Slow cooker Taco dinner

Ok, tonight is Taco night, or a variation on it. Usually Tuesdays are Taco night at our house. Sometimes we like to take advantage of Del Taco's 3 taco's for $1.00 on busy tuesday nights. Well, tonight we are having taco night at home. When I make my taco's at home I like to add for added texture, and protein refried beans to my taco meat, it also mellows the flavor out and it helps to stretch the beef out, for more tacos for my hungry brood of boys. :) So, with that said, I scoured my pantry for a staple in my house of refried beans. I realized I ran out and didn't even know it. So I made homemade refried beans with one can of black beans and one can of pinto beans. They smelled so good. I will include that recipe here too. In case you don't have a can or two of refried beans. :)

Slow cooker Taco's

1 1/2 lb ground beef or turkey

1-2 cans of refried beans (personal option)

1 cup salsa

1-2 packages of taco seasoning mix - depending on how many cans of refried beans - if two cans use 2 pkg taco seasoning mix.

1/2 large onion (diced)

Either in the crock pot or in a pan separately brown the beef and onions together. Once the beef is browned and the onions soft, add in the remainder of the ingredients, set on low for 6-7 hrs and dinner will be ready. As it cooks the water will reduce and have a nice flavor.

My kids have liked using tostada shells or tortilla's heated in the microwave with their dinner. Sometimes we heat up the house and use taco shells warmed in the oven. It's your personal choice. This is also good rolled in a croissant dough and baked in the oven in a taco round. :)

Homemade refried beans

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp bacon grease (I refrigerate leftover grease from cooking bacon)

1/2 can of water (use one of the cans the beans were in)

Heat on high heat for 3 min until boiling, and bacon grease is melted. Mix and then mash with

potato masher until preferred consistency. The longer it boils, the thicker it becomes, stirring constantly.

The verdict, YUMMY! my kids will devour this tonight with no problem. It is yummy and full of good vitamins and veggies. Even if they only put cheese on their tacos. It is one of the little ways I hide veggies into their diet. If you find that it is too spicy for your kids, you can omit the salsa, or use a mild salsa, or add a can of diced tomatos instead of the salsa. :)

OK, on another note... when I came home tonight my taco meat was pretty watery. I added one packet of potato flakes into the mixture and it thickened up quickly and was still yummy! My kids or my husband didn't even notice. I only had a little bit of my taco mix left. Very tasty and not too spicy.