Mexican Lasagna

I made this the other night and it was delicious! The recipe and photo is from Kraftfoods.com, but I omitted the brand names they recommended because I don't think it matters. I used storebrand cheeses and it was great!

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2-1/2 cups mild salsa
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
12 corn tortillas (6 inch), divided
1 container (16 oz.) cottage cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 can (2-1/4 oz.) sliced pitted ripe olives, drained

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Brown meat in large skillet on medium heat; drain. Return meat to skillet. Add onions and peppers; cook until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add salsa, corn and seasonings; mix well.

LAYER one third of the meat mixture and one half each of the tortillas and cottage cheese in 13x9-inch baking dish. Repeat layers; cover with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and olives.

BAKE 30 min. or until heated through.

Layered Enchilada Bake

Makes:8 servings

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups Chunky Salsa
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained, rinsed
1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing
2 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning Mix
6 flour tortillas (8 inch)
1 cup Sour Cream
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400ºF. Brown meat with onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add salsa, beans, dressing and seasoning mix; mix well.

ARRANGE 3 of the tortillas in single layer on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with layers of half each of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat all layers. Cover with foil.

BAKE, covered, 30 min. Remove foil. Bake an additional 10 min. or until casserole is heated through and cheese is melted. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

Courtesy of Kraft.com

"Fancy" Mac and Cheese

This is from my friend Lamar, who is an incredible cook. No Kraft Dinner for him! It's not quick and easy, but it's fabulous!

1. Pick your favorite pasta shape (I like the little shell shaped ones)and boil 1 pound in lightly salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving half a cup of the pasta water, just in case.
2. Grate 1/4 pound each of Fontina, Gruyère, and Smoked Mozzarella (orpick your favorite cheeses)
3. Make a bechamel sauce as follows:
4. warm 1.5 cups of milk in the microwave. just enough so it's roomtemperature or so. doesn't need to be hot
5. preheat the oven to 350°F
6. mince 2 cloves of garlic
7. over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. sauté the garlic for about 1 minute in the melted butter.
8. *before the butter browns*, add 4 tablespoons of flour. stir until thick and pasty. don't brown the rue.
9. add 1/2 a cup of the milk, stirring to dissolve the rue. add as much of the remaining milk as you would like to make a sauce that's as think as you want.
10. Add 1 teaspoon of finely ground white pepper (black is okay, but you get specks in the sauce)
11. put the cooked pasta into a casserole dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray and coated with unseasoned breadcrumbs
12. in the casserole dish, mix the grated cheese, bechamel sauce, and pasta. reserve some of the gruyère to sprinkle on top, or grate more.
13. if the sauce is too thick, add any remaining milk or some of the reserved pasta water until it thins to your liking
14. sprinkle reserved gruyere on top and bake at 350° until the cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown.

Awesome Potato Casserole

From my friend Michelle, in a recipe exchange. She says "I could live off this stuff; It's great for potlucks, too."

• 2 Lbs Hash Brown Potatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 can cream of potato soup
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 cup diced ham
• 2 cups shredded cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped onions, optional

Mix all ingredients in a gigantic bowl, transfer to a 13X9 casserole dish, add whatever topping you wish, Cover and Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Topping ideas: 2 cups corn flakes mixed with 1/4 cup butter works, but I usually just add about 1 c cheese when there's only 10 minutes left on the timer.

Easy Chicken Divan

• 4 chicken breasts, cook then cool and cut up
• 1 pkg. Chicken Rice-A-Roni prepare as package directs
• 20oz. frozen chopped broccoli, cooked
• 1 c. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. curry powder (it makes all the difference!)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• cheddar or mozzarella cheese, grated
• fine bread crumbs or crushed croutons/dressing cubes

Spread prepared Rice-A-Roni on the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Spread cooked broccoli on top of rice. Mix the cut up chicken with mayonnaise, soup, curry powder, lemon juice. Spread chicken mixture on top of broccoli. Top with grated cheese and bread crumbs or croutons. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

This is straight from Aunt Diana's cookbook. Henri likes more chicken than rice, so I usually add a couple of more breasts...but you can modify for your family's tastes. It's one of my all-time favorites. It freezes well (before or after baking), and it's just as good the next day as leftovers.

Aunt Diana's Christmas Breakfast

Egg Casserole

**must be made the night before

• 4 slices white bread, torn up (wheat works fine, too)
• 1 lb. cooked sausage (crumbled) or links (cut into bite-size pieces) - eliminate for vegetarian
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 12 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• dash of pepper

Grease 13x9x2 inch pan. Place bread, cheese, sausage in bottom of pan (in that order). Beat eggs well, in separate bowl. Add milk mustard, salt and pepper to eggs. Pour egg mixture into pan, over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake in preheated over at 350 for about 40 minutes or until eggs are set in center. Eggs will be bubbly brown on the top.

Serves 10-12 regular people. Serves 8-10 Lesters.

Hasbrown Casserole

• 2 lbs. frozen hash brown potatoes, cubed (plain is best, but you can use O'Brien style if you want)
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 16 oz. container sour cream or sour half-and-half
• 1/2 stick margarine or butter, melted
• 1 tsp garlic salt OR 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt (optional if using garlic salt)

Topping:

• 2 cups crushed Corn Flakes, 1 stick melted butter; mix.

Mix all ingredients together in a Big Bowl. Put mixture in an ungreased 13x9x2 inch pan. Add topping. Bake at 375 for 90 minutes. If baking at the same time as the Egg Casserole (at 350), increase baking time for hash browns to approx. 2 hours.

Serves 10-12 regular people. Serves 6-8 Lesters

We usually make one more pan of potatoes than eggs, as people generally take more potatoes than eggs. The potatoes make great leftovers (much better than the eggs), so it's not a problem if there are any left. The eggs must be made the night before to set up. I typically make the hashbrowns the night before, too - just to get them done at the same time. I also really like the potatoes as a side dish for a dinner (it's good with any kind of roast beef, chicken, etc.). You can put less cheese (down to 1 cup) in each of the recipes, if you want. If you don't like mushrooms, you can use cream of chicken, or cream of celery soup instead.

Aunt Diana always made this for the Lester Family Christmas Breakfast...and we still do.

--cinda

Chicken and Rice Casserole

I got this recipe from Paula's Home Cookin' on the Food Network and I LOVE this casserole. I wish I could send the smell along with the picture because it smells delicious and tastes so YUMMY!

2 (14 1/2 oz) cans whole green beans

1 c. mayonnaise

3 c. diced cooked chicken (I use approx. 20 oz of the canned chicken)

(6 oz) box long-grain and wild rice original recipe

1/2 medium onion

1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts (found in the oriental section of grocery store)

pinch of salt

1 (4 oz) can pimentos (usually by the olives and/or peppers in grocery store)

1 can condensed cream of celery soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook rice according to package directions. Dice and saute onion. Rinse and drain green beans. Drain and chop water chestnuts. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 3 quart casserole dish (I use a 13x9 baking dish). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

*You may be tempted to leave some ingredients out, but I promise, you should make it with all the ingredients first and try it. I couldn't find pimentos and water chestnuts the first time I tried to make it and it was ok, but then I found them and made it again and now it's my favorite meal. I make it when I have the missionaries over for dinner and they have always said how delicious it is...and they always have 2nd's so I am pretty sure they're being honest. :)

Taco Bake

I got this from the Kraft Foods website. I edited out the name brands because it doesn't matter what brand you use. It was surprisingly delicious! Both of my girls said, "I love it!" So, its a keeper for us!

pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup Sour Cream
1-1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
1 cup your favorite Salsa

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, brown meat; drain. Add taco seasoning mix and water to meat; simmer 5 min.

STIR sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon half of the Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of the meat mixture, 1 cup of the cheese and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.

BAKE 15 min. Top with salsa and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, an additional 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked, skinned,chopped
1 dozen corn tortillas, quartered
2-3 c. shredded Mexican blend cheese(recipe calls for 2, but I like more)
1-2 10 oz. cans of Green chile sauce(depending on how hot you want it)
1 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c. onion chopped
1/2 c. milk
1 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup

Combine all ingredients except a small amount of cheese for top(about 3/4 c.) and the tortillas. Layer dish with tortillas, then chicken mixture, and repeat layering until gone, ending with the chicken mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 300*F for one hour.

I have this in the oven as I type!