Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 package taco seasoning (see taco seasoning recipe if you want to really go all homemade)
• 4 oz. cream cheese (low-fat makes them gross.  Don't do that.)
• 14-16 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 cup salsa (the hotter the better)
• 1 cup taco sauce (La Victoria green taco sauce is delish)
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 cup monterey jack cheese
• Green onions, olives, and sour cream to top

Taco Seasoning

• 2 Tbsp Chili Powder (we like to kick in a little extra chili powder, but this is what the recipe calls for)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Cook ground beef in a large frying pan with taco seasoning. Add in the cream cheese and cover until the cheese melts. Mix everything together and set aside to cool a little bit. While you are preparing the ground beef, cook the pasta shells according to the directions on the box. After draining, set the shells out individually on a cutting board/baking sheet so that they don't stick together. 

Pour salsa on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Stuff each shell with the meat/cream cheese mixture. place shells in 9x13 pan, open side up. Cover shells with enchilada sauce. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese, olives, and onions on top of green taco sauce and bake for 10-15 more minutes with the foil off. Serve with  sour cream.

As an alternative, you can stuff the shells with chicken. My wife has a chicken nacho recipe that we will add later that you can use as a substitute for the never healthy ground beef/cream cheese mix.