recipe: taco handpies

Nothing is better during the cooler months of Fall than being outside. We like to go to the park, on the bike paths, and budget permitting, to the zoo!

Every time we venture from our house for more than an hour, the Type A preparation master in me emerges. I like to be PREPARED! I have a fabulous little cooler from 31 gifts that we (ahem, I) got as a housewarming present and I always make sure we've got supplies to ward off crabbiness and hunger.

But sandwiches can be boring. There is only so much you can do to a sandwich when you have to pack it in a cooler and take it somewhere. Oh, and bologna makes me gag.

A while ago, a good friend of mine brought breakfast hand pies to Bible study, and that got me thinking.

What else can you fit in a biscuit??

Taco mix, that's what.

Don't go away yet, because these turned out great!

Here's what you need:
1/2 lb ground beef
1 bell pepper, any color (though I prefer yellow or orange for this!)
taco mix seasoning
shredded lettuce
shredded cheese
about 1/2 cup of salsa or taco sauce
1 pkg of big biscuits

Here's how to do it:

1. begin by cutting up your pepper and lettuce VERY tiny. I added these chunks

 to a food processor after I took this picture.

2. Brown your ground beef and prepare it with the taco seasoning as per package directions. Add your chopped pepper to the skillet. 

3. SLOWLY add your salsa or taco sauce to your ground beef/pepper mix. You DON'T want it runny, just enough to make it slightly saucy. You probably won't use the whole 1/2 cup.

 4. Open your can of biscuits and stretch one at a time until the biscuit is about the size of your hand. It is best to do this slowly and gently, as the dough pulls back in. Do one biscuit at a time.

5. Fill the biscuit with about a tablespoon of the ground beef mixture, 

top with lettuce and cheese. DON'T over fill!

6. Pinch the ends of the biscuit together. It works best if you treat it like a square, and pinch opposite corners together before pinching any other openings.

7. Flip your handpie over so the seam is facing down on the cookie sheet. Repeat this process with the rest of the biscuits.

8. Bake your sheet of handpies according to the biscuit package's directions, 

but check on them half way through.

9. Let them cool completely before you package them in ziplock bags! 

You could put any number of things in these. 

You could put scrambled eggs, cheese and sausage in for breakfast.

Or cubed ham and cheese for lunch (really good, by the way!)

I make an Irish version of these as well, which are favorites too.

I use ground beef (or lamb), Worcestershire sauce, diced red potatoes,

 and shredded cabbage. Add a few seasonings, and those are a big hit!

This is a perfect "car food" for kids. Not very messy and very easy to handle. 

Great for road trips!

Have fun with these. and good luck!