Layered Mexican Casserole

8 oz. ground beef 

1 (12 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (12 oz. jar chunky salsa

1 (2 1/4 oz.) can sliced olives, drained

1 c. cream-style cottage cheese

1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

5 cups tortilla chips (7-8 oz)

2 c. (8oz. ) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1/2 c. chopped tomato

Brown ground beef in large skillet; drain. Add corn and salsa; cook until thoroughly heated. Reserve 2 tablespoons olives; stir remaining olives into beef mixture. Combine cottage cheese and sour cream in bowl.

In 2 quart casserole dish, layer 2 cups chips, 3/4 cup cheese, half of meat mixture and half of cottage cheese mixture. Repeat layers; cover. Bake in preheated oven at 350, 35 minutes. Line edge of casserole with remaining 1 cup chips; top with tomato, reserved olives and remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and chips are hot.  Makes 4-6 servings.

Price Guesstimate: $12-ish(orginal recipe),  $7-9 (my semi-cheapifying changes, see below!)

Steph's Comments: I got this recipe from my friend, Tarmy. Thanks Tarmy! I thought it was delicious! I made the original recipe - and downed it! - but as I was making it, a few ideas came to me on how to make it a little cheaper if you want to. First, you can only put chips and cheese on the top, and you can also substitute all or half of the ground beef with beans (I would pick Kidney beans).  Also, if you use Picante Sauce instead of Chunky Salsa it's several dollars cheaper for a big bottle (I usually use Pace, and the Picante Sauce is $5 and the Chunky Salsa is $8.) You can also leave out the olives if you want. Naturally, the cheapifying isn't QUITE as good, but it's still tasty and you can save a few bucks. Thanks for the great recipe Tarmy - my family LOVED IT! (In fact, I had my niece over, who is 3, and she asked for 3 helpings!)