Walking Taco Casserole

This is not your typical “low and slow” crockpot recipe.  This is a 45 minute to an hour recipe.  So, yesterday I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to make for dinner all day.  It was an hour before the fiancé was getting home from work and I had to think fast.  I used my small Nesco roaster for this recipe.  It has temperature settings from 150 to 400 degrees.  And in case you are wondering why it’s called “Walking” Taco Casserole… Well, Walking Taco Salads are usually made on camping trips.  You build a taco salad inside a small bag of fritos (or doritos) and eat it out of the bag around the campfire!  You can “walk” around while eating the taco salad.  But this is made casserole style!  Sorry I don’t have a picture.  I am bad at remembering to take a picture before we dig in to the meal.

Walking Taco Casserole (Serves 4)

1 pouch of Knorr Spanish Rice (or Mexican rice or dirty rice)

2 cups of water

1 cup of tomato product (or enchilada sauce, salsa, taco sauce, or tomato sauce)

1 lb ground beef (or chicken or turkey)

1 package of taco seasoning (or burrito seasoning or fajita seasoning)

½ bag of chili fritos (or doritos)

1 cup of shredded cheddar

Taco Fixings optional: guacamole, taco sauce, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, black olives, onions, etc…

The Directions

Set small Nesco roaster to 300 degrees.  Add rice, water, and tomato product.  Stir and then cover.  Meanwhile, brown the ground beef.  Drain the fat after browned.  Add 4 tablespoons of water to beef and taco seasoning.  Mix well.  Then add to Nesco roaster, stir, reduce heat to 250 degrees.  Let simmer in roaster for 30 minutes or until rice is tender.  Check at 15 minutes and 30 minutes and add more water or tomato product as needed to keep rice mixture saucy and not pastey.  Add fritos and lightly push into rice mixture.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Let cook for another 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve with your favorite taco fixings.

The Verdict
Another successful Nesco dish.  I slathered on a lot of sour cream and taco sauce.  The only thing that could have made this better was guacamole!!!  Next time I make this I might add softened cream cheese to the mixture to make it creamy.  This easily could have been baked or made as a skillet dish in a frying pan, but I love using my Nesco and crockpot!

Pizza Pasta

Once again, another almost 80 degree day, but I can't wait to make another crockpot meal.  Since the recipe time is anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, this would be a great recipe to throw in the crockpot before church on Sunday or maybe while you are running errands on a Saturday afternoon.  Serves about 4. 

Forgot to take a pic before we dug into it!

½ lb of rigatoni

½ lb of hamburger

½ lb of Italian sausage

1- 24oz can/jar of spaghetti sauce

1 ½ cup water

½ small onion, chopped

1 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

4 oz. pepperoni, chopped

2 cups shredded mozzarella

½ cup shredded Parmesan

Optional: any of your favorite pizza toppings (green/black olives, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms,etc.)

Cook hamburger, sausage, onion, and garlic on medium heat until hamburger is browned, crumble.  Throw everything into a crockpot (except cheese) and stir well.  Cook on low for 3 -4 hours or high for 2 hours (depends on the settings of your crockpot).  Stir once, half way through cooking time to make sure there is enough liquid/sauce, add more water (or sauce) if needed.  15 minutes before its ready, add both cheeses to top of pasta and cook until cheese is melted & bubbly.

Resist the urge to constantly open the lid of your crockpot to “check on your food” or to stir.  Every time you open the lid it releases a lot of heat & moisture.

Serve with a tossed salad and garlic bread.

VERDICT:  Another yummy recipe.  I got rave reviews immediately from my family.  I may have overcooked the pasta just a bit so maybe taste test your pasta 3/4 of the way through the time mentioned above.  There is some pre-cooking to do, but this was so easy to throw together.   You can always freeze cooked hamburger/sausage so it is readily available.