Taco Bake

This past weekend was "what's in the freezer and pantry that I can cook?" I could have made nachos... but well, I just wanted something different. And this is not really different at all. It's basically upside down nachos. But hey, anything to shake things up right? Here is the recipe:

Taco Bake

1 lb hamburger meat
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa
1 cup cheese
1 can black beans, drained (or any other type beans)
tortilla chips
black olives, jalepenos, sour cream

Cook hamburger meat, onions, and garlic together. Drain and add back to pan. Add taco seasoning, salsa and beans and heat through. Lay tortilla chips into 9x13 casserole and press down to break chips up a bit. Pour beef mixture over chips. Add olives or jalapenos if desired and then top with cheese. (we all know I added more than 1 c of cheese) Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with sour cream!

I used a can of white beans because that's what I had. I'm using up all of my canned beans and have bought several bags of dried beans. My plan is to have a "bean cooking day" and then freeze them in 2 cup increments. I've already done this once with white beans and pintos before. They are really easy to defrost! When cooking soup or chili you can just plop the whole 'brick' of frozen beans into the pot! If you're planning on eating them plain just add them to a saucepan with a little water and heat on low until they are defrosted, then turn up the heat and season. I did this a while back with pintos for bean and cheese burritoes. It's frugal, you know what you're putting in your beans and you're avoiding the BPA lining that is in canned goods!

FYI, Ziploc brand freezer bags are BPA free!