Avoid the Drive-Thru, Prepare An Easy Meal at Home

Quick and easy dinners are often the reason there is a line at the drive-thru in the evening.  With a few simple ingredients, you can skip the drive-thru and make dinner at home.

Tacos can be made in many different variations. You choose the protein that suits your mood—chicken, steak, shrimp or ground beef.  Season it according to your tastes, make it spicy if you enjoy heat, or keep it mild and pile on various toppings. 

The great thing about the different protein options is that you can select what is on sale so that you can keep your grocery bill within budget and serve a healthy meal to your family without hitting the fast food drive-through a few nights a week.

My family likes both the crunchy tacos and the soft tacos, so I offer both up whenever we have them. Make sure to include shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes and onions, sour cream, salsa and guacamole. Add whatever combination appeals to you that night.

Recently, I made steak tacos from a recipe I found by Ellie Krieger of Food Network.  The Cucumber-Avocado Salsa that was served with it, really added an extra dimension of flavor to these tacos and I highly recommend serving it with any Mexican food you enjoy.

The seasoning was not too spicy for my family, but you could certainly adjust to increase the heat by adding more chili powder.

Adapted from: Ellie Krieger, The Food You Crave

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 1/4 pounds top sirloin steaks (about 1 inch thick)
12, 6-inch tortillas

Directions:

• Preheat the grill to medium-high heat or broiler.
• In a small bowl, stir together the chili powder, garlic, cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper. Rub the mixture over both sides of the steak.
• Grill or broil steaks to desired doneness—about 5 minutes per side if you prefer medium-rare.  Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes and carve into thin slices.
• Warm the tortillas either by placing on grill for 30 seconds on each side or placing in microwave for 45 seconds with moist paper towels between each one. 
• Place carved steak, tortillas and other assorted toppings on counter and allow everyone to assemble their own tacos.