Fancy Taco Meat

A loooong time ago, a friend of mine had a football watch party.

At the party, she served all kinds of tailgate-type food.

One of the things she served, of course, was nachos.

But they were so much tastier than just plain 'ol nachos.

She had "jazzed up" the meat that she put on the nachos.

The other day, I texted her to ask what her recipe was.

Remember, it was a long time ago . . . but I kind of helped to jog her memory

and she gave me, "it was probably  . . . "

" . . .or it could have been . . ."

But thinking back to what it looked like, I went with the first option of possibility.

Here's my dilemma:  I typically like tacos, etc, but I don't typically prefer the taco meat.

It is usually dry.

It's seasoned fine, but to me, it's just kinda dry.

Not so dry you have to choke it down or chase it with a big glass of water.

But just sorta dry.

So I took my friend's suggestion, tweeked it a bit for what I thought we might like,

and served it to my cherubs for dinner.

The Mr. was out of town, so the judging was down by 1/4, but we decided we liked this as an option.

What I like about it is the versatility of the "fancy taco meat."

You could serve it on top of corn chips . . . not the "fancy, restraint-style thin" type,

but hearty, hold their own, corn chips.

You could serve this on top of rice for a taco salad.

You could do as we did with some of the left-overs the following night and make "taco tots."

That's right -- cook tater tots in the oven until crispy and top with the meat mixture and other "taco toppings."

But for our first go 'round, we just stuffed it into corn tortillas, topped it with shredded cabbage mix, grilled onions and peppers and enjoyed!

Fancy Taco Meat

1 lb. ground beef
1 can pinto beans (or black beans), drained
1 can cream of corn (can substitute kernel corn, drained)
1 small can green chilies, drained
1 package taco seasoning (I used gluten free)
1 package dry ranch dressing mix (I used gluten free)

In a skillet, cook the ground beef until no longer pink.

Add in the drained beans, cream of corn, green chilies, and both packages of seasoning.  Stir to incorporate all ingredients and heat mixture all the way through.

If serving immediately, great!  If needed, place in a small crock pot, on low or warm setting until ready to serve, or place in the refrigerator.  This freezes beautifully!

Top with chopped tomatoes, onions, sour cream, salsa, jalapenos, or anything else your heart desires!