My husband and I are off together on Sundays, which is probably not a good thing sometimes. But I love having more time on the weekends to spend in my kitchen, experimenting with recipes.

Recently while I was searching for something different to fix for supper, I ran across a recipe for Mexican Lasagna at kraftfoods.com.

It had that taco vibe that Rick and I both like, and it appeared to be quick and easy to fix — about 45 minutes from preparation to table. So I printed off the recipe and headed to the grocery store.

This new recipe is a huge hit, not only with Rick and I but also with everyone who has tasted it.

I sent the first batch I made to the Eagle office with Rick one Saturday when he had to work, and everyone who tried it loved it.

It was good, but I thought it needed something more, so I decided to tweak the recipe a little bit by adding some extra seasoning the next time I fixed it.

This past Sunday, we had a small family gathering at our house to discuss some vacation plans, so I decided to fix the new version of the Mexican Lasagna as well as the Cheeseburger Crescent Bake Casserole that I found recently at Pillsbury.com, and a salad.

Our daughter-in-law, Jenna, also brought over a new dish she was giving a try, so we had ourselves a little experimental potluck lunch.

When we put the food on the table, I told everyone that I didn’t know how good the Mexican Lasagna would be this time around because I had changed the recipe a little bit.

Our oldest son, Jason, was the first person to try it. “I don’t know about all the other stuff yet,” he said. “But this Mexican Lasagna is delicious!”

I thought “Wow!” Getting a “delicious” from Jason is like someone on American Idol getting a thumbs up from Simon Cowell. We all loved Jenna’s dish too. I forget what she called it, but it was a lasagna-style casserole as well. I told her I wanted the recipe.

I’m usually not a big fan of lasagna, but this recipe is really easy to fix and it tastes great as well. So great in fact that I can eat the whole casserole all by myself, which is probably not a good thing.

I hope you will enjoy it too.

MEXICAN LASAGNA

Prep time: 15 min. total time: 50 min.

Total servings: 6

What You Need

1-1/2 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup water

1/4 lb. (4 oz.) Mexican Velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup  Taco Bell Home Originals Thick ‘N Chunky Medium Salsa

6  flour tortillas (6 inch)

1/2 cup Kraft Shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses

1/2 cup green onions

1 pack of Taco Bell Taco Seasoning (just the mix)

HEAT oven to 400°F.

BROWN meat in large skillet; drain. Add water, Taco Bell Taco Seasoning, and Velveeta; stir until Velveeta is melted. Remove from heat. Stir in salsa.

SPREAD 1/4 of meat mixture into 8-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with 2 tortillas. Repeat layers 2 times. Top with remaining meat mixture, shredded cheese, and green onions. Cover.

BAKE 30 min. Uncover. Let stand 5 min. before serving.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Serve with a crisp green salad topped with your favorite Kraft Light Dressing.

SPECIAL EXTRAS

•Prepare as directed, spreading 1/3 of 16-oz. can of TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Refried Beans onto each tortilla layer before topping with the meat mixture.

•Or add 1 can (11 oz.) corn, drained, or 1 cup sliced black olives to meat mixture.

Recipe courtesy of Kraft Foods