2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil

2 pounds ground beef

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic -- minced

or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 16 oz can tomato sauce

1 cup sliced black olives

8 corn tortillas

butter or margarine -- room temperature 4 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

***garnish*** sour cream minced green onion

serves 4 to 5

Saute onion in a skillet in hot oil. Add ground beef, chili powder, ground cum in, salt, and garlic. When ground beef is brown, stir in tomato sauce. Heat t hrough. Stir in black olives.

Prepare foil handles. Place in any size Crock-Pot. Lightly butter one corn to rtilla. Lay buttered side up on foil stirps. Spread with meat sauce and a lay er of cheese. Cover with another buttered tortilla, more meat sauce and cheese . Repeat layers ending with cheese. Cover; cook on HIGH 1 hour. When ready t o serve lift out, using foil handles, and transfer to serving dish. discard fo il handles. Cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream and green onion if desired .

To make the handles: Tear off three 20 x 3-inch strips of heavy foil or use regular foil folded to d ouble thickness. Crisscross the foil strips in a spoke design.

If preparing a Mexican tortilla stack meal: place the foil strips in a spoke design in the Crock-Pot. Then layer the torti llas and meat and cheese mixtures on top of the foil in the Crock-Pot.

When ready to serve, simple lift the foil handles from the Crock-Pot and remove the meal to a serving dish.