As promised from my last post, we are having Texas Nachos for snacks today.  With boys you have to have SNACKS or they will eat everything that is junk in the house.  So these nachos should tide them over until dinner.  Oh crap I need to come up with something for dinner.  I swear they want to eat EVERY night, ugh! Ok I will work on that after this post.  
Texas Nachos are different than restaurant nachos.  At a restaurant or bar they pile tortilla chips way high and cover them with liquid cheese, sour cream, salsa, and whatever else they can think of.  And the result is a hard to eat plate of soggy bottom tortilla chips doused in “tex-mex” condiments.  Texas Nachos are individual chips that are spread with refried beans (I use the fat free) then topped with meat-you can use left over ground taco meat or brisket or in my case left over French Dip pot roast.  Then top with shredded cheddar cheese and baked in the oven until the cheese is ooey gooey.  When it comes out of the oven you top each nacho with whatever you or your kids will eat.  I put out bowls of avocado, pickled jalapeños, sour cream, hot sauce (that is what Texans call salsa), cilantro, Pico de Gallo….. and let the kids make their own.  
I remember my mom on Sunday nights would place Doritos on a baking sheet and cover them with cheese and bake them in the oven.  She would then put a million pickled jalapeños on them and would bring the whole baking sheet into the living room and would watch tv, probably Matlock or Murder She Wrote. Ha! oh the 80s!!
Anyway, here is my “recipe”, if you will, for Texas Nachos

 

Texas Nachos

Texas Nachos

25 Tortilla Chips (any shape, but I like the round ones)
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (I hate to say this because I love short cuts, but shredding 
your own cheese is SO much better than store bought)
1 can of refried beans (you can use refried black beans or low fat or no fat beans)
Leftover shredded beef (taco meat, brisket, pot roast, chicken..)
Sour Cream
1 Avocado, diced
Pickled Jalapeños (they come in a jar in the salsa aisle)
Store bought salsa (we like Arriba Chipotle Salsa)

Preheat oven to 400°

Arrange tortilla chips on a foil lined baking sheet.  

Top each chip with refried beans (about a teaspoon), meat and shredded cheese.  

Place in oven for approximately 5 minutes.  

Remove from oven and top with desired condiments.