Mini Taco Bowls

For those of you who don't know, my neighbor and I take turns teaching a weekly cooking class to our collective 5 kids. This is what I taught today and since it goes along so nicely with Kristen's last post, I thought I would share. For dinner I made slightly bigger versions, using glass bowls on a cookie sheet. The muffin tins produced a crispier shell, so maybe I'll line the bowls with foil next time, Anyway, they were a big hit and super easy.

Now I need to buy some vanilla bean ice cream and combine this recipe with Kristen's and make yummy cinnamon-sugar ice cream bowls...maybe topped with fruit salsa!

Mini Taco Bowls

8 small flour tortillas

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

1 cup salsa

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups chopped lettuce

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup Ranch Dressing

Heat oven to 350°F. Microwave tortillas on HIGH 30 sec. Press 1 tortilla into each of eight 2-1/2-inch muffin cups. Carefully fold back edges of tortillas, leaving opening in center of each for filling. Bake 10 min.

Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in salsa; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 min. Spoon into tortilla bowls; top with remaining ingredients.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

So I am following up on my promise--here is the appetizer I'm going to make for my dinner party. This is so yummy and perfect for summer! I am omitting the white sugar it asks for because it is plenty sweet after using the brown sugar, fruit preserves, and then the chips being sugary as well. (You could even omit the brown sugar, but leave the preserves, it gives it great taste!) Also, you can use any fruit you want--last time I made this I used nectarines instead of raspberries, and I've used blueberries in it before and it's yummy too.

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
*1-2 cups cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray. (I like use a pastry brush and put butter on both sides instead of the cooking spray, cut into wedges with a pizza cutter and then put them in a zip top bag with the cinnamon/sugar mix and shake. Then I spread them out on the baking sheet).
4. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

*You can buy this at the store, but it's ridiculously expensive, and it's very easy to make at home. For every 1/4 cup sugar I use 1 Tablespoon cinnamon... so for 1 cup sugar = 4 Tablespoons, 2 cups = 8 tablespoons, etc.