Recipe of the Day: Taco Casserole!

Yesterday, I made taco casserole. Kind of. I don't know if that's the best name, but def a recipe I recommend! Bear with me, because I did go off recipe, and i'm trying to portray that! The entire dish is about 2556 calories, and I made it in an 13x9 pan, so it makes PLENTY to make a reasonable portion, i divided it by 4s, so i ended up with 639 calories, and satisfying my needs for that kind of food!!

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (i had 80%)
2 tbsp homemade taco mix (see below)
1 can of hunts petite diced tomatos
1 can of corn (or frozen corn, or fresh corn...)
1 box of cornbread mix (i used jiffy, you will need all ingredients needed to make the cornbread, most likely eggs and milk)

Preheat oven to 400F.

Brown meat, drain. Add tomatoes (i blended them into a puree because i cannot stand tomato chunks!) add taco seasoning,  warm through. Mix in corn. Pour into pan.

Make corn bread mix as directed on box, and pour liquid on top of mixture in pan. (i used 1 box, but i really think it would have turned out better with 2 boxes, BUT the entire box is 1020 calories... so if you are calorie counting, you might want to make 1 box make due... it was fine, but if you want a LOT of cornbread, use 2...) 

Cook for 20-30 minutes.  Everything else is prepared, so you really just need to make sure the corn bread is cooked thoroughly. Remove and eat!!! (when cool enough of course!)

Now for the seasoning.

Mix all ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

I did not have cumin, and it turned out ok, however, I like a good kick to my meat, so I added a few more dashes of red pepper flakes and chili powder. It really depends on what you like as far as spiciness.

This meal was delicious and filling. I will make it again, no doubt. Even the picky husband loved it! I had to yell at him for eating too much!