As many of you know, I LOVE road trips! This past summer, we drove cross-country from Washington to Ohio and enjoyed so many incredible stops along the way. (Seriously – this country is beautiful!)

On our first leg of the trip, we were able to stop and visit with family at an incredible little hot springs resort that my husband’s uncle works at. I mean c’mon – it looks like a painting! The scenery and the time spent together were such a wonderful way to start our trip.

Road trips typically tend to = lots and lots of fast food. God bless David’s Aunt Margaret for volunteering to fix us a home-cooked meal our first night of the trip. She made us a casserole we’d never had before – and all six of us really enjoyed it. She calls it El Dorado Hot Dish, and I think you’re going to like it! This is good old-fashioned comfort food at its finest – and it’s budget friendly too!

Ingredients: 

Tortilla Chips

1 lb. ground beef

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 4 oz. can diced green chiles

1 T taco seasoning

1/2 a yellow onion (diced) *My husband HATES onions, so I leave these out when I make this.

1 cup sour cream

1 cup cottage cheese

1-2 cups grated cheese

To Prepare: 

Break up your tortilla chips and put them in the bottom of a 13×9 pan. I didn’t measure my chips – I just kept crunching them up until I had a good “crust” on the bottom of my pan.

Cook your ground beef (with your onions if you’re using them!) until the beef is cooked through. Drain. Add the tomato sauce, green chiles, and taco seasoning.

Spread the beef mixture on top of the crushed tortilla chips.

Mix together the sour cream and cottage cheese. Spread this mixture on top of the beef mixture.

Top the entire dish with the grated cheese. I used a Colby-Jack blend, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Pepper Jack would be great in this dish!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until the dish is bubbly and the cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy.

This feeds my family of 6 (2 adults and 4 kids) with enough for someone to have it for lunch the next day.

From my family to yours – happy eating!