I contemplated taking today off from blogging since I had the “special” post yesterday in honor of my mom. However, I am a person who is very strict about my routines and it would have bothered me more to miss a “regular” post. So I decided to sit and discipline myself into writing.

Things have been crazy at our house the last couple of days. My niece spent the night and a day with me because of a family emergency. I enjoyed every minute of it but watching a 2 1/2 year old is definitely different than watching my boys. I was going from one event to the next. I will say that my sweet niece was so much better at cleaning up after each game then my boys seem to be. Kudos to you Mabry! I also had a catering job, my guest post, obedience school for Nani. Wow! One thing to the next and then my garage door breaks. Seriously?!? I was ready to throw in the towel and go climb under the covers.

It is days like these that you need something easy and that is where taco salad fits in. (I wish the weather was a little more cooperative, but oh well.) Taco salad is one of our summer favorites. In the peak of summer it is on “heavy” rotation. I also like it because it can easily be adjusted to everyone’s tastes. The boys have not acquired the taste for salad so they mostly eat the chips, cheese, and the meat and beans mixture. It works! If we have them, I usually add green onions.  Jeffrey tops his off with lots of Tabasco. I am learning to limit the salad dressing. We all end up happy.  What do you like to add to your taco salad?

Beef and Bean Taco Salad

Printer Friendly Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 packet of taco seasoning or use my homemade version
1 can kidney or black beans, rinsed and drained
lettuce, torn into bite size pieces (I usually use green and red leaf or romaine, but any will do.)
shredded cheese
taco flavored Doritos
Catalina salad dressing
chopped tomatoes
salsa

homemade taco seasoning:
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Brown the ground beef. Drain off the grease. Return the beef to the skillet. Add the taco seasoning and 1/4 cup water. Stir to combine. Add the beans and heat through.

In a large bowl layer your lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese. Crush several hands full of Doritos and put them on top of the cheese. Put a good amount of beef and bean mixture on top of the Doritos. Pour some Catalina dressing on top and toss to coat. Serve with salsa and hot sauce of your choice.