Mexican Rice Casserole

Yet another tex-mex style dish...I just can't get enough! This is one you can fix in the crockpot, which is what drew me to it in the first place when I found it floating around on the weightwatchers boards.

Mexican Rice Casserole (Serves 8, 1 cup servings at 4 points a piece)

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
16 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1 package taco seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup instant rice, uncooked

Directions:

In a non-stick skillet, brown beef, onions, and peppers. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, except for rice. Cook on low for 8 hours. Stir in rice, cover and cook until rice is tender (about 15 minutes).

Of course I used ground turkey instead of the ground beef, and whenever I fix a crockpot dish like this, I like to chop all of the vegetables the night before. It makes it easier in the morning when I can just dump everything in and go. The dish itself turned out excellent; of course it's hard to go wrong with tex-mex. I loved the beans, the seasonings, and the rice, and the husband of course liked the dish too. I think he is a bigger fan of tex-mex dishes than I am.

One quick note about taco seasonings, I used McCormick's and I didn't realize until I had dumped it in that it had dairy in it. Old El Paso taco seasoning is dairy free, so next time I make this dish I plan on using the Old El Paso seasoning instead.