Everybody needs a couple of recipes for quick one dish dinners. It’s way too tempting to pick up those “helper” boxes at the grocery store if you don’t… and you really don’t want to do that, do you? Please say no.
If I am going to be completely honest I would have to say that while I really love cooking food for people I love I am satisfied with simple foods eaten when necessary. My metabolism is very slow partly due to lack of a thyroid and partly due to the way God wired my system. I do best eating a little every couple of days. Like one meal every other day – and I am perfectly happy with a salad. My favorite meal of all time is a tomato sandwich made with fresh, warm homegrown tomatoes, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and toast. That’s it. I could eat that for every meal.
It isn’t that I don’t like food. Read my blog – I love food. I love good flavor. It’s just that I don’t need to eat often and usually a bite or two will work just fine. People ask how I stay thin when I have had so many kids and make so many yummy desserts. Well, that’s how. I only eat when I am hungry and for me that happens about once every other day. My weight went up when my thyroid started acting up but now that everything is finally adjusted correctly it is slipping away and I am starting to look like me again.
Yay.
Anyway. My family would not consider tomato sandwiches for every meal a viable alternative to actual real food so, like most of you, I have to have a few really quick dinners that I can throw together in almost no time. Because, well, I have no time. This recipe is kid-friendly, family approved, and fast. It isn’t the healthiest food ever but it doesn’t have a lot of additives and it is delicious.
And fast.
It’s a great way to use up the stale tortilla chips that everyone has because the kids invariably leave the bag open on the counter. You can make it even more quickly if you’ll keep cooked ground beef in the freezer in recipe sized amounts.
Keep this meal simple and just serve a salad as your side dish. It’s so good you may even start making it when you actually have plenty of time.
A quick and easy skillet dinner with Southwestern flavor. Crunchy tortilla chips, spicy taco meat, and onions are bathed in a cheesy sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/2 teaspoon ancho chilie powder
- 3 tablespoons of your favorite taco seasoning
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups mild cheddar or colby jack, grated
- 3 cups tortilla chips, broken
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion in the skillet.
- Add the taco seasoning, ancho chilie powder, and flour.
- Cook, stirring for about 2 minutes.
- Add the liquid smoke and milk, stir until thickened.
- Stir in the tortilla chips.
- Add the 1 cup of the cheese.
- Stir until heated through and well blended.
- Taste and check seasoning.
- Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the top and serve with sour cream.
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