When I was a kid, taco salad was one of my favorite dinners. My mom would sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on tortilla chips and pop them in the oven to make nachos, and we would eat the nachos as an appetizer while she made the taco salad. When we were done downing the nachos, the salad was ready to eat.

I love taco salad so much that sometimes I make the mistake of ordering it when I go out to eat. There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s usually pretty delicious—but then I remember that I can make almost exactly the same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. If you like restaurant taco salad, too, give this recipe a try.

For two people (or some leftovers for when you’re starving post-study session), you’ll need about 3 cups of tortilla chips, half a head of lettuce, one chopped tomato, around 1/3 pound ground beef, ¼ cup chopped black olives, about 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and about ¼ cup of French dressing.

First, brown the ground beef in a pan.

While the beef is cooking, wash your head of lettuce and shred half of it into a big bowl. Chop the tomato and olives, and add them to the bowl. Pour in the chips and cheddar cheese.

When the beef is done cooking, drain off the grease. Add the beef to the bowl. Then pour in the French dressing—you may want more or less of it to taste, so start with less to make sure the flavor won’t overwhelm—and toss.

Bing, bang, boom, and dinner’s ready. Now scarf that down and get thee to the library. You have a paper to write.

What do you do when you’re craving delicious, spicy quesadillas? Put down your car keys — there’s no need for Taco Bell (especially when you are sober…that stuff is nasty!). This awesome dinner for two is healthy, inexpensive and easy. No drive-thru required.

You’ll need:

Whole wheat tortillas
1 cup instant brown rice
1 can black beans
1 green pepper, chopped (or you can buy frozen, diced peppers to save time!)
1 onion, chopped
Corn (on the cob is in season, therefore inexpensive and delicious, right now)
Organic salsa (or a chopped tomato)
Mojo marinade/sauce (sold in bottles at the grocery store)
6-8 oz. of chicken, marinated in the Mojo
Cayenne pepper
Black pepper
Salt
Your favorite toppings (lettuce, cheese, sour cream, guac, etc.,)

How You Do It:
1. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the corn, bring to a boil, then add corn.

2. In a deep skillet, sauté half the peppers and onion in canola oil spray, about 5 minutes or until they’re tender. Set aside about half of them, leave the other half in the pan.

3. Add the black beans (with sauce) and bring to a boil. Add rice and bring to a boil again, let it cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Cover the rice and beans, reduce heat to low.

5. For the chicken, the quickest way to cook it is on the grill or in a skillet on medium-high heat, for about 5 minutes on each side (just make sure the center isn’t pink). If you’re short on time, you can use frozen, diced chicken and just cook it in some Mojo sauce to skip marinating it.

6. Spray both sides of a tortilla with canola oil. Add toppings, chicken, peppers and onion, then fold in half.

7. Remove corn from water. Spread with half a tablespoon of butter and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.

8. Heat a small pan on medium heat, then add the tortilla with all the fixins’. Grill on both sides until it’s golden brown.

9. Serve with corn and black beans and rice, margaritas optional!

[Every week, CC and John will bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus. Join the Overheard revolution! Leave your own overheard convos in the comments.]

“…So they broke up, and that’s fine – but you know what, lots of people break up! Lots of people get dumped! He’s been moping about her for longer than they were going out! I don’t want to have to fall back on gender stereotypes to make my point here, but if this doesn’t stop I am going to buy him a vibrator for his birthday! For his vagina!”

Two boys and a girl in a pizza restaurant:

Boy 1: “I like your sweater.”

Boy 2: “Oh, thanks! I like my sweater too.”

Boy 1: “Y’know, it’d look really good if you wore a white tank top under that, pulled the collar down a bit – just so a bit of the tank top’s visible.”

Girl: “Bob? Why are you talking about this?”

Boy 1: “Hey, I love fashion and I think it’s something I have the authority to speak on!”

Girl: “Listen, Bob, if you want to have sex with my boyfriend, just do it, okay? It’s fine.”

Playing Rock Band:

“Hey, uh, excuse me? I’m sorry to bother you but – “

“Oh, yeah, we’ll turn it down. Sorry. I know, it’s a weeknight.”

“No, it’s not the music. I live in the room below you – It’s the jumping up and down and falling over. Like, it sounds like you guys are just having the most violent sex possible.”

“No! No more! Shut up about the Capoeira masters!”

“Hey – these guys came all the way from -”

“I know, Brazil! The Capoeira masters from Brazil! Whatever! Shut up and have another shot!”

At a Mexican restaurant:

Waitress, with pitcher: “Are you drinking water?”

Guy: “Oh, yes, thank you.”

Girl: “Actually, I’m drinking these… chippies. Could I get a refill on chippies?”

“Dude, it’s Wii Fit, not ‘Wii-sit-on-your-fat-ass-and-drink-Coronas-while-wiggling-like-two-fingers.’”

My type of Mexican feast definitely has a taste that is a bit different from your normal greasy burrito. So here’s the secret:

You’ll need:

1 box of Mexican Rice (with seasoning)

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1 jalapano pepper

1 jar of hot salsa

1 bag of cheddar cheese

1 tomato

1 can of black beans

Whatever meat you prefer, if you want.

Tortillas

Start to boil the water for the rice while you chop the peppers and the tomato. Begin to stir fry the peppers and tomatoes and put the rice in the boiled water. If you’ve got meat; throw it in with the stir fry.

As the meat finishes cooking, add the beans and salsa to the mix. Once the rice is done, add all of this to the rice (after the seasoning is in) and then slowly add the cheese. Scoop this into your tortilla and wrap it up like a burrito and you’re good to go.

Not only is this delicious, but you can make it slightly healthier, too. Just replace the cheese with fat free cheese, make the tortillas wheat, and use olive oil for your rice instead of butter. Also, try not using meat or at least not any red meat. If you follow those instructions, you’ll have yourself an awesome AND healthy burrito!

Cooking can be a huge money saver, calorie saver (we all love that) and now (yay) a huge time saver.

Check back each week for two quick and yummy recipes that will be ready in time for you to catch up with Lauren and Audrina(er- I mean get back to the library).

Here are two muy delicioso recipes to try:

From Cooking Light:

Black Bean Burritos with Avocado

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced peeled avocado

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained

4 (10-inch) flour tortillas

6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

6 tablespoons bottled salsa

Preparation

Combine avocado and lime juice, tossing to coat.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Stir in water, cumin, and beans. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/4 cup bean mixture into each tortilla. Top with 1 1/2 tablespoons sour cream, 1 1/2 tablespoons salsa, and 2 tablespoons avocado; roll up.

4 servings (serving size: 1 burrito)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 424(23% from fat); FAT 10.7g (sat 2.1g,mono 5.3g,poly 2.2g); PROTEIN 15.7g; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 178mg; SODIUM 931mg; FIBER 11g; IRON 5.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 65g

From BusyCooks:

Mexican Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked cubed chicken

15 oz. can corn, drained

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup thick and chunky salsa

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients except salsa, cilantro and salad dressing and toss gently. Combine salsa, cilantro and salad dressing in small bowl and drizzle over chicken mixture. Toss to coat. Cover and chill for 1-3 hours to blend flavors. Serves 8

Buen Apetito!