Home of the Flaming Taco

Because I am desperately trying to have us all eat the same dinner, I have resorted to making tacos. Well, not every night, but often enough that it is now in the regular rotation. Goodness, the depths I have sunk to.

The directions on the taco shelll box said to put them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. I wasn't about to heat up my big oven for such a short time, so instead I turned on my handy dandy toaster oven. The shells were pretty big, and I was concerned that they wouldn't quite fit on the middle shelf, but the lazy resourceful chef I am, I sort of just shoved them in there. As long as I could close the door, what did I care?

As I was stirring the ground turkey (we try to pretend we're healthy around here) I saw a flash of light to my left. Odd, I thought, what kind of light do I have over there that would flash?

Turns out the flash was the flames from one of the taco shells being too close to the heating element and burstng into, well, flames.

Tacos flambe, anyone?

Comments

Awesome Mom said…
Why on earth were you putting taco shells in the oven? My husband is a taco freak so we have them probably once a week. We just nuke the tortillas for a few seconds and we are good to go. You might try that so you don't burn your house down lol
8:11 PM
Karen Jensen said…
I have SO done that! I rekon the burnt part has more vitamins.
8:30 PM
Anonymous said…
And the kids won't eat charbroiled taco shells. Of course, that would have been the last box you have in the house. So, now you have half a dinner prepared and no clue what to do with it. Yup, been there, done that!
8:51 PM
Anonymous said…
and then you tell the kids that it is a new type of corn they are using to make the shells....

Well that is what I told my horde anyway.

I convinced my kids that it was much more 'authentic' and 'fun' to eat their tacos on 'mini shells' AKA corn chips. Time saved for this lazy mummy.
9:07 PM
maddie said…
hahaha. i have totally done the same thing! i think i can safely fit 4 shells into the toaster oven without it exploding. :)
9:36 PM
Family Adventure said…
Hey, don't knock the taco dinner. It's a regular here, too. A dinner without whining is so worth it!

The shells - yes, they are nice warm, but they only stay warm for a couple of minutes. You can just heat the first set of shells, and serve the others room temperature. Less to shove into that toaster oven.

Heidi
9:49 PM
Steph said…
Tacos are in our regular rotation, too (although we haven't had them for a while, maybe it's time again...)

I hope you were able to salvage some shells for your dinner.
5:40 AM
Patois42 said…
A new concoction. What a chef you are! We've not yet reached the stage of making everyone eat the same. I really should, but I don't want to limit my choices to nuggets and noodles and rice.
7:22 AM
Granny said…
I decided to reheat a little leftover bacon (we're not as healthy as you) in the microwave the other day.

On a plastic plate.

I smelled smoke, the bacon melted the plate, and the microwave shut down.

I thought I'd killed it but it turned itself back on after a while.

I know better than that or thought I did.
8:05 AM
Mrs. G. said…
I hear carbon has purifying properties...just look at it as a Mexican cleanse.
11:34 AM
Ortizzle said…
You need to make the more traditional tacos (like my Mexican husband makes me make when I have time which isn't often these days): white corn tortillas heated up on the comal and filled with... oh, well, I suppose it could be turkey! :-))
12:31 PM
J said…
I like tacos. ;) And I'm all over the nuke comment...I'm trying that next time!
12:53 PM
Nance said…
Flaming tacos sounds like a great name for a punk band.
1:26 PM
Ted said…
Or pick out the un-burnt parts and it's taco salad!
2:44 PM
Unknown said…
You DID imply you wanted to spice up your routine a bit, right? :-)
3:39 PM
Liz said…
Tacos are a regular here too. I've found the directions on the box are too much as well. I put mine in the toaster oven on 200 for about 3 minutes. That seems to be all they need.
5:11 AM
Jess T said…
Ha ha ha! :) Too funny. I love love tacos though. I have to have them very often. :)
6:26 AM
Candy said…
Welcome to the club of "Women Who Burn Down Their Kitchens via the Taco Shell in the Toaster Oven"

I think it's a rite of passage. You're a big girl now :)
8:19 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm with awesome mom, we just heat them ON the stove on a frying pan on low-med heat for a couple of minutes each side! This could work for hardshells as well, sorta!
3:27 PM
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