TASTE OF FRANKLIN

Taco Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 medium sweet onion

• 1 medium red bell pepper

• 15 oz. can black beans

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 1.5 lb. lean ground beef

• 1 packet taco seasoning

• 16 oz. jar tomato salsa, divided

• 12 8-inch corn or flour tortillas, divided (I prefer flour)

• 16 ounces sour cream, divided

• 16 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend, about 4 cups, divided For serving, if desired: shredded romaine lettuce, chopped tomato, fresh cilantro leaves and pickled jalapeño slices

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Dice onion and red bell pepper, about a cup of each.

3. Drain and rinse the can black beans.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the lean ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a plate, then pour off any fat from the skillet.

5. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.

6. Return the beef to the pan, add the taco seasoning and 1/4 cup of water and stir to combine.

7. Cook for 5 minutes then add the black beans and stir to combine.

8. Remove skillet from the heat.

9. Transfer 1/4 cup tomato salsa from a 16-ounce jar into a 9x13-inch baking dish, then pour the remaining salsa into the skillet and stir to combine.

10. Assemble the lasagna: Spread the salsa out in the baking dish into a thin layer. Arrange four tortillas in a single layer on top of the salsa, overlapping them as needed. Dollop and spread 2/3 cup of the sour cream. Spoon half of the meat mixture over the sour cream and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle with 1 1/3 cups of the shredded Mexican cheese blend.

11. Repeat layering the following: four tortillas, 2/3 cup sour cream, the remaining meat mixture and 1 1/3 cups shredded cheese. Top with the remaining four tortillas and remaining 2/3 cup sour cream. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/3 cups cheese.

12. Bake uncovered until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, 30 minutes.

13. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

14. Garnish with the desired toppings.

Sauerkraut And Weenies

This is an old-fashioned Southern main dish. As the name suggests, all you need is sauerkraut and weenies to make this delicious dish.

Ingredients

• 6 beef brats, or you could also use weenies or polish sausage

• 32 oz. jar of sauerkraut, drained

• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Slice weenies into small pieces and place them in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes.

2. Next, add sauerkraut. Cook, stirring often, until kraut and weenies brown slightly.

3. Salt and pepper to taste.

LOW-CARB MEXICA N STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

This was Anna Gunderman Pressnell’s recipe for the Franklin County Beef Cookoff.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb. lean ground chuck

• 6 large bell peppers – two green, two red and two orange or yellow

• 2 10-oz. cans of original Ro-tel tomatoes, drained

• 1 packet of taco seasoning

• 1 large onion

• 2 cups Mexican cheese

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• Toppings: parsley, Tommy Toe Tomatoes, sour cream and chopped leafy green lettuce

Instructions

1. Brown ground chuck and onion. Drain fat.

2. Add Ro-tel and taco seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. While the meat is simmering, brush the peppers, inside and out, with olive oil and bake 10 minutes.

4. Add one cup of cheese to the beef mixture and stuff peppers with mixture.

5. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 10 minutes.

6. Garnish with parsley and tomatoes.

7. Serve with sour cream and lettuce.

Taco Skillet

This was Lara Gunderman’s recipe for the Franklin County Beef Cookoff.

Ingredients

• 1lb. lean ground beef

• 1 package of Old El Paso Cheesy Mexican Rice

• 2 cans, 10 oz. each, diced tomatoes with green chiles

• 15.25 oz. can whole kernel sweet corn

• 1 oz. package of Old El Paso taco seasoning mix

• 1 roasted red bell pepper from a jar, chopped

• 1/2 cup water

• 1 1/2 cups, 6 oz., shredded Mexican cheese blend

Instructions

1. In a 10-inch skillet, cook lean ground beef over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently; drain.

2. Meanwhile, microwave Old El Paso Mexican rice as directed on pouch.

3. To skillet with cooked beef, add diced tomatoes with green chiles, whole kernel sweet corn, taco seasoning mix, chopped roasted red bell pepper and 1/2 cup water; mix well.

4. Stir in cooked Mexican rice.

5. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes.

6. Stir in 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese and blend until melted.

7. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over top.

8. Garnish with tortilla chips, parsley and grape tomatoes. Serve immediately.

We also book:

Are you checking behind your preacher?

California preacher Tim Spivey made this statement, and I believe most of us would agree with it – yet it raises an interesting question: How long has it been since you gave serious thought to how you arrived at your current beliefs about God?

Over time, all of us have come to hold certain beliefs, and we’ve developed them in a variety of ways. Perhaps they came from trusted friends or family members, such as a parent or spouse, or maybe from an influential religious leader or a religious school of some sort.

The term “deconstruction” has become common in religious circles today. If that term is new to you, Jon Bloom defined it as “a critical dismantling of a person’s understanding of what it means to be an evangelical Christian and in some cases a refusal to recognize as authorities those perceived as occupying privileged evangelical institutional positions who ‘supposedly speak for God.’» In other words, deconstruction includes the practice of asking “why” and not believing something to be true just because an “expert” says so.

Imagine the good that could result if more of us would open our own Bibles and seek answers for ourselves to life’s most important questions – rather than simply taking someone else’s word for it! We are blessed to be educated and to have free, easy access to the Bible. Through his word God has communicated, in an understandable way, how he wants us to live. With availability comes responsibility!

The biblical precedent for the importance of checking the Bible against what we are taught is the group of Christians at Berea. Acts 17:11 states, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” Don’t miss what was happening in this passage: This group of Christians was checking behind the apostle Paul! If God endorsed checking behind Paul, there isn’t a preacher or teacher on the planet who doesn’t need to be checked behind by his listeners. The goal should always be to believe any teaching only because God has stated it to be so.

We live in a country where the number of people who believe in God has been constantly declining over the past couple of decades. If more people would read God’s word for themselves, this trend would reverse – and it needs to reverse, since God has promised to hold all of us accountable (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Please be sure you arrive at what you believe about God based on your own careful study of the most important book on the planet. Don’t make the mistake of staking your eternal future on what you haven’t proven for yourself!