Baked Tacos!

So there was this recipe on Pinterest that I've been wanting to try for a while now and time just hasn't been on my side. Well Monday night I finally tried it! It was for Baked Tacos. Y'all they were YUM! The recipe I pinned was from Mommy I'm Hungry I tweaked it a bit and made it with stuff I knew I'd like. Here's the recipe:
Oven Tacosadapted from Blog Chef

2 lbs ground beef (or turkey/chicken)
1 small onion diced
1 small can diced green chilies
1 recipe for Homemade taco seasoning (below)
1 (8 ounce) can low sodium tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) can fat free refried beans
2 cups shredded reduced fat Colby-jack cheese
18-20 hard taco shells{if gluten free, be sure they are}

Optional Condiments-
Lettuce (shredded)
Tomato (diced)
Salsa
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Olives, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large skillet brown ground beef and onion over medium-high heat. Drain off any excess liquid. Return to pan, add chilies, refried beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning. Mix well and cook for a few minutes if mixture seems runny.

Spoon the taco meat mixture into the taco shells and place into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (OR check out The Taco Rack), standing up. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the taco meat in each shell. Place into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the tacos are heated through.
Remove from the oven and top with any optional condiments for serving.

Taco Seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix all together. Store in an airtight container.
I used all of this on 2 lbs of ground meat with a little water mixed in.

I used extra lean ground turkey seasoned with garlic salt and taco seasoning. If you see ^^ you can make your own, but I just happened to have a bottle of it in my cabinet.  :) I did add some crushed red pepper flakes because I like things spicy. They were very good! Next time I'll use rotel instead just to make it easier and will probably attempt to make my own shells. I've seen where you can take a corn tortilla and hang it over the rack in the oven and it comes out crispy...I've gotta try it! I even had them the next day for lunch and yes they were a tad soggy but they were good! I garnished them with shredded lettuce and some farm fresh tomatoes I picked up from a farmer's market.

Let me know if you try them!

xoxo,

SamanthaDiane