Mexican Lasagna/ Mexican Blend Herbs

3 pounds hamburger
12 tortillas, cut in half
23 ounces ranch style beans
14 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
10 ounces rotel tomatoes with green chilies
10 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder

Brown meat with onion. Drain. Add chili powder. In a baking dish layer 12 tortilla halves. Place 1/2 of meat on top. Top with beans. Place a layer of cheese over this. Place remaining tortilla halves over this. Mix together remaining meat and sup and rotels, Pour on top. Cover with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Notes: This was way too much for us the first time I made it. So I now make half the recipe. It is very good. The original recipe just called for tortillas as written above. But I've made it both ways, you really want to use corn tortillas. Also instead of using plain chili powder, I used a blend of Mexican spices, about 2 tablespoons. And finally I add a 4 ounce can of sliced mushrooms to the Meat/soup mixture [for half recipe so add 2 for the whole one].


Mexican Blend Herbs

3 Tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons dry cilantro
1 tablespoon cayenne
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons cumin
pinch cloves
1 tablespoons onion powder
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

Blend well. Store in an airtight container.

Enchiladas / Hamburgers

I have been ill so I did not post yesterday. The Mickie Stew was very good. I have not had it for quite some time and it was as good as I remembered. He liked it.

Last night we had Beef Enchiladas. They were delicious, and between us we ate the whole pan. Not bad for a sick person I must say. But, I've been looking forward to these for the whole week.

Tonight we are having hamburgers. [He's cooking]

Enchilada Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin [the original only called for 1 tsp.]
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 pinch cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons cold water [I added 3 more of chicken broth to create a pouring consistency]
5 tablespoons white flour

Combine all ingredients, except flour and water. Boil for 3 minutes, whisking often. Combine flour and water [and chicken broth]. Very slowly pour into sauce while whisking. [the original just didn't look like it would pour right, so I thinned it a little to make it pour slowly.] Cook 1 minutes, whisking constantly. Take off heat.

For the meat I simply used a meat mixture using Mexican herb blend herbs. You could probably use taco meat. 2 pounds.

To soften the corn tortillas you either dip them into the hot sauce; but it's thick and you will have to drain some off of the tortilla. Or you an dip them in and out of hot oil until the are soft but not fried.

Put a thin layer of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the saucepan. Fill and roll corn tortillas and place seam side down in pan. Once all meat mixture is used and enchiladas are made, pour sauce over the top, then cover with cheese. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.


Hamburgers [His way]

His hamburgers are really simple. They are small though and you may want to use more meat. This however is just about right for the two of us.

1 pound hamburger
seasoned salt

Sprinkle hamburger with seasoned salt [he uses a lot]. Form into 4 patties, and fry in skillet as normal.