Finger Food Fridays! Fiesta!!

This is a guest post by Jean.

It’s been a truly crazy 6 months in our family.  We moved.

I won’t go into the details because you have all been there!  Logistically, emotionally, physically, it was truly laborious and we are still getting over it and are not yet unpacked.

But I can tell you, the last two weeks before moving day, and the first weeks in our new home, I defaulted to the easiest meals ever.  They had to be quick, use less than 2 pans (the rest were in a box somewhere), flavourful, nutritious, and inexpensive.  (Did I mention we moved?  Huge cash strap).

And since my children love themes, we came up with Finger Food Fridays.  One of our faves is Beef Nachos, and honestly, who can resist a double-layer extravaganza (oh yeah baby) of slightly spiced ground beef (like Big Batch Ground Beef or use up some leftover Beef & Black Bean Chili – pictured above) cooked up with tender onion, with some sweet grape tomatoes chopped up and nestled in to the layers of ooey gooey stretchy cheese blend holding together those crunchy salty tortilla chips.

Can you taste it yet??  And to con myself into believing this is a complete food guide meal, I sometimes throw on black beans, chopped avocado, and a bit of salsa for kick (but only on one half of the pan, for the grown-ups.  Kids are allowed to goof off on Friday nights and avoid nacho veggie contamination).  Individual bowls of sour cream and salsa round out the Fiesta, laid out on a Mexican blanket aka tablecloth.

My girlfriend Jan hooked me up with a really yummy and super easy homemade (taco) beef seasoning recipe from allrecipes.com – Taco Seasoning I – and I highly recommend it.  You can adjust the heat, it’s far less salty and far more flavourful than the pre-made packages.  And it costs pennies to make.

Make a triple or quadruple batch and you’ve got it on hand for whenever you need it, just store the mix in an airtight container with your spices.  And yes, Jan is the same girlfriend who let me in on the Beef Browning Tool thingy (from this post).  She is one plugged in gal….

Taco Seasoning – thanks to AllRecipes.com

(makes enough for about 1 lb of ground meat)

1 tbsp chili powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder (or use dried onion bits, maybe 1 tsp?)

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp paprika

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

Once you’ve got that seasoned meat, you can carry on the fiesta however you choose and it’s all good finger foods: fajitas, burritos, tacos….. all involve healthy food choices, it’s just the presentation that differs.  The old swap’em out theme and variations, just like in piano lessons.

Next time, I’ll write about our other successful finger foods, and how menu planning keeps my family on track.  In the meanwhile, if you have fantastic finger foods to share, send them in!  We can all use a little inspiration:)

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Jean can normally be found in her untidy but happy home with her two amazing children, patient and supportive hubby, guinea pig who hides from it all, and three ovens.  She spends her days (and nights) baking up a storm (www.jeanscakes.ca), teaching music, volunteering, chauffeuring children to activities, knitting soft and cozy things, flitting around the city with her girlfriends, and almost always taking on too much because life is just too short to sit still!