Mexi Shells with Spanish Rice

Recipe:

18 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
4 can (8 oz. each) no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 lb extra lean ground beef (We use ground turkey)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 can (4.5 oz.) chopped green chiles,drained
1 can (15 or 16 oz.) chili beans in sauce, undrained
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 350. Cook pasta shells as directed on package.
2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix tomato sauce, flour, chili powder and 2 teaspoons cumin; set aside.
3. In 2-quart saucepan, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in 1 teaspoon cumin, the cilantro, green chiles and chili beans.
4. Drain pasta shells. In ungreased 13x9-inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture. Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons beef mixture into each pasta shell. Place filled-sides-up on sauce in dish. Pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over shells. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 6 servings.

We wish that we could say that our first post was delicious, but this was not the best meal we've made. Overall, the sauce was a little bland (we did forget the cilantro though-maybe that was the problem). It did have a nice spicy kick to it though.

We'll try this recipe again to see if we can spice it up!