Easiest Cheap Enchilada Sorta Healthy Casserole

Here is the recipe that I made for the kids when they came over for supper last week. It is cheap, fast to throw together, and relatively healthy. Best of all this recipe makes a lot of food!!!

I'm sure you could feed 8 easily on one batch. We ate a lot and Josh and Allie took the rest home to use for a weekend meals.

OK here are the easy steps to making this super good Mexican dish.

Ingredients:

1- 2 pounds ground beef [my casserole was closer to one pound meat] browned, drained, and rinsed- this gets rid of most of the fat.
1 can enchilada sauce -or one cup homemade
1 cup salsa- I used the leftover salsa I'd made the day before- recipe here at The Porch Swing
1 can whole kernel corn drained -I used generic
1/2 red pepper- less or more- up to you
1 block of cream cheese- I used .89 cent generic
2 cups cheese grated- I used Cabot low fat cheddar sharp- it's the only low fat cheese that tastes real to us, you can get it at Walmart
1 can black beans drained and mashed fine with a fork [my budget version re-fried beans LOL] I believe any leftover bean would do- you just need 1 cup mashed beans.
12 small soft corn tortillas- or 6 big flour ones- your choice. I used corn [I buy these in bulk in the Hispanic section of my grocery store. They don't need to refrigerated and last forever!!!] and everybody loved the taste of the corn tortillas.

In a skillet mix the first 6 ingredients until cream cheese melts and it becomes sort of smooth. In the mean time spray a big pan with Pam, and spread the mashed beans onto the tortillas, one at a time. Put 6 small tortillas with bean mixture or 3 large ones in bottom of pan. Top with half the meat mixture. Sprinkle with half the cheese and repeat. Bake at 350 degrees 20-30 minutes or until cheese on top is thoroughly melted and bubbly. I made this up before lunch and let it sit to marry the flavors until I popped it into the oven around 5 in the afternoon. You could probably make a crock pot version by making it in the morning and then setting the crock pot to warm. Hmmm....that sounds like an experiment.