Calling All Football Fans

It's that time of year again, football season. There are a few football fans in our house and Mexican food is often a requested meal on game days. My Dinner Diva group will meet tomorrow so I thought I'd share my contribution to the meal swap.

Mexican Manicotti

Ingredients:
1 lb of lean ground beef
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 package manicotti shells (80z)
2 1/2 cups water
1 jar (16 oz) picante sauce
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1 cup (4oz) shredded Monterrey Jack or Mexican style shredded cheese

Assembly:
In a bowl combine UNCOOKED beef, refried beans, chili powder, and oregano. Spoon into UNCOOKED manicotti shells and arrange in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Combine water and picante sauce and pour over shells.

If freezing - cover and freeze

If making meal without freezing- cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator thirty minutes before baking.

***helpful hints from me***
I use disposable pastry bags to pipe the meat into the manicotti shells. The bag I used worked well without the tip. The preformed hole in the end of the bag worked well to fill the shells. This was really helpful since I filled 108 manicotti shells last night.

This recipe is ideal for me to split into two 8x8 pans for my family. At this point, my kids aren't big eaters for every meal. I serve this dish with some rice, corn, chips and salsa, etc. so one 8x8 pan is enough for my family. This way I get two dinners out of one recipe. If I have company for supper, I can easily bake two pans.

Serving Day:
Thaw completely in refrigerator before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for one hour. Uncover, spoon sour cream over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake ten minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Remember to split sour cream and cheese if you make 8x8 pans.

*** We ran out of chili powder while making this recipe. Hubby suggested using a package of taco seasoning that was thankfully in the pantry. Everyone in the swap will get the traditional recipe and I'll let you know how the taco seasoning works out when we eat ours.

This meal is a lot of work if making more than one dish. However, the dinner time hour on a weekday could be smooth if prepared ahead of time. It was a hit with the Dinner Diva group last time and was requested to make again! Hope you all enjoy it too!