Layered Enchilada Bake and a Special Delivery

I had mentioned in last night's post, that Monday night we had dinner at my grandmom's.  We had such a delicious dinner, and I just had to share the recipe with all of you!  It was a recipe she got from a Kraft magazine. 

Layered Enchilada Bake
Yields 8 servings


Ingredients 
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups chunky salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained, rinsed
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
2 tbsp taco seasoning mix
6 flour tortillas
1 cup sour cream
1 package (8 ounces) Mexican style four cheese

To Prepare the Enchilada Bake
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Brown meat with onions in large skillet on medium-high heat, and then drain off the liquid.
3. Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, and seasoning mix.
4. Arrange 3 tortillas on the bottom or a 13x9 inch baking dish.
5. Cover the tortillas with layers of half the meat mixture, half of the sour cream, and half of the cheese. Repeat this step with the remaining ingredients and cover with foil.
6. Bake for 30 minutes and then cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the casserole is heated through and the cheese is melted.

My grandmom served ours with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, and jalapenos for topping our slice of casserole!

The official photo from the Kraft magazine...it looked this great at Grandmom's, too!

Late yesterday afternoon, I also got a special package in the mail from Panera Bread - yes, my book and gift card arrived after mucho waiting and impatience!  I am super excited to treat my family to dinner at Panera over the weekend!  The book I won is beautiful and I cannot wait to start working my way through all of the delicious recipes!  It is Artisan Bread by Eric W. Kastel.  The instructions are well written and the photos are beautiful!  My salivary glands go nuts whenever I thumb through the book!  I am CERTAIN I will have lots of bread pictures for all of you guys in the coming months! 

Breakfast Nachos

I've finally found my way back to the blog-o-sphere and twitterverse after having had my laptops power cord eaten alive by the vacuum cleaner!  I've managed to steal my dad's power cord just long enough to power up and post a few things.  While I love the convenience of the laptop, I definitely went through less parts and replacements with a desktop, but anywho, I digress...back to the recipes!

I made these for the post-homecoming party at our house about a week and a half ago.  The idea hit me out of nowhere while I was thinking about what to serve the kiddos.  I was determined to put out breakfast food only, but didn't just want to throw out a plate of meat to supplement a menu that was clearly lacking protein, and I wanted to be sure it was something that they would definitely eat!  I ran the idea past my sister, and when she was intrigued, I decided it was go time!  They were a HUGE hit, and were different and fun to eat (Plus I didn't have to wash utensils)! 

Breakfast Nachos
Yields 6 - 8 servings

To Prepare the Nachos
1. Spray an oven safe casserole dish or pan with a little non-stick cooking spray.  I learned the hard way that this is a critical step...let's just say that the end result was me cursing in the kitchen with scalding hot water trying to scrape the bottom of the pan for about 30 minutes to clean it the next day!  I'll let your imagination run from there...
2. Pour a bag of tortilla chips into the pan.
3. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. Fry a 1 pound tube of breakfast sausage.  Break it up as you cook it, so it starts to resemble ground beef!
5. While the sausage is cooking, dice 1 small onion, and 1 bell pepper. 
6. When the meat is done cooking, spread it evenly over the top of the tortilla chips.
7. Evenly sprinkle the top of the meat with the bell peppers and onions. 

8. Break 6 - 8 eggs one at a time over the top of the nachos, but try to not break the yolks.  Be sure to spread them out so there is an even distribution of egg over the nachos!  The eggs with settle across the top of the meat and veggies and spread fairly evenly on their own. 
9. Bake the nachos until the egg whites have cooked and the yolks are still a little runny. 

10. Right before taking them out of the oven, sprinkle with some grated cheddar or taco blend cheese, and finish baking it until the cheese has melted. 

11. Serve with salsa and enjoy!