Tasty Thursday: Mexican Lasagna

Yum.  I love lasagna.  And I love Mexican food.  And my husband loves Mexican casseroles.  Mix it all together, and you've got Mexican lasagna!  I initially pinned the idea from this blog on Pinterest, and decided that I could take the general idea and make it within my "healthy" parameters.

The recipe I made serves 2 easily (3 if you're eating lighter). 1/2 receipe: 695 calories, 13 g fat, 102 g cabs, and 48 g protein.

Use a loaf pan and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Grease the loaf pan with canola spray or something similar.

Ingredients:
2 small corn tortillas (the kind that are 50 cal each)
1/4 reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1 cup black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 c. Prego italian sauce, "Healthy" (a new type they make -yay!)
3 ounces ground beef (85% lean or higher), browned
1 can (about 2.5 cups) red kidney beans
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika

After you've browned the ground beef, combine all ingredients except tortillas and cheese.  Layer the ingredients in this order:  mixture, tortillas, mixture, tortillas, mixture, cheese.

Bake at 400, covered, for 30 minutes or until warmed through and cheese is melted on top.

This recipe is great to make-ahead and then throw in the oven when you get home.  If you do so straight from the refrigerator, cook for longer than 30 minutes (probably 45-60) to heat through.

Voila!  My husband helped cook it after we got home from a long day, and served it up more casserole style. Nonetheless, it was delicious!  It would be great with tortilla chips if you wanted to add those in, as well.

Tasty Thursday: Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls

I've decided to dedicate Thursdays to tasty things.  Because I like tasty things much more than un-tasty things.

Anyway, today's recipe is some fabulous pull-apart dinner rolls.  They came to me through Pinterest and Amanda's Cookin.  She deserves the credit, because they're fabulous.

Here's what you need:
1 package quick-acting active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/3 cup milk, warmed (roughly 105-115 F)
3 to 3 1/2 c flour (white or wheat work fine)
3 tbsp oil (Amanda calls for olive oil, but I've been using Canola just fine)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp (or more) melted butter
coarse salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm milk and sugar.  Stir in 1 c. flour, the oil, and salt.  Beat until smooth, then stir in enough remaining flour until soft dough forms.  Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, usually about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400F.  Punch dough down in center and fold over a few times to remove the air from the dough.  Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  Divide the dough into 12 equal parts.  For each part, divide into thirds and roll each section into a ball.  Place 3 balls per muffin cup.  Brush rolls with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake 15 minutes or  until rolls are golden brown.  If you choose not to use butter rolls may not turn brown on top, but they'll still taste just as good.  Cool the rolls on a wire rack and store loosely covered.

I never get sick of making these rolls, and they don't last long in our house.  I've asked my dearest husband to rate the food I make so I can give you an idea. It's a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "Please, don't even try this again" and 10 being somewhere around "I want seconds!"  (My husband eats like a bird.  If he wants seconds, it means the food is good.  I mean good.)



Rolls Ratings:  "Can I give it an 11?"