Taco Bake

I’m not really sure what prompted me to make this recipe. Maybe Kraft sent me an e-mail on a day I was especially swamped and the ease of the ingredients appealed to me or I was tempted by the thought of turning Mac and Cheese into a Mexican meal. Either way I bought the ingredients and tried it out.

I have to admit, the Mac & Cheese portion of our shopping trip really stumped me. I stood in front of the Mac & Cheese section for a few minutes completely overwhelmed by all the choices. I’m not really a boxed Mac & Cheese type of girl and on the rare occasion it sounds good I usually buy Annie’s. What happened to the good ol’ days of my childhood when your choices were Original, Spiral and on an exciting day Wagon Wheel? There were so many shapes, characters, types of cheese, types of noodles and intensities I just didn’t know what to do. Finally I grabbed a box of whole grain pasta (something that resembled healthy) and got out of that aisle.

The recipe was easy to follow and easy to make. I halved the recipe because in my Mac & Cheese aisle anxiety attack I picked up a regular size box instead of deluxe. No biggie. I made the whole pound of taco meat and stuck half in the freezer for later. Since I used my own taco seasoning I had to guess what the directions were to make taco meat. I used two tablespoons of taco seasoning and ¼ cup of water. It turned out well.

Husband and I both thought it turned out pretty yummy. This isn’t a meal that will make it into our frequent rotation but I would be happy to make it a few times a year. It was nice Saturday night meal. Little one had a couple bites and really enjoyed it too. It was his first time eating salsa so we had fun laughing at the faces he made.

Enjoy!

1 Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

3 T. butter
3 T. milk
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
¾ cup sour cream
1 ½ cups cheddar, shredded
1 cup salsa
 
Heat oven to 400°F.

Prepare macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

Stir sour cream into prepared macaroni. Spoon half the macaroni mixture into an eight inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with meat mixture, one cup cheese and remaining macaroni. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with salsa and remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for five minutes or until cheese is melted.

Adapted from:  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/taco-bake-63779.aspx