Chicken Soft Tacos

If you haven't figured it out yet - I LOVE to cook. 

I love it even more when I can cook for a group of people like my amazing family or my close friends.

 I love searching cookbooks and online for recipes (heck - I do this for fun all the time!), I love going to the market (sometimes more than one!) to buy all the ingredients, I love the whole cooking process (yes, even all the prep work too!) and I love seeing the happiness and full bellies once the meal is all over.

 Without boring you even more about how much I love to cook, let me tell you about an amazing and SUPER EASY meal I made for myself and two of my girlfriends a few weeks ago!

I was randomly browsing recipes online one night (surprise surprise, right?) and I round a recipe for chicken tacos. I've made chicken tacos countless times, but this recipe sounded so simple and looked amazing! I called for a crock pot, a few ingredients and not much else.

I used this recipe as a starting point, but made a few modifications. I didn't use green chiles because I didn't have any. Instead of using a jar of salsa, I made my own, which is so easy too! Lastly, I used chicken thighs AND chicken tenders because...I wanted to and I did! The only thing I'd do different next time would be to use "fajita" sized instead of "soft taco" sized tortillas. Sounds odd, I know, but the "soft taco" ones are quite large.

Homemade Refried Beans

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again but I LOVE homemade Mexican food - mostly because it reminds me of the many delicious restaurants in my hometown of Tucson, Arizona. 

When I first saw this recipe for homemade refried beans I knew I HAD to make them! I did just a few days later and they are some of the BEST refried beans I've ever tried! I'm almost positive that ALL the others had lard or some form of fat, but these don't and are still super tasty!!

They are SO simple I just can't believe it. Unless I forget to plan a little bit ahead, I will never eat refried beans at home any other way!

Take a look at how easy they really are to make!

The Goods:

Dry Pinto Beans

Onion

Garlic

Jalapeno

Salt

Pepper

Cumin

Water

These things are AMAZING!! 

They making using a slow cooker/crock pot SO much easier 

because cleanup becomes much more simple and less messy!

About halfway through the cooking process. 

Done cooking and done mashing!

I put it into a snap container to enjoy throughout the week!

Turkey Taco Whole Wheat Pizza

While browsing recipes online recently, I ran across a website with a lot of cool recipes and one of them really stuck out - Taco Pizza! Really!?! I love tacos and I love pizza but I'd never thought about combining the two. And from the pictures, it looked like it may resemble an Indian Fry Bread. MMMMM Fry Bread! (Note to self: Find Indian Fry Bread Recipe and attempt to make it SOON!)

So after oogling over the recipe and pictures, I decided I'd make this for dinner one night last week. I made it for a friend and at first, they were a skeptic, but after smelling it bake and trying the first bite - they were convined it wasn't half bad. Heck - I thought it was quite tasty and enjoyed it on more than one occasion that week - partly because it makes a large quantity and it's quite filling.

Now that I've told you all about this amazing creation, let me show you just how to make it! 

It's very simple - I promise!

The Goods:

Ground Turkey (Not Pictured because I'm an idiot...)

Taco Seasoning

Refried Beans

Shredded Cheese

Pizza Dough (I used Whole Wheat)

Lettuce, Tomato, Green Onions, Cilantro, Lime, Salsa

Spread out dough and cover evenly with beans.

Add cooked, seasoned ground turkey.

And then a bunch of shredded cheese!

Bake according to dough package directions.

Halfway through baking!

Andddddddd done!

With all the toppings!

All topped and ready for consumption!

(Confession - I almost forgot to take a picture and took a bite first!)