toni's taco casserole

This actually came from my mom's recipe box from her pre-married days, because she copied it from her best friend's mom after liking it in high school. So, it has to be good, right? And easy as 1-2-3. This makes a VERY full 13x9 because I like to freeze 1/2 of it for another night. Each 1/2 serves 4-6 (which means that for now, while our girls are little, we get dinner, then leftovers for lunch, then dinner again, and leftovers for lunch again - all from 20 minutes in the kitchen).



3 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey, unseasoned (ps - is it obvious to everyone else that when recipes call for a certain weight of meat, it's fudgeable? totally is, in case you didn't know. If you've got 2.5 lbs, or 3.5 lbs, don't sweat it)
Taco seasoning (you can double this recipe for seasoning, or use 2 packets of store-bought)
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 large can sliced olives
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies (if you like spice, opt for jalepenos)
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. cottage cheese
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 large bag of tortilla chips (any kind, but the "scoops" variety won't work as well for this)

1.Brown ground beef and taco seasoning. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and olives.

2.While meat simmers, mix chilies into sour cream and cottage cheese. Set aside.

3. Crush about 1/2 of the chips (for a total of about 3 cups of crushed chips). The easiest way to do this is to put a bunch of chips into a large ziplock or other strong bag (like a leftover flour bag) and get out your agression toward your kids by crushing the chips with a rolling pin. Mine's marble, so I can really go crazy beating the heck out of those poor chips. Did I just admit that? Ahem.

4. In a greased 13x9, layer: crushed chips, meat, sour cream, cheese. Repeat once more.

5. Arrange whole tortilla chips on top and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes until bubbly and brown on top.

7. While it bakes, use spare chips to scoop all the "leftover" meat from the pan to make mini-nachos. Or whip up some Easy Guac. I give you full permission to hide in the kitchen while doing this, but sharing is fun, too.

***this can be done in advance and reheated, or prepared in advanced, chilled for up to a day, and then baked. A chilled casserole takes about an hour to fully cook.