Steak and asparagus stir fry

I had a crockpot meal to share with you today but the weather outside made me feel Springy and the crockpot doesn't make me feel Springy. Not that stirfry is particularly Springy, but you know what I mean. Maybe you don't know what I mean. And maybe you're sick of reading the word Springy. Either way, you get steak and asparagus stir fry today, and you're going to eat it and like it. Do you like how I sound like Big Dan (my dad)? Springy.

 

Main Man was perdy lovey on this stirfry the night we had it. The Campbells Skillet Sauces Fire Roasted Tomato packet was a total experiment, but sure made things easy peasy in the heazy. Could I be any more annoying today? Sorry, I get froggy when the weather turns awesome. Point of the story is...try these. I have a toasted sesame one I'm wanting to give a go at, but the marsala and the creamy chipotle look mighty tasty as well. The last two have a little more in the caloric department so I passed them by, but I may give them a try if they're all as good as the fire roasted tomato one we devoured, I mean taste tested.

 

Here's what you need:

 

1 lb flank steak, seasoned with salt and pepper

1 T olive oil

1 bundle of asparagus

1 can mushrooms

1 bag Uncle Ben's ready rice, flavor of your choosing (I went with brown and wild)

1 Campbells Skillet Sauces, fire roasted tomato flavored

 

Add the olive oil to a large pan, and warm. Add full steak to the skillet to brown on medium heat. Cut the hard ends off the asparagus and then cut the stems in half so they're a little shorter. Makes it easier to jam into your mouth, ya know? It's always key to be able to jam things in your mouth quickly when you're eating. At least at our house...

Add the asparagus to the skillet as well. Continue moving it around, flip the steak after about 8 minutes. You don't want to overdo flank steak or it gets really tough, you want to leave some pinky pink the middle there.

After 5-8 minutes on each side, remove the steak and slice it into bite sized pieces. Add all of it back to the skillet and add the sauce package to mix and marry everything together. Wedded bliss. Just like Main Man and I :)

Add the Ready Rice to the microwave for 90 seconds to cook like the package says, and then throw it into the skillet to stir and fry together. Because that's what stir fry is, ya'll. Stirring and frying. And marrying. Bliss, remember?

After the nuptials, you serve! I used a little soy sauce because I like to spoon drink the stuff, but you don't need it. There is a little bite to the sauce, a little crunch to the asparagus, a little love juice from the steak, and a whole lot of good flava flav coming out of that skillet there. I'm tellin' ya.

I actually tracked the recipe ingredients and broke them down per serving with MyFitnessPal and it comes out to 754 calories for a huge helping of 3 cups. I realize that sounds like a lot for some people, but when I'm done throwing down 675 calories at Kosama, I need me some meat and I need piles of it. This ends our Campbells experiment, don't worry though, I'll share the next one with you too!  Now get outside and love on this weather a little, if you're an Iowan like me! We've been waiting for this....

Brudder Ben's tater tot casserole

Well, the whole snowstorm thing yesterday was a bit anti-climactic. We were told a week ago to expect up to 20 inches (from one of the local news stations) and it turned out to be only about 6 in most places. I'm ok with that, minus the fact that I had a really good plan of scrapbooking and coffee this morning instead of showering and commuting. The picture of my day in my head was a lot more fun than it ended up being, but such is life.

 

It seems as though some people can find something to crab about in any situation though. The weathermen are getting pummeled with comments on Facebook and Twitter, and are actually talking smack to other weathermen whose predictions were worse. If you live in Iowa and don't follow KCCI's social media, you're missing out on comedy gold, I'm telling you. I for one, would rather be warned of 20 inches and get 6, than plan on 6 and get smacked with 20...but that's just me. I'm fairly certain the same people complaining about the lack of snow that actually accumulated are the same people who would be griping about it if we had gotten it. I read a quote yesterday that seemed to fit perfectly:

 

"We can choose to complain that the rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice that the thorn bushes have roses."

 

If that doesn't put things in perspective for you, I don't know what will. It's Winter in Iowa, people...enjoy life a little :) OK, I'm done with my own complaining now...back to business! This here, is Brudder Ben!

 

Brudder Ben came back from overseas and lived with Main Man and I for a few months before finding a place of his own to reside. Things got rocky a few times, but not many siblings think they're ever going to be roommates again after moving out of the rents house...so growing pains were expected. We also got along swimmingly sometimes, so it all evened out in the end...

One thing that greased the skids, was when Benny Boo (I'm sure he's super pumped about me sharing all my endearing names for him on the internet) would cook for us. The kid sure can throw down in the kitchen. Let's be clear here...he doesn't keep that girlish figure by cooking light. Be warned that this is a comfort food cheat meal from the depths of the clouds of heaven...where calories don't count. I've never really been a fan of tater tot casserole before this, so Brudder took it upon himself to make a believer out of me. And he did...

When I asked Brudder Ben to send me his recipe, this is what I got:

"Can of cream of mushroom, chicken, and cheese. 2lbs of beef. 1lbs of kraft cheddar made with cream cheese. 2 cups of sour cream. Bag of mixed vegetables and a bag of Sweet corn."

Don't worry, I speak Brudder talk and shall translate for you. I watched him create so I would be able to pass this gem on to you...

2 lbs lean ground beef (I added the lean part)
1 lb bag of Kraft Cheddar cheese (has to be the stuff made from cream cheese, I'm told)
2 cups of sour cream (if it were me, I would use Greek yogurt)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 bag frozen mixed veggies (Birdseye Steamfresh brand is what he used)
1 bag frozen sweet corn (Birdseye Steamfresh brand is what he used)
Cookies flavor enhancer seasoning
Cracked black pepper
Garlic powder
1 family sized bag of tater tots

Brown the ground beef (if you wanted to lighten it up, you could use ground chicken or ground turkey) in a large skillet. Season generously with Cookies flavor enhancer, black pepper, and garlic powder. Add all other ingredients, besides the tater tots, to the skillet and stir together until mixed thoroughly. Heat until warm throughout.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan (we use disposables for convenience, as you can see below). Start to layer the tater tots on top of the casserole. Season the top with more Cookies, pepper, and garlic powder if desired. You should really desire that. Yum!

Bake at 425 degrees for 40-45 minutes (until tots are crunchtastic). Let it sit to cool for about 5 minutes and dig the heck into that masterpiece.

Try not to go back for second or thirds...and make sure you get to the gym the next day! This would've been perfect for a snow day meal after scrapbooking all day....

Beef enchilada casserole

Sorry for the unplanned hiatus this week, folks. I have no excuse really. The election gets me all sorts of wound up and I can think of nothing but articles on the economy, what each candidate will do for the country, and watching election coverage until my eyeballs pop out. Yeah, I'm one of those people. I'm the passionate, opinionated, loudmouth chick that posts political articles and arguments all over my facebook page and will argue debate anyone with differing opinions than my own. It's tiring. And I'm sure my friends are happy the election is over.

Anywho...there was no room in my head to write witty blog posts while I was coming up with witty arguments for or against the candidates. Sooooo, you had to wait a couple days for this...

This is good stuff. This was a wonderful accident. This was a lazy attempt at making something mexican themed with what I had in my house so I wouldn't have to run to the store. This was what I brought to the table to serve my three most pickiest girlfriends when visiting the Anthony household to meet their new little bundle of love muffin, Ava Marie. And this turned out to be a hit.

2 lbs hamburger (or ground turkey)
2 (15 oz) cans mild enchilada sauce
1 can corn, drained
2 bags Spanish rice (microwave bags...see here)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
6 large tortillas
3 cups mexican cheese (I used 2%)

Brown the hamburger in a large skillet. Once brown, drain and add back to skillet. Add corn and tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add rice and enchilada sauce until warm throughout. Set mixture aside.

Layer two ripped up tortillas in a 9x13 casserole dish (sprayed with nonstick Pam) and then top it with 1/3 of the beef mixture. Layer two more ripped up tortillas on top of that, top with one cup of cheese. Layer 1/3 more of the beef mixture on top of that, top with last two tortillas and one cup of cheese. Layer the last 1/3 of the beef mixture, cover with the last two tortillas, and top with the last cup of cheese.

 

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees if cooking immediately. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes of bake time. Serve with salsa, sour cream, or whatever other toppings you enjoy.

Nothing too spicy for the new, breastfeeding mama. Nothing with too much taste for Brandy and Cynthia, who have very sensitive palates. But still enough for me to give an audible (and surprised since I knew there was a lack of seasoning) MMMMMMMMM after my first bite. It was filling too. That's a checkmark in every column, people....easy, filling, fast, uses pantry staples, yummy. Can't even come up with a criteria that this doesn't fit.

This would freeze wonderfully too, in fact, that was my original intention. I also brought Mama Anthony a couple freezer meals that have been tested my other mommies and approved. The smothered pork chops is one of my go-to recipes (and one of my first blog posts, don't judge the photos), and the baked tortelini is a standard easy freezer meal so I went with those. They are both simple, don't require too many ingredients, reheat easily, and don't have too much spice for nursing mommies so they are perfect for new baby meals.

Welp...I shall leave you with the best pictures of the post...a little mama love for munchkin Ava. She is the smallest baby I've ever held, and literally feels like you're holding a doll! Have a great Thursday, people!

Main Man's goulash

Main man has a handful of main dishes that I'm not even allowed to cook. If we're having goulash, stroganoff, and sometimes spagetti or tacos...he takes the reigns and I know I've got the night off from cooking dinner. A lot of times, this falls on Sunday where I can sit in the kitchen with him and visit while he works...this is why Sunday is my favorite day of the week (which really means something because it's very abruptly followed by Monday and I'm not a fan of those).  He gets all camera shy and embarrassed when I take pics of him but I enjoy watching him stir and mix and prepare...not much measuring going on, but it always ends up tasting just like comfort food should taste.

 

As I said, there's not a whole lot of measuring with his cooking, and I do believe he uses different ingredients and different quantities each time. If we have everything he wants on hand, he uses:

 

2 lbs ground beef (could use ground turkey)

1 package elbow noodles

2 tomatoes, diced

1.5-2 large cans tomato juice (reserve some for leftovers, they tend to dry out after being refrigerated)

1 onion, diced

1 can mushrooms

3-5 cloves minced garlic

shredded cheese

fresh cracked pepper

seasoned salt

garlic powder

 

 

He starts out by browning his hamburger meat in a large skillet. While that is going, he is simultaneously boiling water to throw his noods in to boil. He's a multi-tasker, that's why I'm marrying him in a month :)

After the hamburger is browned and the grease is drained, we add the garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and spices (cracked pepper, garlic powder, and seasoned salt are all to taste but we use a lot, so around 2 t each).  Saute for a bit more to cook the veggies and meld the flavas.

Once the noods are almost done, drain them and add them back to the pot. Add a little butter (1 T-ish) and add the meat mixture into the pot as well. Stir and add the tomato juice. Here's where he is a stickler. You have to let this stuff simmer for an hour to let the noods soak up the juice and the spices, let the meat soak into the noods, and let it all become one big happy family before actually eating it. Main man does a walk by taste test every 15 minutes or so, just to see how the family is getting along, and then proclaims how much longer he thinks it's going to take for them to be at peace with each other and become one. I have a feeling this is an arbitrary time frame, and that he really just enjoys the taste testing and workup to the meal, but I like to watch his process as much as he insists on doing it so it's a win-win. Top with cheese and fresh cracked pepper, serve with garlic bread to dip, and a glass of skim milk and you just entered heaven, my friend!

I'll never understand how somehow the juice thickens into more of a sauce, and sends this downhome comfortable feeling right into your spinal column. In a way, it's like goulash soup, because the noods tend to get so limp with tomato juice love that you don't even have to chew them much to eat them. I never used to be a goulash fan until I had Main man's version, and I think it may have to do a lot with the feelings I get watching him prepare it as much as it has to do with the actual taste of it. It tastes like home on a Sunday evening with a couch cuddle and a fire in the near future...and that's one of my favorite tastes in the world.

Hot onion burgers

Piggyback time!!!! Who doesn't love a good piggyback ride...we used to have races in our neighborhood, and even though I was a girl, I was super good at being on the bottom and running my little legs off to win. I'm tough like that. It's because I eat beeeeeef :) 

 

This carving board style roast beef was only half gone after making the scrumdiddlyumptious (piggy backs and Willy Wonka words...it's turning into a great hump day) philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers I made that week so I was really just trying to find ways to use it up when these burgers were born of love. I was pre-making burgers for the lake that weekend and thought "hmmmm...meat within the meat? I'm sure Main Man will luuuurve me for this one!" So I did the damn thang. And he did love me. Everyone loves a happy ending :)

 

1 lb lean hamburger

1 onion soup packet

1 diced jalapeno

1 can mushrooms

half package carving board roast beef 

 

Mix it all up. I realize it's pretty messy, but your hands are your best tool in this situation. It's sort of fun too...squishing it all between your fingers and watching it goo out as it all mixes together. Patty that out into 4 burgers (1/4 each) and layer with waxed paper in a container to store. Unless grilling immediately...by all means, grill away!!

 

I did not get a photo of these babies after they were cooked that weekend. I actually didn't even have one. Main Man had one with pepperjack cheese and raved about it though...the kid loves onions. His buddy Jones also thought they were extra special and told me 3 times how good they were. Aunt Vicki and Uncle Mike gobbled theirs up so I'm assuming they enjoyed them too! All in all, the lesson here is, you can't go wrong with meat inside meat. Class dismissed.

 

Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers

I've found a new website that I just adorrrrrrre! I'm not doing the no carb thing like the blogger is, but it's always good to cut where you can...right? I just pinned another 84 bajillion (that's equivelent to about 10, fyi) recipes off her site, due to how well this one turned out in the Stensland test kitchen. She has such great substitutions!! Rutabaga for potatoes?? Gonna have to try that one before I stamp my approval on it...but if it's anything like the potato-cauliflower switcharoo in the twice baked cauliflower then I'm willing to give up my first born for a sub like that. Maybe not...depends on how much I like the kid I guess. It would have to be a lot in order to trump low cal potatoes that taste like fat kid food though. My children will have alot to live up to...

Anywho...this was quick and easy (which was good because I was staaaaaahhhhving) as well as very satisfying. Read: I wasn't in the kitchen looking for crackers or chips a couple hours later to keep the carb monster inside me at bay like I have to do sometimes. Give it a shot!

Ingredients:

8 oz thinly sliced roast beef (I used carving board roast beef for bigger pieces)
8 slices provolone cheese (I used 2% swiss)
2 large green bell peppers
1 medium sweet onion
6 oz baby bella mushrooms
2 T olive oil
1 T garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice peppers in half lengthwise, remove ribs and seeds. Slice onions and saute them with mushrooms in olive oil with minced garlic, salt and pepper. Saute while stirring until onions and mushrooms are nice and caramelized (25-30 minutes...I thought about pulling them sooner because they smelled so good but pleeeeaaase way for them to caramelize and you will not be sorry).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice roast beef into thin strips and add to the onion/mushroom mixture. Allow to cook for 5-10 more minutes. Line the inside of each pepper with a slice of provolone, and fill each pepper with meat mixture until they are nearly overflowing. Top each pepper with another slice of provolone.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.

 

Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes

Yum. Super (and I mean SUPER) easy, but mainly....yum. I was fork eating the cold meat mixture before bed the night I made this. If you say you've never done that, I don't believe you. Remember when Main Man said he didn't like sloppy joes when I made the sloppy joe casserole?? Someone was singing a different tune after this meal...

1 T olive oil (I omitted this)
1 lb ground beef (you could use turkey but I used the lean 97/3 ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 T steak sauce
1 cup beef stock
4 dinner rolls
salt and ground black pepper
1 cup shredded provolone

In large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil if you're using it and brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper, and cook another 4-5 minutes, until the veggies start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and the beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes.

Split open rolls and remove most of the soft insides, leaving a bed of love to hold the meat mixture. Toast the rolls and put a large spoonfull of the meat mixture with all it's juicy glory onto your roll. Top with cheese and serve. I served it open face due to my carb cutting goal I've been talking about...and I had rolls the size of mini frisbees! Main man's seal of approval is stamped on this recipe as well, so I'm going to officially put it in the favorites tab to join our rotation of repeats. Repeats don't happen often in our household because there's always something new I want to try, but there are some easy, fantabulous recipes that tend to get remade over and over...I believe this will be one of them!

Cilantro lime flank steak

I bet you were wondering where your flank steak recipe for the week was??  Never fear, I would never leave you beef-less for the week. This one was a little different, as you are supposed to liquify the marinade, so I thought I would give it a shot.

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1.5 t olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 serrano chile (you can seed the chile if you want to avoid any heat)

1 t sea salt

1 lb flank steak

Put all your ingredients besides the steak into a food processor and make a smooth, saucy marinade for your meat. Process it all and pour it on top of the thawed flank steak to soak up the love overnight before grilling. Remember what we've talked about with grilling the flank steak when we did the flank steak with chimichurri sauce and the carne asada tacos and don't overcook it. Flank steak gets very tough when cooked over a MR, so about 5-7 minutes each side on the grill should be plenty.

I didn't get a pic of this one before I devoured it...does that say something? Although a little more work than the normal marinades because you have to use the food processor, I really enjoyed the flavor profile with this one. Never fear, I will continue to try the world's flank steak marinades one at a time to bring you the best of the best each week. I do believe my favorite so far is probably the cuban flank steak or Butch's carne asada marinade, but I haven't had a bad one yet, if you were wondering....

Flank steak with chimichurri sauce

This recipe was from Kalyn's Kitchen, and I have tried and loved everything I've ever made from this blog. Do yourself a favor and give her a read next time you're looking for something phenom for dinner....

This was our Mother's day meal at the lake, well, it was Justin and I's, we had ribeyes and filets and chicken brats for the others ...perfect weather for a nice grillout after getting some work done and then heading on a boat ride to cap the day off. I think Mama Stensland had fun, I know if I was a mom, you couldn't really beat a day like that for me! Wishing Mama K could've joined us, but she is in the throes of a study sesh the next few weeks so I wasn't allowed to distract her...we will celebrate Mom day another weekend with her soon :)

I had the steak marinating for a day before grilling, and made the sauce early to just bring along and throw on as well. I have never done a chimichurri sauce, but am trying to expand my horizens with sauces and such so I gave it a go. I think I was actually the only person who used it, we had so much food going on that I don't know if anyone knew what it was. Chimichurri sauce is a South American condiment for beef based on fresh spices, so it really seemed like a no brainer that I would enjoy it. It had a very fresh taste to it...a lot of cilantro flava too if you like that sorta thing!

1 piece Flat Iron Steak, 1 1/2 - 2 pounds

1 T Steak Rub (the recipe called for Montreal steak seasoning but I used my boot camp instructor's steak marinade called Sarinade...you can use your favorite steak marniade instead)

Chimichurri Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves (about 1 cup before chopping)
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley leaves (about 1 cup before chopping)
2 T minced garlic
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Grill the flank steak just like we have in the past few recipes....you don't want to overdo it or it becomes tough. About 5-7 minutes on each side usually does it for me, and then give it 5 more minutes to rest a bit...you should be good to go!

Spoon the sauce onto the steak and the yumminess spread all over your plate...you will want to lick it clean with your potatoes when the meat is gone!  I would say this amount of sauce will feed 6 people with steaks...

Oh, and just a little piece of advice from me to you...I will now be refraining from cutting/eating steak with plastic utensils. It was a little concerning to lose a tine off my fork, and never find it in the process of the meal. I'm pretty sure the steak was so good, I must've inhaled it and not noticed...yikes!!!

Carne asada tacos

Here's your flank steak recipe for the week (you know I have to post at least one per week)!  This is another Butch recipe, I posted his chicken marinade yesterday, and I will be posting his pico de gallo tomorrow....so we may as well just call this the Week of Butch! If you look below, you may notice that this post made the favorites tab...Main Man and I were simultaneously chipmunk talking to each other with our cheeks full about how good this was the whole time we were eating. I would venture to say it's my favorite Mexican dish made at home yet! 

4 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno minced (original recipe calls for 2 but I didn't want to kill my main man)
handfull chopped cilantro
juice of 2 limes
juice of 1 orange
2 T white vinegar (I had to use apple cider vinegar since I was out of white)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it up...

Pour it on...

Grill it up...

Load them up....and you're in business!

Yes, there is a bite out of one of the tacos...I literally couldn't wait. Sorry, folks :)

I marinated the meat overnight so it was ready to throw on the grill right when I got home from hyperventilating and sweating profusely working out so I didn't have to wait long for dinner. Remember when you're grilling flank steak to cook it Medium Rare or it gets really tough. This should mean about 5-7 minutes on each side on the grill. Also be sure to let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing so you don't lose all your lovely juices! The meat is by far the big star of this taco show, I didn't even use lettuce, tomatoes, or sour cream.

I just warmed the tortillas up in the microwave for 20 seconds (heavenly little piece of advice, I would recommend you follow it), layered some slices of the carne asada with a mix of authentic Mexican cheese (the blend I got was queso quesadilla, asadero, and manchengo), and threw some pico de gallo on top (I will be sharing that recipe tomorrow, so you can start sending thank you notes now....it's sooooooo good).

If you find a better carne asada taco recipe than this, I will drive to your house to get it from you because this was right in our wheelhouse of favorite flavors...thanks again, Butch! You really made Main Man happy last week :)

Caribbean grilled flank steak

Yep...flank steak again. I'm sure that's what you're saying in your head.  That's not what my main man was saying though, and it's not what was going through my head...I've been waiting all week to do our flank steak meal! I have now been given a couple more recipes to try that will be coming up, and I wish I had better patience. I always want to eat the same meal over again when I finish with any of these flank steak meals, like the recently posted balsamic grilled flanks steak or the cuban grilled flank steak salad.

I did have a disappointing experience with it lately though...I ordered it at a restaurant.  It was thinly sliced, not seasoned enough, and way overdone...seemed more like roast beef strips. Did I say I was disappointed? Because I was disappointed. Sadface.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that I just won't order it in restaurants anymore since I can make it so much better at home (which seems to be the case with all steaks, tacos, and most pastas).  So now that we've decided that...here's the next flank steak recipe for you to try!

2 t minced garlic
1 t ground cumin
1 t minced onions
1 t oregano leaves
1 t crushed red pepper
1 t salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 lb flank steak

Mix all ingredients up into a marinade, and pour over the flank steak to soak overnight. It will soak up all of the liquid so don't be worried about that. Fun fact: I heard on Chopped the other night that citrus juices break down tough meats so marinating with those will actually give you more tender cuts of steak. Just a little fyi...knowledge is power :)

When you're ready to grill, follow the same directions that we've talked about before. Don't overcook it! Flank steak needs to be MR or under in order to keep from being tough...trust me, and trust the restaurant who served the roast beef slices to me and called them flank steak.

Grill 4-5 minutes per side for a rare to medium rare cut of meat. Let the meat rest 4-5 minutes before slicing so you don't lose all the yumtastical juiciness....and that's it. You just hit another dinner homerun...circle the bases and have a seat on the couch. You deserve it.

The sides are just some steamed asparagus with salt, cracked pepper, and low fat parmesan cheese.....and then the balsamic parmesan portabellos with green beans. 

Taco stuffed shells

I saw it on Pinterest. Amanda emailed me and told me she made it and they loved it. Michelle emailed back and said they had made it the previous night too and loved it. Beatrice sent me a picture of it when she made it and said it was phenom. 

First off, I absolutely ADORE that my friends care enough to let me know when they have a delish meal so that I can try it myself. Secondly, if this many people rave about something, it's like state law that you have to try it.  So we did :)

1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey to lighten it up a bit)
1 package low sodium taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)
12 large pasta shells (about half the box)
1 cup salsa (I used salsa verde that I had left from another recipe)
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded cheese

Optional toppings:
fat free sour cream
crushed up tortilla chips
diced green onions
black olives
additional salsa
diced tomatoes

Brown your ground beef and add taco seasoning as you would if you were making tacos.  Add cream cheese and mix well. While burger is cooking, boil the pasta shells, and drain.

Pour salsa in the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish, and put your boiled shells on top. Fill the shells with your taco stuffing. Spoon taco sauce on filled shells and sprinkle shredded cheese on top of them.

Cover and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees (depending on if you cook immediately or if you heat up from the fridge like I do when I make meals ahead of time).  Sprinkle a little more cheese on and uncover, then cook for another 10-15 minutes. Serve with optional toppings and enjoy!

I just threw on some diced tomatoes and a "dollop of Daisy" (sour cream) and we were good to go...main man was soooo confused. Smells like Mexican, looks like Italian...."What actually is this stuff?" he asked as he headed back for seconds. On his way back with his second helping he stated "You know when you ask me if you should make things again? This one is a hell yes!"  So there you have it folks, from the mouth of the man in charge.