Taco Soup Recipe & Taco Family Night Prize Pack Giveaway!

Dinnertime is a great time for catching up with your family, especially during the hustle and bustle of back-to-school season. Now that school is back in session, reward your family for their hard work and bring the dinner your family loves to the table with a fiesta - Old El Paso style!
If your family already loves tacos, why not put “Family Taco Night” on the calendar at least once a month? With a variety of seasonings and other complementary products, Old El Paso offers everything you need for fun nights with the family. To satisfy your Mexican style cravings, the Old El Paso® line up of products includes chilies, dinner kits, dips and sides, enchilada sauce, refried beans, seasoning mixes, shells, taco sauce and salsa. The Old El Paso taco seasoning mix selection includes flavors like Burrito, Cheesy Taco, Chili, Fajita, Taco, Mild Taco and even a seasoning with 40% less sodium. For a fun twist on Taco Night, be sure to try one of the delicious recipes below. And to keep your family laughing at the dinner table, have some fun with El Tacodor™, the world’s only Family Taco Night Game. With El Tacodor, your family can share a special night at home by challenging one another to quick fire trivia, wordplay and pantomime. Visit www.ElTacodor.com today to download instructions, a score card, and a challenge sheet for even more fun on Family Taco Night! Visit Old El Paso for news and great tips, recipes and more. Take a minute to share family fiesta photos and videos from Family Taco Nights on the El Tacodor Family Spotlight! In addition, you can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/b069/to download a printable coupon for $0.60 off any two Old El Paso products today!  I used their new seasoning to make a Taco Soup--easy, and delicious! The only difference I actually found in the seasoning is that their "new" blend doesn't contain the onion that their "old" blend did (yes, I did compare the ingredients). Here's how to make it: TACO SOUP RECIPE Brown 1lb ground beef or turkey and season with 1 packet taco seasoning--same as you would if you were making tacos! Once the beef/turkey is ready, throw it in a pot and simmer with these other ingredients: 1 can whole kernel corn, with the juice  1 larger can baked beans (pour off excess fluid)  1 larger can kidney beans (excess fluid poured off) Tomato juice--enough to cover the other ingredients and to make it the "soup" consistency that you like (usually one bottle)  To serve, top each bowl with the following: taco cheese sour cream tortilla chips Easy, fast, and delicious! WIN IT! MyBlogSpark and Old El Paso sent me a "Family Taco Night" prize pack  to review which includes a packet of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, a Cactus Chip & Dip Serving dish, a set of 3 Fiesta Chili Pepper serving dishes and a $10 gift card to purchase your taco fixings...and they want to give one to you, too!  To win, leave me your favorite Mexican recipe below (elaborate or simple, doesn't matter). Be sure to include a separate comment and email address for each entry! For additional entries: Additional entries (after the above is completed --leave a separate comment for each one): 1) Follow Life More Simply on Google Friend Connect 2) Subscribe to Life More Simply via email. 3) "Like" our Facebook page. 4) Follow us on Twitter (LifeMoreSimply). 5) Blog about this contest ---3 entries! 6) After you've "liked"/"friended" Life More Simply on Facebook, put this as your status: " I just entered to win the Taco Family Night prize package! http://tinyurl.com/28uegsr @Life More Simply" (my name will come up in BLUE if you did it right). 1 entry/day. 7) Tweet this message (up to two times a day for 1 entry each): Win a Taco Family Night prize package from @LifeMoreSimply! http://tinyurl.com/28uegsr (ARV $20) #giveaway #contest #food 8) Spread the word on a parenting forum, message board, or any other way and tell me how you did it with a link! 9) Sign up to Design America's Next Diaper:  http://lifemoresimply.blogspot.com/p/life-more-simply-review-panel.html

Apple Cranberry Walnut Fruit Crisp Recipe

I'm a big fan of fruit crisps since they're so easy and delicious. Here is my healthy rendition of a fruit crisp. Enjoy!

Apple Cranberry Walnut Fruit Crisp Recipe

Apple Cranberry Walnut Fruit Crisp

Prep: 30 Minutes
Bake: 30 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 5 cups sliced apples (unpeeled for extra fiber)
• 1/4-1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use 1/4 C four and 1/4 C flaxseed meal for added nutritional benefit)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Place apples and cranberries  together in a 2-quart square baking dish.
2. Combine all of the rest of the ingredients together to make the topping. Mixture will resemble coarse crumbs.
3. Sprinkle this topping over the fruit.
4. Bake in a 375f oven for 30-35 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the topping is golden.

Note: 1) This is great with vanilla icecream! 2) If you're like me, you want to double the topping portion. Don't. I already did it for you. :-)

Variation: if you're short on time, just use a can of pie filling in place of the fruit and put in the oven on your "broil" setting for a few minutes until bubbly and golden brown. Watch it--it won't take long to warm through!