Steak Tacos and Corn Salad

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to clean out the freezer? I had not idea what I wanted to make for supper tonight, but upon scrounging around our freezer I found some stew meat (steak cubes) that I froze back in February. Well, I figured I had better use it now, before it gets nasty. The corn salad was also part of the "let's clean out the freezer" movement. The salad is based on the cornbread one we made for my wedding, but is just a little different. It's still super tasty.

Steak Tacos
1/2 onion cut into 1/2 moons
1/4 c. combo of red and green peppers, diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb Steak Cubes
black pepper
2-3 cups water
1 bouillon cube
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 package of taco seasoning
taco shells
2% mild cheddar cheese, shredded
fat free sour cream

Add 1 tsp olive oil to frying pan and heat over medium, add onion and green pepper, carmelize then let rest on a plate while you cook the meat. After removing the veggies add 1 tsp olive oil and cook meat until browned, then drain and rinse the fat from the meat (if you have any). Return the meat to the pan, and add black pepper while frying for a mement. Then, simmer in beef broth until tender (which will depend on the cut you get, mine was tough). You may need to add more water to make sure the beef is tender! Once you have tenderized the meat add the tomato paste, taco seasoning and cooked veggies to the pan. Let cook until thick. Add meat and veggies to taco shell and top with cheese and sour cream if you wish. (I would say lettuce, but I DETEST WARM LETTUCE.)

Corn Salad
1 package frozen corn, cooked, cooled and drained well (I used the steam fresh pacakge)
2 TBSP white onion
2 TBSP red pepper
2 TBSP green pepper
1 can drained pinto beans
1 can drained diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh)
1/2 cup 2% mild cheddar cheese, shredded (USE A BLOCK AND SHRED IT YOURSELF!)
3 TBSP (or 1 package) Hidden Valley Ranch powder
1/2 c Light Miracle Whip
1/2 c fat free sour cream

Mix well and let sit for 1 hour so that flavors may meld.



The judgement: Jeff loved the tacos, while I thought they were ok. I loved the corn salad while Jeff thought it was ok. If I were to do it again, I would add more onions and peppers to the tacos, because they're my favorite part of a taco. As for the salad, instead of 1/2 c f Light Miracle Whip and fat free sour cream I might cut back to 1/3 c each, because it was a bit moist, but man did I enjoy it! If I hd had a bun to wipe the juice up with I would have been in heaven!