The adult Jack-in-a-Box

Just by chance, I bought some Pillsbury Crescent Rolls because they were on sale. I didn't have any plans on what I was going to do with them, so they sat in the refrigerator until one night, we needed something to eat. In the back of my head, I knew I saw some post that dealt with using the crescent rolls for a meat pie. I did a web search and found **Crescent Rolls Recipes** for a meat pie. There are many recipes on the site and I will probably take a longer look at them in the future. Also, I believe I have seen some of their recipes as little short movies on social networks. For those who have ever opened a can of Pillsbury rolls or biscuits, you know what the "Jack-in-a-Box" pop is all about.

Anyway, I took a quick look and realized that I could easily make my own version. Just by chance, we had a few hamburger patties, shredded cheese and diced tomatoes.

Always have a can of tomatoes on hand

As a side note, I always buy diced tomatoes when they are on sale, because they last a good long time and there are a lot of ways to make something better by adding a little flavored diced tomatoes to the mix. Del Monte has a few varities and the Zesty Chili version is exactly what the can says and is probably best to just throw in some chili mix to make life simple. But, there is nothing stopping you from using in other things that you want to give a little chili powder flavor to. My wife doesn't like spicy food as much as I do, so I try not to go crazy with it unless I am cooking for just myself.

On Sale pays off big

One of the other things I bought on sales was peach and mango salsa. I admit, I love mango fruit and I wish I could have it more often. But, they are not cheap and a little bit of a pain to get much out of. I hear they are plentiful in Venezuela, but probably not as much now. And, I love peaches. I have tried fruit salsas before and thought they were great by themselves. Since I didn't have any other salsa around, I decided to use this on the meat pie. I figured, at least I would like it and that would mean the wife would leave me plenty of meat pie for later. Welp, I was wrong on that guess, because it came out great! The salsa on top of the pie was just the right amount of sweet to go with the cheese and cooked beef. I couldn't believe how good it was and the wife ate her share and got some more.

Make it your own

Since the first time I made the meat pie was such a great hit, I had to make it again. Well, my wife kept bugging me to make it immediately. I try not to make the same dish over again too close together, because then it gets old. So, I made her wait a couple of weeks. I did buy some of the ingredients that could sit around awhile and then finally I bought the beef, which made my choice to make it again much easier. This time, I also decided to add a little smoked beef sausage to the mix. As with my meatloaf, I believe that a meat pie needs to have more than one variety of meat. Going forward, I will probably just use ground sausage or another ground spiced meat combination. You really need to get all of the juices and grease out of the meat before putting it into the pie or you end up with a soggy mess. But, it was better the next day. Since this is supposed to be a like a taco pie, you can focus your attempts at making the best taco that you like, but in pie form.

As the title suggest, this is fairly easy and simple. Nothing really hard to do, unless you don't know how to cut up sausage and mushrooms.

Ingrediants

• 1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1/2 Hillshire Farm - Beef Smoked Sausage : 1/4 inch sliced and quartered
• 1 cup mushrooms : 1/4 inch sliced and quartered
• 1 can Del Monte Dice Tomatoes - Zesty Chili Style
• 2 cups shredded Mexican style cheese
• 1 jar of Private Selection - Freestone Peach & Mango Salsa
• 1 soft flour tortilla

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 375°F

Pop can of crescent rolls and place them on Baker's Joy sprayed pie dish. You should be able to make a complete pie crust with the wedges by filling in with the odd shaped dough pieces. Make sure all edges are pinched together. Do not put the pie crust over the edge of the pie dish.
OPTIONAL: Brush on melted butter and sprinkle on garlic salt or your favorite bread seasoning.

Brown ground beef and drain grease. I seasoned mine before hand, but if you want to add extra seasoning, do that before adding the tomatoes.
Drain can of tomatoes and mix into brown beef. Mix in mushrooms and smoked sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Drain liquids or use a slotted spoon to remove only the meat. Place meat mixture into prepared pie dish. Spread evenly.

Using a fork or draining extra juice from salsa, add a layer evenly of salsa across meat mixture.

Add a heavy layer of the shredded cheese.

Microwave one tortilla shell on a microwave safe plate and with the shell covered with a damp paper towel for 10 seconds. Cut shell into pie slices and then place on top of cheese to complete the pie top.

Cook for 15-17 minutes. If you put in more ingredients, you might want to give it a little more time to cook.

Scoop out with a pie server and enjoy!

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