Time for Easy Eatin' : Taco Bites!

Taco Bites... these are a flippin' lifesaver. They are easy to make, can be made two different ways, and they're quick. You could use these for a party, for a get together at work, or when you've been working all day and you want something filling with a little indulgence. Besides... it's got the word "taco" in it so it has to be good.

Taco bites are so incredibly easy that you'll be adding this to your weekly or bi-weekly grocery menu. So check it out below, then make them, fry them or bake them, and enjoy!

Ingredients:

1. Grands biscuits (use a pack with 10 biscuits inside. We used a flaky buttery biscuit, but this is your choice.Get them in the cold section of your grocery store.)
2. 1lb of hamburger meat
3. 1 packet of taco seasoning
4. 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese. (just cheat and buy the shredded cheddar at the store. We don't have time to grate our own! 

Procedure:

Gather together your ingredients, then get to work on browning that hamburger meat.

Next, follow the directions for the taco seasoning packet of your choice. Mine called for a half a cup of water, the taco seasoning, then bring that to a boil, stir, and you're done. Set it off to the side and let it cool, because you're about to get your hands dirty!

Pop those biscuits open, butter up a cookie sheet, and plop them down! You want these nice and flat but not too thin.

Add the meat....

...a little cheese... or a ton, as in my household.

Then fold one edge over to meet the other, sealing in the meat in a delicious taco pocket. Now what's next is up to you. 

If you have a fryer, or if you are patient enough to fry these on the stove, go for it! They only need to fry for about five minutes, and turn them so they get a nice golden brown all over!

If you're more health conscious, try baking them for about 15 minutes at 350. 

Let them cool, then serve them up! We added a little salsa and sour cream to the mix since these are so good for dipping. (Yes, in my house we use that much sour cream, so I buy bulk.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is super easy, really fun, and absolutely delicious. Another way to add more bang is to add a little salsa in the browning process. YUM! 

Eat it up, Super Spouses!

Courtney 

When All the Hats Get Heavy...You Have to Rest Your Neck!

So yesterday I spent 12 straight hours at work. I conducted meetings, prepared for more meetings, recorded my radio show, ordered new print cartridges... I even had time to squeeze in a class! With days like that, Super Spouses, the hats get pretty heavy. You start to give out, you're cranky, and before you know it you've had the "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!" moment. Though these moments come in high stress, they are highly avoidable. Here's how I avoid the ugly stress out snapping:

1. Delegate. I'm an Executive Producer of a radio show. If I had to prep the host, interview the guests, do the booking, record the liners, meet with the newsreaders, reporters, GM, and record my show all on my own, I'd go nuts. I have a great team that I have to choose to delegate tasks to. I also delegate at home. After a long day and a hot supper, Jeremy does the dishes. I'm not ashamed to ask him because I can't handle everything. Neither can you, Super Spouse.

2. Investigate. Work smarter, not harder. If you investigate the different ways through a situation, you may find a way to prioritize and order so that you see your "to-do" list as a "let's get it done" list.

3. Rationalize. There are 24 hours in a day. You spend 6-8 at work, 2-3 cooking, 2-3 studying, 1-2 on housework. That's a potential 16 hours gone. You can't do it all today, so figure out what can be shortened, compressed, and delayed.

4. Rest. Do it. Take that shower, read that book, tell the hubby to take the calls, put down the textbooks. If you don't, you risk burn out or worse. Treat yourself so that you can treat the people around you :)

Check out the {Never}homemaker. She has even more tips about how to stay healthy and some nutrition tips to help out. I'm following that particular link pretty closely myself. Stay strong, stay healthy, stay Super!

As always,
Courtney

Strategy Saturday!

We have all been there... it's a random night of the week, your budget is blown, you're starving to death and you have no idea what to cook. You'd make hamburgers but you only have the family pack of meat, the rest will suffer freezer burn and you're fighting to figure out what to eat before just throwing in the towel and heading for the closest drive-thru Choke-n-Barf. Have we already mentioned the weirdo smell coming from the fridge? Yea, there's a smell... and it smells suspiciously of last week's tilapia surprise. You're stressed, you're tired, you're frazzled--yup, this sucks. So how do we prevent this? 

I call it Strategy Saturday. In the Ingle house, I pop out of bed around 7:30am (that's late for us), grab my calendar and notepad and kickstart the strategy for the week. What am I planning? MEALS. That was our smelly, frazzled, starving, sucky weeknights happen fewer and further between.

I remember the days living at home. I'd wake up on a Saturday and find Mama at the table, a notebook, cookbooks, and a hand drawn days of the week calendar. I didn't realize until I got married how important that Strategy Saturday would be.

You can take control of your busy Tuesday on Saturday, all by planning your meals accordingly. Here's how:

First, either grab a calendar or list the days of the week. I shop for two weeks, so I set aside the next two weeks on the calendar. Sit down and plan every supper for two weeks. Once you've done that, make your grocery list around the meals. This is meal planning, folks... and it saves you time and anxiety.

Remember to consider your schedule when you plan meals. I have a late afternoon class on Monday, a night class on Tuesday, a late afternoon class on Wednesday and work every day of the week. So my meal planning looks like this:

Monday- Poppyseed Chicken

Tuesday- Crockpot Meatloaf

Wednesday-Chicken Fried Rice

Thursday-Date Night!

Friday-Pork Steak

And you get the point...

This will save you time, money, and frustration. Once you've made your menu and grocery list, shop accordingly. When you get home, plan accordingly. Casseroles can be put together a day in advance and refrigerated until you're ready to cook. Crockpot recipes cook while you're at work. Sounds easy, right? I'm not the only one.. I promise this works! Check out what blogger Jen Jones does for meal planning and more. Once the shopping and meal planning are done, clean house! And I mean, really clean. Throw away the tilapia surprise from the fridge, sweep, mop, CLEAN. That way this week you can relax for once because you deserve it!

Tackle it, Super Spouses. Welcome to Strategy Saturday!

Courtney 

Welcome All Struggling Super Spouses!

We are students, employees, homemakers, spouses, moms, sisters, support groups, soundboards, chefs, cheerleaders and the list goes on. How do we balance it? How do we wear so many hats at one time?

Welcome to Crockpots, Casseroles, and College. Here we will gather together to exchange ideas, give support, suggestions, and learn to balance everything we have going on. I'm going to be sharing recipe ideas with you that will make cooking a lot easier on your busy self, as well as sharing homemaking and managing tips. Together we can go from "struggling" to "Super Spouse!"

A little about myself: I'm a wife, homemaker, student, executive producer, friend, Sunday school teacher, party host, cat-mama, daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, advisor, boss, employee, and more! When I got married 6 months ago, my husband Jeremy had no idea what he was getting himself into. We were swimming in the changes for a while, but eventually I learned a few tips of the trade... tips I'm going to share with you. I'd learn to love more from you, so check out the Hit Me Up page.

To share some of your awesome stories and tips with me you can email me, comment, send me a tweet or whatever suits your fancy! I'm looking forward to all of us to move from "struggling" to "Super Spouse" together.

Super Spouses Unite!

Courtney

Twitter: @C_Carter_Ingle

Pinterest: CCarterIngle

Instagram: c_carter_ingle

Email: crockpots(dot)casserole(dot)college(at)gmail(dot)com