Teresa, here is my recipe for the bean dip that I use when making taco salad, tostados, burritos, or tortas: Texas Bean Dip Ingredients 1-1/3 cup dried pinto (or red) beans (about 2 cups cooked) 1/2 large onion, coarsely chopped 2 tbsp cumin 1 bunch of cilantro, large stems removed, about 2/3 cup chopped 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (10 oz.) or similar tomatoes, diced with green chilies, drained, liquid reserved 3-4 Serrano chilies, coarsely chopped 6 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 2 tbsp dried oregano) 1 tbsp soup base - vegetable or beef, or 1 tsp salt, to taste Place dried beans in large pot and cover with water to about 3-4 times original depth. Bring to a boil and boil for two minutes, cover, and remove from heat and allow to soak for one hour. Discard the soaking water and rinse and sort the beans. Cover with fresh water, with about two inches above the soaked beans, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for one hour, or until done, and discard the cooking water. Place all of the ingredients except the beans in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the beans, and check for flavor - you may not want to add all of them. If needed, add a bit of liquid from the canned tomatoes to aid in processing. I remove some of the seeds from the chilies and save them, in case it comes out too bland. You can remove more seeds, if you like it mild. Serve warm or cold with tortilla chips, or use to make burritos, tostados, etc. This is a staple condiment in my kitchen, and so I try to keep some on hand in the fridge or freezer. I often freeze half of the recipe so that it will keep longer. Lars

I have quite a few things: Crispy Chicken Skin- I think my family believes I buy skinless chickens and roast them, by the time it hits the table there is no skin left. Pretzles dipped in soft cream cheese Toasted Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches. I put peanut butter and honey between 2 slices of bread then butter the other sides and throw it in a skillet to toast the bread and melt the peanut butter. OMG so good. Ramen noodles- I'm guilty Buckeyes- I make a big batch then hide some in the veggie crisper to get cold and grab one when no one is looking. Sue Bee canned Chicken and dumplings- I can only get them when I go down home so I will buy a few cans while I am there and eat them all by myself. Ham sandwiches with horseradish mayo and melted swiss cheese.

I like this one (makes about 8-12 depending on the size of tortilla you use and how full you stuff 'em!) 1 lb ground beef, ground turkey, or cubed chicken 1 package taco seasoning mix or burrito seasoning mix 1 can refried beans 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese Flour tortillas optional sliced green onions sour cream salsa/taco sauce Brown beef and use taco seasoning as directed on package. Mix refried beans in a small bowl with about 1 Tbsp of salsa (helps to make the beans a little easier to spread) and heat in microwave approx. 1 min 30 sec - just enough to make them easy to stir and spread. Heat tortillas one at a time on hot griddle (or use oven or microwave directions on tortilla package if you prefer). Spread each tortilla with beans, top with seasoned meat, cheese, sour cream, onions and salsa. Fold in 2 sides about 1" and roll up. Freeze on baking sheet until firm, then store in ziploc freezer bags.

I separate homemade tortillas (and other things I make and freeze - pancakes, French toast, waffles, sliced quick breads...) with rounds, squares, or rectangles of plastic. Works much better than waxed paper or parchment, and BTW, freezer paper worked better than those two when I used it to separate things, and the plastic sheets are reusable. I cut rounds out of the plastic tops from containers (lg. container of yogurt, oatmeal, lids on #10 cans of freeze-dried foods, etc.). And I've purchased thin plastic kitchen cutting sheets/boards (comes several sheets to a package at Wal-Mart in the kitchen-wares department, in a number of fun colors) and cut those into sizes I need using my guillotine paper cutter. Some I round the corners so they don't poke through the foil or plastic wrap used as wrapping material, or cut to fit plastic storage containers with rounded corners. Anyway, I have a 2-" flat container I have all different sizes and shapes in to meet my needs for separating things in the freezer. You can also separate the small corn tortillas into fold-top sandwich bags - 2 tortillas per bag - then pack them back into the original bag and toss them in the freezer. If you only need one tortilla, they snap apart easily when there are only two frozen together. If you want to separate large flour tortillas, there are still 1-gallon storage bags available that use a twist-tie, you can use for separating them. You can wash and reuse these bags a number of times. -Grainlady