The Americanized version of tacos
should not be confused with real,
authentic Latino cooking. Going
into cultural restaurants where
authentic Mexican/Latino cooking
is done, will take you to another
place on some of these home recipies
for the Americanized versions.
Nonetheless, Tacos do not require
a lot of cooking and can be made
in small batches to feed from over
a few consecutive days, they are
delicious and a great novelty food
to have around the house, and
they don't really cost a lot either.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle you
will face with taco's is deciding
what you personally like on yours.

While the VA spins it's wheels in
Washington on your disability case,
and eats in the best places that
Washington has to offer while you
sit with your food stamps and
runs to the local food pantries,
there are ways you can make peace
with yourself in your kitchen, even
if you are a guy, and even if you
are living alone, and even if you
are dirt poor.

The best tasting tacos comes from
CORN tortilla's. If you can get
corn tortilla taco shells at the
food pantry, then DO pick those up.
If you have to spring for it on
food stamps, then go to a regular
full size supermarket. The taco
shells are found either in the
Mexican/Hispanic aisle, OR the
International aisle, OR they are
sometimes lumped in with the
spagetti and tomato sauce aisle.

The 2 most popular brands for
corn tortilla taco shells are
Ortega or El Paso. Stand there
a minute and read the boxes.
They DO now offer "king size"
taco shells which are easier to
hold in your hand.

You do NOT need a Taco "kit",
but for sure, you can also chose
that and just use the corn
tortilla's which are in those.
Just get the tortilla taco shells.

Here are the usual FILLERS for tacos:

chopped fresh tomato
(some people prefer to use
either hot sauce or taco sauce
instead of fresh tomato. The
2 don't work very well together.)

chopped raw onion or green tops

shredded lettuce

shredded cheddar or Montery Jack cheese
(you can buy these shredded in
bags at the cheese aisle)

sour cream (I never got into this
but some people do)

cooked rice

A can of Mexican "refried beans"
(maybe you can get this at the
Food Pantry)

A can of Mexican "black beans"

Chile (either your own recipe or
try the Meatless recipe I
have given below in this
very Forum)

seasoned ground beef
(bean filler or ground beef
are interchangeable. One
or the other. The seasoning
can be bought separately
in the GRAVY aisle, in the
name of TACO SEASONING and
just follow the instructions
on the back envelope. McCormick
brand is fine as is the store
brands of flavoring envelopes
in the Gravy section. Get
1 lb. of ground beef. Or
you can buy a Taco KIT and
use the envelope that comes
with the kit.

crushed red pepper
(this is a seasoning found
in the cooking aisle either
in supermarkets or drugstores.
It is a shake-on seasoning
to create the hot sensation
instead of the onions or
with the onions)

So you have your corn tortilla's
and you have figured out what you
want in your tacos.

Chop up the vegetables and put
them in separate small cereal bowls
that you have in your kitchen.
Put tomatoes in one, lettuce in
another, cheese in another, etc.

Start working on your fillers.
If you are going to use ground
beef, then cook it up and add
the seasoning until it's done.

If you are using rice and chile,
then cook up the rice and chile
and until it's done.

If you are using only refried beans
with black beans on top, then heat
those up and get them ready.

Turn on the oven at 350 degrees.

Take a baking pan: I use either a
square cake pan, or a loaf pan
which is used from baking bread.
You can get these at the Supermarket
in the Kitchen Utensils aisle, but
if you cannot afford a regular pan,
they have the Aluminum Foil version
in all kinds of shapes and sizes
and you can just use those.

If you are using a regular pan,
then line it with aluminum foil
from your kitchen so the tacos
don't stick to the pan.

Take out 2 or 3 corn tortilla
taco shells from the box. Line
them up in the pan so they stand
upright in some kind of a way.

Spoon in the fillers of your
choice. If you are using just
ground beef, or ground beef and
rice, ground beef and refried beans,
then WhatEver, just spoon those
in layers into the taco shells.
First one, then the other on top.
If you are using rice and chile,
put the rice in first then put
the chile on top.

Put the taco shells into the oven
for a full 10 to 15 minutes. You will
start to smell them bake and see them
take on a brown baking color. What this
does it softens the bottom part of the
taco shells so they are more flexible
to eat, while making the top part
more crispy and flavorful.

Take the taco shells out and shut
off your oven. Sprinkle on a couple
of shakes of the crushed red pepper
seasoning if you are going to use
that, or shake on the hot sauce
or taco sauce.

If not, go directly to the cheese
and put that on first so it can
melt on the filling. Put a good
handful of cheese on each taco.
Then add the tomatoes, lettuce,
and onions in spoonfuls. Keep the
tacos organized in the baking pan.
Sour cream goes on top if you
are using that.

Sit down and enjoy.

When you are done eating, store
the left over taco shells in a
large, gallon size Zip Lock bag.
Cover the cereal bowls with your
toppings and put them in the
refrigerator for the next day's
meal. Also store the Fillings
in a covered dish with aluminum
foil or a lid, and just heat
everything up again the next day.

Make the tacos the same way
again and again. Heat up the
fillers, add the fillers to the
shells, bake the shells for 10
minutes, then add the toppings
from your bowls.

You only need enough toppings
to fill 1/2 of a cereal bowl.

If you don't like chopping your
vegetables very well, get yourself
a tall counter-level chair and
sit down. It takes the load off
your feet while you are chopping
the tomatoes etc. Put on
some music and get distracted
to relieve the tedious part of
chopping.

If you wish to shred your own
cheese, then you can buy Cabot's
Brand reduced fat cheedder cheese
and use a hand shredder to
shred the brick into a dish
and store that in your refrigerator.

After you have done these tacos
once all by yourself, the steps
will become automatic to you
and will be less of a burden
on your brain. You absolutely DO
have to go through this once
to form a mental picture as
to how it all goes. Very fast,
very easy, and very cheap in
the end plus it takes very good
and this is what you are after
for your meal.

Iced tea is a good drink with
tacos, or kool aid, or Hawaiian
Punch, or just plain refrigerated
Seltzer Water with no flavoring.
Milk also works.

Tacos are very filling so there
is little need for any other side
dish to go with it. These are a
complete meal. The bean or chile
fillers are just as good as the
ground beef filler, so you can
have these even when you don't
have meat in the house.