Recipe of the Week

Enchiladas were sounding especially good to me today, but when Neil came home from work and told me he'd had enchiladas for lunch I decided our original meal plans for the evening would need to be altered. Taco casserole was the winning compromise! Different from enchiladas, but still zesty and cheesy, which I think is what mostly appealed to me with the enchiladas. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com months ago, and we've enjoyed it several times since. It's quick, easy and makes great left overs. Enjoy!

Taco Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
8 ounces macaroni
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2 ounces shredded monterey jack cheese
3/4-1 cup crushed tortilla chips
Optional toppings:
Chopped green onions
Sliced black olives
Sour cream
Salsa

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until almost done (it will continue to cook some in the oven). Drain.
In large skillet, cook and stir ground beef and chopped onion over medium heat until brown. Mix in tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and taco seasoning mix. Stir in pasta.
Spoon beef mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheese over the top.
Bake 25-30 minutes. Serve with optional toppings or whatever else you'd like!

My own personal tips:
*I've found that the diced tomatoes often have larger chunks of tomato than I'd like so I throw them straight from the can into a food chopper for 10 seconds before throwing them into the pan. Just a personal preference.
*I never measure the cheese. I just sprinkle a handful of both over the top of the casserole.
*Next time I make this I'm going to add canned corn and possibly black beans!

Looks a lot prettier with the toppings, eh?