Happy New Year...Nachos

I can't believe 2013 has now come to a close.  This year has had much excitement, a few disappointments but most of all has been a great year of growth.  We have first hand witnessed Gods love and faithfulness.  As a family we are very excited for what 2014 has in store for us; we are waiting with great anticipation for our baby boy to arrive this Spring.  

To close the year off I invited my family over for a low key evening.  Our New Years celebration ended officially around 8:30pm...that's my kind of party.

The menu consisted of nachos and taco salad.  My sister kindly brought over a large package of extra lean ground beef and I chopped up all the garnish; red pepper, onion, scallions, and cilantro.  I sautéed up the beef and after I drained off the excess fat I added in my garnish and some taco seasoning packs, chili powder and S&P.  

Once this was made I set aside enough for dinner and packed up a few ziploc bags for the freezer.  These will be handy for tacos, nachos, pasta sauce, chilli etc.  This trick of having seasoned cooked packages of beef in the freezer is probably one of the best cooking tricks I learned this past year.  This is so helpful for that last minute dinner or late night snack!

I bowled up chopped lettuce, shredded cheese, jalepenos, black olives (especially for jan), sour cream/Greek yogurt, salsa and guacamole. 

I baked these at 375F for 15 minutes.  The thicker the layers of nachos the longer it would need.

The nachos were enjoyed by all!  I even made a platter for Jeff when he got home from work; he enjoyed these with the taped jets game.  

Well, Happy New Year to all my blog readers!  I hope to bring you many more new recipes and helpful tips in 2014!