Almost Forgotten Fiesta Skillet

I'm dealing with a backlog of recipes/food.  I've got photos of food I made about a year ago, and just never posted, because I got caught up in… everything, I guess.  Anyhow, I've been posting them, and it's been pretty fun to revisit it all.  And then I got to this recipe.  I looked at the photos, and said aloud, "What IS that?!"  My husband glanced over and said, "Oh, hey.  That was really yummy.  You should make that again."  Still didn't answer my question, but I finally figured out where the recipe had come from: an issue of Taste of Home: Simple & Delicious.  I just had to figure out which issue.  Thanks to my aunt, I have quite a few.  I flipped through a couple of them, then pulled out another magazine to find a tab that I had placed on the page with the recipe so I could post it.  How clever.  Below follows the recipe as I made it.  I will note that it was submitted to the magazine by an Amber Willard.  I don't know you, but thanks, Ms. Willard!

Fiesta Beef and Noodle Skillet

3 1/2 C egg noodles

3/4 lb ground beef

1/2 onion

1 can nacho cheese soup 

1 C salsa

1/2 C water

1/2 tsp cumin*

1/2 tsp onion*

dash paprika*

salt and pepper to taste*

1 C shredded cheese

*substituted for 1 tsp taco seasoning in the original recipe: if you have that, use it

Bring salted water to a boil to cook the noodles according to package instructions.  While that's in the works, chop the onion, then brown the beef and onion in a skillet.  

Stir in the soup concentrate, salsa, water, and taco seasoning.

Drain the cooked noodles, then stir them into the meat mixture.  Cover it all with cheese (mm… cheese).  Remove from the heat and cover the pan until the cheese melts.  

Well, as I said in the introduction, my husband wanted to make this one again, it was that big a hit.  I liked it better the first time we made it.  It was a bit cheesier, because instead of using a can of cheese soup, I used about 2 cups of a concentrated queso soup that I had made from a powdered mix.  That soup also added some beans (very few, but some) to the mix, which were a nice little surprise when you got them.  But I think the biggest difference was that the first time I had a ton of cheese to put on top, and the second time, I had maybe half a cup leftover from something else.  Go with the full 1 C of cheese or more.  It just makes it that much more indulgent.

But this is a quick, delicious crowd-pleaser (or just a husband-pleaser in my case).  The leftovers store, freeze, and warm up very well. The recipe could also scale up easily if you needed it to.  I should probably also say that the original recipe also calls for a full pound of beef, but it works better for me to freeze beef in 3/4 lb. portions.