Being a busy Mom/writer can be tiring, and it also means you have to be flexible. This includes when it comes to cooking meals. I love to cook and create, so last night I had to apply my creative skills combined with flexibility because it was one exhausting weekend. It started with my middle kid and I flying out to Sacramento for the night and next day where I was honored to teach a workshop for Capitol City Young Writers. Talk about a great group of passionate young writers! There were kids in the group who had written full manuscripts of over 400 pages!
Anyway, after landing back home Sat eve., John and I made our way up to where our horses are because our youngest was already staying with our trainer Terri, and getting ready for yesterday's horse show. Horse show days begin very early and tend to end late. Ten to twelve hours is not unheard of on a horse show day. Needless to say that by the time we made it home last night, the last thing on my mind was going to the store and filling up the fridge and making dinner. I had a hungry kid who was on the verge of a meltdown from being over tired, so I went to the freezer and found some ground turkey to defrost.
I found corn tortillas and we had cheese and tomatoes. See where I'm going here? I dind't have any of those little taco seasoning packets that come in so handy, but I do always have on hand-- chipotle powder, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika and garlic. Always. We had some orange juice in the fridge too, and I knew I could make these ingredients work. Let me just say that my ground turkey chipotle tacos were yummy and here is the recipe:
(Keep in mind my family loves spicy, so you may have to adjust the chile powders for your taste).
1 lb ground turkey
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp smooked paprika
pinch of salt
pinch of seasoning salt
1/2 cup of orange juice
cook ground turkey with all seasonings in olive oil (turkey has a lot less fat obviously than ground beef, thus I like to cook it in a spalsh of olive oil). Once the turkey is browned, pour in the orange juice, bring to boil and then simmer until juice is absorbed in the meat. The flavor is smoky, spicy with a hint of sweetness due to the juice. It was a hit with all three kids. Took me a half an hour. I sliced cucumbers as a side to cool the spices, and we also had apple slices. Easy and tasty. We had ours with corn tortillas, but if you prefer flour, go for it. I topped them with some cheese and tomatoes and we were good to go and I prevented a total 8 yr. old meltdown. I happened to have a bottle of $10.00 Cab in the wine wrack and I had a glass with the tacos, which went very well together.
Give these tacos a try. I think you'll be pleased you did.
I'd love to hear about your quick recipes. Please share.
Cheers,
Michele
Anyway, after landing back home Sat eve., John and I made our way up to where our horses are because our youngest was already staying with our trainer Terri, and getting ready for yesterday's horse show. Horse show days begin very early and tend to end late. Ten to twelve hours is not unheard of on a horse show day. Needless to say that by the time we made it home last night, the last thing on my mind was going to the store and filling up the fridge and making dinner. I had a hungry kid who was on the verge of a meltdown from being over tired, so I went to the freezer and found some ground turkey to defrost.
I found corn tortillas and we had cheese and tomatoes. See where I'm going here? I dind't have any of those little taco seasoning packets that come in so handy, but I do always have on hand-- chipotle powder, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika and garlic. Always. We had some orange juice in the fridge too, and I knew I could make these ingredients work. Let me just say that my ground turkey chipotle tacos were yummy and here is the recipe:
(Keep in mind my family loves spicy, so you may have to adjust the chile powders for your taste).
1 lb ground turkey
2 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp smooked paprika
pinch of salt
pinch of seasoning salt
1/2 cup of orange juice
cook ground turkey with all seasonings in olive oil (turkey has a lot less fat obviously than ground beef, thus I like to cook it in a spalsh of olive oil). Once the turkey is browned, pour in the orange juice, bring to boil and then simmer until juice is absorbed in the meat. The flavor is smoky, spicy with a hint of sweetness due to the juice. It was a hit with all three kids. Took me a half an hour. I sliced cucumbers as a side to cool the spices, and we also had apple slices. Easy and tasty. We had ours with corn tortillas, but if you prefer flour, go for it. I topped them with some cheese and tomatoes and we were good to go and I prevented a total 8 yr. old meltdown. I happened to have a bottle of $10.00 Cab in the wine wrack and I had a glass with the tacos, which went very well together.
Give these tacos a try. I think you'll be pleased you did.
I'd love to hear about your quick recipes. Please share.
Cheers,
Michele
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