Cameron Cooks in Chaos: Sloppy Taco Skillet

We usually do Meaty Mondays and Taco Tuesdays – and I thought, lets throw them together and combine it so we had Meaty Taco Monday  – I don’t know, these things happen in my mind.

SLOPPY TACO SKILLET

First of all, the big thing is that I don’t have a food processor.  And I have had them, but they were always cheap and they just break.  I always wanted to add grated cauliflower to my food, you know, like to make cauliflower ryce in a processor – so I thought I’d use a hand box grater.  So take some cauliflower and grate it up however you do it. You want 2 cups of grated cauliflower.

While you’re grating, be cooking 2 lbs of ground beef in a skillet.  Then when the beef is browned and cooked, drain all the fat and then add whatever salt free taco seasoning mix you have – or use cumin and chili powder – to taste.  Add a little water, just like a few tablespoons to make it juicy but not watery.  Then add a 15 oz can of whole tomatoes, tear up the tomatoes or stick a knife in them and tear them up in the pan.  You add the juice in the can to the pan as well.  Then add the cauliflower that you grated.  Add a 6 oz can of tomato paste.  Mix it all up, put a lid on it and simmer it on low for about an hour while you go do other things, fold laundry or something.  Then serve it on baked potatoes or baked yams (bake them for about an hour at 350 while the pot is simmering).

I’m not a fan of cooked tomatoes, neither is my oldest daughter, but we love them like this.

I love the one dish meals.  The cauliflower is a great way to get more veggies into your kids and you can’t tell it’s in there.  It just adds some texture.  Add sea salt as necessary, but I think the taco flavor on it’s own is really good.

It’s also really helpful to grate up a whole lot of cauliflower at once – much easier to do this with a food processor but you know, I do this by hand right now – and I keep it in the fridge in a plastic bag.  Then I have an instant solution with the ‘ryced’ cauliflower – it’s so versatile in so many things.