Crunchy turkey tacos

My daughter and I love Mexican food. For years now, we eat tacos or burritos or Mexican salad at least once a week. Don't forget tamales. We love it too. But its just so hard to find a good chicken tamales that we like. A few years ago, my daughter would ask to go to Taco Bell twice a week!! Anyway, you would think going to Taco Bell is cheap, just a dollar per crunchy tacos. But when your daughter eats 2-3 in one seating, hmmm, maybe its time to make some home made tacos. I made some before but I used a different meat (chicken and fish). And this time since I'm into ground turkey meat lately, why not try ground turkey on my tacos.

So if you are trying to save money and make your own crunchy tacos, here are the stores I can suggest to you. It is very convenient for me because Walmart, Aldi and Dollar Tree are within a few blocks from each other. In fact, I can walk to these stores from my place. But if you are a few miles away, you should also consider your time and gas spent in getting the ingredients.  Anyway, I got my ground turkey (1 lb ) at Walmart, at the frozen isle, only $1.50 each. Buy several and just freeze it at home. Walmart also has the taco mix but its $0.67 each, and sometimes they sell the crunchy taco shells on clearance for just a dollar. If not, get the shells, shredded cheese and sour cream at Dollar Tree. Taco mix is only $0.35/each at Aldi, they run out so fast, so better get a dozen if you see it. Also get the lettuce/green salad at Aldi for only $0.69 each. So below are the ingredients plus the cost of my home made turkey tacos

Ingredients  ( good for 2 dozen tacos)

1    pack         ground turkey meat     ($ 1.50)
2    packs        taco shells                   ($ 2.00)
1    pack          taco mix                      ($0.35)
1    container   sour cream                  ($1.00)
1    pack          green salad                  ($0.69)
1    pack          shredded cheese          ($1.00)
                                                           _______
                           Total                         $6.54  

Only $6.54 for 2 dozen crunchy tacos. I saved $17.46 compared to buying it at Taco Bell. And believe me that's a big savings for someone who has a daughter who just love tacos and ate 2 dozens in 3 days!!! She said they tastes the same. It was good!!!

Procedure

In a saucepan, saute the turkey meat until golden brown. Add the taco mix and 1/2 cup water. Simmer for 5minutes..set aside

To assemble the taco is pretty simple.  Turkey meat at the bottom of the shell, add the green salad, then shredded cheese. Last is the sour cream. You can also add guacamole or refried beans. These are also affordable at Aldi. Enjoy your crunchy dinner!!

Atcharang Ampalaya (pickled bitter melon)

Over the summer, my friend has been consistently giving me ample supply of fresh vegetables from her backyard garden. There is nothing like cooking a freshly picked vegetables. I was given long beans, tomatoes. squash and bitter melon.  Surprisingly, the bitter melon was not bitter at all!! I have been cooking bitter melon almost twice a week, and I get to thinking, what else can I do with this vegetable? I don't want it to go to waste if its sitting in the fridge for a long time. Then I remember one of my friends pickled some ampalaya a long time ago. I love atchara, I can eat it everyday. And so I thought of experimenting on atcharang ampalaya.

Back when I was young, ampalaya is my most hated vegetable, I know it is very healthy, but I can't seem to force myself to eat it, mainly because of it's bitter taste. One way of taking the bitterness out is by marinating it in saline solution (salt and water) and squishing the fluid out of it. But let's be honest, it doesn't really take the bitterness out completely.

Ampalaya, or bitter melon, bitter squash, bitter gourd, Momordica charantia, in scientific name, is a tropical vegetable widely grown in Asia, Africa and the Carribean. The fruit and the flower are the edible parts. There are two varieties available at the store, the Chinese biter melon and the Indian bitter melon. It is rich in carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals.  It is claimed to help cure diabetes, fever, and some infections. I read somewhere that there are some research ongoing about its role in prevention and cure of HIV, AIDS and cancer.

Atchara, a common way of preserving food is popular in the Philippines. Green papaya is the vegetable commonly used. It is paired with fried fish and rice.  Other vegetables that are also used are labong (bamboo shoots), singkamas (jicama), ubod (palm hearts), and ampalaya.

Today, I chose to experiment on atcharang amapalaya, because I have a dozen ampalaya in my fridge that I want to preserve and enjoy for the next several weeks.

Ingredients

4      pcs         ampalaya, cut into thin pieces
1      pc          medium carrots, julienned
1      pc          medium onion, sliced thinly
5      cloves    garlic, sliced thinly
1      pc         large bell pepper, cut into strips
1      knob     ginger, cut into strips
1      cup        raisins
3      cups      apple cider vinegar (ACV) or pineapple juice

if using ACV, add the following ingredients

1    cup        granulated sugar
2/3  cup       pineapple juice

Procedure

1.  Combine ampalaya, carrots, garlic, ginger, bell pepper, onion and raisins. Set aside.

2.  In a saucepan, boil ACV, sugar and pineapple juice. After its boils, let simmer for 5 minutes.

3.  Once the ACV mixture is cool, poor over the vegetables. Place in a tight container, preferably mason jars.  Refrigerate. Ferment for one week before consuming.

4.  Once the jar is opened, atchara is good for 3 months.

I have been eating atchara for several days now. I made two batches, one I used pineapple juice, it was too sweet. The other batch, using ACV was better, it has a little tartness in it.  I paired it with my home made chicken tocino, and fried rice.  What other vegetable can we use for atchara? Let me know your thoughts.  Happy experimenting!!!

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Rotisserie Chicken Reinvented

Before you get too excited, no, I didn't cook rotisserie chicken. For so many reasons. One, I don't have rotisserie, secondly, I don't have the time it takes to cook it, which is hours and hours of turning the skewer until the chicken is cooked. And lastly, why go through the meticulous way of cooking rotisserie when you can buy it at Sam's Club for only $4.98? Why complicate life when it can be easy?

Anyway, I bought one whole rotisserie chicken Monday afternoon. I didn't know what to cook for dinner and just decided to go to Sam's Club for the chicken. I went home and thought, the chicken needs side dishes. I end up cooking mashed potatoes, gravy (in can, just heat it up) and corn bread stuffing (in a box). That's a Monday night dinner.  My daughter and I end up just eating the legs and thighs. So much leftovers, what am I gonna do with it?

So I had to reinvent the chicken, we don't wanna eat it on a Tuesday night. And frankly, I'm not too fond of chicken breasts. So I decided to cook chicken noodle soup. Below is the recipe.

Ingredients

2     cups       rotisserie chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/2  cup        carrots, cut into cubes
1/2  cup        green beans, cut into small pieces
1/2  cup        bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1/2  cup        onion, chopped
2    cans        chicken broth
2    cups         macaroni noodles, cooked al dente
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

In a pot , boil the chicken broth, add all the vegetables. Simmer for  15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.

Add the chicken and macaroni noodles. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve hot.

So after cooking the chicken noodle soup, I still have a lot of leftovers.  (The chicken is huge). So Wednesday night I made some spicy chicken quesadilla. We were craving for Mexican food. This dish is so easy to make. And you only need 4 ingredients. Below is the recipe.

Ingredients

1   pack    tortilla (Fajita style)
1   cup      rotisserie chicken, shredded
1   cup      shredded cheese
1   tsp      chili powder

Procedure

In a bowl, mix season the chicken with chili powder.

Add on the half side of the tortilla.

Put shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla

Fry in a pan until golden brown. Cut in half.

Serve with salsa.

You would think after 3 consecutive dinners, the chicken is gone. It is not. Maybe if you have a big family, but since it is only me and my daughter, it takes a while for us to finish it. And since we are into Mexican food, why not make crunchy tacos for Thursday night? Below is the recipe.

Ingredients

2     cups     rotisserie chicken, shredded
1     pack     taco mix
1     pack    crunchy tacos shells
2/3  cup      water
1     pack    shredded cheese
1    pack     sour cream
1    cup       lettuce, shredded

Procedure

In a pan, heat up the chicken, add the taco mix and water. Boil for a few minutes. Set aside.

To assemble the crunchy tacos.  Put the chicken at the bottom of the shell. Add the lettuce, then the cheese, and the sour cream.

You could also add, guacamole, olives or salsa verde.

There you have it. Four meals in one chicken. Can't go wrong with that. I actually thought of making two more dishes out of it. But I'm tired of eating chicken. I could have made chicken egg rolls and chicken patties. But I will save that for another day. Right now, I think I'm done eating chicken for 4 consecutive nights!

You can make a lot of recipes out of rotisserie chicken. The only limitation is your imagination and inventiveness. Let me know what recipe you have done with rotisserie, I'm sure you have reinvented it like I did.