In a large pot, boil the noodles until they are cooked to your liking. We don't like our noodles al dente, so we don't do that, but if you'd like that, go right ahead.

Drain the pasta and set aside for a few minutes.

In a pan, brown the ground turkey or the ground beef, depending on your choice.

Once the meat is browned, sprinkle the taco seasoning over the top of the meat, and then pour the cup of water in.

Mix it all together in the pan and allow it to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the four ounces of cream cheese into the meat mixture and stir until it is melted.

Put the pasta back in the large pot and then pour the meat mixture on top. Mix together and heat over low to medium heat.

Sprinkle ¾ of the shredded cheese into the Taco Bake and stir until melted.

Serve in bowls and divide & sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over each bowl.

Serve immediately for a wonderfully quick weeknight dinner!

If Freezing an extra batch:You will need to double this recipe to get two batches. Each batch serves 4-5 people.

In the first step, remove half of the noodles when they are al dente even if you like them all the way cooked - don't worry they will get a chance to cook more.

Follow steps 2-4.

Next, in a casserole dish mix together the meat mixture and the noodles. Add the entire bag of shredded cheese. and stir until melted.

Add ¼ cup of water.

Cover the casserole dish and freeze.

When you are ready to serve it, there are two ways you can do this.

THAWED CASSEROLE: If you have thawed the casserole, keep covered and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Uncover and stir the pasta. Return it to the oven uncovered for about 5-10 minutes more.

FROZEN CASSEROLE: If the casserole is frozen, pop it in the oven covered for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and stir. Return to oven for another 15-20 minutes watching closely so it doesn't burn. I usually stir it every 5 minutes or so, so the noodles don't get all hard and crunchy.