Taco Casserole

I know what you’re thinking, how can you get the delicious taste of s taco in a casserole? Honestly, I avoided this recipe for months. I mean how can you get the same taste if a taco into a casserole? Well, you can!

Recipe:

• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 jar of salsa (I use Pace Chunky Salsa)
• Sour Cream
• 2 packages of taco seasoning (1per pound of ground beef)
• Diced tomatoes I like Roma they are meatier and less juicy
• 1 can of Rotel fire roasted tomatoes and chilies
• 1 can of black olives
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• Lettuce

Brown the ground beef and drain the meat. Add the taco seasoning and instead of adding water I add chicken broth. I also added a can of Rotel drained from all the juice and stir. The can of Rotel is optional. Next transfer the taco meat to a 9×12 dish. I like to use parchment paper in my baking dishes. It makes for easier cleanup and I like it better than aluminum foil.

I accidentally put cheese on the meat before the salsa but I think that’s fine I added more after the salsa.

Pour a jar of salsa on top of the ground beef then add as much cheese as you want. I used almost 2 cups of cheese.

Next bake at 375 degrees until the cheese melts, about 20 minutes.

Next, dice the tomatoes and sprinkle them on top

When you are ready to plate your taco casserole add olives. Once you plate your dinner, add a dollop of sour cream to the top ( I added two) then covered with lettuce.

 I hope you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a message and let me know how it turned out or what you changed.

Enjoy!

Pizza Casserole

This was awesome!  When my husband and I got married a year ago and moved in together, we made Friday night our pizza night.  The pizza is from Giuseppe’s Pizza and Family Restaurant and it is amazing!  We each got our own.  My husband always gets the Buffalo Chicken Pizza and I get the pizza with ham, pepperoni. hot peppers, onion, tomatoes, mushrooms and black olives.  It’s a mouth full but it is amazing because they make their own crust.

Normally that was the only time we eat out, although we bring the pizzas home. (I prefer to cook and eat at home, I can make anything on a menu and I feel it’s better for us because it is prepared at home.)

So here is what you need:

• 9 X 12 pan
• tomato sauce
• as much pepperoni as you can stand (I get sandwich pepperoni from Wegman’s deli)
• turkey sausage ( I buy Wegman’s, you can use any meat you want)
• rotel fire roasted tomatoes and green chilies
• red onion
• bell pepper
• mushrooms
• banana peppers, mild or hot your choice
• shredded mozerella cheese or the kind you prefer
• black olives

Bake 375 degrees for about 20 minutes

Please remember this is my list and you can add or subtract what you want.  I didn’t add the amounts, because you can add the amounts yourself all to your liking.

First, cook all the raw meats.  Like ground beef and sausage, that is fine.  Drain the grease. Add your hard vegetables such as bell pepper, broccoli (for those of you who like this), onion and saute with the meat until no longer hard.  I do prefer to cook them until they are still firm so they are not soggy when all is said and done.

Next, I add the Rotel and cook for just a few minutes until it is hot.

Now it is time to layer it on.  I like to use parchment paper instead of aluminum foil or dirtying up my pan.  I layer the pan with pepperoni.

 Then I pour in the meat and veggies.  There is usually liquid in the bottom because of the tomatoes, omit the liquid trust me.  Then pour on the sauce.  I used almost an entire can (15oz) I love it saucy.

Then I lay on the cheese.  Add as much as you want.

Then I top it with more pepperoni, like I said, as much as you can stand.  Then add more cheese and olives and bake on 375 for about 20 minutes.  You cannot mess this up, totally foolproof.

ENJOY!!