Taco Glump

***From our July 2, 2013 Journal Archives***

Cee continues to struggle with pain.  The back of her head/neck area and her leg seem to be the main areas lately.  She wakes up stiff, gets better throughout the day, and then mid-afternoon she starts having pain again.  This is the pattern she was in before Mayo, and it’s pretty typical for arthritis, apparently.

Last night I made tortilla-less, cheese-less tacos for supper.  We used buffalo meat, some beans, carrots, and onions (both chopped into microscopic bits so as not to rile the natives) all mixed together with lots of seasoning.  It wasn’t terrible.  The original plan was to harvest some spinach from our garden for David and me to use as a bed for the meat, but I didn’t have a chance to get outside.  That meant supper wasn’t quite a casserole, salad, stir-fry, or skillet meal.  It was more of a glump.

Cee ate it eventually.  She sat at the table, unimpressed, as the rest of us ate.  After everyone else finished and I was cleaning up, I noticed her picking through her glump and eating little bits.  “Whatever.  At least she’s working on fine motor skills,” I thought.  I looked again, and she had switched to her fork (or was it a spoon?)  and was shoveling the taco glump in.  Cee-0, Taco Glump-1.

The nice thing is that it included all the beans, veggies, and meat she needed for the meal.  She had leftovers today for lunch without complaint.  We may be eating taco glump again soon.

 

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It’s difficult to revisit some of the old journal entries.  We are beyond grateful that this summer has been so carefree, and it hurts to remember just how bad it was…  Although it’s evolved a little based on what ingredients we have handy, Taco Glump is still a family favorite.  Taco Glump has helped us through the hard times, so it seems like it’s time to spread the love.

 

The current version of the recipe:

Taco Glump

2 lbs of ground beef
1- 15oz. can pumpkin and/or 1 diced onion and/or 1 c. finely chopped spinach
1 1/2 T. cumin
optional seasonings: a sprinkle of dried red pepper flakes, chili powder, and/or tumeric
dash of salt/pepper/garlic

Put beef into pan on stove.  Add in other ingredients.  Mix up.  (You’re welcome, I just saved you from having to wash a mixing bowl.)  Heat up over medium until cooked through.  Taste.  If needed, add more seasonings.  Taste.  If needed, add more seasonings.  If it tastes like pumpkin, probably no one will eat it.  Add more cumin and salt until it for sure tastes taco-esque.

Serve with what ever taco accessories your family likes.  We typically serve taco glump over some sort of green and top with cheese and black olives.

Note 1:  If you haven’t ever made taco glump before, it might be good to start with half a can of pumpkin.

Note 2:  If you decide taco glump is awful after trying it, please don’t throw it away!  Put the leftovers into a crock-pot, add some tomatoes, maybe some beans, and more chili powder and salt and turn it into chili.  If it tastes bad, add more cumin and salt.

Note 3:  Once we used plantains (“weeds” from our lawn, not our garden) as tiny taco shells.  They weren’t bad.  And they were free!

 

If you try Taco Glump, please let me know what variation you tried and how it went!  🙂

 

PS-  Yeah.  I know.  It looks like Weird McGeerd Pumpkin Scrambled Eggs Pumpkin Pancake Crumbles.  It isn’t.

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