Bean Tostadas

Bean Tostadas. Super simple meal your kids will eat up. I love that it can be dressed up for the adults.

I spent 5 years working as a server at a Mexican restaurant in our town. The kid’s menu was filled with things like corn dogs, mac and cheese, burgers, and chicken fingers. Then there was the taco meal and Mexican pizza. I always thought the name Mexican pizza was a complete misnomer and if any poor child ordered it for the first time they’d be sorely disappointed. It was a crispy corn tortilla topped with taco meat and melted cheese served with beans and rice. Not a very traditional pizza.

This recipe is basically that “Mexican Pizza”. It’s a super easy and quick lunch or supper that kids love! My daughter inhales this when I make it. If I already have beans and tortillas cooked, it is done in under 10 minutes. Can’t beat that on a rushed day.

You can make this as easy or complicated as you’d like. Use canned or dehydrated refried beans or cook up your own. I like to cook up my own beans in bulk and freeze in meal size portions. Buy tostada shells or what I do is bake corn tortillas directly on the oven rack at 200 degrees until they are crispy. Serve simply topped with cheese or set out an array of toppings that everyone can add after the tostadas come out of the oven. Things such as: green onions, sliced olives, sour cream, homemade salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, cilantro. My daughter loves hers with just the beans and cheese. I’m okay with that (plus, it’s less messy for her to eat)!

You really don’t even need a recipe for this, but I’ll share what I do. This would be a good meal to put the kids in charge of making. If your family likes meat, add some taco beef or chicken on top of the beans. If there are bean haters, just do the meat.

Bean Tostadas Full Post

Ingredients

Tostada Shells (purchased or make you own by baking at 200 until crispy)
Refried Beans (and/or taco beef or chicken)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Optional Toppings:
Guacamole, green onions, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, olives, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes etc

Instructions

Spread a layer of beans on top of the tostada shells.
Sprinkle with meat if you are using.
Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and cut each tostada into 4 wedges.
Serve with optional toppings I desired.

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Menu Plan and Goals

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Friday night we participated in Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a for the first time. Even though she might not look it in the picture, our daughter had a blast. She loved dressing up and meeting the cow mascot. Before we left home she’d occasionally get down on all fours and start mooing.

Other than the cow excitement, our week was a low keyed one and this week is looking like more of the same. Even the Thursday night event is postponed until next week. That will give us all the more time to work on getting the house cleaned and organized. We made progress but have a ways to go. I suppose a 1 year old who doesn’t play but rather destroys doesn’t help any.

This girl loves to help. If I’m doing something she thinks she can too. She’s working hard grating cheese for the nacho cheese sauce to go with the chips.

I think it’s safe to say, we are all excited for the cooler temperatures coming the rest of this week. The highs are not even supposed to hit 80 a couple of days! It will be a great change from the upper 90s and 100s.

Suppers:

Snack supper – chips, salsa, cheese sauce (velveeta free – made a recipe we actually liked this time!), watermelon
Leftovers x 3
Salmon (haven’t decided how I’m going to cook it yet)
Chicken Pasta Salad (Trying my hand at homemade mayonnaise for the first time. We’ll see what happens)
Undecided: Chili Bean Nachos (trying a new recipe for homemade chili beans), Quinoa Dippers, or Breakfast

Lunches:

BLT Salad
Bean and Cheese Tostadas
Salads

Breakfasts:

Berry Green Smoothies
Oatmeal

Goals:

Clean the refrigerator
Read Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters and Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most by Brooke McGlothlin.
Exercise 3 times
Publish 2 more posts
Mop the floors

What are you eating this week? Is it cooling off where you are?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

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Staycationing in a Small Town

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Staycationing in a Small Town - Fun and easy ideas your kids will love!

Staycationing can be much easier (and more budget friendly) than a full fledged vacation. What happens, though, when you live in a small town that doesn’t have any of the big attractions or activities of a city?

We live in a small town in Northern Oklahoma. The places with zoos, large amusement parks, shopping malls etc are all almost an hour and half away. That’s still doable for a day trip, but I certainly don’t want to make that drive everyday of our staycation.

These are all things that we can do in our town:

Local Library

We love to take advantage of story time and the play center in the children’s area of our library. My kids don’t ever want to leave. In the summer there are other fun activities for children during the week. My kids would be happy to know an entire afternoon was going to be dedicated to the library and they could leave with books and movies.

Free Movies

Our historic theater downtown shows free family friendly movies every Thursday. We rarely go the the movies so this is a fun treat for the kids.

Water Fun

The key here is to avoid the hottest (and busiest) times of day. Go first thing in the morning or in the evening for a more relaxing trip and you won’t have to worry (as much) about your children getting sun burned.

Splash Pad
Pool
Beach

Miniature Golf

Miniature golf is something we only do when on a trip. What better time to check out your local course than your staycation!

Dinner at your favorite restaurant

Growing up we seldom went out to eat. Going to a restaurant was a treat and something we looked forward to doing on our vacations. Plan a meal at a favorite restaurant (or maybe one you’ve never tried) in your town.

Ice Cream Shop

So many touristy towns have ice cream shops lining the streets of downtown. One afternoon, visit your local ice cream shop as a special treat. This would be the highlight of my 3 year olds day!

Picnic

Picnics and vacations, they just seem to go together. Whether hiking in the mountains, a trip to the lake or beach, or in the car while on a road trip a picnic seems to happen at least once. You could have a picnic in your backyard, living room floor, local park, or a pool.

Stay up late

Rest is important and I definitely wouldn’t want to keep my (fairly young) kids up late every night of our staycation. Pick a night or two and let them stay up – plan a fun activity that will go past their bedtime. Maybe the trip to the beach or splash pad or an after supper ice cream excursion.

Crafts

Take time to make a mess and get creative. Go to Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or your local craft store and add on to your craft supplies and have a family art session. Maybe you could all decorate shirts or design wood plaques. If you aren’t creative (goodness knows I need all the help I can get), you can also find kits with instructions for some great projects.

I think that the key to making these seemingly little and normal things fun is to turn them into a big deal – combine ideas and splurge a couple of times on things you normally wouldn’t. After your afternoon at the library pick up pizza and continue with a movie night. Head to the beach in the morning and finish the trip off with a picnic. Evening miniature golf followed by a stop for ice cream.

What things do you like to do on a staycation when in a small town?

Linking up to these fun parties!

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Free Ways to Beat the Heat with Kids

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Today I am honored to have a guest post up on Monday Saving Mom. If you are stopping by from Crystal’s site, welcome. I’m glad to have you.

For more ideas on making your summer more fun, check out my post on making a staycation fabulous and come back tomorrow for ideas on what to do on a staycation in a small town.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and like the craziness of summer has you just suriving, you might want to check out the most popular post on From this Kitchen Table – How to go from Surviving to Thriving.

Or if cooking is more of your thing, the most viewed recipe is this Easy Alfredo Sauce . Not only is it easy, it is also amazing!

For my regular readers, here is the post on 10 free ways to beat the heat with kids:

I live in Oklahoma. Our summers can be pretty miserable, but my children aren’t happy with spending the hottest months of the year cooped up in the house. In an effort to save my sanity, I have 10 free ways to beat the heat with kids during those hot months.

1. Library

Take your kids to Story Time which often includes a few songs and a craft, and then let them check out a pile of new (to them) books and maybe a movie or two. Not only will you kill a couple hours, you come home with supplies that will keep them entertained.

Our library also shows a movie once a week and has special performances for kids during the summer! Call and ask what they have going on or pick up a printed calendar they have available.

2. Splash Pad

Okay, I know sitting outside in the 100 degree heat isn’t high on your list of fun. It isn’t on mine either. Avoid the hottest times of the day and let your kids enjoy the water while you sit and read a book under the covered bench.

3. Mall Play Space

Air conditioning and space to run. When you need to get out of the house during the hottest time of the day, turn to indoor recreation. Let your kids climb and slide without worrying about sun burn.

4. Park

Once again, I know it’s summer and it’s hot but go early early in the day. Have a breakfast picnic at the park and let your kids swing and play before the sun heats up the play structure. An added bonus is that you miss all the crowds and daycare groups.

Head over to Money Saving Mom to read the rest of the post!

What are your favorite ways to beat the heat during the summer with your kids?

Linking up to these fun parties!

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Menu Plan and Goals

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We spent the holiday weekend with my husband’s family. There was grilling, swimming, shopping, movie watching, and visiting going on.

We got back early yesterday evening and have everything unpacked and put away. That’s the nice thing about coming back early, even though I’ll start the week exhausted at least there are not mountains of diaper bags, luggage, and strollers to put away.

An immediate trip to the grocery store is in order. The refrigerator is looking pretty empty.

The first couple days of the menu we were with family. I brought Cucumber Tomato Salad, Garbanzo Bean Corn Salad, and pavlova.