It’s been a busy week back in the kitchen since returning from vacation. I’ve been testing out several new recipes, stocking up my freezer with all my old favorites, and getting ready for the return of the busy “Fall” fundraising season.  As I’ve mentioned before my husband and I run our own school fundraising company (Big Kahuna Fundraising) that works with close to 500 schools across the state of Texas. We have several sales reps covering most of the state and I’m super excited about some of the new things happing at Big Kahuna for this upcoming school year.  I know the kids are going to flip when they see some of the new awesome prizes they can win this year.

One of the products that we sell in our fundraising catalogs is a tasty line of soup and dip mixes from a local Texas company called Homemade Gourmet. Back in March the husband asked me to do a few recipes featuring these products to show their versatility.  So with the start of the new school year quickly approaching I thought it would be a good time to share a few more of these simple and easy Homemade Gourmet recipes that will please both kids and adults alike.

The first recipes I made this past week was using the Homemade Gourmet Tortilla Soup mix and I turned it into a delicious Tex-Mex Tortilla Mac & Cheese. Is there anyone who doesn’t love mac and cheese?

This yummy Tex-Mex Tortilla Mac & Cheese starts with  ground beef simply seasoned with a packet of Homemade Gourmet Tortilla Soup Mix, a little onion and tomato sauce. While that mixture slowly simmers away you make homemade mac and cheese. Then mix it all together and pour into a baking dish. Top it all off with a little extra cheddar cheese and crunchy Fritos then simply pop it in the oven to bake. Simple, Easy and Oh Sooooo Good!

This dish can also be assembled ahead of time, frozen then baked.  (Just be sure to top with the tortilla chips and extra cheese just before baking.)

This Tex-Mex Tortilla Mac & Cheese is super easy and it’s a great recipe to have the kids help with.  In fact this recipe was actually inspired by one my Mom use to make when I was little called Western Chili Mac (some of my family may also know this as my Great Aunt Ga’s White Bowl).

Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Tortilla Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

The Tex-Mex Meat Filling:

1 Pound Ground Beef (90/10) *

1 Small Diced Onion

1 – 8oz. Can Tomato Sauce

1 Packet Homemade Gourmet Tortilla Soup Mix

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the Mac and Cheese:

1 Pound Elbow Macaroni

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Flour

2 Cups Milk (whole or 2%) (Warmed in the microwave for 90 seconds)

1/4 Cup Sour Cream

1 Teaspoon Mustard

1- 3/4 Cups Grated Sharp Cheddar

1/2 Cup Grated Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 Cup Corn Tortilla Chips (Fritos), Crushed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet heat up about 1 TABLESPOON of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over medium heat and brown the ground beef breaking it up into fine pieces.  Once the beef is almost cooked through add in the onions and continue to cook.  Once the onion is tender drain off any excess fat then add in the can of tomato sauce and the packet of Homemade Gourmet Tortilla Soup mix.  Reduce the heat and simmer while boiling the pasta and making the cheese sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a medium-large sized sauce pan melt 2 Tablespoons of Butter over low heat. Once melted turn off the heat and stir on 2 tablespoons of four.  Once the flour and butter are combined turn the heat back on and cook for 1 minute.  Whisk in the warmed milk and once combined cook over medium low heat stirring constantly until thick (you will know it’s ready when the sauce coats the back of the spoon and you can draw a line in the sauce with your finger) about 3-5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and whisk in the mustard and sour cream. Then one handful at a time whisk in the 1-1/2 cups of cheddar cheese, and the 1/2 cup of Monterrey Jack cheese.  Taste for seasoning adding salt and pepper.

Boil the macaroni pasta until just before aldente, drain the pasta then put it back in the pot.  Pour on the cheese sauce and the Tex-Mex meat mixture, stir to combine.  Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish and top with the crushed tortilla chips and remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

* Ground Turkey, Pork, or Chicken works great in this recipe too 🙂