Taco Mac

OK, with Cinco de Mayo right here upon us, I thought I'd give another quick & easy recipe that our family loves to eat on a "Taco Tuesday" rotating menu schedule.

Of course, we enjoy tacos...and then we add nachos to the mix, too. I'll show you how I do my taco/nacho meat in this recipe...so give me a moment. We also have grilled Mexican chicken in the mix. The chicken is my hubby's deal.

We were getting the Hamburger Helper version of Taco Mac for a little while...but my hubby had faith in me that I could just make it on my own. Isn't that sweet of him? He's started having faith in my cooking! That's a big deal since he did all the cooking for years.

So, here's what I have done for my quick, cheap & easy dish that even my kiddos love:

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TACO MAC

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
3 heaping T minced onion
1 envelope taco seasoning (I use McCormick's Original)
1/4 C salsa or picante sauce (I like using Pace picante)
1/2 C water
1 box mac and cheese (we use Kraft's whole grain variety) *to package directions
1/4 C shredded cheese

Directions:
~ in a skillet, brown ground beef & minced onion; drain & rinse

~ place back into the skillet, add salsa/picante sauce, water, taco seasoning (this is my taco/nacho meat)
~ add the cheese sauce ingredients (from mac & cheese & box directions), and shredded cheese to skillet

~ as the meat mixture simmers, make the macaroni in a pot until tender & al dente, drain (DO NOT RINSE)

~ mix the macaroni & meat mixture together

~ serve

Yield: about 4

Notes: 
* Once in a while, I like making tortilla bowls to serve the taco mac in (as pictured, above); I got a Perfect Tortilla set, and love it! Or you can certainly serve the Taco Mac with tortilla chips, too.

* You can make your own mac & cheese recipe if you don't want to use a box version. My kids don't like the homemade stuff...cuz they're weird. It's also really cheap to just pick that stuff up from the store. But if you make your own, you can certainly decide which noodles to use!

* I double the recipe above. This feeds all of our mouths, and gives us some leftovers...sometimes.

* This can be topped with lettuce, tomato, onion &/or sour cream, too.

* Just for a fun & more grown up kick...add some cilantro &/or lime to the mix. YUM! (or even a tequila shot...whatever)

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Now then, I want to apologize to my Mexican friends who are cringing that I would put this down for Cinco de Mayo. It's all extra cheesy & Americanized. I realize this. But Americans use about any excuse to pretend to be cultured for the sole purpose of partying & drinking.

But if this doesn't set well with you for Cinco de Mayo or Dios de los Muertos (aka - Day of the Dead) or even the actual Mexican Independence Day on September 27th, you can always try the Cilantro Lime Mexican Chicken Noodle Soup with Green Tea (click HERE for recipe) instead! You can always have the Taco Mac any time! Well...the soup, too.

However, you could certainly enjoy a Spicy Mexi-Mocha (Mexi-Coco) (click HERE for recipe). That's based on more authenticity.

Even though this dish probably won't be a part of our Cinco de Mayo fiesta...this one is super kid friendly, and is a regular part of our dinner menu a couple once or twice a month.

ENJOY!