Change is coming....

It has been SIX months since I have done anything with this blog....shame on me! I started the blog when I had a lot more free time (meaning before having Ally) as a way to share recipes with my family and whoever else wanted some new meal ideas. I also enjoyed participating in a few blogger recipe groups for a short time.

Now "free" time is scarce, Ally is quickly approaching TWO, and the time I use to take to prepare meals, take a photo before sitting down to eat, and blogging has gone by the wayside. I know there will still be recipes to share but rather than that being the primary focus of the blog, I'm going to start using it (hopefully on a more frequent basis) to post fun things we are doing as a family in Louisiana. Yes, you read that correctly! The last time I posted, we were living in Wyoming and since then the Air Force has moved us to Louisiana, and we are REALLY enjoying it!

I
'm too far behind to really catch up on the blog, so I'll be starting from right here, today (with maybe a few back posts about the move) from here on out. Stay tuned....change is coming!

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

It has been a long time since I have found a recipe that my family enjoyed so much that I need to add it to my "favorites" recipe binder. I have a lot of recipes torn out of magazines, marked in books, bookmarked in my favorites on the computer that I know I will never get around to trying all of them! I am glad I did get around to trying this recipe for Mexican Tortilla Lasagna. I've seen a number of recipes similar to this, but for some reason this particular recipe turned out great! A bonus is that it can be made ahead of time and either put in the freezer or refrigerator to bake when you are ready (in fact, the recipe makes two pans of lasagna...one for now and one for later)!!

Mexican Tortilla Lasagna (Woman's Day magazine-October 2010)
Makes 2, 6 servings each
2 lb lean ground beef
2 large poblanochili peppers, seeded and diced (2 cups)*
3 Tbls chili powder
2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire-roasted diced tomatoes with garlic*
1 can (15 oz) corn kernels, drained
1 can (10 oz) mild enchilada sauce
1 cup chopped cilantro**
8 burrito-size flour tortillas
8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat two 8 to 9-in square or round baking dishes with cooking spray. Put beef and peppers in a deep 12-in nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking up chunks of meat with a wooden spoon, 9 minutes or until beef is browned and peppers are crisp-tender. Stir in chili powder, cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, corn and enchilada sauce; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

To assemble each lasagna: Line bottom of each baking dish with 1 tortilla (it may come up the sides of the dish a bit). Top each with a rounded cup of meat mixture, then 1/4 cup of the cheese. Repeat layers 3 times. Cover lasagna you are baking now with nonstick foil. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover lasagna and bake 10 minutes more or until heated through. Remove from oven; cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Meanwhile, cover second lasagna with plastic wrap, then wrap tightly with nonstick foil. Freeze up to 2 months. (When ready to reheat: One to two days before serving, place frozen lasagna in refrigerator so it has time to thaw. Remove plastic wrap; re-cover with the foil. Bake 50 minutes; uncover and bake 10 minutes more until heated through.)

*I substituted the poblano peppers and fire-roasted tomatoes with can of Rotel.
**I omitted the cilantro.