So on the menu for last night was the frozen Pasta Bake.
Well I, being who I am, forgot that it needed to be pulled out of the freezer
the night before or morning of. I didn’t remember this until about 3 o’clock. J So I decided to use
this time in the kitchen to put together the Twice Baked Potatoes for the
freezer and also put together the Taco Casserole – one for dinner last night
and one to put in the freezer.
The girls and I had spent the afternoon playing Lego stories
and then some time playing on the Wii (MarioKart, tennis, golf and then I
introduced them to the boxing haha) while I had a chicken boiling on the stove…so
it was time for them to go play together so I could spend some time in the kitchen.
The chicken had cooked completely and cooled so I started
out pulling that apart and dividing it into 4 small containers to put in the
freezer along with a bag of the chicken breasts. Only 3 containers will make it
into the freezer though since I’ll need one for the Taco Casserole.
First thing to do is getting 2 cups of rice into my rice
cooker with chicken broth (instead of water, it makes it tastier) and let that
go…it’ll tell me when it’s done. I like
that since I’m otherwise horrible at cooking rice. J
While the rice is cooking, I drained
and rinsed (and then drained and rinsed again) two cans of cannellini beans. I
set my skillet over medium heat and poured in two cans of fire-roasted diced
tomatoes. Then I added the beans and the chicken. Lastly, I added 2 teaspoons
of my Caribbean Style Adobo seasoning (I found it at Savory & Spice…I’ll
have to do a post about this later….that place is awesome!) and stirred it all
up. You could also use a packet of taco seasoning like the original recipe
calls for or throw your own taco spice mix into the pan. Let that simmer until
your rice is done.
While I was doing all this cooking in the kitchen, I was being treated to a fashion show. :)
Okay, so here’s where things get a little “up in the air”.
The original recipe calls for you to use two 9x13 pans but since I didn’t have
those, I was ready to use a glass 9x13 dish (since I was going to go ahead and
bake this up tonight for dinner) and a smaller tin pan; I think it is about
8x5. So I don’t recommend using two 9x13 pans…unless you have lots more rice
and such. I probably could have put this all in the large glass dish, but I
really wanted something to put in the freezer for later. 
Anyway, I sprayed both pans down with nonstick cooking
spray. I put about a quarter of the rice in the small pan and spread the rest
of the rice out in the large glass dish.
Next, I put about a cup and a half of
the tomato mixture over-top of the rice and spread it out a little more evenly.
Then the remaining mixture got poured over the rice in the glass dish and
spread out.
Both dishes got a nice covering of shredded cheddar cheese.
The glass dish went into the preheated oven at 350 degrees. I’d say let it cook
only about 35 minutes. Mine went longer and some of the edges started drying
out…which means some of the beans and rice was crunchy. So I think 35 minutes
would be a good amount of time if you are baking it right after assembling it.
Otherwise, cover your dish with some tin foil and label “Taco Casserole – Thaw and
bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour”.
When it comes time to cook up the second batch, I think this
may be good as a burrito filler or even a topper on nachos. Sounds good, doesn’t
it? J
Taco Casserole
Recipe adapted from
one found on EatingOnADime.com
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4 c. cooked rice
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed OR
2 cans black
beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
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1 tsp California Style Adobo seasoning OR
1 packet of
taco seasoning
1 c. cook, shredded chicken
1 ½ c. shredded cheddar cheese
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1)
Cook rice according to package directions. Spray
two disposable pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2)
Heat a skillet over medium heat. In the skillet,
combine the beans, tomatoes, chicken and seasoning. Heat to simmering and
allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.
3)
When the rice is finished cooking, spread the
rice evenly between both pans.
4)
Divide the tomato mixture evenly between both
pans.
5)
Sprinkle the cheese overtop of both pans.
6)
Cover the pans with tin foil and label – “Thaw
and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour”.
7)
Pop ‘em in the freezer!
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