Monday and Tuesday nights are a little cray around the Warren Street Lounge aka our house. They are both my and the Mrs.’s long days where we get home later and therefore neither of us want to cook, prepare, or do anything. However, we are also budget conscious and like to use our eat out dollars on places we really want to go-not just lazy pizza orders. So what did I do to keep the peace and no longer have Mon & Tues nights be Annoyance Fest 2013? WELL, I stumbled upon something, dear reader, you may have never heard of: preparing a casserole on SUNDAY! I know, I know I just blew your mind.
So, if there’s a day of the week that preparing a meal is just not going to happen try this Taco Time Casserole I found on PaleoTable.com. Plus I’ve included my easy shortcuts that make it so easy to do. AND you can get lots of these frozen so you can have them ready to go anytime-in case you don’t feel like shopping on Sunday either.
Ingredients:
- ground beef – 2 pounds, divided * I use shredded chicken
- onion – 1 small, peeled and diced *did you know the sell them chopped up frozen?
- green pepper – 1, cored and diced * I also have been known to get these from the TJ’s frozen section.
- garlic cloves – 2, minced *again, you can get these frozen
- diced tomatoes – 1 14.5-ounce can
- butternut squash – 1 small *TJ’s sells these cubed, I use ‘um that way
- green onions – 2, chopped
- black olives – 1/2 cup, chopped
- Taco Seasoning Mix
- chili powder – 2 Tbsp
- ground cumin – 2 Tbsp
- onion powder – 2 Tbsp
- oregano – 4 tsp
- paprika – 2 tsp
- sea salt – 2 tsp
- warm water – 2 cups
- Optional Toppings
- avocado – 1, mashed
- sour cream
How to:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- In a medium bowl, combine all seasoning mix dry ingredients. Add warm water and use a whisk to combine.
- While meat cooks, cut onion, pepper, and garlic.
- Warm another skillet over medium heat and saute vegetables for about 10 minutes or until onion becomes translucent. Add tomatoes and their juices and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes.
- Peel squash, remove seeds, and cut into large chunks. Shred in a food processor or using a hand shredder. *again, I just leave them cubed
- When meat is just cooked through, pour seasoning mix over meat and simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 5-10 minutes.
- Layer 1 to 1 1/2 pounds seasoned beef in the bottom of a casserole dish. NOTE: I reserved about 1/2-3/4 pound of the ground beef for my kids. You can either reserve some or add it all in and have more leftovers.
- Top with vegetable mixture, then shredded squash.
- Cook for 45 minutes or until squash is browned and tender.
- Sprinkle green onions and black olives on top.
- To serve, scoop out portions of the casserole and place it in shallow bowls. Serve with mashed avocado and sour cream, if desired.
We may or may not have also thrown in some tortilla chips on the side. Do you have a go-to casserole? Holla back on Facebook!
Source: Decatur – Food
