An Ultimate Comfort Food

So everyone was talking about this recipe on the Nest's What's Cooking board the other day, so I decided we had to try it in our weekly rotation. I made a few changes that we were very happy with, and Michael enjoyed it so much he asked for the leftovers for lunch two days in a row! It will definitely be a regular in our rotations from now on. The original recipe came from Lindsay, but it was for a 9x13, which was way too much casserole for 2 of us, even when we do both like leftovers, I also saw some room for improvements, so the recipe below is what I ended up with. I hope that you all enjoy as much as we did!

TACO BAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 TB minced garlic
1 packet taco seasoning
8 oz. tomato sauce
4 oz. seashell pasta (I used elbow macaroni, it was all they had at TJ's)
4 oz. (1/2 package) cream cheese, softened in microwave (I used fat free)
1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)
1 can of sliced olives
1 can of black beans, drained
6 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used cheese from 2% milk)

So far assembled: pasta, cream cheese spread, and the black beans

Finished off with the meat, cheese, and olives

DIRECTIONS:
Brown ground beef with onion and garlic, drain if necessary. Add taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to directions. Drain.
Mix softened cream cheese and sour cream in separate bowl.
Spray bottom of 8x8 pan. Put pasta in bottom of pan. Spread cream cheese mixture over pasta. Sprinkle the can of black beans over the cream cheese mixture. Spoon ground meat mixture over this. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Finally sprinkle the olives on top pf the cheese.
Now you can pop it in the oven and bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.
I served our taco bake with some sauteed green beans and some garlic cheddar sourdough. Yummy!

Dinner is served!