I know it's a heavy pill to swallow, but it's the truth. Cooking a full Thanksgiving meal consisting of a traditional turkey/ham, sides, pies, etc sucks. You literally wake up at the break of day, spend all day tripping over your helpers, and when you manage to plop that perfectly golden-brown bird down on the table just in time for when you planned on having lunch, the meal is over in twenty minutes and everyone leaves you to clean up afterwards. The traditional Thanksgiving meal sucks. Let me present an alternative that has become my personal tradition ever since... Tacos.

Now I don't remember exactly what year it was, but I'll never forget the meal when my mother decided tacos were on the menu for Thanksgiving. You see, my mother normally killed herself in the kitchen the day before and the morning of TG just to get everything done. But the last year she did the big spread, it was over in an instant. People were full, we all took naps, and as she fought off the tryptophan to clean everything up, she decided it was the last time she'd be forced to put up TG leftovers. So the next year, we had a full Tex-Mex spread.

Hard, soft, and flour tacos, queso and chips, taco salad, tamales... it was an epic meal that only took her about an hour-ish to prepare. The best part, and why it became our family tradition, there were no leftovers. In fact, the big pot of queso would end up getting completely consumed as the day went on and people started looking for snacks. How easy is that? Plus, who doesn't love tacos? They are just as American an any turkey or ham-hock.

So this Thanksgiving, don't waste your time in the kitchen on a meal people will enjoy for a few minutes. Make my tradition your tradition. Make Tex-Mex everything. There are a million recipes out there, but there's nothing wrong with just buying the packages of spice mix. Mom is outspokenly Texan and she uses the McCormick stuff too.

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