Missouri Living at it's BEST!

I was chatting about how good the dinner my wife made the other night and another agent asked for the recipe. 

Well I figured there were some others out there that might enjoy it too, so here is the copy of the email she sent my cyber friend Kappy:

Hey Kappy ~ My husband, Ozarksagent (Steve), asked me to send you the recipe I used for the Veni-Ladas I made the other nite.  Sorry for taking so long, I've just been up to my eyeballs in making Christmas gifts... but have a few minutes here AND a brain at the same time!  

 I actually do this all in one frying pan, then bake in a casserole dish....   First I put a little oil in the skillet, and cooked corn tortillas, just till they puff a little bit.  I don't like them hard, but want to cook them in the oil to seal the corn together... otherwise they fall apart when you bake them.  Drain them on paper towels or paper sacks.  

Then, in that same pan, I took about 1-1/2 lbs of ground venison ... what a great, versitile meat! I browned it with chopped garlic, chopped onion, and some cumin, chili powder, and salt & pepper to taste. I cooked it till the meat was done... then put it in a bowl   I open the enchilada sauce cans and pour them in that skillet, with the fire off.  It heats it up just enough! My favorite brand for the red sauce is GREAT VALUE RED SAUCE ... you find it at Walmart.  Great taste!   So I spray the casserole dish with non-cooking spray... helps with the clean-up Taking tongs, I dip a tortilla in the red sauce, then lay it on the bottom of the casserole dish. 

Do this till the whole bottom is covered. I then layer some meat, top it with grated cheddar cheese and spoon a little sauce on the top. Then I do another layer, laying the tortillas on top of the first layer of meat & cheese, then put meat, cheese, a little sauce. I then finish it off with a layer of tortillas, cheese, the rest of the red sauce, and I like to top it with a little chopped onion and sliced black olives.   I cover it with foil, then bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes... then remove foil and continue baking till it bubbles...about 15-20 mins.  

Hope you enjoy! By the way, works really well in chili, lasagna, and goulash too!!!