Layered Fiesta Casserole

Recipe & picture courtesy of Kraft Foods

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 50 min
Makes: 6 servings

• 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick ‘N Chunky Salsa
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed
• 12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
• 1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. Brown meat with peppers in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn.
3. Spread 1 cup meat mixture onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish; top with 6 tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Cover with layers of half each of the remaining meat mixture and cheese; top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover with foil.
4. Bake 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese; let stand 5 min. or until melted.

Notes & Comments: This is a great one dish meal, I chopped up half of an onion and added it to the mix as well.  I also used canned corn instead of frozen corn because I dislike frozen corn.  It’s great as leftovers too!

Ice-Cream Pumpkin Pie

Recipe courtesy of National Geographic Kids

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• dash of nutmeg
• dash of ground cloves
• graham cracker pie crust

1. Let the ice cream soften
2. Mix together the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and cloves.
3. Stir in the ice cream.
4. Spread the mixture evenly into the crust.
5. Cover and freeze for four hours or until firm.

Notes & Comments: This is super simple to make and it tastes wonderful!  I found that if you have pumpkin pie seasoning you can skip the other seasonings in this recipe.  (Except the sugar)  A friend of mine made this with her daughter and passed the recipe onto me.  I love that it’s very light compared to a lot of the other pies you find at dessert.  It’s the perfect alternative to those, like me, who don’t like pumpkin pie but love the taste of pumpkin!

Ravioli and Zucchini Lasagna

Recipe & picture courtesy of Good Housekeeping

Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Total Time: 40 min
Serves 6

• 2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb total), cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 1 package (26 oz) frozen large cheese ravioli
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 8 oz lean ground beef (90% fat free)
• 1 jar (26 oz) tomato-basil sauce
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheet with paper towels. Grease 1 quart ceramic baking dish.
2. Heat large covered saucepot of water to boiling over high heat. Add zucchini and cook 5 minutes. With tongs or slotted spoon, remove zucchini to prepared cookie sheet to drain. Return water to boiling. Add ravioli and cook until ravioli rise to the top.
3. Meanwhile, in 3 qt saucepan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 8-10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned; transfer to small bowl. In same saucepan, in remaining 1 tsp oil, cook beef over medium high heat 3-4 minutes or until browned, breaking up beef with side of spoon. Stir in tomato sauce and onion; heat to boiling.
4. Drain ravioli; return to saucepot. Add meat sauce to ravioli in saucepot and stir until combined.
5. In prepared baking dish, arrange half of zucchini; top with half of ravioli, then half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layering all ingredients. Bake 20 minutes or until hot in the center and golden and bubbly on top.

Notes & Comments: I added cooked ground turkey (or beef/chicken) to the sauce mixture to add more flavor to this.  It’s a very simple meal to make and I love that instead of lasagna noodles you use zucchini.  This dish has a great flavor and is a huge hit with everyone when I make it.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Recipe & picture courtesy of Paula Deen

Cook Time: 55 min
Yield: 1 (9 by 5-inch) loaf

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 (8-ounce) package sharp Cheddar, grated
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs, toasted
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1 (3-ounce) can French fried onions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground chuck and next 8 ingredients, mixing well.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ketchup and mustard. Stir 1/4 cup ketchup mixture into meat mixture, reserving remaining ketchup mixture.
4. Press meat mixture into a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan, or shape into a loaf and place on a rack in a broiler pan. Spread remaining ketchup mixture over loaf. Bake 40 minutes. Top with French fried onions; bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink.

Notes & Comments: This wasn’t as firm as most meatloafs usually come out but it tasted wonderful.  I cut the raw bacon before cooking it, this let it cook quicker and skipped crumbling them.  I just put them in as cut which made for a nice crunch in the meatloaf.  A good idea for another option is to use cheddar cheese cubes instead of shredded cheese, that gives a nice burst of flavor.  Also feel free to “make it healthier” by using ground turkey or chicken instead of ground hamburger, turkey bacon instead of pork bacon and low fat/no fat cheese, mayonnaise.  You get the idea!