Nachos

I have a serious Taco Bell addiction. How I love a bean burrito with no onions. Can you believe tomorrow is Friday and I have not gone there once this week? Uh, actually, you shouldn't believe that, now that I think about it I ran through the drive thru for Monday's lunch. Well, just one time this week is mighty good for me.

At Downey High School, after track practice, when Heather drove the Audi, we would dig around in the coin tray and check under the seats for change for a couple bean burritos for the ride home. What a cool big sister!

The problem is, I can get my favorito burrito for under a dollar. And Taco Bell is really close. And there is always about a dollar in change rattling around in the ash tray. And Emily hates Taco Bell, so I can be completely selfish and buy just one item and make her a PB&J (actually peanut butter and honey) sandwich at home.

The Nacho Bell Grande at Taco Bell is muy b-wayno. But it costs about $2.50, and there is too much on the tray for one person to eat alone. Nathan does not agree and feels if I really wanted some I should have ordered my own.

Nachos at home is as good, if not better than the Nacho Bell Grande. And it takes about the same time to whip up your own as it does to get coats and hats on the kids, let the dogs out, get the kids secured in car seats, lock the door, drive around the block to make sure you shut the garage door, then head to Taco Bell. I make this 2 different ways - fancy shredded beef nachos or regular old ground beef nachos.

The shredded beef nachos are soooooo tasty, but Nathan's gone and the kids hate that stuff, so I am going to just talk about the hamburger style nachos today. This week I browned up a pound of hamburger and froze most of it for later (for spagetti or nachos.) To give the rest of the ground beef a little nacho flavor, I poured in some salsa after the meat was all browned and rinsed. Then I warmed a can of Fat Free Rosa Rita Refried Beans, opened a bag of tortilla chips, chopped some lettuce, grated some cheese, opened the sour cream, and (since I was really feelin' fine) made a little guacamole.

To assemble the nachos you start with a layer of chips on your plate. Then you scoop on some beans, then meat, then add some lettuce, cheese, tomato, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, olives, peppers, and whatever else might be hiding in the cupboard. You can use your chips as silverware and just scoop and chow down, or you can use a fork and arrange each bite carefully.

Delish. And the leftovers make a tasty lunch.

The kids like to put some cheese on some chips and warm them in the microwave. They also like to eat every last bit of the sour cream - with or without chips.