Targaryen Tacos: spicy food for people who can't catch on fire

So, you've been looking for a way to spice up your life and have the added benefit of being a person who doesn't get burned in fire. Awesome. You're just like our fave, Daenerys Targaryen, who sat in fire with her dragon eggs and come morning in the smoldering fire... behold! Dragons babies! Totally-unharmed-skinny-blonde-girl! Not getting burned in fire is a great skill to have. It opens up a whole world of foods to you...but we're not going to get too crazy. Today, we bring you delicious Targaryen Tacos.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 5-10 people

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 medium sized jalapeno pepper
1 roma tomato
30 cilantro leaves
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp onion powder
Dash of salt
Juice from 1 fresh lime

Preparing the Taco Meat...

Step 1: Slice half of each of the bell peppers into thin strips and place a medium size bowl. Finely chop the half jalapeno and place in bowl. Chop roma tomato and add it to the bowl. Very finely chop the cilantro leaves and add them as well.

Step 2: Place ground beef in a skillet and put it on the stove. With the heat on high, use a wooden spoon to break up the meat. Continue to break and stir the beef until it is completely browned. When it's browned thoroughly, remove the grease with a strainer.

Step 3: Pour water over the beef and stir in chili powder, garlic salt, ground red pepper, onion powder, and salt. Add the vegetables and stir in well. Continue stirring for 3-4 minutes. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the beef and stir in. Allow the meat to simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately.



I like my tacos with freshly chopped roma tomatoes, grated mozzarella cheese, and salsa. Dress your taco however you like, but I guarantee you'll love the beef.

If you like guacamole with your tacos, try our unbeatable guac recipe.

Dragon's Breath Dawn: an iced drink for the hot summer

This week has felt dragon-filled for us in House Cook. Our Khalee-C, Julianne, and one of her dragons have been traveling across the country with the oldest in our bunch, Sarah-Lambert. We'll share more about their travels later, but for now we introduce you to the tasty drink they enjoyed last night. 

Yesterday was a hot Kansas day for our two wanderers and today promises to be hotter with temperatures topping 100 degrees. Still, it's not as bad as the Texas heat which felt like having a hair dryer on high pointed at your face. To cool down, we've created a delicious and pretty drink that's like an Orange Julius meets an Hawaiian Sunrise: our very own Dragon's Breath Dawn. 

This tasty drink is cool and refreshingly sweet with a hint of lime to give it a nice bite. 

Dragon's Breath Dawn Recipe

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

3/4 cup vanilla ice cream

3/4 cup orange sherbet 

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 1/2  cups orange juice 

dash of maraschino cherry juice (per glass)

1 cup crushed ice

Blend together ice cream, sherbet, orange juice, and lime juice. Once they are totally mixed, mix in the crushed ice. Pour into glasses and drizzle no more than a teaspoon of maraschino cherry juice in each glass.  Drink right away for a nice, cold treat! 

Dire Wolf Puppy Chow

The long lunch is almost over... time for a midday snack.

A dire wolf is man's best friend. He's friendly, loyal, energetic and very likely to bite someone's face off if they try to hurt you. Most of all, a dire wolf is soooooo fluffy! What better way to spend time with your best buddy than curled up under a blanket on the couch with a delicious snack in hand while you watch the dire wolves do their thing on Game of Thrones.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Feeds: a pack of ravenous wolves

Ingredients: 

(All of the ingredients pictured above used for this recipe are corn free )

roughly 9 cups of Rice Chex

1/2 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
Two 1 gallon zip-lock bags

1. First, melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler. Don't have a double boiler? Me either. If you don't have a double boiler, you can use a glass, metal, or otherwise heat safe bowl in a pot with water. To use a bowl, make sure the bowl is floating in the water. If it is sitting on the bottom, your chocolate may burn. 

2. Once the chocolate has fully melted, add the peanut butter to the double boiler and mix them together. 

3.  When the peanut butter and chocolate are thoroughly mixed together, pour the rice chex into a large mixing bowl and slowly pour chocolate/ peanut butter mixture over the chex. 

4. Stir until the chex is covered with the chocolate.

5. Put half of the powdered sugar in a gallon ziploc bag and half in a second bag. Divide the mixed chex between the two bags.

6. Seal the bags and shake the mixture until it is entirely coated in powdered sugar -- add more powdered sugar if needed.

And now you have Dire Wolf chow: the perfect snack for while you read (or watch) Game of Thrones.

After the long lunch...