I loved your suggestions for picnic meals, and last Monday tried a version of the Tacos in a Bag or Frito Pie that were suggested.
We . . . loved these.
Here’s how I made Tacos/Taco Salads for our Baseball Night Picnic:
(If you’re a kid and think any meal with the word “salad” in it is likely to be gross, call them Tacos in a Bag. If you’re over the age of 15, add extra lettuce, call them Taco Salads, and tell yourself you’re eating a little more healthfully.)
First, I defrosted some pre-cooked ground beef and seasoned it with taco seasoning.
Then, I packed the beef into a container and filled quart sized bags with individual ingredients.
We brought salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce and tortilla chips.
I chose to put just what we needed into the bags instead of bringing entire containers of ingredients. (I generally don’t think to empty the ice-chest until the next time we need to use it . . . so I didn’t want leftovers!)
I also packed up forks, napkins, and one quart sized bag per person.
At the game, I let people choose what they wanted in their tacos/taco-salads, and for the sake of messiness and Mama Sanity, I loaded up each bag.
I instructed that they crunch up their chips and smush around their bags until they achieved the consistency they liked.
Then, I loaded my own and declared that no one could have seconds until I had a moment of peace to enjoy mine!
And I DID enjoy it. As my husband declared, “These are REALLY good.”
Taco salad is simple, but . . . having this as a real meal at the ballpark instead or nachos and popcorn just tasted so good.
Eating out of a plastic bag isn’t EASY easy . . . but I do believe it was simpler and more kid-proof than balancing plates on our knees.
Have you seen my other picnic ideas?
And here’s our menu for this week:
Monday – Sub Sandwiches (Last week’s game with this picnic was rained out.)
Tuesday – Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Wednesday- Eat at church
Thursday – Pizza Snowballs
Friday – Out to eat
Saturday – Grill out
I’ll be linking this up over at Menu Plan Monday.
We call those “walking tacos” at the racetracks in central texas 🙂 so yummy!
Love that name!
Us Girl Scouts call ’em Walking Tacos too! 🙂 Also, my Boy Scouts will make them with the personal-sized bagged Doritos…..yummy!
I have got to try this! My son will love it!
My mom just told me about taco salads in a bag but I didn’t quite get what she was talking about. I bet this is it. That’s a great idea!
Can you eat ground beef cold like that? I’d be afraid of getting food poisoning.
Oh no! I cooked it just before we left and put it in the insulated portion of our carrier so it was still hot when we ate it.
If it’s cooked through and not left at room temp for a long time, it’s fine to eat cold.
Nony,
How creative! No mess. Loving the picnic series. Now only if I could get motivated enough to go outside.
Raki
At our 4-H fair I’ve seen these served in paper cups… seems like that would be a little bit easier way to eat it. I guess you’d have to crush the doritoes before you put them in 🙂
Yes, as we were eating them again last night, I thought there must be an easier way to eat them! I think someone suggested putting the bag inside a cup.
Came over from pinterest. Never heard of these and absolutely LOVE the idea! Thanks for sharing.
Never had taco salad out of a bag – brilliant! Taco salad has to be my favorite meal. I do doritos instead of tortilla chips and cheese, add Italian dressing, and black beans.
What a great picnic idea!
I have also had these in small bags of frito’s or dorites (your preference) and called them walking tacos. 🙂
tinfoil bowls?
You know, folded up squares of tinfoil with the corners pinched and folded. (I thought a bit more of an explanation might be helpful)
Yes, these are Wonderful!! In Iowa, the refreshment stands at high school games, county fairs, college games, and many other gatherings, serve these in individual Doritos bags. After you crush the chips a little, you cradle the bag on it’s side, cutting off the other (now the top) side. This gives you the maximum possible opening. They layer in the lettuce & meat and each customer usually can finish to their taste with salsa, cheese, onions, sour cream and maybe chopped tomatoes. They are extremely popular, and really are easy to eat in the tough chop bag. You don’t have to worry about poking a hole with your fork and each bite can have a bit of each ingredient. They are called Walking Tacos here too.
Entirely up to you, and I understand if you want containers that you can throw. Just that as you have a cooler could take rectangular food storage containers(like a small lunchbox). If eating at the beach with friends have used these with a fork for salad. As you say plates are not easy. They often stack well to take home and wash. Depending on what you are taking they can hold chips and other dry snacks that are munched on before main meal.