Monday, January 12, 2009

The veggies are in there, can you find them? It's Taco Night!




My kids LOVE and I mean LOVE taco night.


Its one of the few meals that I know gets the kind of accolades all moms dream about when serving dinner!
"Awesome, Mom!"
"I LOVE tacos!" yes!!"

So the taco is also a slam dunk meal for me since I can sneak a mini cooper in there and I don't think they would notice. It's a pretty standard recipe with my own "sneaky chef" modifications.
Speaking of sneaky chef, that poor woman, Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Sneaky Chef ,
was run over the coals last year when Jerry Seinfeld's wife, Jessica, basically wrote the same book but with the "Seinfeld" name (read: sold many more millions of copies). It's a shame too, because the Sneaky Chef, in my opinion, is far better book. It's not as cute to read, granted, but the recipes are way better. (I already posted about the breakfast cookies on here).

It's not rocket science to sneak veggies into kids' foods but I think for the most part I have just forgotten to do it. I think a lot of moms I know are smart enough to do it, just didn't really think about it until those books came out. So now it's a little game for me- what can I sneak in and where can I sneak it.

So back to tacos..what used to be ground beef and seasonings is now, ground turkey and beef, pureed carrots and spinach, black beans and seasonings. And, like I said before, no one, including the picky husband, has any clue.

Sneaky Sam Tacos
Adapted from about 1,000,000 taco recipes online

2 tbl vegetable oil
1.5 lbs Ground Meat ( use half dark turkey and half lean ground beef)
1/4c onion, minced (about 1/2 medium onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can smooth style tomato sauce
1/2c Chicken Stock
1/2 can Black Beans
1/2 cup pureed veggies (I used 1/2 carrots and spinach), optional
3 heaping TBL Chili Powder
1 tbl cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Saute' onions and garlic in vegetable oil on medium heat until translucent. Add beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain off fat if necessary.

Add chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and pureed veggies (if using). Stir to combine. Add tomato sauce and cook on medium high heat for 3 minutes or until well combined. Add chicken stock and simmer until reduced. Add black beans and stir until heated through.

Serve with fresh avocado slices, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese or your favorite taco toppings!





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