what are we eating

Somehow I've drifted away from eating from the pantry. I think it's because my husband Jiggy has discovered Trader Joe's. When the weather doesn't allow him to golf, he becomes obsessed with finding new ingredients for me to try. Of course the sun has been shining here for about 2 weeks straight and I haven't seen as much of him in the kitchen:-) This has given me an opportunity to take stock of what I have and clean a few shelves in anticipation of the canning that is to come. In the freezer I have local ground beef that comes in handy when I need to stretch the menu to feed 6 instead of 2. One of my new loves is cooking in muffin tins and that's how I discovered MUFFIN TIN TACOS

Bonus #1 They gave a recipe to make my own taco seasoning!!With a pantry shelf full of herbs and spices ,why would I ever buy taco seasoning again. So, check your pantry and see if you have these ingredients:

1 Tablespoon flour

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

pinch of salt

Of course I made a container full,who wants to measure out 1/4 teaspoon of any spice.

I browned my beef,removed it from the skillet. Very low fat content to my local beef so I didn't have to drain . Sauteed !/2 an onion and 1 diced jalapeno in the drippings. Then, I returned the beef sprinkled with about 1 Tablespoon of the seasoning mix,+ 3/4 cup water and stirred till thickened. I then added 2 tablespoons of salsa to the mixture, not in the recipe, but, I just couldn't help myself.

I heated my corn tortillas.......They used regular flour tortillas and cut out circles.I thought I would take a short-cut and use the smaller corn ,however they may be right. The corn tortilla was hard to maneuver into the tins. It did go a little better after heating them for a few minutes in the oven. Cheese on the bottom, 2 tablespoon meat mixture in the cup, and a little extra cheese on top Then bake 350 degrees 20 minutes.

When finished I topped them with chopped greens a little sour cream,diced tomato and a little more salsa.Aren't they cute?? They certainly can be made ahead frozen and cooked as needed. I think I'll be doing this a lot this summer.