Walking Tacos and Dirt Pudding Cups

Thursday Night is Kids Pick Night on our weekly menu plan.  Sometimes I actually let the kids pick what we have, sometimes I just pick something that I know they would choose if given the choice.  What's funny is that the things that the kids usually pick are things that are very easy to fix and have very simple ingredients.  Most of the things they pick don't really have "recipes", but maybe we all need to be reminded that kids love simplicity.  This is a simple dinner with a simple dessert.  Add some fresh fruit and you'll have a winner dinner around your table!

Walking Tacos and Dirt Pudding Cups were chosen by me this week based upon what I found on sale at the store this week and what we had in our pantry and freezer, but these two items were well received by everyone at our family dinner table tonight.  These are two easy recipes that kids love to eat and kids love to help make.  I have fixed these two recipes with many young Girl Scouts at Camp KJ over the years. 

I'm not sure where Walking Tacos originated, but I know that we've enjoyed eating them sitting down for many years.  It's kind of like a taco salad, but somehow my kids like eating a "walking taco" over a "taco salad" so we call it "Walking Tacos" at our house!  The 8 year old said, "It's like nachos, only not melted!"  Walking Tacos are usually made with Fritos, but I decided to change things up a bit from our normal recipe by using Doritos instead.  I picked up 2 bags of Nacho Cheese Doritos this week at Meijer for $1.50 each using an instore promotion and a coupon, so I wanted to use some of them for this meal.   I noticed that Taco Bell's current $5 Meal Box Promotion this month is a taco shell made out of Doritos so it must not be too weird of an idea. 

The 3 year old picked out a package of Gummy Worms as her treat at the store this past week, so I wanted to finish up the package before they got too hard to eat.  I had some chocolate pudding mix in the pantry and a container of crushed Oreos in the freezer.  I was trying to clear space in my kitchen pantry awhile ago and we had a 1/2 eaten package of Oreos in there and a cookie jar full of homebaked goodies, so I just crushed them up my blender and threw them into the freezer to use for an occasion just like this one.

Let's just say that it was a 2 Napkin Meal around the family dinner table tonight!  The kids liked their Walking Tacos, but they decided they prefer the traditional Fritos to the Doritos.  I could go either way as Doritos are one of my favorite junk food items.  I think the nacho cheese flavor gives the dish a little zing, but I missed the traditional corny crunch from the Fritos.  The kids put together their own servings of Dirt Pudding right at the table scooping up Oreo cookie crumbs, chocolate pudding, and adding in some gummy worms.  Had I been completely prepared, I would have had them use little flower pots, but my attention has been focused this week on putting together Auction Baskets for the girls' Spring Carnival at School, so we just ate them in mason jars.  I saw The Pioneer Woman fix her chocolate pudding that way and it seemed like a neat idea.

Here are the recipes:

Walking Tacos
Fritos or Doritos or Tortilla Chips
1 lb taco meat (add homemade seasoning or store bought to browned ground beef)
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce 
Tomatoes 
Taco Sauce or Salsa
Sour Cream

Place Fritos/Doritos/Tortilla Chips in bowl or on a plate.
Top with a scoop of meat.
Sprinkle on your favorite toppings (cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, taco sauce, sour cream, etc)
Eat with fingers or a fork.
Have plenty of napkins on hand! 

(Sorry for the sloppy photo; did not notice the mess on the

edge of the dish until I got ready to post the photo!)

Kids Version : "Walking Taco"
Adult Version: "Taco Salad"

Dirt Pudding Cups
Crushed Oreo Cookies
Chocolate Pudding (instant or cook and serve or even a Pudding Cup will work)
Gummy Worms
Whipped Cream

Place some Cookie Crumbs in the bottom of a dish.
Top with a large scoop of chocolate pudding.
Sprinkle with a few more cookie crumbs on top to resemble dirt.
Place gummy worms on top or poke down into the pudding layer.
Make a whipped cream flower bud on top.

Dirt Pudding Cups
Oreo Cookie Crumbs, Rich Chocolate Pudding
Top with a whipped cream flower bud

What's on your Kids' Pick Night Menu?