Hi everyone!!! Looking for Easy Family Dinner Ideas? I’m so thrilled to have Carrie back today. I am always so inspired by how fun she makes mealtime & this recipe is no exception. She has made these Crazy Taco Faces that are just so adorable. Check them out!! Thanks Carrie!!

Hello, Kleinworth & Co Readers! I’m Carrie, from Kenarry: Ideas for the Home back again to share another fun food idea you can make with your kids. At our house, Tuesday dinner is typically “Taco Tuesday”, but we like to mix it up by offering a wide variety of Mexican dishes in addition to traditional tacos. Some weeks we have enchiladas; some weeks we have fish tacos; and some weeks we have shredded beef tortilla wraps. Anything of that genre is fair game for “Taco Tuesday” at our house, so you can imagine how delighted my kids were when we decided to make Crazy Taco Faces one Tuesday for dinner.

Crazy Taco Faces are a creative twist on traditional soft tacos. You and your kids will have a blast using olives, grape tomatoes, shredded carrots and taco sauce to make silly faces. If your family prefers crispier tacos, I would suggest you spritz or lightly brush all of the corn tortillas with olive oil and bake at 375 degrees for 4-5 minutes before you begin assembling the Crazy Taco Faces. This will make the corn tortillas crispier from the beginning. Otherwise, they tend to get soft once you add the beans, meat and cheese.

How to Make Crazy Taco Faces
What You Need:

6-inch corn tortillas
1 pound of ground beef or turkey
1 chopped onion (optional)
1 packet of taco seasoning
Water
1 can of refried beans
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
Black olives
Shredded carrots
Grape tomatoes
Shredded romaine lettuce
Taco sauce

Instructions:

1. Prepare the ground beef or turkey. In a large pan on the stove, brown the ground beef or turkey. Throw in a chopped onion if you choose. Once the meat is browned, add the packet of taco seasoning and water (per the instructions on the packet).

2. Create the first layer. Use cooking spray to lightly grease a large baking sheet. I also like to line the baking sheet with foil before I spray it to make clean-up after dinner a little easier. Place tortillas on the baking sheet for as many Crazy Taco Faces as you plan to make. Spread a thin layer of refried beans on each of the tortillas. You can skip the refried beans if you don’t care for them, but the refried beans really help the Crazy Taco Faces stick together.

3. Add ground meat. Spoon the seasoned taco meat on top of the refried beans for each of the Crazy Taco Faces.

4. Sprinkle with cheese. Shredded cheese also helps the Crazy Taco Faces to stick together, so liberally add cheese to each of the tortillas. We used mozzarella since that’s what we had on hand, but any shredded cheese will work for the inside of the Crazy Taco Faces.

5. Top with another tortilla and bake. Place a tortilla on top of each of the Crazy Taco Faces. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt inside the Crazy Taco Faces.

6. Add more cheese. Carefully remove the Crazy Taco Faces from the oven. The corn tortillas may have started to turn up at the edges, so gently push the edges back down. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top of each tortilla. Again, any cheese will work here as long as it’s the same color (e.g. I wouldn’t use a colby jack blend or something two-toned for this part). Return the Crazy Taco Faces to the oven and bake for another five minutes until the cheese starts to melt.

7. Add eyes and noses. Now is the fun part. Create faces by using black olives for eyes, half a grape tomato for a nose and shredded carrots for eyebrows. We returned ours to the oven for another 4 minutes but if they’re hot enough to you, you could move on to the next step.

8. Put on a happy face. Put taco sauce in a resealable bag, then cut off a small corner of the bag. Use the bag to creatively decorate your Crazy Taco Faces with smiles, frowns, or jagged monster grins.

9. Transfer the Crazy Taco Faces to plates and serve. Use a large spatula to move the Crazy Taco Faces from the baking sheet on to a plate. Top those silly guys and gals with shredded lettuce for hair before serving.

Crazy Taco Faces makes a fun family dinner or a heavier snack if you’ve got leftover taco meat in the fridge from another meal. They’d also work great with shredded chicken or fish. If you’re a vegetarian you can skip the meat altogether and just go with the refried beans. No matter how you change them up, one thing is for certain — when your kids see this meal, they’re going to smile as big as these Crazy Taco Faces!

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Crazy Taco Faces: A Toasted Tortilla Treat Kids Will Love

Ingredients

6- inch corn tortillas
1 pound of ground beef or turkey
1 chopped onion optional
1 packet of taco seasoning
Water
1 can of refried beans
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
Black olives
Shredded carrots
Grape tomatoes
Shredded romaine lettuce
Taco sauce

Instructions

Prepare the ground beef or turkey.

In a large pan on the stove, brown the ground beef or turkey.
Throw in a chopped onion if you choose.
Once the meat is browned, add the packet of taco seasoning and water (per the instructions on the packet).

Create the first layer.

Use cooking spray to lightly grease a large baking sheet. I also like to line the baking sheet with foil before I spray it to make clean-up after dinner a little easier.
Place tortillas on the baking sheet for as many Crazy Taco Faces as you plan to make. Spread a thin layer of refried beans on each of the tortillas.
Add ground meat.
Spoon the seasoned taco meat on top of the refried beans for each of the Crazy Taco Faces.
Sprinkle with cheese. Shredded cheese also helps the Crazy Taco Faces to stick together, so liberally add cheese to each of the tortillas.
We used mozzarella since that's what we had on hand, but any shredded cheese will work for the inside of the Crazy Taco Faces.
Top with another tortilla and bake.
Place a tortilla on top of each of the Crazy Taco Faces.
Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt inside the Crazy Taco Faces.
Add more cheese.
Carefully remove the Crazy Taco Faces from the oven.
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top of each tortilla.
Return the Crazy Taco Faces to the oven and bake for another five minutes until the cheese starts to melt.
Add eyes and noses.
Create faces by using black olives for eyes, half a grape tomato for a nose and shredded carrots for eyebrows.
Return to the oven for another 4 minutes
Put on a happy face
Put taco sauce in a resealable bag, then cut off a small corner of the bag.
Use the bag to creatively decorate your Crazy Taco Faces with smiles, frowns, or jagged monster grins.
Transfer the Crazy Taco Faces to plates and serve.
Use a large spatula to move the Crazy Taco Faces from the baking sheet on to a plate.
Top those silly guys and gals with shredded lettuce for hair before serving.

Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate. Please double-check with your own dietary calculator for the best accuracy. We at Yummi Haus cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.

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Be sure to check out these other fun foods from Kenarry: Ideas for the Home on Kleinworth & Co:

Tropical Turtle Beach Jello Cups

Personal Patriotic Pepperoni Pizzas

Thank you Carrie for sharing such a fun way to make dinner!!!

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