I am beginning to think I should have a “Fast Friday” feature or something for the quick and easy things I make. Here is one that works with so many ingredients that it’s hard to write a recipe for it, so I’ll give you some ideas.
The Basics
Tortilla chips
lettuce
tomato
avacado
More Players
black olives
sour cream
beans (refried, black, or any type you like)
taco meat (chicken, pork, beef)
cheese
salsa
The Fun
Mash up the tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl.
Add your favorite toppings.
Eat!
Like most people, I have a stash of “quick and easy” recipes that require minimal effort in order to feed my family something minimally processed. Here is a quick and easy hot dish recipe.
Tator Tot Hotdish
The Players
1 pound hamburger
1 md onion — diced
2 cups corn (I prefer frozen)
1 bullion cube
1 cup water
1 tablespoon flour dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1 package tator tots (I used about 16 ounces of crowns instead)
The Easy Part
- Brown the hamburger and onion together.
- Add the corn, water and bullion cube. Once the mixture is hot, add flour/water mixture and heat to boiling.
- Once boiling, pour hamburger mixture in to a cake pan or casserole dish.
- Add tator tots.
- Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until tator tots are brown.
This is a quick and easy casserole you can prepare in advance. I sometimes mix up the ingredients, using whole black beans instead of black bean dip (for example), and I usually do all of the prep the night before so my husband can pop it in the oven while I am at work, and I come home to dinner being ready!
The Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I use super lean)
1/2 package taco seasoning
1 medium onion, diced
1 can sliced black olives (or slice them yourself)
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can rotel, drained
1 cup black bean dip
4-5 whole wheat tortillas
Directions
1. Brown hamburger and onions. Because I use lean meat, I add a tablespoon of olive oil. When cooked throughly (no pink remaining), add in taco seasoning and stir. Do NOT add liquid with it, or your casserole will get soupy.
2. Assemble casserole by placing a couple tablespoons of meat on the bottom of the dish, followed by a tortilla. Add a couple tablespoons of rotel, black olives, ground beef, and a light layer of cheese, and then another tortilla. In the middle, I put a layer of the black bean dip. Keep repeating until you have used your ingredients.
3. Cover and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, removing the cover for the last five minutes. It will take a little less time if you do it immediately and more if you refrigerate it overnight.
Allow it to cool slightly before serving.
A couple of weeks ago, we had friends over for dinner. I admit openly, I kinda forgot they were coming until around noon…so I had six hours to whip up a meal. Fortunately, I had already made nutella cheesecake brownies that morning, so dessert was covered. By the way, if you eat at my house, and I do not offer any type of dessert, even if it is fruit, assume I am/was sick. 
Back on track– I did not know what to make, and I THOUGHT I would make pork chops with mashed potatoes. It was cool and rainy, so it would be a good fit. Only then, the light bulb went off in my head! I could make The Pioneer Woman’s Steak Bites!!! Their juicy, tender, not at all good for you-ness resonated and stuck in my mind! Even now, my mouth waters at the thought of these little bits of goodness. I rarely crave meat, but I definitely craved this on that day.
You can check out The Pioneer Woman’s recipe. I did not add the salt and pepper, because with the salted butter, I didn’t find it necessary. Also, I used a cast iron pan. You can’t go wrong with cast iron.
I’ll post the potatoes another day.
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