Taco Bake (Freezer Style)

Often I come across a recipe that I NEED NEED to make a freezer meal out of. And this is one of those times. *hands in the air Gangnam Style* In fact, when I typed (Freezer Style) in the title, I may have rose to my feet and Gangnamed a bit. I digress...

So the original recipe came from Sandy's Kitchen. Thank you Sandy! Very much. However, since I'm not counting calories, just making good healthy foods, I won't use the fat free suggested and I may go overboard on the cheese, but that is just me. Which means, I'm crashing this recipe in so many ways, it's going to be amazing.

At the point I'm writing this, the recipe has been created and stuffed into the freezer. I haven't defrosted and cooked it yet, so I don't know if it's going to work yet as a freezer meal. However, I've eaten it as a make right now and consume meal. Super easy and very delish!


Crust:
Half a block of of Cream Cheese (softened)-- 4oz
2 Eggs
5 Tablespoons of half and half
1/2 teaspoon of taco seasoning

Wisk this all together then poor into greased 9x13.

Sprinkle 1 Cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese over the top of the mix and pat down.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until bubbly and it looks like a crust. It's actually quite cool and believe or not, I took a picture!

So now you need to let this cool while you put together your topping. Now with this topping, the original recipe asked for a cup of tomato puree. However, since I'm allergic to tomatoes, here is where the crash comes in. I'm going to use jarred roasted peppers for my puree. They are highly delicious and whirr up perfectly into a fabulous sauce that has the Mexican flare. I put a whole jar of them in my blender and whipped them right up.

Topping:
4 cups of cooked ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning
1 cup (ish) of roasted red pepper puree
1 small can of green chilies (4oz)
1 cup of Mexican blend cheese

Now here is where I crashed the recipe again. It requires you to mix the ingredients and then top with cheese... well, we are cheese fans. Plain and simple, so I mixed some cheese into the topping and then topped it too.

Then top with the cup of cheese.

Now if you were to bake this now, you need to bake it at 350 for 20 or until hot and bubbly. Serve like casserole but top with taco toppings like olives, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Since I'm going to try this as a freezer meal, I used my pyrex 13x9 with lid. Brilliant invention, but not air tight, so I used Press and Seal to keep it nice and freezer friendly. I wrote the instructions on the wrapper and then sealed it up with the lid. My lid is red not blue, and I cut slits in the handles to accommodate the Press and Seal, making sure the seal was still intact.

The day before I want to cook it, I pull it out and allow it to defrost in the frig and cook like directed at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

It turned out fabulous and the kids thought so too!