Zucchini-Beef Tacos

So what do you do when you have a fridge full of zucchini, kids that don't want to eat it as a side dish, and a desire to not bake it into desserts and zucchini bread?


You stick it in everything else you can think of, of course!

This actually turned out really good, and the kiddos just ate it right up as if it were regular beefy taco meat.  (Which actually means that my meat-eaters liked it and my non-meat eaters wouldn't touch it because they don't eat beef...)

So how did I do it?  There's no recipe here because I know you can handle this one without it.  It's really hard to screw up.

First you start to cook your ground beef (or turkey) just like you would any other day you were making tacos.  If you like to add a little onion or garlic, add it in.  Just cook it like usual.  Then, when there's just a little pink left in the meat, dump in the grated zucchini.  (Hint: If your ground beef/turkey is fatty and there's a lot of grease in the pan, drain your meat before adding in the zucchini.)

Then you mix it up and keep cooking.  What you see pictured here is a little over 1/2 lb. of ground beef and one medium zucchini, grated.

Cook until the meat is no longer pink, then add in your usual taco seasoning and water.

Cook and stir until the extra water has cooked out, then serve in tacos, taco salads, or whatever you normally use the taco meat for.   It's excellent!

Scattered Hash Browns

One of my favorite things in the world when I was in college was Waffle House hash browns - scattered, covered, chunked and diced.  And if you don't know what I mean, you are obviously a Yankee not from around these parts.

The funny thing is. I'm a Yankee, too.  In my case I was transplanted young and grew up liking some of those things that southerners do.  Like Waffle House hash browns, for example.

So anyway, I have recently realized I have a plethora of potatoes in my cupboard.  I'm part of a produce co-op and get potatoes regularly, but I haven't been using them.  For one thing, my kids don't usually like potatoes, and for another, it's been too hot to actually cook.  Last night I decided it was time to use up some of my spuds.  Since I was cooking 2 other things for dinner that my kiddos don't like (beef and broccoli), I tried to think of a way to prepare them that my kids would like.  I really do try to have at least one thing on the table that they will eat.  And you know what?  We had success!  And it wasn't actually that hard, OR that greasy.

One more thing before I get started.  I highly recommend using an electric griddle to make these.  You can do a smaller amount in a non-stick frying pan, but I found it much, much easier to do this on the non-stick, electric griddle.



Scattered Hash Browns

5 smallish russet potatoes
1 onion
olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

Wash and trim your potatoes.  Do not peel.

Grate the potatoes and onion, and place in a colander.  (Forgot to get a picture of this step, but I'm sure you can figure it out!)  Place in the sink and rinse with cool water.

 Cover a cookie sheet with paper towels, and spread the hash browns evenly.  Blot dry using another paper towel on top.

 Sprinkle the hash browns with salt/pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss together to mix lightly.

Spread the hash browns in a thin layer on a pre-heated electric skillet.  I set mine on 350, and also sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray - just for good measure.

 When the hash browns start looking crispy on the bottom, go ahead and flip.

You'll need to do this a couple more times until the hash browns finish cooking.  If they aren't getting crispy enough for your taste, go back and drizzle a little more olive oil over the potatoes.

Eventually you'll end up with a little piece of heaven that looks like this:

And even though I didn't cover, chunk or dice them (remember the picky kids...), we all thought they were delicious.  This is definitely going to get a repeat performance in this house.

So how do you like your hash browns?