TJ Tacos

No, not Tijuana TJ… Trader Joes, TJ! I made this recipe one night after a long day. You know how that goes, you’re on your way home from school, work or whatever your day holds, you’re so exhausted but you know that there’s nothing at home to eat!  Some people take the fast food route, I take the “fast cooking” route, but before you can “fast cook” you have to “fast shop” and that’s where Trader Joes comes in!

Being a smaller, specialty grocery store there’s not all the navigating through aisle after aisle to get what you need for dinner. They are always well staffed making check out a breeze!  But my favorite thing about Trader Joes is I know I’m getting fresh, healthy food with no artificial ingredients or preservatives which is very important to me and time-saving because there’s no need to read labels on everything!

You also can’t beat the price!  Everything needed for this meal which feeds 4 can be purchased at Trader Joes for $13.13 (yes that’s actually the exact amount it came out to!  All the sudden 13 doesn’t feel so unlucky ) That comes out to $3.28 per person!  Cheaper AND much more delicious and nutritious than anything that could be bought at a fast food joint and it only takes 10 minutes to make!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 flour tortillas
• 1 cup mexican blend cheese
• 1 cup romaine lettuce (chopped)
• 1 tomato (chopped)
• 1 red onion (chopped)
• 1 jalapeño (chopped)

Other Optional Ingredients

• Sour Cream
• Salsa
• Avocado

Start by cooking the hamburger meat.  Once browned add the taco seasoning, water and combine well.

Next chop the veggies.

Once the seasoning is cooked into the meat, heat the tortillas wrapped in a paper towel in the microwave for 45 seconds.

Now, you’re ready to start putting the tacos together. Start by spooning in the hamburger meat.

Next add the cheese, lettuce and chopped veggies.

And there it is!  Super yummy, quick and easy!

I ate the leftovers a couple of days later. This time I’d been to the store and picked up some avocados so I added them to the tacos and perfected the meal!

♣ Vegetarian Option: Substitute meatless crumbles for the ground beef.

♦ Gluten Free Option: Substitute corn tortillas for the flour.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.