Taco Pasta Casserole

This was another easy and stress free recipe!! Nothing better than a crock pot meal on a Sunday, is an easy casserole. We added a few ingredients so that we didn't have to cook a side dish of veggies!! This fees a lot! Next time, I may consider cutting recipe in half --- although this will probably freeze well!!

It was a team effort for us. We were talking in the kitchen and my husband was getting in the way, so I just put him to work. I got all the ingredients together while my husband put the ground beef on. Nice bonding time and we created a great meal! Extra bonus is that I didn't have to cut the onion!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean ground beef
8 ounces macaroni
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup (some substituted this with salsa)
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix  (could probably use less if you wanted to)
2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2 ounces shredded monterey jack cheese (didn't have it so just stuck with the cheddar)
1 cup crushed tortilla chips (only used on 3/4 of the casserole so my son could eat it)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
1/4 cup chopped green onions (didn't have it, but it makes the picture on website look pretty)

****We added some veggies so that they were hidden in the casserole for my 2 year old to eat without knowing.*****

 
1 small can of sweet corn. Got the kroger brand with no salt added.
1 can of black beans. I would say it was about 14.5 ounces... I didn't want to use the whole can because it seemed like too many beans!! But, my husband hates wasting things, and insisted that I just "dump it all in." Really couldn't tell they were there and my son ate them up!!  

DIRECTIONS: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
2. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until done. Drain. Set aside.
3. In large skillet, cook and stir ground beef and chopped onion over medium heat until brown. (Yes, put the onion in with the ground beef! My husband was worked up because it's not the way he does it!). Mix in the tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and taco seasoning. If you have a big enough skillet (which we don't) stir in the pasta. What we ended up doing is pouring pasta in casserole dish, and added the meat mixture. Stirred it up in the casserole dish! 
4. Spoon beef mixture into 9 x 13 casserole dish. Sprinkle crumbled taco chips and grated cheese on top. 
5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until is melted. Serve with the pretty chopped green onions and sour cream, if desired. 

Not the best picture, could have probably used the flash! Corner of casserole missing, had to feed my kid!!

Original recipe:
 Taco Pasta Casserole from AllRecipes.com