It's a problem that I've been trying to solve for years, you know, the kind that keeps you up all night. It was coming up more frequently that I care to admit but it was a serious issue that needed solving. The problem? We are constantly faced with the "Bottom of the Bag" fiasco when it comes to tortilla chips!
We buy our tortilla chips in bulk form and we have for years. Yes, you read that right. Two people who have young children barely eating chips themselves buy tortilla chips in massive quantities to consume entirely between the two of them. I promise we have a good reason...?
For the longest time I would ask Bryan what he wanted for dinner in the upcoming week and every time I asked, I was met with the same response, spaghetti and nachos. I'm sure you can imagine why I have all but stopped that conversation seeing as how I already know the response but the truth is, we eat a lot of nachos (and chips and salsa) in this house. Doesn't every household eat nachos monthly? No? Just us? Hmmm...
Nevertheless, that means that we are left with the bottom of the bag problem very regularly. It is just about the worst kind of problem to have, obviously. You pour a delicious bowl of salsa and go to the pantry, reach for the tortilla chips, only to find out you're left with the tiny pieces that require you to scrape your knuckles through the salsa trying to enjoy your tasty treat OR you eat it like a bowl of cereal; I'll let you imagine my choice. Seriously heartbreaking.
I got to the point that I would just throw them away out of anger, overwhelming sadness, and obvious starvation. This always irritated me because I loathe wasting anything! There had to be a better solution. There had to be a way to repurpose those sad little forgotten salty crumbs into something other than landfill waste.
Bryan and I also happen to be a big fan of tacos. When it comes to tacos, we don't discriminate. North of the border, south of the border, fish, pulled pork, if it's tacos for dinner, we are in heaven! We are the same way with our nacho game but I can't discuss nachos anymore or Bryan will request it for dinner; the universe has a way of putting nachos on the guy's brain.
I am so very happy to report that I finally created a recipe this week that used those very last bits of an oh-so-loved bag of tortilla chips and it is E-A-S-Y!! I don't know about you but I love an easy recipe that tastes amazing and this one does just that! It is modeled after a traditional North of the Border taco and it is a whole family pleaser (unless you have a Nolan and then, friend, I feel your dinner rejection pain!). I cannot wait to experiment with different taco options in the future to give this a fun twist; we all know it will happen sooner than I'd like to admit given our lifelong commitment to tortilla chips.
So, without further delay, here is the North of the Border version of my Taco Bake. I hope you all love it; enjoy!
