It’s ALL That & A Bag of Chips

I think I’m obsessed with foods that remind me of my childhood.  Mainly Catholic school cafeteria foods.  French bread pizza, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, neopolitan ice cream sandwiches, and Frito pies. When the cafeteria was servin’ up any of those yummies, I BEGGED my mom to let me buy.  And if she didn’t…which wasn’t out of the ordinary given that there were 4 of us…I’d beg my little friends to let me sample a few bites.  Or I’d just skip that step altogether and do a few taste tests of my own while they weren’t looking :)  I was SO excited to find this recipe because it SO reminded me of the Frito Pie lunch days back in elementary.  And ohmiword…the first few bites had me visioning Sister Dorothy standing right behind our table giving us the nun staredown while we ate our food.  Only this time around, I inhaled my meal without the infamous Catholic guilt…and it was sinfully delicious :)

 

OVEN BAKED FRITO PIE

from Colie’s Kitchen

1 lb. lean ground  beef

1 {16oz.} can pinto beans

1 {8oz.} can tomato sauce

1 {15oz.} can diced tomatoes

1 pkg. taco seasoning {I used McCormick’s}

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3 1/2 cups Fritos

1 1/4 cups sour cream

 

First up, brown the meat. Now go ‘head and drain it, return it to the pan, and stir in the beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and 1/4 cup of the cheese.

Sprinkle 1 cup of the Frito’s on the bottom of a well greased 8x8 baking dish.

Cover the Frito’s with the meat mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes and remove from oven.  Now spread the sour cream over the meat mix and top with the remaining Frito’s and cheese.

Return to oven and bake for another 4-5 minutes.  You might even wanna cover with foil and return to bake.  The cheese will get a little crispy on top of the Frito’s otherwise.  If you’re like me and could careless about that little detail, just pop it in the oven, bake, and remove! 

Holy smokes.  I know that doesn’t look like guilt-free eating, but trust me when I say that it’s worth the calorie laden conscience you’re sure to have once you take a bite :)

It’s ALL that and a bag of chips!