Cornchilada Casserole

This is a casserole my mom made while we were growing up. Since I am very old - lol - this is a long ago recipe and the orig has since been lost but I think this is very close and this is how I make it. Due to the corn chips, kids love this. Also due to the corn chips, you can make the meat mixture ahead, but don't put it together ahead as the corn chips will get soggy.

Cornchilada Casserole

1# hamburger meat

Beaumonde seasoning

other seasoning - I use Garlic Garlic and Onion Onion - you could also use a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup Mix

Brown the meat and the seasoning at the same time. You can also add salt and pepper.

Mix in one can of diced tomatoes. You can get the kind that are seasoned with mexican spices and have green chilies added. If you don't get that kind, you might want to add a little can of diced green chilies.

Add some chopped celery. If you don't have celery on hand, add celery salt to the spices you brown the meat with.

That is your meat mixture. Alternate that in a casserole dish putting the meat mixture down first, then a layer of cheese*, a layer of corn chips**, another layer of meat mixture, layer of cheese, and top with corn chips.

* Use velveeta cheese cut into small chunks
** I use the little Frito corn chips, not the big dipping chips.

Bake around 325 or 350. Basically you're just heating it thru and melting the cheese. It takes about a half hour or so.

Gwendalou