Friday Night Family Dinner from Years Gone By

Friday nights have been special for me since I was a little girl.  Food and family made for a good night.  Y'all know that I got my "cooking genes" from my grandmother.  MaMa (pronounced MAW-MAW) cooked dinner every Friday night for our entire family.  Now we weren't a super large family, as family size goes, but my PaPa (you guessed it!  pronounced PAW-PAW) would come in on Friday evenings after working away for the week.  My mother and daddy would be there along with my older brother, Lance and myself.  Sometimes my Aunt Bobbie would come in from Houston for the weekend.  Friday nights were always special at MaMa's house.  We each had our favorite dishes and she would always ask us, "What would you like MaMa to cook?"  I loved it when she talked about herself in 3rd person. 

Okay, I digress.  One of our favorite meals was "Mexican Food Casserole".  I am sure it had another, more fitting name, but this is what we called it.  The thing I love best about MaMa's handwritten recipe for "Mexican Food Casserole" is that it calls for a 79 cent bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos.  Can you imagine how long ago that was when a super large size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos only cost 79 cents?  I think a bag costs about $3 these days. 

Here's what to do to make "MaMa's Mexican Casserole"

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lb. ground beef (I use 96% Lean)
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 T. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14.5 oz.) can of cream of mushroom (I use the reduced fat version)
1 (14.5 oz.) can of cream of chicken soup (I use the reduced fat version)
1 (14.5 oz.) can of cheddar cheese soup
1 large bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos (I have made this with Baked Doritos, and do so for my family, and they work well, but I suggest using real Doritos the first time you try this)
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

Brown meat with onion in a large skillet.  Drain any fat.  Return to skillet and add chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper.  Mix well and keep warm.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with no-stick cooking spray.  Line baking dish with Doritos, then half of the seasoned beef, and half of each can of soup.  (I mix all three cans of soup together in mixing bowl and add half of that mixture for this step).  Repeat layers.  Top with Doritos.  Spoon an entire can and juices of Rotel Tomatoes over the top of the Doritos.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes, or until bubbly at the edges. 

And along with Mexican Food Casserole, we always had Taco Salad.  This salad has been served at every salad luncheon you've ever attended.  It's a tried and true recipe and I serve it to my family with every Tex-Mex meal I make.  In the summer, we add some fajita chicken or ground beef, seasoned for tacos to it and have it for dinner.


Here's what to do for the Taco Salad:

INGREDIENTS
Lettuce (I like romaine, you can use any variety, but stay away from the spring mix varieties.  You can buy the American Salad blend in the bag, hearts of romaine, or just use iceberg.  Any of it works!)
Tomatoes (for a family of four, I use 2 to 3 large roma tomatoes) cut into chunks
3-4 Slliced green onions
1 can sliced black olives, rinsed and drained
1 large avocado, cut into chunks
1 can of Ranch Style Beans, drained and rinsed
Shredded cheddar cheese
Fritos (crunched and used for the topping)1 bottle of Kraft Catalina salad dressing (I have used fat free and it's TOO SWEET!  We used the reduced fat version of the dressing and it tastes great, if you are interested in lightening up the calories)


DIRECTIONS

Mix salad ingredients together and toss gently (ommitting the Fritos and cheese)

Do this just prior to serving or everything will be mushy.  We sprinkle the Fritos on our individual salads so you can have as much (Charlie) or as little as you like.  Not everyone in my family likes cheese, so we also add that separately. Many times I've seen the salad prepared with cheese and fritos mixed in with the salad, and sometimes even dressed.  I don't recommend this because the Fritos will get soggy and I can't think of much worse than soggy Fritos!

Top with Catalina and toss! 

Again, you've probably had this salad plenty of times.  It's one of my standard recipes and my family loves it.  I know you will too.