A Family Favorite: Taco Casserole

You will need:
Crushed Tortilla Chips (about 2-3 cups)
1 - 1 1/2 # taco meat
Cottage Cheese (about 1 cup or so)
Sour Cream (about 1 cup or so)
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (about 2-3 cups)*

Spray the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Combine cottage cheese & sour cream together; set aside. Spread half of the crushed chips on the bottom of dish. Then layer half of the meat and then half of the cottage cheese/sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese. Repeat the layers with remaining ingredients.

Bake at 350 for about 30-35 minutes.

YUM!! Enjoy!! :)

*You can also use Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend of some sort...whatever you have on hand!

Layered Mexican Dip

I am in the process of moving all of my recipes over here from my other blog. I posted this one a long time ago. Some of these are recipes I haven't made in a long time...just might have to make this one again soon! YUM!!

You will need:

2- 8 oz. pkgs. fat free cream cheese or neufchatel
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can Rotel, drained
1-2 c. cheddar or colby jack shredded cheese

In 11x7 baking dish, spread cream cheese in bottom. Layer beans, Rotel and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

ENJOY!

Mexican Shepherd's Pie

I get emails from Betty Crocker on a regular basis with new recipe ideas. This recipe is one that stuck out to me. The picture looked tasty and then as I read the ingredients I realized I had most everything to make it. My kids even thought it sounded good so I gave it a whirl! You can find the original recipe here. I made some alterations so that it wasn't too spicy for my kids.

You will need:
1# of ground beef
sweet onion, chopped
1 c. salsa (thick & chunky would probably work better than my homemade salsa)
1 bag of frozen corn, cooked & drained
1 box of Betty Crocker Loaded Mashed Potatoes, made according to directions on package
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
crushed tortilla chips

Brown ground beef with onion. Drain off grease and rinse with hot water. Return the meat to pan and stir in salsa and corn. Cook until heated through. Then spread mashed potatoes over the top. Sprinkle with cheese and cover until cheese melts. Before serving, sprinkle with tortilla chips.

Three of the five of us really liked it, the other two thought it was okay...but not at the top of their list! If I had to change anything, it would be to use plain mashed potatoes rather than the "loaded" but it was still pretty good!

Easy Pasta Salad

This is an easy pasta salad that you can throw together quickly with very little effort and as many or as few ingredients as you choose.

You will need:
1 box of rotini pasta noodles
1 16 oz. bottle of Italian salad dressing

Add veggies of your choice--I have been using the grape tomatoes and zucchini from my garden...and also some red onion. BUT you could add cucumbers, olives, green pepper...or whatever you like! There are so many options!!

I sometimes also add small cubes of cheese...whether it be cutting up string cheese or some chunk cheese that I have on hand.

Orange Jello Tapioca Salad

Don't let "tapioca" in the title scare you off! This is the best stuff!! :) I got this recipe when we lived in Chicagoland...it seemed pretty popular out there. Maybe it was a Dutch thing?? ;)

Orange Jello Tapioca Salad

You will need:
6 c. water
4 boxes of cook & serve tapioca pudding
1 large box of orange jello
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 large can of mandarin oranges, drained

Mix the water & pudding in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the jello.

Let it cool for 30-45 minutes, stir every 10 minutes. When cool, stir in mandarin oranges and Cool Whip; pour into bowl and refrigerate.

*This looks really pretty in a glass dish if you were going somewhere that you wanted it to look nice.