Mexican Dinner

Here's my first guest blogger's recipe! I'm so excited! Let me introduce you to John Lansford, one of my oldest friends - NOT that he's old, of course - he's just one of the few friends with whom I still keep in touch from my childhood in TN. Here he was being our Dungeon Master for what I'm sure was a watered-down version of Dungeons & Dragons.

As you can see, John was/is very lovable - as we are piling on him for a group hug. That's my old neighbor, Lindley, on the left, John on the bottom of the pile, my sister Kristin, and me on the right.

John is a great gardener and a great chef who now lives in NC. He is very generous and often brings cookies and treats to his friends. I wish I lived closer so I could be a recipient (though he has been known to mail a box of goodies!!)!

Please enjoy his recipe for Mexican Dinner:

Karin,

Here's my recipe for what we always called "Mexican dinner".  My mom used to make this and it fed six people, including 3 hungry boys, so it should be a good one!  I've made a few modifications to it over the years, adding the cinnamon, salsa, and fresh jalapenos...

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 large green pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained
2 jalapeño peppers (optional)
1 jar of salsa 
Taco seasoning
Pinch of cinnamon
Ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Bag of corn chips
Cheddar or pepper jack cheese
Lettuce
1 fresh tomato

Step one: Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain all the fat off of it.  Add two cans of diced tomatoes to the ground beef after draining most of the liquid out of them and stir together. Add half of the jar of salsa and stir. Reduce heat to simmer.

Step two: Chop a green pepper into small pieces and add to the ground beef mix. Chop the onion in half and cut one half of it into small pieces and add them into the mix as well.  Slice the jalapeños into pieces and add too.  Stir together.  If you don't like spicy meals omit the jalapeños.

Step three: Add about a teaspoon of taco seasoning to the mix, plus the black pepper, cayenne and cinnamon.  If you don't like spicy meals omit the cayenne pepper.  Add to flavor; I shake the black and cayenne pepper over the entire mix for a few seconds, enough to go over the whole area.  Cover and heat the mixture until thoroughly hot and it's got the consistancy you want.

Step four:  Chop the lettuce into small pieces and put in a bowl.  Do the same with the tomato, drain and put in a bowl as well.  Shred your choice of cheese; these three go on your dinner table.

To serve:  Place a layer of corn chips (or tortilla chips) on a plate, then add the ground beef mixture on top.  Sprinkle cheese, chopped lettuce and tomatoes, and any remaining salsa on top of the mix.

Serves 4; scale the recipe up proportionately if you need to serve more people.

Preperation time is about 30 minutes.
--
John's Shop of Wood
http://wood.jlansford.net/
--


Do you have a recipe you'd like to share on Cheap Family Dinner? Please let me know! I'd love to have you as a guest blogger! :) Email me at cheapfamilydinner@techhelpplease.com . I look forward to getting some great ideas from your kitchens!