Weight Gain Guaranteed!

I did a portion of my growing up in the heart of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.  Lots of memories there; great friends, school fun and great food!  One of the recipes I learned during my years there was for tacos.  I know, I know...lots of people do tacos, they even do taco tuesdays and there are many variations of tacos.  Let me share with you this recipe.  It may forever change the way you look at a taco.  We eat a lot of tacos in my house.  I do buy the boxed shells and whip those up in a pinch but, when I tell my family that we're having tacos for dinner the first question out of their mouths is "Homemade Tacos?".  

To start, here are your ingredients.

Corn Tortillas-the soft ones 

Ground Beef

Velveeta

Seasonings (I use Seasoned Salt & Pepper)  Use what you like.  If you wanna kick it up a notch, add a variation of red pepper.

Shortening

Taco fixings

Sounds pretty simple so far, right?

I will forewarn you...these are time consuming and sure to become a family favorite.

Start by patting out ground beef onto your corn tortillas.

I lay them all out as shown above, that way I can easily shake my spices on all at once without making a huge mess.  You can make the meat as thick as you like.  I usually use about a 2Tbsp. of meat for each tortilla.  I knew my afternoon was going to be crazy so I pre-made my tacos.  I got them patted out and layered them on a baking sheet with layers of parchment paper between.  I then covered them with foil and refrigerated until I returned home later and was ready to cook them.  I do encourage you to prepare all of your tacos before you start cooking.  Once you start cooking, things will move quite quickly.  After I get everything patted out & spiced I start cooking them.  

Normally I have two pans going at a time because this is a time consuming process in its entirety (but well worth the wait).  My son has always been my helper but he wasn't with me on this batch so I decided to do what I knew I could handle.  

You'll add your crisco or solid shortening to your pan & heat it up.  You probably want to set your temp to medium.  I prefer my tacos crispy but my Mom prefers them a little softer.  This is a preference thing here.  You'll be able to see that your meat is browning so try them each way and see which you prefer.  Once your grease is heated you'll start adding your tacos.  I always have a colander lined with paper towels and have that sitting on a plate with more paper towels to absorb some of the grease.  

Ok, so don't ask me why but we use Velveeta cheese on these.  This is just the way I learned it so I've always done it this way.  I don't regularly buy this cheese but when my kids see it in the fridge, they know what's coming!  

This recipe was learned from my friends parents who had a housekeeper from Mexico.  I have no idea where she learned it but we're so glad she shared.  

Ok...back to the tacos!  

When I remove them from the pan I set them up on edge to drain.  Once they've cooled a bit we add a 1/2 slice of cheese between the meat and the shell.  This is a great time to involve your kids.  I have my kids open the cheese and 1/2 them, laying them criss crossed in a stack.  If your kiddos are young, you may not want them putting the cheese in the tacos because they could be very hot!

After we've added the cheese, we move them to another plate, also lined with paper towels.  When I make these, I usually prepare 30-40 tacos!  That sounds extreme but they are excellent fresh and we love them the next day.   Like I said, I like mine crispy.  I'll stick them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to heat them and then into my toaster oven to crisp them up.  They are still absolutely delicious for leftovers!

Make sure to have all of your favorite fixin's on hand; sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes...my parents like jalapeños also.  

Once my grease has cooled a bit I pour it into a container and store it in my fridge to use again on our next taco night.  I can usually get about 2-3 uses out of that grease batch.

If you're on a diet, don't make these!  There is absolutely nothing healthy about this meal but it is truly a family favorite and worth the occasional splurge!  

Please try it and let me know what you think!