Taco Bake

I made a recipe today called Taco Bake from the Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Cuisine Cookbook by Rival. In my opinion, if I had named the recipe I would have called it Crockpot Taco Casserole, but that's just me. It drove me crazy all afternoon cooking because it smelled so good! I made my usual changes by substituting extra lean ground beef, lower sodium taco seasoning, no-salt added tomato sauce and reduced fat cheese. Ground turkey could also be used in place of the ground beef. I loved it, my hubby thought it was okay. The nutritional values per serving for mine will be slightly lower than the original recipe.

Taco Bake

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup water
1 package (1-1/4 ounces) taco seasoning
1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 package (8 ounce) shell macaroni, uncooked
1-4 ounce can mild chopped green chilies
2 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, brown ground beef and onion; drain fat. Add the water, taco seasoning and tomato sauce; mix. Simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer to Crock-Pot. Stir in macaroni and chopped green chilies. Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High 3 to 4 hours. In the last 30 minutes of cooking top with shredded cheddar cheese. Serves 6 to 8. Add whatever toppings you desire.

Nutritional Value Per Serving: Calories 471, Fat 23 gm, Sodium 1,525 mg, Protein 25 gm, Carbohydrate 39 gm, Cholesterol 77 mg