Leftovers for Lunch

For Sunday lunch this week, I made soft tacos. They're fast and easy which meant that within 30 minutes after getting home we were sitting at the table eating. Along with store-bought tortillas, I served up a pound of ground beef with seasonings, rice, corn, shredded cheese, sour cream, and salsa. (I usually have lettuce, too, but tacos were a last minute addition to the list after we'd already left the produce section.)

One great thing about these is that I can hide stuff in them that the kids won't normally eat. If I put rice and corn on a plate in front of The Boy, he wouldn't touch it. But if I roll it up in a tortilla, he'll eat every bite! I hide beans this way, too. At any rate, my kids love Mexican-style food.

After we finished lunch on Sunday, I simply piled all the leftover rice, corn and beef into one storage container. At this point, I could have put it in the freezer for another time, but I had a feeling we'd need it soon and into the fridge it went. Monday, I plopped the contents of the container into a pot and reheated it all together. I added a bit more seasoning (chili powder, salt and pepper) and salsa. (See how I snuck the salsa in there without the kids knowing? I'm good like that!) I was out of tortillas, so I whipped up a batch from scratch -- they're not nearly as hard as you might think! Lunch was ready in less than 30 minutes since all I had to do was make the tortillas, reheat the filling, and get the toppings from the fridge.

Amazingly, there was enough filling leftover that I can use it for yet another meal! And we didn't skimp on eating, either, I'm here to tell you. The first meal, my sweetie had three tacos and the kids and I each had two. The second meal, we each had two and were full since the homemade tortillas are so much more filling. It's really pretty cool how far leftovers from a meal can stretch when you get creative!


Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 pound lean ground beef (93%)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 teaspoons chili powder (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. Stir in chili powder, cumin, pepper and salt. Cook for a few minutes longer. This freezes really well so don't be afraid to double it if you've got enough beef.