Brashers Homestead

🌮 Brashers Homestead Bisquick Taco Bake

Easy, hearty, and built to feed a hungry family.

Ingredients

* 2 lbs ground beef
* 2 packets taco seasoning
* 1 cup water
* 1 can pinto beans, drained
* 1 can chili beans, not drained
* 1 can diced tomatoes, mostly drained
* 1 can corn, drained
* 2 cups Bisquick
* 1 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1½–2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet and drain the grease.
3. Return beef to the skillet. Add 2 packets taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Stir well.
4. Add the pinto beans, chili beans, diced tomatoes, and corn.
5. Simmer uncovered for 5–10 minutes, allowing the mixture to thicken.
6. Spread the taco mixture evenly into a greased 9×13 baking dish.
7. In a bowl, mix 2 cups Bisquick, 1 cup milk, and 2 eggs until combined.
8. Pour the Bisquick mixture evenly over the taco filling.
9. Bake at 375°F for 25–30 minutes, or until the Bisquick topping is set and golden.
10. Remove from the oven and cover with 1½–2 cups shredded cheese.
11. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
12. Let rest for 5–10 minutes, then slice it up and dig in.

Top with sour cream, salsa, lettuce, jalapeños, green onions, crushed tortilla chips—or whatever sounds good.

🌮 Brashers Homestead Taco Bake

Nothing fancy. Just a big ol’ pan of good food that’ll feed the whole crew. 😎

Next experiment: half hamburger, half chorizo with black beans.

The turkeys think I am one of them. We played tag the other day. They sit on my lap. They try to eat my face, you know all the fun stuff!

Taking down the cabin framing to repurpose for other projects. A lot of work and time went into this and it’s sad to see it go unfinished but reusing the materials on other builds will help me in the long run. Maybe one day I’ll rethink another homesite build but for now let’s get these turkeys and ducks in a new coop.

We try to repurpose everything but when is it more work than it’s worth?

We got the Big Bear running, but getting it started just showed us what we need to tackle next.

The carburetor is definitely giving us trouble, including fuel dumping out of the overflow, so that’s going to need some attention.

We’ve also got a charging problem. The battery isn’t getting the voltage we should be seeing while it’s running, which means it’s time to start digging into the charging system—and possibly the stator.

One problem solved, two more uncovered. 😂

Next up: figure out why this thing is flooding and why it isn’t charging.

The Big Bear Revival continues at Brashers Homestead.

The Big Bear journey officially begins.

This old Yamaha has been sitting, and before we can find out what else it needs, we’ve got to get it to crank and run reliably.

In Part 1, I start working through the electrical system:
🔧 Troubleshooting the starter relay with a multimeter
⚡ Bridging the relay terminals to see if the engine will turn over
🔋 Installing a new battery
🔩 Chasing down a bad ground
🛠️ Running a new ground connection and seeing what happens

No fancy shop and no throwing parts at it — just working through one problem at a time and figuring out what this old Big Bear needs.

This is Part 1 of the Big Bear revival. The goal: get it running, riding, and back to work around the Brashers Homestead.