Mexican Lasagna

My brother's wife is a very good cook. She is also a very frugal cook. At a recent family gathering, we were talking about cooking & budgets, and when she got home, she emailed me a few of her favorite recipes.

Tonight I tried one of them, Mexican Lasagna. As usual, in addition to my family, there were two other teenagers here. It was a big hit with everyone!

So, I thought I'd share it with you.

Mexican Lasagna
1-2 # ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
6 flour tortillas
1 cup frozen corn
1 small jar salsa
Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack/Colby blend cheese

Brown ground beef, drain fat and add taco seasoning with a little water or beef broth. Stir in soup and black beans.

In 9x13 casserole dish, place 2 flour tortillas in bottom to line pan. Pour meat mixture over this. Top with 2 more flour tortillas and some shredded cheese.

Mix together corn and salsa. Pour over 2nd layer of flour tortillas. Top with 2 more flour tortillas and a nice layer of shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

Santa Fe Taco Mac

While reading my friend's blog, A Nut in a Nutshell, I came across this recipe for Santa Fe Taco Mac.

We don't usually have Mexican dishes with pasta, so I thought this sounded different, yet yummy!

I decided to make it for dinner tonight, as well as share it with you.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef 1 can pinto beans 2 cups cheese (either mexican or cheddar) 1 container Santa Fe Blend Philadelphia Cooking Creme 1 16 oz pkg elbow macaroni 1 packet taco seasoning mix

Optional ingredients: Tortilla chips, jalapenos, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, tomato

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning mix. Set aside.

Boil macaroni as directed on package; drain. In a bowl, mix pasta, cooking creme, 1 cup shredded cheese, ground beef, and 1 cup rinsed and drained pinto beans.

Put mixture into large casserole dish and top with remaining cup of shredded cheese.

(If making a vegetarian version, you may want to add some chili powder for additional flavor.)

Bake covered for 20 to 30 minutes.

It was a hit! It will definitely be added to our regular menu.

*Southern Loving note: I added onions to my ground beef, and I used black beans instead of pinto, just because we like them better! As for the optional additions, we had sour cream, chips & salsa, and we had corn on the side.*

Cinco De Mayo!

Did you do anything special for Cinco De Mayo this year?
Every year I say we're going to celebrate big, but then it sneaks up on me and I end up throwing something together.
This year was no different.
As I posted on my main blog, Putting the Fun in Dysfunctional, this week was ROUGH. So Cinco de Mayo at my house was celebrated with a simple dinner of very Americanized mexican food: Chimichangas (plenty of sour cream on top, of course), tortilla chips & salsa, and corn with some salsa mixed in. It was very yummy! But not very authentic....at all.....
Oh well, there's always next year!

Ole!

Meatless Monday & Stuff

Another Meatless Monday rolled around. We went with an old standby this Monday; bean burritos with sour cream, cheese and salsa; corn, and the Margaritaville tortilla chips that I picked up at Publix (BOGO!!) this weekend. They are super-good chips. I especially like the extra thick variety. I saw that they also sell salsa, so I want to try that as soon as I can find it.
In other news, I started my window herb garden this weekend. I planted parsley, basil, and chives. I can't wait until they start sprouting! I should see sprouts in 7-10 days.
I also planted a bell pepper plant. I haven't planted veggies since I lived at home with my parents (we're not going to discuss how many years ago that was, mmmkay?). I can't wait to watch them grow and then eat my own produce! I'm also going to plant tomatoes and cucumbers.
We have a blueberry stand that is supposed to be producing soon. There are little tiny blueberries EVERYWHERE. I am going to be needing blueberry recipes....LOTS of them!
We picked up some fresh vegetables at a craft festival this weekend. I'm always thrilled to get fresh veggies from local growers and the price is fantastic, then I forget and go right back to buying at the grocery store! DUH! This town has a Farmer's Market every Thursday and I am determined to start going!
Hope y'all have a great week!