Mexican Manicotti

            Alright everyone, if you aren’t accustomed to receiving compliments on your cuisine from your significant other, take a day or two to prepare yourself mentally, and then prepare this next one as I can almost guarantee it will leave those special someone’s in your life singing your praises until bedtime.  I.am.not.joking!

            A few week’s ago, I was at my friend Michelle’s birthday party when she told me she had a recipe I just had to try.  Now, more and more people stop me to tell me that they have a recipe that I have to try.  Author’s note: ALWAYS try their recipes when you can work them in, as people would not take the time to share them with you if they weren’t fabulous.  So, it took awhile, but I finally remembered to send Michelle a message asking for the recipe.  I purchased the ingredients and waited for the perfect opportunity to give it a try.

            Now, let me just say that this recipe was super easy, so long as you don’t get intimidated about stuffing the manicotti noodles.  Some of the noodles were narrower than others making it a bit difficult, but overall the preparation was a cinch.  Now, what I did and was a little nervous about was I prepared the dish, covered it with foil, and left the baking instructions for Chris so that he could stick it in when he got home so that it would be ready by the time I got home from teaching my cheer class.  I was worried that things could be negatively affected by sitting there waiting to be baked for that extra 30 minutes or so, but it turned our absolutely delicious!

            The other instruction I would add after always trying recipes your friends recommend, would be to add a little sour cream to this dish as it made it extra yummy.  Please give this one a try soon, your husband and your stomach will thank you!

Recipe:

-1lb hamburger

-1pkg. taco seasoning,

-1 can refried beans

-Manicotti noodles

-Large jar of taco sauce

-3 cups water

-Cheddar cheese.

Preparation:

-Brown hamburger, drain. Add taco seasoning, 1 can refried beans, 1 cup water. Simmer for 10 mins. Stuff manicotti. Put Manicotti into greased 9x13 pan. Separately,

-Mix together large jar of taco sauce and 2 cups water. Then pour over manicotti.

-Cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 mins at 350. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese on top and bake for 15 minutes more uncovered. (If you buy extra noodles, I could have made two pans worth with the amount of meat mixture I ended up with!)

Enjoy!!