Easing the Pain of Meal Planning

Meal planning is HUGE in keeping on budget. However it also seems to take a HUGE amount of time out of my day every 2 weeks. With the door wide open and lots of recipes that I have successfully tried, I end up frustrated with options. I was browsing a cookbook at SAM's the other day and came across one that had a different "theme" for the meals each day of the week. I decided to adopt this and the Smith household will now follow the "themes" listed below. Hoping it works out!

Meatless Monday
TexMex Tuesday
Italian Wednesday
Comfort Food Thursday
Fun Friday

Taco Seasoning Take II

I've posted a taco seasoning recipe before, but I've found one with a little more flavor to it that I will be using from now on. The recipe is for 2 lbs. of meat. I made it in mass and it's about 1 1/2 T per pound of  meat.

Ingredients:
1 T chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t cumin
1/2 t salt
1 t black pepper

Baked Tacos

BIG HIT! J and I both loved these baked tacos. The recipe called for 2 pounds of ground beef...however, I am looking to cut corners in our budget any way we can as we kick the Dave Ramsey "Debt Snowball" in to high gear. Sooooo...I used one pound instead. I figure if I cut the meat in half in every recipe, that will add up to big bucks on the grocery budget.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped

4 oz green chilies

8 oz tomato sauce
16 oz refried beans

shredded cheese

hard taco shells*

taco seasoning**

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Brown beef and onion

Drain beef, return to skillet

Add chilies, refried beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning

Mix well

Spoon into shells

Place shells in an oven safe baking dish
Sprinkle with cheese
Bake until cheese is melted

You can of course add lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and anything else you like once they're done baking!

*I would only make however many you plan to eat at the time. The shells aren't that great re-heated. The mixture will be good left over. Just spoon into shells and bake like before.

**I use 2 T of my homemade mix taco seasoning.