can also come with many variations. Tacos are easy for beginners in the kitchen and once again, light on your wallet. Growing up in Southeast Texas, Mexican food has always been my favorite. From enchiladas to tamales to tacos, I love them all! I haven't mastered the tamales yet (and I doubt I ever will!) but tacos are an easy meal for all Mexican food lovers.

Like I said in my last blog, I recently moved from ground meat to turkey meat for the simple fact that it is healthier. I personally can’t taste the difference and anyone that has ever eaten dinner at my house has never been able to tell either. I start out by cooking my ground turkey meat and then adding store bought taco seasoning. I like spicy, so my tacos are made with some extra kick! While the meat is cooking, I cook my taco shells in the oven and warm up tortillas in the oven quickly as well. I prefer crunchy tacos but my fiancé enjoys soft tacos so we always have both. Tacos can vary from kitchen to kitchen with toppings that are added but my favorite ones are tomatoes, onions, cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

My fiancé makes amazing homemade salsa but if I shared that recipe he might kill me! I enjoy chips and dip with my tacos as well, of course with our homemade salsa. Every now and then if I see decent avocados at the store, I’ll grab a few to add guacamole on the side. I love this meal because it’s cheaper than going to Casa Thomas or any other Mexican restaurant here in town and is just as good. I enjoy cooking because I know what is going in my food and I love the fact that I prepared it myself.

Spaghetti It Is

Spaghetti was one of the first meals I started making on my own. The main reason being is that it is extremely simple and pretty difficult to mess up! I can remember my mother coming home from work and being exhausted from her long day and throwing this meal together quickly for our family of four.

I prefer different pasta over the regular linguini that is most common with spaghetti. Last night I made my spaghetti with whole wheat penne pasta which is bigger and thicker. Penne pasta is more of a tube shape with diagonal ends on each end. Once my pasta is done I like to add cooked, ground turkey meat to it. I recently started cooking with turkey meat rather than regular ground meat because turkey meat is much healthier. My fiancé enjoys both spaghetti sauce as well as Alfredo sauce with his meal so I've learned to add a little of both on my plate too. There isn't much that can go wrong with this simple meal, other than the fact that I didn't cook enough pasta last night for seconds!

I really enjoy this meal because it is quick, easy, and cheap to make and can feed many if need. Every now and then I'll add a piece of garlic bread on the side! I haven't found many variations for this meal other than changing the types of pasta and meat. Being in college, working and going to school it's a tight budget so if you’re ever in need for an easy meal that is light on the wallet, spaghetti it is!

What is this Blog About?

As  I was sitting here wondering what I could blog about, not much came to mind. I'm constantly busy with school and work and don't have much time to relax but I've always enjoyed cooking and baking. Cooking as always been a joy of mine from the time that I was a little girl. Four simple words can explain why... The Easy Bake Oven. My mother was never the big cook so spending the weekends with my grandmother, as well as with my Easy Bake Oven, I quickly picked up the love for cooking. My grandmother made everything from scratch and was always more than happy for my help in the kitchen but when it came for my time to shine, I was more than willing to put my apron on and show off my skill.

As I grew up, my mother wasn't always as willing to let me help so I eventually started cooking on my own. Now that I am in college and on my own, it is nice to be in control of my own kitchen! I am constantly surfing the Internet for recipes for that nights meal and the ever so sweet desert. I've made many mistakes along the way from cooking entirely too much to not following the directions by putting too much of one ingredient in that sometimes it is just a learning experience more than it is finding a new recipe I will enjoy.

In this blog I will be sharing recipes I have found, explaining if I liked or disliked them and why. I am always on the hunt for a great dinner or desert so feel free to share any you have and I might let you know how it went in my kitchen!