Taco Bake

(The pictures never turn out right!... it is more appetizing than it looks in the picture.)

This week I was menu planning and decided to search on the internet for an easy, quick recipe.. being 37 weeks pregnant with a 15 month old means that if I do cook it has to require minimal effort :) I found this recipe on Allrecipes. I did tweak it a little bit and it was pretty tasty! 

  
Taco Bake

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce (I forgot to buy this so I used a can of tomato paste and added in an extra 3/4 cup water)
• 1 (8 ounce) package shell macaroni, cooked and drained
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• **I added in a can of Rotel tomatoes/green chiles. You could even add in a can of diced tomatoes instead of the Rotel if you wanted
• ** I served this with corn on the side but you could easily mix the corn in to the recipe if you wanted. 
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• Doritos- optional

Directions

1. In a skillet, brown ground beef and onion over medium heat; drain. Add the water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce; mix. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in macaroni, chilies and 1-1/2 cups of cheese. Pour into a greased 1-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through. ** When I was going through the reviews on Allrecipes a few people suggested crumbling Doritos or other tortilla chips on top of the dish for the last 10 minutes of baking. We chose Doritos- I was busy so my husband is the one who did the crumbling- I would suggest to not make it as fine as he did. Bigger, crunchier chip pieces would have been better. 

-Angela Mencl

Red and White Baked Pasta

This is one of our favs!! I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen (I have gotten a lot of recipes from here) Once again it's really easy and so good. I love it because it's a mix of red sauce and white sauce, and you use ground sausage (a nice change from chicken and hamburger). I have modified the recipe a little. I also half this recipe when it's just the 2 of us. Hope you like it as much as we do!!

Ingredients

• 4 cups penne noodles (one box)
• 1 (15 oz.) jar Alfredo sauce
• 1 (24 oz ) jar marinara sauce
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 lb ground sausage

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
3. Brown sausage in skillet (drain excess fat)
4. Mix the two sauces together in a large mixing bowl.
5. Add mozzarella cheese (leave a little extra for top) and combine. Add drained pasta and sausage.
6. Pour into a 9×13 casserole dish and bake covered about 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly.
7. Sprinkle mozzarella on top and bake another five minutes. 

 Serves 6-8