Chili Cornbread Casserole

I got the idea for this recipe from my Mom and was reminded to use it when I saw this recipe this morning.

This is a great way to use your left-over chili or you can make it from scratch like I did today.

Whip up some chili. Mine is always different, depending on what's in the cupboard. But, today I had kidney beans, black beans, a bag of corn, salsa and some cooked and shredded chicken. (And of course a little salt and pepper). We're not big fans of spicy food, so if you like things kicked up a bit you could add a can of green chilies or some Rotel or something.

Pour the chili into a baking dish. I'm not sure what size this is, it's my "medium" one. Does that help?

Then, mix up a batch of cornbread. I always use the recipe on the back of the cornmeal bag. It's super simple. ****TIP*** Don't try substituting wheat flour for the white flour, it makes really grainy and dry cornbread. I use half and half sometimes, but all white flour really tastes the best.

Pour the cornbread mix right on top of the chili. My mom's tip is to only put the cornmix on the outsides of the pan and leave the middle uncovered because it's hard to get it to cook all the way through. I tried to do this, but when I lifted the pan to put it in the oven, it just slid all over the casserole. Anyhow, it baked just fine...luckily!

Bake it in the oven with no cover for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, mine was perfectly cooked though, no gooey-ness. If you like it a little gooey, then just take a few minutes of time off.

Scoop away and enjoy!

Oh, and there was a little extra cornmeal mix so I baked two muffins with the casserole. Yum-o!

Fruit cuplets

These are so easy and good. I made them for my niece and nephew and they ate the fruit and cream out of the middle and left me the rest. I think next time I'd cut the cuplet in half. The dough to cream ratio was a bit off.

Buy some puff pastry cuplets.
Bake according to directions on box.
Remove as much of the middle as you can after you bake them.
Mix up some of the previously posted fruit dip (or you could just use your favorite whipped cream)
Add the fruit of season
Top with a dallop more of the fruit dip and place the lid back on top.

Cousin's Cornbread

I honestly can't remember if this is called "cousin's cornbread" because that is the real title or if I started calling it that because my sister-in-law made it for me and so it was my children's cousin's cornbread.
But either way, this is delicious cornbread, and that is coming from someone who is now corn-intolerant and didn't really like cornbread in the first place. I made this for a church activity the other night and was almost tempted to try some and let my stomach pay for it later.

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk

mix the wet ingredients together then pour the dry ones on top and mix well.
pour into an 8x8 pan and cook at 375 for 35-40 minutes. It makes 6 servings.

Lemon pork with rosemary

Last night I couldn't decide what sounded good for dinner. The hubby was starving after work, so we decided to just to a quick "whatever" night. That usually means sandwiches, cereal, oatmeal...something simple and cheap.

But, then I remembered I had these two leftover pork loins in the freezer. They are very small, but SO tasty. I also had a zucchini leftover from some bread I made yesterday. So, I decided to get to work.

Ingredients:

2 pork loins
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste
1 t Rosemary
1/2 lemon (juice)
onions (about 1/4 cup sliced thinly)
1 zucchini

Directions:

Cook the pork loins over medium heat in 1/2 cup water and cover with lid to let the steam do the work. When almost done, squeeze almost the whole half of lemon juice onto the pork and add the onions to the pot. Season with salt and pepper and rosemary.

Once pork is cooked through, add peeled and chopped up zucchini to the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes until zucchini is tender, but not mushy. (Unless you're the type who like mushy vegetables, in which case, you probably won't want to eat dinner at our house.)

Remove contents from the pan and serve! (Makes one serving, well for me it did, but I'm sure you could serve two with it if you had some additional sides. The pork is very thin, though, and not super filling.)

How did it turn out? I loved it. I squeezed some more lemon juice on the zucchini afterwards, and that tasted great. It wasn't very filling, though. It would probably be good over some pasta or served with some steamed rice. I had some zucchini bread for dessert, and I was still kind of hungry. When I tried to share this with my husband, he politely replied, "No thanks, I'd prefer a turkey sandwich." Whatever. :)

Tilapia with tomatoes

This was a great recipe. It's only for two fillets, so if there are more in your family, you'll need to adjust the recipe accordingly. It was a great and fresh taste, a really good summer meal!


Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic
1 cup peeled, seeded, and diced tomato (I used canned)
5 T sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 tilapia fillets

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mash together the garlic and tomato. Stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper Place the fish fillets in a shallow baking dish.

3. Bake fish for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until about halfway done. Remove from the oven, and pour the tomato sauce over it. Return to the oven, and cook for 10 more minutes or until fish fakes easily with a fork.

***It always makes me nervous to cook fish in the oven, because I never feel like I know exactly when it's "done". Next time, I think I'll cook the tilapia in a pan on the stove in some olive oil and then add the sauce to the top when it's done and warm it through.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

I cannot remember who's blog I found this recipe on, but it's a delicious and creamy pasta. She said that she had copied it from a dish at Macaroni Grill. In her recipe (listed below) she used broccoli, but that's not a favorite in our house so I substituted green beans. They were fresh and frozen ones, but the taste was a little strong. I think next time I might try frozen peas or corn...or both.

The only tip I would give is that when you're making the sauce it's going to feel like you're adding a LOT of milk and that it's going to be too thin. But, don't worry. If you keep stirring and keep it over heat like she says, it turns out creamy and wonderful. We loved it!

Ingredients:

pre-cooked grilled chicken strips
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup sundried tomatoes
approx. 10 oz. penne or bowtie pasta
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add frozen broccoli for the last 3 minutes of cook time.

For the sauce, melt the butter in a skillet then add flour and stir until well combined. Pour in milk and stir. Add chicken and sundried tomatoes and cook until heated through.

Combine once both are finished and stir.

Grilled Chicken Italian Pasta

I apologize that the lighting on this picture makes the dish look disgusting, but I promise it's not.

This is our big sister's recipe and every time I eat it I wonder why I don't make it more often.

My two-year old asked for THIRDS! It's that good.

Directions:

Grill some chicken (preferably on the b-b-q) and right before you take it off the grill, brush on some Ken's Steak House Three Cheese Italian Dressing.

Go inside.

Now turn some water on to boil.

Put some onions and red or yellow or orange sliced peppers in a skillet with some olive oil

(don't use green peppers, they just don't go as well)

Cook until all are soft.

Now add a can of Italian diced tomatoes (drain liquid first)

Add a pinch of sugar

When your pot of water boils, add pasta (I prefer bowtie)

Now slice or chop or dice up your grilled chicken and add to skillet mixture.

When pasta is done, drain and add to skillet.

Serve with parmesean cheese on top and some nice french bread on the side.

Pudding Extravaganza

I cannot take credit for this beautiful creation because (brace yourselves) .... my husband made it.

I know! Can you believe it? But, he did.

I can't say it's much of an "original" recipe, but it tasted awesome, and here's what he did.

Ingredients:

One small box of the Jell-o instant chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
5 strawberries
Cool whip
Mini chocolate chips
8 animal crackers

Directions:

Mix the mix with the milk as directed, stirring for two minutes.
Pour the pudding into your dishes and then garnish with the toppings.

It tasted SOOO great. Maybe it's because they're our first strawberries this year...but, they tasted like candy, they were so sweet!

Give it a try. The Jell-o is $.76, why not?