beef

Just Like Taco Bell Tacos Recipe

Forget the drive thru, this is how to make a beef tacos recipe that tastes just like Taco Bell tacos for an easy Taco Tuesday dinner at home any night of the week.

You Quiero Taco Bell Tacos

“So, where did you have lunch today?”

It’s pretty much the same question I ask my husband every day. I mean, there’s only so much stimulating conversation to be had when documenting our day to day after all these years of marriage. And pretty much every day for the past 20 years he has the same answer. “Taco Bell.” If he was a guy who was into tattoos, it’s likely he’d have, “Yo quiero Taco Bell” emblazoned somewhere on his body.

And I have to say, I can’t blame the man for loving his tacos, because say what you will about fast food—I’m not much of a fan—but Taco Bell tacos are pretty much the cat’s meow when it comes to drive thru Mexican food.

I blame my mother in law for creating my man’s Taco Bell taco obsession. Because my MIL makes the best homemade beef tacos ever, and while it took me a while to realize it, one of the reasons they are so good is because they taste eerily similar to the beloved Taco ala Bell.

Years ago I ditched my own taco recipe in favor of hers, and today I’m finally sharing the secrets to these homemade tacos that make them taste so good they could very well curb your drive thru habit too.

continue to the recipe… about Just Like Taco Bell Tacos Recipe

Daddy’s Baked Hamburgers and Friday Faves

Yep, you read that right! These baked hamburgers are a breeze to make and come together in about 15 minutes. You’ll definitely want seconds!

Hamburgers in the Oven

With The Super Bowl blowing up television screens and beer kegs nationwide, there will be plenty of eyeballs glued to the screen. Will they be watching the game? Shhushing fellow T.V. watchers during the commercials? Or anxiously awaiting to judge the lip syncing skills of Beyonce? You go girl.

Sure that’s all part of the fun, but for wayyyyy more of us it’s all about the food. Americana at its gluttonous best with antacids and Ibuprofen on stand-by, ready to remedy too much revelry when the San Francisco 49ers come home with the ring. That’s right. My team is coming home with the big V.

The recipe for Daddy’s Hamburgers is an homage to the 49ers in a way. My grandparents immigrated to San Francisco, the only place they lived besides communist Germany, and it’s where my dad was born and raised until he came to Utah to play college basketball and, much to my mom’s distress, stayed because of the great hunting in Utah and Idaho. SF is in my family’s blood, it’s one of my favorite cities, and the niners were always a special connection with my dad, the ultimate T.V. sports fan.

Watching 49er games with D was a ritual, not in a weird get dressed in a jersey way—which my husband has done for each game this season—but in a let’s get behind this team and show we care way. Somehow I married a niner’s fan, it was where we took our first trip together, and it’s now Smudge’s favorite team too. What a surprise, she’s such a daddy’s girl.

These baked burgers are my dad’s specialty, one that when I called him to get the recipe, he had made just the night before! When my dad cooks, he is very precise, making even cuts of cheese squares to top basic hamburgers with french rolls or ciabatta. We still call them hamburgers even though they’re topped with cheese, because that’s how my dad has always done it.

It all looks way too simple to taste as delicious as it does. The secret is the pat of butter atop each oven baked hamburger that melt down into the burger meat co-mingling with Worcestershire sauce to create a juicy, lickable drip down each side of your cheering for the 49er’s game face. (Please win. Please win.)continue to the recipe… about Daddy’s Baked Hamburgers and Friday Faves

Beef Bourguignon

This easy Beef Bourguignon recipe is a melt-in-your-mouth, classic French stew made with tender chunks of beef chuck, bacon, and vegetables braised in red wine to make a simple, any time dinner that’s impressive enough to serve for special occasions, too.

Beef Bourguignon Is Easier to Make than You Think

Thanks to Julia Child and Ina Garten, this classic French stew is familiar to many home cooks, yet, I still don’t hear much about many people actually cooking it. And no matter how many times I make it myself, I’ll probably never be able to spell bourguignon without Googling it.

Beef Bourguignon is really just a fancy name for an easy-to-make, humble dinner that tastes anything but.

The flavor is deep, rich, and beyond luxurious. Which is ironic since under the lid of this cast iron, one-pot, dutch oven meal that starts on the stove top and finishes off in the oven, is just a good old-fashioned stew recipe that even the most novice of home cooks will revel in the glory of.continue to the recipe… about Beef Bourguignon

How to Make an Easy Asian Hot Pot

If there’s one simple cooking method that crosses over nearly every Asian cuisine, the hot pot may be it. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Mongolian and more. And with cooks of every level still making it every single day, that’s proof in the pot that it is indeed totally easy to crave, and to make.

This post is brought to you by McCormick

I like to think of hot pot cooking like the Asian fondue. It’s communal. It’s active. It’s social. And that’s what makes the hot pot just as perfect for entertaining as it is for a simple but fun dinner at home with the family where everyone gathers around the simmering brothy pot and jockeys for position and that perfectly cooked shrimp. Everyone gets to eat exactly what and how much of whatever they want, so long as it fits in the pot :).

Our family has a serious affair with Asian cooking and after our recent travels to Vietnam, Cambodia and Korea, we returned with even MORE passion for Southeast Asian food than before. If that’s even possible. So it’s no surprise to me then that when I checked out this year’s McCormick Spices Flavor Forecast report that identifies the top upcoming trends in food I wasn’t too surprised to see what topped the forecast for 2018: a love affair of worldwide flavors of Hot Pot cooking.

Back home here in Salt Lake City, we have a favorite hot pot restaurant where every customer heads to the back of the restaurant to a wall of self-serve refrigerated coolers stacked with racks of color coded plates to choose from nearly every hot pot ingredient you can imagine. It’s like a frigging hot pot gold mine.

To say I have some serious hot pot inspiration and aspiration is an understatement. But as usual, my cravings have set me to the task!

What Is an Asian Hot Pot?

Since this is a communal cooking affair like the classic fondue, there are a few essentials you’ll need to acquire to get your hot pot on.continue to the recipe… about How to Make an Easy Asian Hot Pot

Easy Homemade Beef Broth Stock

A rich and flavorful homemade beef broth stock is one of the essential recipes every home cook should have in their array of kitchen cooking basics.

Back in the day there were recipes home cooks didn’t even have to think twice about how to make because they made the same dishes so often no recipe was needed. Cooking was done by touch, intuition, and repetition.

Remember when you’d ask grandma how she knew when the pie dough had enough moisture or how she could tell the chicken was cooked through? The answer was annoyingly cryptic and didn’t really help things when she replied, “You just know.”

But now, with pre-made ingredients and an avalanche of recipe options at our fingertips, we can make just about any style of cuisine without batting an eye. But as a byproduct of creating these dazzling Pinterest friendly meals, making some of the good-old, most commonly used basics, like homemade broths and stocks, has fallen out of favor.

It’s time to get back to the basics friends. Back to real good real food.

A few months ago I shared my recipe for the very best chicken stock because it seems that homemade broths and stocks are rarely on the must-make radar of today’s home cook. The reasons vary from assuming it takes way too much time to make them from scratch to being unsure what ingredients go in the dang recipe (and fyi it isn’t just the meat that matters, its the bones!)

That’s why I’m waving my foodie recipe wand and pulling the beefy secrets out of my hat so that….TADAAAA!!!! Your bone stock broth cure is here.

This post breaks it all down, with simple steps and fool-proof instructions that’ll put you on your way to making homemade beef stock with confidence. Let’s go.continue to the recipe… about Easy Homemade Beef Broth Stock

How to Make Homemade One-Pot Sloppy Joes

Forget the cans of Manwich sloppy joe sauce, because my mom’s homemade Sloppy Joes recipe is just as easy to make and sixty-four (or more) times as good, especially knowing there’s a generous helping of vegetables inside our homemade, ground hamburger-ed, comfort food, beef-ey sandwich.

Remember the days when licking your plate was encouraged? They still are. And your fingers, and your chin too.

I originally published this recipe in the earlier days of le FoodieCrush blog, and after making it time and time again, I felt it was time for a little refresh. It’s totally worthy.

One of my favorite dinners as a kid was always Sloppy Joes, and the memories of stealing tastes of this burger/veggie mixture as it simmered on the stove still renders the same take-a-bite-then-burn-the-top-of-my-mouth-oh-no-it’s-now-become-a-blister result today as I hear the subliminal retort of my mom echo in my adult ear to “leave it alone or there’ll be nothing left for the rest of us to eat.”

Guilty as charged. But, sorry mom, I still can’t help myself. And if you’re a fan of easy recipes and you make this one, my mom will tell you it’s okay that you taste-test your way through the making of it, too.

And I’m here to attest, the top-of-the-mouth-blisters are totally worth it.continue to the recipe… about How to Make Homemade One-Pot Sloppy Joes

20 Chili Recipes to Cozy Up to This Fall

From crockpot to stove-top, there’s no better time to hunker down and cozy up to a bowl of homemade chili than right now.

Picture this: outside the wind is blustery, trees are rustling, and the scent of burning leaves and wood hover in the air. Inside, the football game’s on and a pot of chili is simmering away in the kitchen. Nothing conjures up fall like all of these things—particularly the aroma of home-cooked chili.

Whether you make it meaty and beefy or opt for a vegetarian version, chili really is one of the most flexible dishes you can prepare no matter what your cooking skill level. Throw it together to stew all day in the crockpot or make it quickly on the fly, you can always count on chili to bring on all the comfort food feels.

We can’t think of anything cozier than curling up under a blanket on the couch with a hearty bowl of any flavor, and that’s why we’re bringing you 20 chili recipes to make while you hibernate and warm up this fall and winter.

Grab your spoon and belly up to one of these pots of stick-to-your-ribs deliciousness. And remember to never forget the fixin’s.continue to the recipe… about 20 Chili Recipes to Cozy Up to This Fall

Butternut Squash Beef Stew (Instant Pot, Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker)

Tender chuck roast pairs with classic stew veggies and butternut squash in this healthy fall stew made easy in the Instant Pot, pressure cooker or slow cooker.

If there’s one addition to my kitchen that I can’t quit raving about, it’s my Instant Pot, the slow cooker/pressure cooker/steamer and more 7-in-one cooker I’ve become a die hard fan of. I think it’s probably been my favorite topic of conversation since the first snowflake fell this winer and it was tops on my list for holiday gift giving.

So what is it that I love about the Instant Pot? It saves me valuable time in the kitchen, helped minimize my collection of duplicate appliances, and has made meal planning a habit I’m actually becoming a fan of.

If you haven’t become an Insta Pot loyalist yet, join the bunch of us that are. Isn’t it time to save yourself some time in the kitchen, too?continue to the recipe… about Butternut Squash Beef Stew (Instant Pot, Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker)

Beef and Butternut Squash Enchiladas

These enchiladas are the best, and they’re such an easy meal to prep ahead, with slow cooked beef and roasted butternut squash, they’re delicious and ready to serve in no time.

This post is in partnership with Kroger

For the past few months, I’ve been focusing on creating meals that take a little more planning, and doing a lot more batch cooking when I use my weekly meal planner. It’s led to our whole family eating dinners that are far less stressful, a little healthier, and far more budget friendly.

I was shocked at how much we’ve saved from not going out to eat as much now that there’s quick meals in the refrigerator that are ready to roll.

So when Kroger asked me to create a holiday recipe I immediately went into time- and money-saving mode.

We all have so much going on during the holidays that having a quick and easy meal on hand means holiday cheers-ing is a whole lot easier to enjoy. This Beef and Butternut Squash Enchiladas recipe checks all the boxes on my Christmas wish list.

And even better, you’ll want to keep it around all year long.continue to the recipe… about Beef and Butternut Squash Enchiladas

Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowls Recipe

Thinly sliced Korean beef Korean tops bowls of rice heaped with fresh vegetables, herbs and a spicy chile sauce for an easy weeknight dinner or lunch.

The other day an acorn nut fell from one of the scrub oak trees that create an awning over my driveway. When it hit my windshield, I heard the “ping” from inside the car, and my sunny summer disposition came to a screeching halt.

One might wonder why one little acorn falling from a tree could cause such a flip flop in my mood, but with that one little nut, I was jarred out of my summer vacation trance with the realization that fall is almost here.

Fall means that my easy, throw-it-together-because-we-can-eat-at-9pm-and-it’s-okay-because-it’s-summer weeknight meals hit the skids. It’s time for more dedicated meal planning. It’s time for making meals on Sunday or Monday that ease the pressure of fitting in the week-long dinner fixing and eating with homework, soccer practice and the return of Monday night football.

This is when we get down to real meal-time business.continue to the recipe… about Korean Beef Bulgogi Bowls Recipe

Korean Beef Bulgogi

A simple but flavorful marinade of soy sauce, Korean spicy paste, and sweet Asian pear makes this Korean beef bulgogi a stand out dinner.

My friend Michelle loves food. It’s just one reason we’re good friends. She’s also half Korean. Combine her love of food with her love of her Korean heritage (she has her PhD in Korean Women Studies—WHOA) and I have a built-in advisor on everything delicious about her flavorful heritage.

It seems that Korean has been on a steady upward climb in the Asian flavor field and has quickly become on par with Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food. Michelle and her husband were the first ones to take us to try Korean food. It’s become such a favorite of mine that I’ve celebrated my past three birthdays with a dinner of beef bulgogi and all the little Korean side dishes called ban-chan.

Michelle has made us her Korean dinner a handful of times, and that’s how I discovered it’s really so simple to make at home. Because most of the prep is done ahead of time thanks to the marinade, the actual cooking of the meal happens so quickly that it’s perfect for that “what the heck is dinner gonna be” weeknight meal. continue to the recipe… about Korean Beef Bulgogi

25 Epic Burgers You Need to Make This Summer

Whether you’re a vegetarian, vegan, or meat lover, we’ve got 25 epic burgers that need to be on your summer grilling agenda.

Summer is here, and we honestly can’t think of any food that screams “backyard cookout bliss” better than a big juicy burger. Because this is the one food item we crave most often once warm weather hits, (and since that’s already happened), we’re getting an early start.

Whether you’re a vegetarian, vegan, or meat lover, we’ve got 25 epic burgers that need to be on your summer grilling agenda.

Check them out below, and just see if you can get through this roundup without craving one!

Remember, burgers are best enjoyed outdoors, with good beer, a fresh side salads and among the best people.

continue to the recipe… about 25 Epic Burgers You Need to Make This Summer

Taco Stuffed Avocados with Chipotle Cream

Creamy avocados are used instead of shells for these weeknight beef tacos with chipotle flavored sour cream, making for a fun twist on taco night.

This recipe post is sponsored by the makers of HORMEL^® Taco Meats because we all have #TacoGoals, and this taco with a twist is a tasty way to meet them.

Have you ever read US Weekly magazine? It’s okay to admit it. I’m with you. I was a serious junkie for about 15 years. I bought the mag every single week, at the grocery store newsstand. I couldn’t even bear to become a subscriber where I would have saved money because as a subscriber the magazine was delivered a whole 2 days later and how could I possibly wait for my Hollywood voyeur fix?

So, in US Weekly, every week there’s a section titled, “Stars…They’re Just Like Us.” They pump their own gas, they walk their own dogs, and GASP, are even spotted without makeup at the grocery store.

Welcome to my non-celebrity life.

This blog post should be titled, “Food Bloggers, They’re Just Like Us.”

We overcommit, we have the best of intentions to meal plan for the week and then don’t, and then after spending the whole day obsessing over food and plotting out recipes for our blogs and oftentimes cooking all day for our job, all of the sudden it’s dinner time and there we are, just like you, digging through the fridge looking for something everyone at the table can eat for dinner because a meal of Red Velvet Cupcakes and Champagne Mojitos probably won’t cut it.

That’s why having a few dinner time shortcuts on hand is always a good idea at our house.

continue to the recipe… about Taco Stuffed Avocados with Chipotle Cream

Beef with Broccoli Recipe and Crushing On Iowa Girl Eats

This incredibly easy but incredibly flavorful recipe for one of the most popular Chinese dishes can easily be made gluten-free or traditional style.

Kristin Porter has been entertaining us with healthy, easy recipes, motivational workout routines, travel tales, and more, since the birth of her blog, Iowa Girl Eats six years ago.

Suffice it to say, when she contacted me about creating an e-book about helping others go gluten-free by sharing her own story and personal struggles, I knew she had a winning formula and signed on right away. Her new e-cookbook and beginners guide, Gluten-Free for Beginners: 30 Day Meal Plan and Guide for Gluten-Free Success, is so much more than an e-book. It spells out everything one needs to lead a healthy, vibrant life by embracing their dietary needs.

First, contributor Hayley Putnam interviewed Kristin to find out more about her journey, where she’s been and the success she’s found now. Later in this post you’ll find one of the recipes from Kristin’s e-cookbook, Gluten-free Beef With Broccoli. Take it away Hayley.

continue to the recipe… about Beef with Broccoli Recipe and Crushing On Iowa Girl Eats

Roasted Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

A slow beef braise and roasted mushrooms are the secret to the best beef stroganoff recipe, the most popular dish at Salt Lake City’s Copper Onion, and the only way I’ll ever make beef stroganoff again.

Salt Lake City is on a local food scene high and I’m one of the lucky locals to reap the benefits. This Beef Stroganoff recipe is just one meal of the many that locals call a favorite.

The first time I had it was while sitting at the counter of one of the most popular restaurants in Salt Lake City, Copper Onion, and I immediately started quizzing the chef cooking directly across from me for details about the recipe. I absorbed about half of the instructions in between forkfuls, but now, thanks to the new cookbook Salt Lake City Chef’s Table, I don’t have to rely on my fading memory.

Instead, it was the first thing I made from the cookbook’s pages authored by Becky and Josh Rosenthal of the food blog The Vintage Mixer. And I’m sharing the recipe and it’s secret as to why its my comfort food fave.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

Killer Beef and Three Bean Chili

There are two ingredients that take this easy beef and three bean chili recipe from killer to kick-ass: beer and enchilada sauce. Taste it for yourself to discover the reason why.

This red chili recipe is not only killer, it was almost kick-ass too.

But then I got nervous that when my mom read this post she’d be hot on her iPhone to text me and say, “Heidi!!! You can’t say kick-ass in your post! You’ll offend your readers!”

So in regard for you, my dear readers, this chili is simply KILLER.

But you’ll realize as soon as you make it that it’s totally kick-ass, too.continue to the recipe… about Killer Beef and Three Bean Chili

The Best Cheeseburger Soup

Disclosure before we even get started: NO! I am not pregnant. But I know who is and this post is for her.

Pregnancy brings with it lots of cravings. Weird cravings that run all across the bun-in-the-oven-baking map as noted on this amusing weird pregnancy craving list. And as nearly everyone on God’s green earth knows, at the top of that list is pickles. Pickles, that in a weird, roundabout way, was the craving that fueled my fire to create this recipe for the nearly-mom-to-be.

This recipe is part of a virtual baby shower for food blogger Jessica of How Sweet It Is, because as things go in bloggerland, we can’t always be with our bloggity pals in person to party hearty, but we do enjoy toasting to their victories and accomplishments. And there’s not much bigger accomplishment than becoming a parent.

Do I hear an, “Amen sistah!” or more appropriately, “Amen, Mama!”

So for Jessica’s soon-to-be-delivered bundle of joy, a group of bloggers are celebrating the way we do, by creating recipes for stuffing our faces. But today’s theme for Jessica’s baby shower isn’t your normal, everyday will it be blue or pink kind of shower. No, this shower is in the theme that is frequently shared on Jessica’s blog, in the name of getting “all-trashed up” where she takes the everyday recipe and really throws it for a loop to create something special. And usually adorned with neon or sprinkles.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Cheeseburger Soup

Dinner is for Kids: Spaghetti Tacos Recipe

I know, I know. You’re sitting there, staring at this post and thinking this recipe is one of those “Oh let’s see how outlandish we can be and create an oddball recipe just to be different.”

Well, it is and it isn’t.

Blame it on Spencer. He’s Carly’s big brother.

Smudge has been relentlessly requesting Spaghetti Tacos ever since she saw the first episode of Nickelodeon’s iCarly. Which means its been, like, 2 years.

And surprisinglly, I think it’s pretty good too.

continue to the recipe… about Dinner is for Kids: Spaghetti Tacos Recipe