Monday, March 31, 2014

Individual Taco Pies

I was invited to participate with 14 other bloggers in a group of posts featuring budget friendly recipes.

I think that budget friendly is “in the eye of the beholder”. Everyone’s budget is different so there are actually many levels to the concept. The recipe I’m sharing today can be made even more budget friendly with a few tips I’d like to mention:

*Lean Ground Beef: Lean is more expensive as ground beef goes, but is necessary for this recipe. I buy it when it’s on sale and freeze it until I’m ready to make this meal.
*Taco Seasoning: You can buy this in packets, but it’s very inexpensive to make your own with a variety of seasonings most people already have on hand.
*Pico de Gallo: I serve this recipe with Pico de Gallo and make my own. Click here for my Homemade Pico de Gallo recipe.
*Mashed Potatoes: When I make mashed potatoes, as for these Individual Taco Pies, I make potato skins as a side dish the next night. I bake or microwave the potatoes and when I scoop the potato out of the skin to make the mashed potatoes, I leave some potato in the skin for stuffed potato skins the next night.
*Vegetables: Whenever I steam fresh vegetables to serve with dinner,  I wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap and freeze in baggies.
*Corn: In the summer when I steam corn I always make an extra ear, cut the kernels off of the cob, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in baggies.
*Peppers: Whenever red or green peppers are on sale I buy extras. Some I slice and freeze in baggies, others I chop and freeze in baggies.
*Onion: Whenever a recipe calls for less than a whole onion, I chop the rest and freeze in baggies.

There are many recipes that really require the use of fresh vegetables and this is my preference. Other times; in soups, stews, sauces, quiche, certain casseroles and recipes like this one today, I use what I have in baggies in my freezer.



Individual Taco Pies | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner

Individual Taco Pies going into the oven

One of the things I love about this recipe is that I make these Taco Pies in individual servings. If your family is anything like mine, we all have different size appetites. For younger children, one is plenty. Older children and adults will have more.



Individual Taco Pies | recipe developed by www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe #dinner

Individual Taco Pies

As always, if you make one of my recipes, feel free to take a picture of it and post it on my Facebook wall or on my Google + page.

Be sure to check out all the other budget friendly posts in this collection by clicking on the links below:


Budget Friendly Family Recipes | featured on www.BakingInATornado.com


1. WriterMom's Blog's Creamy Chicken & Mashed Potato Casserole
2. Mommifried's Easy Beef Stroganoff
3. City Girl on Hicks Farm's Honey Garlic Pork Chops
4. One Tipsy Chick's Turkey Tostada with Avocado Cream
5. My Individual Taco Pies
6. From Foreclosure to Frugal's Deli Sandwich Roll Up
7. PinkWhen's Baked Pork Chops
8. Joyful Scribblings' Breakfast Pizza
9. Adventures of a Jayhawk Mommy's Sweet & Sour Pork Chops and Outback Baked Potatoes
10. Working on Working Mom's Homemade Vegetable Stock
11. Foody Schmoody's Crock Pot Chicken Caesar Wraps
12. (a)Musing Foodie's Baked Ziti
13. Stop Lookin' Get Cookin's Marinated Grilled Chicken
14. A Peek Inside My Paradise's Weight Watchers Supreme Breakfast Biscuits
15. Close to Home's Stuffed Peppers



Baking In A Tornado signature | www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics
 
 
 
 
 Individual Taco Pies
                                                                          ©BakingInATornado.com
 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 egg
¼ cup bread crumbs
Taco seasoning mix (one packet or 2 TBSP if you make your own)
2 cups cooked, cooled, chopped mixed vegetables of your choice
½ cup salsa
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups (approximately) mashed potatoes, prepared as you like them
1 chopped green onion
paprika
 
Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Mix the ground beef, egg, bread crumbs and taco seasoning mix just until everything is incorporated. Roll this mixture into 12 balls, approximately the same size.
*Put the beef into 12 muffin tins and gently form it to the bottom and up the sides (so it looks like a cup).
*Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until they’re just barely cooked. Blot the meat gently with paper towels to remove any fat.
*Mix the vegetables with the salsa and shredded cheddar cheese. Fill the meat cups with this mixture.
*Mix together the mashed potatoes and green onion. Scoop a dollop of the potatoes onto the center of the top of each pie. Sprinkle with paprika.
*Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until hot all the way through.
*Gently run a knife around the edges and remove from muffin tin.
*Serve with  Homemade Pico de Gallo.
 

28 comments:

  1. They look so cute! I love things baked in a muffin tin :) Great for portion control too.

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  2. These are terrific--there are at least a handful that look like must-tries. Thanks!

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  3. Oh my gosh. That looks fantastic and fun. I can't wait to try them. :)

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  4. I love this idea! I hadn't thought of mashed potatoes with taco seasoning, but my kiddos would love it. I bet a corn bread or cornmeal topping would be good too, to make it "tamale-like". I have some ground turkey this week so I think we will give this a try!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, play with it and make it your own, I do that with recipes too. Let me know what you do and how it comes out.

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  5. Those taco pies look amazing. Like taco cupcakes! I would eat the whole tin of them!

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    1. LOL, they're probably a little more filling than you think. Although, I'd love to do an Individual Taco Pie eating contest. Maybe you'd win!

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  6. I need to use my muffin pan for more than cupcakes and muffins it looks like. :)

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  7. Oh, those look yummy! I wish I could stomach tacos, but for some reason, they just make me so sick.

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    Replies
    1. Hope you check out all the recipes, it's a great collection.

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  8. These look so delicous and love making meat loaves in mini pans but never thought of taco pies.

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  9. OMG these look amazing, so going to try these with Dino, though I'm going to use ground pork instead.

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    Replies
    1. Just make sure whatever meat you use is as lean as possible. Let me know how it goes.

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  10. Thanks so much for joining the link up! I truly cannot WAIT to try this recipe!

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  11. This is my husband's dream come true! And I love the small personal sizes. They are perfect for a family. Do you think it would be weird if I tried to substitute with some sort of ground turkey meat?

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    1. I'm a huge believer in playing with recipes to make them work better for your family. Because these don't drain in the muffin tin, my only suggestion would be to use the leanest ground meat you can. Let me know if you try it, I'd love to hear how it works out.

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  12. Oooo. Me likey. The taco pie concept looks fabulous.

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    Replies
    1. They really are good, and they're filled with vegetables, so that makes them healthier.

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  13. Taco Pies! How cute! I love your idea of saving the potato skins. With teens and the man, I may have to make a few of these tins. Yours turned out beautiful. Whenever I make something like this, they never come out as pretty. Usually they stick to the bottom of the pans or crumble. No matter, I know, but still!
    Great recipe, girl. <3

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    1. Believe me, my creations almost never come out looking the way I'd hoped. Fortunately with a house full of teens (and boys at that) they could care less how it looks. If they're hungry they'd eat the wallpaper.

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  14. I like your taco pie recipe, it's quite simple to make and budget friendly. I could easily make it as a big pie or put it into little ramekins.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it could be done either way. I love starting with a recipe and playing with it.

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