What Do You Want for Dinner?

Thiis is the constant question at our house. I try to cook a few nights a week, but try hard to avoid it on the weekends. :) Lately, I find myself spicing up our same old same old with recipes my blog friends have shared and I LOVE it!!! It is so nice to have something new and when it comes to cooking I am very visual, I really appreciate the step by step pictures people share as well. This meal has become one of our favorites and is very healthy, the little prince even likes it. He eats the bottom and picks out his favorite veggie....black beans... poor kid he is so strange.

So here goes. Chicken tamale casserole and black bean salad. This is a cooking light recipe that I lost the recipe for so, it's close but not exact.
The ingredients... Jiffy corn muffin mix, skim milk, shredded cheese, pam, cream style corn, egg substitute (I think this is why Cooking Light claims it as healthy), green chiles, red pepper and cumin.

Ok I am going to break it down real simple because that is how I like it. If you are like my friend Brooke and don't need all that, go cook you will figure it out just from the ingredients. I took it to her once and she instantly recreated it. I hate love that about her.

Get a bowl.
Dump your jiffy mix in the bowl. Add milk like the box says, and egg substitute for the eggs it calls for.
Drain your green chiles, good luck with this, I can't ever really get them drained without dumping them all in the sink and I only have a big colander and I am not getting it dirty for a little can of green chiles, so mine are semi-drained I would say...
Put your green chiles in the mix, too.
Put in about 1/4-1/2 c of cheese. I think it calls for a 1/4, but I LOVE cheese.
Add one can cream style corn.
Add about 1/8 tsp cumin and 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper. I use Cayenne, I am telling myself it is the same but I don't know that it is. I play with these measurements a little. This is where you make it more or less spicy. Michael likes it smoking, but Avery and I are wimpy so I usually do a small dash, can you believe it Mamma, I don't measure it!

Ok stir just until wet I remember it says.

I don't really know what that means, so I just try not to stir it too long.

Then pam your favorite 9x13 and throw that goop in. Cook it at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes the recipe said. I always have to cook it longer though, probably because my green chiles are too juicy. You know it is done when you can cake test it and it comes out clean.

The topping...

While it is cooking get the following

About 2c shredded chicken, if your husband isn't a chicken snob you can use the canned kind... I can't.

1 can old El Paso Red Tamale Sauce (I use mild, I already told you I am wimpy, you can spice it up if you want)

More Cheese

Sour cream (I pretend to be healthy and usually use fat free)

After the bottom comes out of the oven, use your cake tester to poke holes all over the casserole. The pour your enchilada sauce all over and let it soak into the cornbread part. Then sprinkle shredded chicken over that and cheese over that.

Pop it back in the oven and melt the cheese and warm up the chicken, maybe 10 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and an avocado slice is nice, too.

linde Some people I know have trouble with remembering to serve a side dish. While this is really filling, I personally feel cheated if I don't get to eat at least 2 things. In the winter we had black beans and rice, but it is summer and we have to wear our swim suits so we went less carb with a black bean salad.

This is from the Glenwood Church cookbook, thanks Dawn!

2(11 oz) cans white shoe peg corn, lime juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, 2 large tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 small purple onion, cilantro

Get a bowl and a whisk. Put 4 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in it. Stir with your whisk. (I bet a spoon would work, too, but I like to follow directions.)

Add corn and black beans (I drain them because they are always a little slimy and will make the salad ugly.

Chop and seed the bell pepper and tomatoes.

Add the chopped and seeded bell pepper and tomatoes to the bowl.

Chop up your small purple onion.

Put it in the bowl, I usually don't use the whole thing. I think it is hard to find a small one and it can be overpowering but you need some and the purple is pretty in the salad.

Chop up about 1/4c fresh cilantro.

Put it in.

Stir, you can use a spoon for sure this time.

Cover and chill 2 hours and serve.

This was sooo yummy.

Enjoy, I challenge you all to share a recipe. I don't think I am a fab cook, but we all need the help!