mexican pizza party!

I grew up in such a small town that we had NO fast food restaurants, except a walk-up Dairy Queen. Plus my mom didn't really believe in eating out. So I was pretty much deprived of fast food until my older sister turned 16 and got her driver's license. She would occasionally take me to the next town and treat me to Taco Bell. We both loved the Enchirito with that famous Taco Bell sauce and an order of cinnamon crispas made with flour tortillas for dessert.

Now I completely understand my mom's preference to cook dinner instead of going out. This recipe was inspired by Taco Bell's Mexican pizza. It's easy to adapt the recipe to serve from 2 to 10 people. Or it makes a great appetizer. I made mine vegetarian and my husband loved his with the delicious seasoned ground beef. I printed a similar recipe years ago from www.traderjoesrecipes.net that I used as a rough idea. I just checked that websight so I could link you to it but it no longer exists.

Mexican Pizza
click HERE to print recipe only
makes 2 pizzas

ingredients

4 flour tortillas
2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup refried beans
1/2 cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
sliced black olives
sour cream & cilantro, optional

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Brush tortillas lightly with oil and heat them on each side in a skillet over medium heat until barely browned. Watch closely so they don't burn.

3. Cook ground beef in a skillet with onion until browned. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two. Drain grease, if needed. Season meat with chili powder, cumin, black pepper and salt.

4. To assemble pizzas, place 2 tortilla on a cookie sheet, divide the beans between the 2 tortillas and spread to the edges. Divide the meat and sprinkle it over the beans on each pizza. Cover each with 2nd tortilla.  Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

5. Spread quarter cup of salsa over each pizza. Top with cheese. Return to oven and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and toasty.

6. Top with tomatoes, green onions and olives. Slice & serve.

strawberry cheesecake sundae party!

 

 

If you’re looking for the perfect way to cool down on a hot summer day, then look no further. This special sundae made with vanilla ice cream, real whipped cream, CHEESECAKE and fresh strawberries will do the trick!

This creative combination was inspired by the fast food drive thru restaurant, Ralley's aka Checkers. We don't have Ralley's or Checkers in Utah but my mom told me about this amazing dessert & on a recent trip to Indiana I HAD to try it. It was everything she said & more! But I dare say, homemade is even better!

As soon as I got home I set out to recreate the strawberry cheesecake sundae. I googled it to get another look at it & low & behold I found a video of the restaurant's VP of research & development making one! That was EASY! Feel free to skip the rest of this post & click the video below to watch Mr. V.P. do his thing.



I must warn you about this Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling...it's DANGEROUS. Only buy it if you have a plan to use the whole thing, divided by 8 people, immediately . If it sits in the fridge unattended for more than a day it will do a magic trick & disappear from your fridge & reappear on your hips! I will probably never buy it again...it's that risky decadent! I also think it would be delicious piped into strawberries.

I made homemade strawberry sauce but this is a super quick & simple dessert! You could make it even easier with store bought strawberry syrup & just throw a few fresh strawberries in.

sundae ingredients:

Graham crackers, crushed in food processor

Philadelphia cheesecake filing

Strawberry Sauce, see below

Additional sliced strawberries 

Vanilla bean ice cream

Whipped cream

sundae directions:

Layer the following in each individual sundae dish:

 

1 tablespoon crushed graham crackers

1 ice cream scoop Philadelphia cheesecake filling (1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon of strawberry sauce
sliced strawberries

4 large swirls vanilla soft serve (or 3 scoops vanilla ice cream)

2 tablespoons strawberry sauce
sliced strawberries

1 tablespoon crushed graham cracker

2 puffs real whipped cream (more!)

Cherry (Strawberry!)

For Strawberry Sauce: Clean & slice 1 pound strawberries, place in a saucepan and stir in 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in a blender until smooth. Will thicken upon cooling. Store in refrigerator and serve cold. This will make lots of extra sauce. Delicious served over cheesecake or ice cream or use it in smoothies or milkshakes or drizzle over pound cake or crepes!