Tex Mex Shells

This is certainly a favorite around our house. I think I might have gotten this recipe off of one of those recipe cards in the meat department at Walmart, go figure :)

1 lb ground beef
1.25-1.5 lbs large shell pasta cooked and drained
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can olives, drained and sliced (or 2 cans pre sliced olives)
1 can diced tomatos, drained (you could also use about 1.5 cupsof halved cherry tomatos)
3 cups shredded cheddar
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can milk (tomato soup can)
1 package of fajita seasoning (I really think this recipe tastes best with Great Value brand seasoning, I have tried others)

Brown beef with onion and drain.



Mix beef, onion, olives, tomatos and pasta. Mix together seperately tomato soup plus one can of milk and fajita seasoning. Pour this over pasta mixture and add shredded cheese.



Place in pyrex dish and cover with foil and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

This is also really yummy topped with crushed fritos!

Veggie Breakfast Bake

I am trying something new tonight. Not only is it new but it's just off the top of my head :) Keep in mind, this is one of those recipes you can use whatever you have in the fridge for this. Basically, anything that would be good in eggs can be tossed in this dish! I left this recipe pretty open but for those of you who prefer a more rigid recipe, I listed some ideas below!

** Update: This was absolutely loved by my family!

1 dozen eggs (beat and seasoned, I used black pepper and italian seasoning)
about 4-5 cups of chopped veggies
2 cups shredded cheese
1.5 cups of chopped breakfast meat (can be omitted for vegetarian dish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute your veggies in olive oil until they are still slightly crisp but not raw



(not all veggies should go in at the same time, pay attention to which will take longer to cook, leave tomatos uncooked). After veggies are done pour them in a 9x13 greased glass dish. Top with meat. Sprinkle with your cheese.



Pour the eggs over everything in dish. Top with tomatos.



Bake for 45 minutes (or longer) until when egg is set and toothpick SHOULD come out clean!

* Veggies: for this particular bake I used asparagus, broccoli, yellow squash, mushrooms, onion and tomato. Some other ideas would be bell pepper, zuchinni, greenbeans, snow peas... the possibilites are endless!
* Any cheese will work! Cheddar, monterey, swiss, etc. I also sprinkled mine with parmesan and feta.
* Meat: I used ham for this bake but crumbled bacon, smoked sausage and even some breakfast sausage would work.

Sausage, Beans and Rice

This is another super easy meal. We love this recipe around our house, Aidan even requested it for his birthday.

2 boxes of long grain and wild rice (plus seasoning pack)
2 cups boiling water
1 green pepper seeded and diced
1 can cream style corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 polska kielbasa, halved and sliced (or any type of smoked sausage)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a casserole dish, add water to rice and seasoning packets. Stir in cream style corn. Add all other remaining ingredients. Cover with lid or foil and bake at least an hour (check to see that all water is absorbed, if not, continue cooking until it is gone).

* For a lighter version, brown the kielbasa in a pan first and drain grease that cooks off.

Taco Bake

This meal is SUPER easy and super yummy!

2 tubes (7.5 oz each, 10 biscuits each) of buttermilk biscuits
1 lb ground beef
1 pckg taco seasoning
1 can chili
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Sour Cream
Salsa

Preheat oven to 400. Spray glass dish with cooking spray and place biscuits inside, touching and covering the bottom of dish.



Bake for 10 minutes. While that is baking, brown ground beef, drain and follow directions on taco seasoning to finish meat.



When meat is ready, add can of chili. Spread on biscuits. Sprinkle with cheddar and bake another 15 minutes.



When finished, top with salsa and sour cream!