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!

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!