Stand ‘N Stuff?? Not What You Could be Thinking :)

Again, I have discovered something new, easier and even a bit funny!

Enter Old El Paso …

Ok, so the name sounds funny, but really ... they're kind of awesome!

You’re reading it right! “Stand ‘N Stuff” Soft Flour Tortillas.

All right, I admit it – when I saw them on the shelf, I laughed. I’m sure the other shoppers were wondering about me.

Getting back to the “new tortillas” …

Have you ever tried putting HOT taco meat in a corn shell or in a flat soft taco and burned yourself? :(

Have you ever had all your “goodies” fall out with every bite you took? :(

For a while, Old El Paso has had huge corn/hard shells that stood up for filling. But, what about some of us softies?

Here they are! One for us!

At first I wanted to laugh, and then I thought … hmm, maybe we should try them.

So, I got one pack at the Wal*Mart Neighborhood Market for $2.48. There are eight (8) “shells” per package.

Shells $2.50

Seasoning $0.80

One pound ground beef (Fresh & Easy/double pack) $2.50

Lettuce $1.00

Tomato $1.00

Cheese $5.00 (can do up to 32 or more tacos so $1.25 per 8)                    

$9.05/8 = $1.13 per taco

Okay, that’s slightly more expensive than Del Taco (their “original” tacos can run $0.99 + tax) or Taco Bell (tacos w/o tomato run about $0.79 + tax).  

But, these are prepared with FRESH meat, fresh veggies, and good cheese. Not to mention you can top them with as MUCH veggies or cheese as you please. Also, you do save the sales tax.

As far as the ease of warming them up – instructions state 10-15 seconds on high. For four (4) shells (wrapped in wax paper, which is HIGHLY recommended), I put them on for 20 seconds. That seems to work. My microwave is 1000W so the time might vary for those with higher output or lower.

Warming & storage instructions

Quite simple to warm them up!

Recommendation? Use the lowest time. You can always add more time to get them right; you can never “un-cook” something.

Amazingly once you’ve filled them and sit down to eat (providing you fill them and sit right down); they don’t get tough, chewy or hard. They hold up quite well, so long as you don’t put a TON of meat, cheese, and veggies in them.

If you have some of the “shells” left, instructions state to store them in a food storage bag or container. I chose a container and that works great!

This is how I store them until the next go-around 

They not only look great coming out of the container, but warm up just like they did out of the original package

"Average" depth

Even after 2-3 days in the container, when I warm them up (again wrapped in wax paper, 20 seconds on high), they’re as good as when I took them out the first time. The max time between opening the original container and “leftovers” is usually two (2) days, no more than three (3).

I do that not only because of the shells, but because of the veggies – namely the lettuce. Even fresh lettuce can start going bad within 2-3 days.

Looking "down" at the tacos

Warm, fresh, good-looking and "yummy"!

They hold quite a bit of "goodies" 

As far as seasoning, we like Old El Paso’s seasoning as it doesn’t have onions which requires we “sift” them out. Although if you’re not one for spicy tacos … I’d keep to the mild seasoning. We got “original” one time … just a tad too spicy for us.

Anyway …

These are the new “tortillas” for our household. While they’re a bit more expensive than traditional “Great Value” soft taco size tortillas, they don’t stay around as long. The “taco meat” is sufficient for eight (2) Stand ‘N Stuff tacos, so there is no worry about wasting the remaining tortillas or having leftovers for too long. Two dinners, and it’s time to move on to something else.

For the past few shopping trips, I was lucky to save $1.50 (three $0.50 coupons) on the “shells”, and I saved $0.50 on the packet of seasoning (final cost was $0.28).

No matter how much they cost, to this household … they’re worth it.

While the name sounds funny, and they look odd, the plates don’t need a lot of scraping and we hardly lose our “goodies” :)

That’s the main thing – not losing one’s taco goodies.