Jumping on the Creamy Taco Mac bandwagon

Choo-Choo!!

I've seen this recipe posted on a couple of blogs that I follow and it's being posted about on the message board that I'm on.

At first I ignored the buzz. Creamy Taco Mac?? What's that?

But the buzzing continued. Creamy Taco Mac..could it really be that good?

Then the buzzing became so loud that I could no longer ignore it. I was going to post on my message board and ask for the recipe but lucky for me I saw it in my Google Reader. Juliann's Easy Eats blogged about it. She got the recipe from Lauren's Kitchen which is another blog that I follow. And Lauren got the recipe from...well, you get the point.

I was worried that the recipe wouldn't live up to the hype surrounding it. But it did. It so did.

I doubled the recipe. To see my adjustments go to My Verdict underneath the original recipe.




Creamy Taco Mac

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs ground turkey
• 1/2 onion, chopped
  
• 8 oz dry pasta + 1 cup reserved pasta water
• 1 16oz jar of salsa
  
• 4 Tbsp mild taco seasoning
• 3 oz cream cheese
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese, plus more for garnish
  

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta per directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water.

Over medium heat, brown ground turkey until no longer pink. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Add taco seasoning and salsa. Allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Add cooked pasta, reserved water, cream cheese, sour cream, and shredded cheese. Give it a good stir until cheeses are melty and incorporated. Simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper, as desired. Top off with cheddar cheese for extra cheesy goodness.

My verdict: So freaking good!!! I doubled the recipe above. I used an entire box of pasta. This really does make a HUGE amount of food. I was a bit skeptical that half a box would be enough for all of us and we ended up having my brother and stepdaughter over for dinner and we still had leftovers. I only slightly increased the amount of meat above. I used 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef because that's what I had. I thought it was plenty of meat for this dish. I used 2 16oz jars of mild salsa, an entire envelope of taco seasoning, a whole medium onion, an 8 oz container of sour cream and the whole 8 oz tub of cream cheese. YUM, YUM, YUM!!

*In case you actually have some leftover, keep some of that pasta water to reheat on your stove top and your leftovers will be creamy and delicious.

Stuffed Peppers

Happy Spring!!!

I have quite a few recipes to blog about but I stupidly erased the pictures that I had taken with a real camera (since I usually use my cell phone) thinking that I had already uploaded them onto my laptop.

I decided to share my recipe for Stuffed Peppers anyway. My oldest, Alexandra, turned 12 on the 10th and she requested stuffed peppers for dinner. I thought it was an odd choice since she gets to choose whatever she wants for dinner. I remember the first time I made them. I wasn't sure if she would eat it so I decided to let her help me make them and maybe that would encourage her to give it a try. It worked.

I originally found this recipe on allrecipes.com but I had saved it on a document on my computer and no longer have the link to the original recipe. Below is the original recipe along with the changes that I made.

STUFFED PEPPERS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 cup water
• 6 green bell peppers
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

I added the following ingredients:

• minced garlic (2 -3 cloves)
• diced onion (1/2 cup)
• diced bell pepper (I used the tops of 2)
• shredded cheese (I used mozzarella but you can use whatever you like)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onions, garlic and peppers for a few minutes and then add the beef and cook until until evenly browned.
4. Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
5. In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
6. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper.
7. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
8. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

* *I boiled my peppers for about 4 minutes to cut down on the baking time. I topped the peppers with lots of shredded mozzarella cheese. Because I boiled the peppers first, I only had to bake my stuffed peppers for 30 - 35 minutes.

Shepherd's Pie

I found this recipe for Shepherd's Pie on allrecipes.com. This is a great meal to have when you're looking to have some comfort food. It's very easy and I bet that it can be assembled the night before and baked the next day.

Posted below is the original recipe. In my verdict below I'll explain what I did differently.

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and mash. Mix in butter, finely chopped onion and 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, mash and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C.)
3. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and cook until clear. Add ground beef and cook until well browned. Pour off excess fat, then stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add ketchup and beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Spread the ground beef in an even layer on the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish. Next, spread a layer of mashed carrots. Top with the mashed potato mixture and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Here is a picture of it before I put it in the oven.



I ended up putting it under the broiler for a few minutes to get it nice and toasty on top.



Mmmmm...dinner is served!



My verdict: Great comfort food on a cold night. The first time that I made this I followed the recipe exactly except I used mozzarella cheese. Now that I'm more comfortable making this dish I've made a few changes.

I now just use a box of frozen peas & carrots or frozen mixed vegetables. I also add a couple of splashes of worcestershire sauce when adding the ketchup and broth. Lastly, I will sometimes use instant mashed potatoes if I don't have any leftovers or just don't feel like making them fresh. In this dish I really can't tell the difference. In the pics above I used instant.