Monday's Menu

One day, while shopping for groceries at our South Carolina Winn-Dixie (before it closed), I came across some taco salad shells in the dairy section that had been marked down to $1.00 for the 4 count box. They were going to expire in the next couple of days. The kids had never had those and Chick was just starting to get into eating lettuce on her tacos, so I grabbed them for dinner that night.

From that point on, I checked every time I shopped. They loved them so much and cheered when I found them marked down. They were nearly a dollar apiece at regular price so I couldn't justify getting them unless they were marked down.

Chick would occasionally ask for a taco salad when we ate somewhere that uses those shells. But for the most part, unless I had found them on sale like that, we didn't have them.

Since moving here (although I haven't looked too hard), I have yet to see them at all for sale. But last week, I really wanted one. I knew how to bake them over ovenproof bowls turned upside down on a cookie sheet but it just wasn't as good as the flaky shells that restaurants had.

And that's what I wanted. Well, little did I know how easy they are to make.

All you need is:


flour tortillas (sufficiently large enough for a bowl),

oil to cook them in, and a soup ladle. Seriously. That's it.

You heat the oil to 375 degrees and then submerge -- and hold down -- a tortilla into the oil. The soup ladle helps it get the shape you need.

Cook until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. By the way, I tried using a round potato masher. It worked until I had to remove it. I ended up having to break it off. I would stick with a soup ladle.

I made enough to have a few left over (which I kept in a zipper bag on the counter) for lunch the next day.
For our dinner that night, we filled ours with ranch style beans, seasoned ground beef, lettuce, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

Hubby added some HOT salsa too. I imagine you could put just about any salad fixins (or other stuff) in them and it would be just as good though.