mexican casserole

tonight was one of those nights where the meal just threw itself together-- i love those nights. my little girls were playing in a different room and i sat in my kitchen, wondering what in the world i could make for dinner. i saw a Rice-A-Roni box in my pantry and all of a sudden i had a mexican casserole on my hands. it was really, really, really yummy. enjoy!

 

 all of these ingredients were already in my pantry/refrigerator. i bet they're already in yours too! if not, this recipe is very easy to adapt to whatever you've got on hand. this would also be yummy if you added black or pinto beans, something i thought of after the fact. gotta love those moments.

ingredients

1 box Rice-A-Roni "Whole Grains Spanish" Blend

2 cans chopped tomatoes, drained

1 can sweet yellow corn, drained 

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach

mexican blend shredded cheese (maybe 2 cups total)

1/2 package taco seasoning

1/2 package ranch seasoning 

1 lb ground turkey or ground beef

corn tortillas

directions

preheat oven to 350. on the stove top, follow the instructions for the Rice-A-Roni and prepare your meat and rice. if you don't want to use the Rice-A-Roni (I only used it because it was on hand), simply brown your meat of choice. When the meat is browned (and the rice is cooked according to the box directions), add 1/2 packages of taco seasoning and ranch seasoning. stir and allow to cook for a little bit longer, and then set aside for layering.

in a medium-sized casserole dish, begin with a layer of corn tortillas. i had to cut one in order to make sure the entire bottom of the dish was covered.

next, start adding ingredients layer by layer. add 1 cup of shredded cheese, followed by the meat and rice mixture, spinach, tomatoes, corn, etc. start another layer with more corn tortillas, and continue through the above ingredients. you'll have two layers total.

cover the casserole in loose foil and bake for 20 minutes. after 20 minutes, take the foil off and bake uncovered for 3-5 more minutes just until the cheese is nicely melted.

divide and serve, my friends!

*note: on the back of the Rice-A-Roni  box, there are optional instructions if you want to add meat (ground turkey or beef). please follow those directions! or, if you're a vegetarian, just make the rice according to the regular instructions.