Mexican Night

So a few have asked for the recipes to the Mexican Pizza, Taco Seasoning, and Re-fried Beans. So here we go....

I got the Mexican Pizza recipe here.  Where it calls for 1/2 lb. of beef I used a full pound; it makes 2 pizzas with a 1/2 lb and I needed 4.  In step 2.  where it calls to add the onion, and spices I skipped that part and after I drained and rinsed my meat I added homemade taco seasoning instead.  We use this one.  I have tried several different taco seasoning recipes and this one is our favorite by far.

For the re-fried beans.... I cook them first in my pressure cooker.  I almost never remember to pre-soak them  so this is the way to go.  1/2 lb of beans, 4 cups of  natural chicken stock (homemade if I have it), 2 bay leaves, half of a yellow onion sliced, 3 whole cloves of garlic, a dash of cumin, dash of salt, dash of paprika, dash of chili powder, and 4 tsp of olive oil (this keeps it from foaming).  35 minutes in the pressure cooker.  If you don't have a pressure cooker there are usually directions on the bag of pinto beans on how to cook them.  You would need to pre-soak them over night or follow the fast soak recipe on the bag and then cook them for about 2 hrs with the ingredients listed above.

After the pressure releases from the pressure cooker I use this recipe (for the most part) to finish them off.  I use a little of the broth and milk to cook them in the pot (after I have sauted the onion and garlic).  I cut back to 1 tsp of cumin.  Rick likes the cumin I don't so you add or subtract however you like it. Also, her recipe is using a full lb of beans and I only do half so I cut this recipe in half (duh, I know).

After I have made my meat and beans the way we like them instead of the way the Mexican Pizza recipe calls for I follow the rest of that recipe the way it is written.  I tweeked each persons toppings to their flavor preferences some got tomato and green onion, some just onion and one person no veggies on top.

I served the remaining re-fried beans as a side ( I added a little cheese and organic salsa to it) along with Salsa and Food Should Taste Good Natural Multi-Grain Chips.  If I had planned ahead better I might have served this.  It is the only way I have gotten my family to eat cauliflower and it works well with Mexican food. We were more than stuffed after our Mexican pizzas though so I don't feel like anything was missing.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really was pretty easy.  You may need to plan ahead a little.  It took me less than an hour start to finish.  That includes the cooking time on the beans which I was able to start and go do other things during the cooking time.  I wasn't standing over the stove for an hour.

Hope you guys enjoy!!