This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Alexia Foods. The recipe, opinions and text are my own.
Do you ever have days where you feel like a Mombie, or Dadbie, you know kind of like a Zombie but the Parent versions? Man I do. I have learned how to function on a little sleep and whole lot of caffeine. I am a shuttle service, teacher, homework helper, instrument inspector, cook, maid, boo boo kisser, and the list goes on. You know what, I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. But it does make for busy days, and with summer sports starting, it makes for busy weekends as well. Unfortunately one of the things that seems to take the hit is our time together as a family. Yes we go to these events together, and that is time spent. But connections are made and bonds are formed around the dinner table.
So the challenge becomes how do I make a decent dinner that is real food and make it quickly so that I am not stuck cooking and missing out on family time. Here is where a little planning can go a long way. If I am going to choose products to help me create a wholesome dinner, I like to choose all natural products as much as possible.
I think that is really the key to getting a good and wholesome dinner to the table, do your research about the products you are buying, choose all natural products paired with lean proteins and fresh veggies and you can have dinner on the table in no time at all. Some nights we can literally have about 30 minutes to eat before either work continues or we are off to the next thing so getting dinner done quickly is essential to our weeknight routine.
I create a list, a bank of meals that we like and eat often, and I meal plan every week. When we are stuck in a rut, I will look at those meals and decide how I can turn them upside down, make them new again so we can enjoy it. We tend to want to eat things we like over and over again. One cuisine my family turns to again and again is Mexican. We love it, tacos, nachos, fajitas, yes please! What I love even more is that it’s generally easily prepared. Here is where a little prep goes a long way. One of my favorite go-to products is Alexia. Alexia is a brand that really cares about the quality of ingredients they use. All of their products are all-natural, gourmet inspired, and every thing I have ever tried from Alexia has been absolutely delicious. Please check them out at www.alexiafoods.com and see all they have to offer. Watch their farm to flavor video and see how they select the best produce to make the best all natural products. Find them in your local grocer’s freezer.
We decided to use the Chef Inspired Oven Reds with Olive Oil, Parmesan and Roasted Garlic. AHHHH! Can you say that sounds mouthwatering just reading the name!! But I wanted to make this into a whole meal so I decided I would make Cheesy Potato Taco Casserole. This is absolutely a dish that you can brown the meat and make ahead the day before the morning of and just pop into the fridge and in 25 minutes you have a complete meal on the table that everyone will love. Guys let me tell you that when I made this there was nothing and I mean nothing left it was so tasty.
When I am making different cuisines, I like to keep an all purpose spice mix on hand that I throw together. One of those that I do keep pretty regularly is Taco seasoning. I personally don’t like to use the packets because I don’t know what preservatives are being used, but I also like to control the amounts of different spices within the mix. Here is my recipe that will get several uses out of:
Taco Seasoning
1 tbsp. of garlic powder
1 tbsp. of Chili powder
1/2 tbsp. of hot Mexican chili powder
1/2 tbsp. of cumin
1tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of salt
1tbs of onion powder
Directions:
Stir to combine.
That’s it and I think this yields pretty tasty tacos!
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
- 3 tbsp. of taco seasoning (or a package of store bought seasoning)
- 1 cup of pico de gallo (or medium salsa)
- 2 tbsp. of cilantro (more if desired)
- 1 bag of Alexia Oven Reds
- 2 cups of cheese
- In an oven safe skillet sauté the ground beef, green onion and 3 tbsp. of the taco seasoning together until beef is cooked through.
- Add in the pico de gallo or salsa of choosing, stirring to combine.
- Add in cilantro and even disperse Alexia Oven Reds throughout mixture making sure the potatoes have contact with the bottom of the pan.
- Place in the oven and cook for the appropriate time listed on the bag of Oven Reds. (425 F for 25 minutes.)
- Pull the pan out and top with cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Enjoy!!!
We just love Alexia products and their comment to All Natural products. Take some time and look in your grocer’s freezer and give some Alexia products a try to help make your weeknights a little less hectic. I can’t say enough about how delicious the Alexia Oven Reds were!
Remember we have a GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment on this post or any of our social posts and you will be entered to win a prize pack from Alexia! A winner will be selected on April 25th.
Prize Pack
- $50 Gift Card to Amazon
- Alexia Product – Free Coupon
- Alexia swag
- Alexia Freezer Bag
Cannot wait to try this dish! Looks scrumdillyumptious!!
looks great
This looks like something that every member of my family would enjoy.
Looks yummy!
Looks oooHh so yummy!! Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for sharing! I have a big family of 6, this meal would definitely do
Looks very yummy!!
Buying the ingredients for this dish today!! What’s not to love?!
Oops! Wrong email in my last comment 🙂
Looks easy to make and can’t wait to try it for an easy meal after a long day at work!
Thanks so much!
Made this tonight for dinner and it was so good! My grocery store didn’t have the oven reds, so I bought baby red potatoes and seasoned them with salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic and parmesan and roasted them for 15 minutes before adding to the beef and putting it in the oven to finish cooking. Excited to take leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Was looking for a taco bake recipie and found this one with potatoes, my husband loves potatoes so im going to try it. This sounds delicious and my husband picked out this recipie out of all of them. This seems to be easy to make. I’ll reapond back after i make this. I have used alexia potatoes before so i know we will love this recipie.
Just saw this and am thawing out a pound of organic ground beef so it can be transformed into dinner tonight. We have a nearby market with fresh organic spices so I use their taco seasoning and it is way better than mine.
So glad I came upon your recipe and wannabite.
Part of the family time is the meal prep —I grew up cooking in my family it was part of very day as well as gatherings. Much of US society has lost this and has families catering to their offspring as if they are household help. Starting from like 3/4 kids should be part of the prep yes this means for 6/7 yrs it takes longer but it also means my now 10/11/12 yr olds can independently/mostly independently cook a 3-5 course meal every night. Is this every family no, but far far far too many are helicoptering their children into an extended form of infant level functioning in life. This sets them up to lack skills needed for adults!
I know this is an old post but this is one of my favorite dishes now. I’m about to make it for my birthday dinner and I’m super excited! 😋