Jennifer J's Taco Bake

Taco Bake is one of our all-time favourite recipes.  It started out as an optional recipe off of a soft taco kit box, but when that recipe stopped appearing, we had to re-create it and have since refined our approach.  A good reliable recipe for a chilly day.

Ingredients for Taco Bake

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• Salsa (1 cup for normal, 2 cups for juicier Taco Bake) 
• 1 can cheddar cheese soup (I like Fiesta for extra kick) 
• Cherry tomatoes, pack full of flavour but wrinkly (could substitute or add can of kidney beans here)
• Laughing Cow, 2 pieces (optional -- adds creaminess) 
• Taco powder packet (can use 2 Tbsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder instead) 
• 4 tortillas 8-10" depending on size of casserole dish (whole wheat tortillas are good in this recipe) 
• 1 lb ground meat such as turkey or hamburger (not shown) 
• Ground cheese 1 cup for normal, 2 for super cheesy, habanero or cheddar recommended (also not shown)

Prepare the Ingredients

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• Heat oven to 350 
• Top tomatoes, slice in half, and season to taste with salt and pepper
• Open can of soup 
• Measure out chili, cayenne, and garlic powders (or open taco spice packet) 
• Open and unwrap the Laughing Cow 
• Trim the edges of tortillas if too large for casserole dish 
• Have a spatula ready

Cook the Ingredients

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• Scramble-fry ground meat and drain off any fat or liquid 
• Add soup, Laughing Cow, and spices 
• Mix and stir until it bubbles and makes a thick meaty sauce, about 3-5 minutes

Assemble the Ingredients

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• Grease your dish (Pam is fine) and wipe off excess 
• Then layer the following (there are 4 layers in total):
• 1 tortilla 
• 1/4 meat sauce
• 1/4 chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 salsa 
• 1/4 cheese 
• Smooth each layer down so it forms a nice clean Taco Bake

 

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour, and serve with hot sauce or a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy!  

The Best Cake in the History of Cake

Pineapple-Lemon Variety, Auntie Bonnie Style

This extremely versatile cake can be made in a variety of ways depending on how simple (or how fancy) you want to get and what flavours you'd like to use.  It is always moist, dense, delicious, and very, very easy.

Ingredients for Basic Best Cake Recipe
======================================
 Cake                  Frosting                    Optional
 * cake mix            * milk (3/4 c)              * fruit, nuts, 
 * pudding mix         * Light Cool Whip (tub)       chocolate, candy,
 * water (1+3/4 c)     * sugar-free pudding mix      etc.
 * eggs (3 whites)
   
Easy 12-Step Basic Best Cake Method
===================================
 1. In a large glass mixing bowl, combine the cake mix and the
    pudding mix.
 2. Separate three eggs (the yolks are not used).
 3. Slightly beat the whites with a fork.
 4. Add the beaten egg whites and the 1+3/4c water.
 5. Beat on medium-high for about one minute.
 6. Pour batter into two 8" round pans which have been sprayed with 
    cooking spray and have a circle of waxed paper on the bottom.
 7. Cook according to directions on the cake box (usually 350F for 
    about 25 minutes).
 8. Cool the cakes for ten minutes on wire racks; turn out and cool 
    completely on racks (about one hour).
 9. In a second mixing bowl, combine milk (3/4 c) and sugar-free 
    pudding mix.
10. Beat on medium-high for two minutes.
11. Add Cool Whip and beat until fluffy and well-combined, 
    about 1 minute.  Fold in desired fruit, candy, flavouring, etc. 
    at this point.
12. Frost and decorate the cakes.

Enjoy.

By combining different cake mix/pudding flavours, pairing interesting cake/frosting combos, trying different pan sizes, and incorporating elements such as fruit, candy, nuts or chocolate, it's easy to make a wide assortment of simple, fast, delicious cakes which are moist, dense, and absolutely do not taste like they came out of a box.

   

This cake pictured above is my Auntie Bonnie's Pineapple-Lemon Cake recipe, where it all began.  To make it, follow the basic recipe and substitute as follows:

Pineapple-Lemon Cake

====================
 Cake                  Frosting                     Optional  
 * Yellow Cake mix     * milk (3/4 c)               * one can crushed
 * Lemon pudding mix   * Light Cool Whip (tub)        pineapple, VERY 
 * water (1+3/4 c)     * Vanilla sugar-free pudding   well-drained 
 * eggs  (3 whites)

   Fold the crushed pineapple gently into the whipped pudding 
   mixture, at the end of Step 11, above.  This also works
   extremely well with (thawed) frozen strawberries.
====================

This cake is so good that I made eleven different variations of this style (8" round double-decker) and served them at my wedding:

Just chop up whatever treat you like, mix it in with some of the frosting, and slather it nice and thick between the cake layers.  You can also add 1/2 tsp artificial flavouring to the frosting, if desired.

They ended up looking like this:

 

I've used this cake as a fancy dinner party dessert (above), as the basis for a robot birthday cake and a computer birthday cake, a fourth-of-July cake, and a couple of rather decadent chocolate-chip-cookie cakes.  

It is always reliably excellent.