It’s not very often that I make a meal for dinner that the WHOLE family enjoys, we’ve got some picky eaters in our house (hopefully that will change as they get older) and it makes things difficult at meal times to try and please everyone. Stack Ups, however are an absolute family favourite. It gets the thumbs up from everyone and we all like to eat it in different ways. I owe it to my Mother-In-Law (with 7 kids and a few picky eaters, this was always a winner in her house too!) for introducing me to it way back when Jaron and I were just dating. I don’t think I started cooking it myself until a couple of years ago and it has been a winner ever since.
You could describe it as deconstructed healthy-style nachos…I like that everything is put in the middle of the table “help yourself” style – but we do make the kids choose at least two vegetables to include on their plates! It is also fantastic for feeding a crowd, especially if you aren’t sure what your guests like to eat. Not only do the kids love eating it, they also love helping to prepare all of the food. At the moment I don’t give them any chopping jobs but they love grating (and I don’t) so getting them to help out with the grating gives me one less thing to worry about and keeps them busy for awhile!
To prepare, all you have to do is make/cut up bowls of the following foods (of course, you can add more or less depending on what your family likes to eat):
** Tomato-based mince mixture (mine is always different, usually minced meat, onion, garlic, herbs, spices, beef stock, can of tomatoes, can of red kidney beans, etc. or you could add a sachet of taco seasoning mix if you want it more mexican.)
** Corn chips (I try and steer away from the highly flavoured kinds – we like the Mission brand at the moment)
** Rice
** Lettuce (shredded)
** Tomatoes (diced)
** Cucumber (diced)
** Carrot (grated)
** Cheese (grated)
** Avocado
** Salsa
** Sour cream
The “real” way to eat it is stacked up high on your plate (hence, the name Stack Ups)…
The kids like to separate everything on their plates and are a little choosier with what they include…
