Recipe: Taco Pizza & Homemade Salsa & Handy Hamburger

Taco Pizza (makes 2)

2 pre-made crusts (I use Kroger brand)

olive oil

1 can refried beans

1/2 cup salsa

1 portion Handy Hamburger (HH)

taco seasoning packet

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

shredded lettuce

sour cream

black olives

fresh salsa

Heat oven to 450. Warm Handy Hamburger until heated through. Add taco seasoning pack, a little water and heat more. (Or, do like I did - make burritos earlier in the week and double up on the meat so it's ready to go after being heated up a little.) Combine refried beans and salsa in a bowl. Heat about a minute in the microwave, just enough to be spreadable.

Lightly brush crusts with olive oil. Spread bean mixture on crusts. Top with HH and shredded cheese. Bake in 450 oven until cheese is melted and all is warmed through - about 9 minutes.

Remove from oven. Top with shredded lettuce, sour cream and fresh salsa. You can use other toppings that your family likes as well, like black olives.

I made this for the first time a few months ago and Garret LOVED it. As he's shoveling his 2nd or 3rd piece into his mouth he says, "When I'm an adult and cookin', I'm gonna make this EVERY night for our food!" Makes a mama happy to hear that! :)

Fresh salsa

Tomatoes - about 4 cups worth

Jalapenos - about 4 depending on size

White Onion - 1 med to lg

Green onion - about 8 or one small bundle

Cilantro - about 1/2 a bundle

Garlic - about 3-4 cloves

Salt

Pepper

"Extras" (optional) - roasted red peppers, sun dried or roasted tomatoes

If I am making a small batch (about 1/2 the amounts above) then I chop everything by hand. If I'm making a large bath - the picture shows an 8 cup container, mostly full - then I use my food processor. All of the amounts are approximate. I never measure, I just throw it all in and taste it then add whatever's missing. NOTE: if you do this, make sure you save a few tomatoes for after the taste test. Anything else you can add more or less of, but once you're out of tomatoes, the salsa is ruined if everything else is overpowering.

Tomatoes - stem, lightly squeeze most of the juice and seeds out then rough chop.

Jalapenos - stem, seed (that's where the heat is) and finely chop.

White Onion - rough chop. If you don't like big chunks of onion, you could chop it more finely but we like the bigger chunks.

Green onion - clean and chop finely into rings.

Cilantro - rinse and rough chop. **Do NOT leave out cilantro! It's what makes the salsa!!!

Garlic - smash, peel and finely dice.

Salt - to taste. If your finished product tastes very "tomatoe-y" try adding a little more salt.

Pepper - to taste.

"Extras" (optional) - roasted red peppers, sun dried or roasted tomatoes - you don't have to have these, but if they are in your fridge, why not add them. The other day I made a bunch of slow-roasted tomatoes (thanks for the idea Aunt Patty) and made a puree with them, roasted garlic and olive oil. I added some of that mixture to my salsa this time - YUMMO!!!

After it sits for a while "water" will start to form at the top. You can stir it up before serving, or you can drain that water off. I like to drain it off so that my salsa is a bit thicker.

You can eat it right away, but it tastes even better after sitting overnight. This is one of those recipes that is not exact, but it's also pretty hard to mess up. I've tried freezing this and it turns out ok, but not great. The water from the tomatoes tends to separate and I don't think it tastes as good as it does fresh, but Greg still likes it.

Handy Hamburger

If you find a good deal on hamburger, buy a BUNCH and cook it up like this.

Hamburger - I prefer ground chuck so that it's less fatty

Onion - chopped

Garlic - chopped

Salt

Pepper

Other ground meats - sausage, venison, etc. - I am not a fan of venison, but we have some and I hate to waste it. So, I'll use...say 5 lbs hamburger, 1 lb pork sausage (for flavor and fat b/c the venison is so lean) and 1 lb venison. You never notice it at all when it's cooked this way and it stretches the HH even farther!

Crumble hamburger into large pot (I use my largest stock pot). Add all other ingredients and cook until completely browned. Drain fat. Allow to cool slightly. Separate into 1-2 cup portions and freeze in baggies or small containers. To use, thaw overnight or in the microwave. This can be used in so many things - Spaghetti Pie, Taco Pizza, BBQ Beef Cups, Chili, etc. As with the ESC (Easy Shredded Chicken) the whole point is one cooking time and one clean up time but several uses!