HEB’s combo locos can lead to some pretty plain dinners, but if you’re creative, you can make it your own.
Tacos a la Bell
Inredients:
HEB hard taco shells $0.00
HEB sour cream $0.00
1 lb ground beef $3.19
Taco Bell mild sauce $0.00
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese $0.00
1 cup cilantro $.25
1 cup chopped yellow onion $.65
1 box fideo noodles $.25
1 can whole tomatoes $.89
1 chopped Roma tomato $.33
From the pantry:
Fajita seasoning
Garlic cloves
Cumin
Total: $5.56
Recipe:
Brown the meat and add in the cilantro, onions and seasoning until it’s fully cooked. Create your tacos whatever way you like. (I like to put a teeny bit of sour cream at the bottom, then the meat, followed by the cheese, and some chopped tomatoes on top.)
As for the fideo, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the fideo, and fry until browned. Separate the tomatoes and pour in the can of tomato sauce and 1 cup of water. Season with cumin, garlic salt and chili powder, and stir to blend. Bring to a boil, and cook until the liquid has almost evaporated. Chop the tomatoes into small pieces and stir it into sauce with a half cup of water. Cover, and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the fideo is tender, and the sauce has thickened.
Tonight’s dinner was a bit of a mishmash. We had thawed some meat and realized we had better use it before it went bad. We also got most of the above ingredients free thanks to one of HEB’s combo loco deals. All we had to buy was two pounds of ground beef, one of which we used for the Juicy Lucy’s. It’s a pretty sweet deal, and tacos aren’t a bad option when you need a quick meal. Cowboy did a great job with the meat. In my opinion, cilantro should be in everything. If there was such thing as cilantro ice cream, I’d probably eat it. If they bottled its scent and sold it, I’d buy it. I LOVE it. While we also got a packet of taco seasoning, we decided not to use it because, well, it looked a little odd. I think it was a good choice.
As for the fideo, well, this is my first time making it. It’s one of my favorite dishes, and I think I’ve always been too afraid to make it in case I messed it up. It wasn’t great for my first time, but it also wasn’t too bad. I forgot to add salt, which normally wouldn’t bother me. However, fideo definitely requires at least a little salt. However, I think using fresh garlic is much better than garlic powder, and although the noodles weren’t as soft as I’m used to, the rest seemed to have the right texture. We added a little salt ourselves, and voila! It worked! It’s such an inexpensive and tasty addition to any meal.
All in all, it definitely wasn’t the best meal we’ve made, but unless we fail spectacularly, a so-so meal that still tastes pretty good isn’t too bad.
MonBon
P.S. This was a joint effort between Cowboy and I. He’ll add his thoughts once he gets some free time. Poor boy is busy with school.
