Quick & Easy Tamale Pie

I make a Quick & Easy Tamale Pie casserole that I thought I'd share on the blog.  It's a simple dish that makes use of items I almost always have hanging around in my pantry.  It's so easy to throw together, it makes an excellent last minute meal...and it tastes great.  (well, we all think so :)  I like to make it when I'm craving something with a Mexican flair...or when I need to get dinner on the table, but I don't really feel like cooking.  Since I use canned chili, chili beans and a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, it comes together pretty quick ~ I like that.  I also like to use low fat versions of the chili, cheese and Greek yogurt/sour cream to keep it lower fat, but you still get all the flavor.  (cut those fat grams where you can :)  While the tamale pie is baking, I'll usually make a garden salad and slice some fruit to round out the meal.  Hope you like it as much as we do ~ Enjoy!

Quick & Easy Tamale Pie
serves 4~6

Ingredients

• 1  15oz can turkey chili without beans (or your favorite kind)
• 1  15oz can chili beans in chili sauce
• 1  cup diced white onion
• 1  cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2  cup diced bell pepper (optional)
• 1  box Jiffy corn muffin mix ~ prepared according to box instructions
• 1  cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
• dried cilantro & paprika for garnish (optional)
• fat free Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.   Prepare corn muffin mix according to box instructions, set aside.  Saute onions & bell pepper in a non-stick skillet, with a little water or oil, over medium heat until they become soft, about 3-5 minutes.  When veggies are tender, add the thawed corn & the cans of turkey chili & chili beans.  Stir until well combined and heated through.  Pour the hot chili mixture into a large greased casserole dish.  Spoon the corn bread batter over the top of the chili mixture; smoothing it to the edges.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the corn muffin batter.  Finally, sprinkle some dried cilantro & paprika all over the top of it all, if using.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the corn muffin batter is done & golden brown.  Serve with a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt (or sour cream) if desired.

 

Tracey's Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings

Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings ~ My sister-in-law, Tracey, makes a super easy, comforting, classic homestyle dinner in the crock pot.  Her recipe will soon be staring on the 'other side of pond', in my kitchen.  From England to America, dinner is served!

My sister-in-law, Tracey, (who lives in England) just shared a lovely looking photo of the dinner she made tonight, a delicious beef stew & dumplings.  I am now craving this exact meal for my dinner.  So, I asked her for her recipe.   I love sharing family recipes like this!  Just because we are so far apart, doesn't mean we can't share a meal together.  She just cooks it in her kitchen and I cook it in mine.  Thanks so much for my dinner inspiration, Tracey!  I'm dubbing your recipe...

Tracey's Easy English Beef Stew & Dumplings

Into a crock pot add ~  2 packs of cut-up stewing steak, chopped onions and carrots. Take 2 cups hot water & stir in some Marmite, an OXO Beef Cube and a packet of Colman's Beef Casserole Mix. Pour over the meat/veg.  Add more water, if needed, to just cover the meat/veg and give it a good stir.  (if the gravy/sauce is too runny, add some gravy granules to thicken it up)  

Cook it in the slow cooker/crock pot, on high, for 3-4 hrs or until the meat is tender and the veg is cooked. ~~ Then it's time to finish it in the oven, that's been preheated to 180c/350F.  Transfer the stew into an oven safe pot  (add/stir in some thawed, frozen peas if you'd like) and drop in the dumpling batter on top of the stew.  (dumplings made from a packet of dumpling mix or from the recipe from the back of the Bisquick box)  Cook the stew/dumplings, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until dumplings are a golden brown.  Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables. x

Beef, Bean & Pumpkin Enchiladas

Beef, Bean & Pumpkin Enchiladas ~ Adding pumpkin puree is an unusual twist for this classic Mexican meal.  It enhances the sauce & makes getting in an extra veggie really easy!

The other night, I came up with an unusual way to sneak in some pumpkin to our dinner.  (sometimes I like to cook solo, that way no one can see what I'm up to :)   I'm calling this dish my ~ Beef, Bean & Pumpkin Enchiladas. Yowza!  They turned out great & were super easy to make.  I just added a cup of pureed canned pumpkin to a large can of red enchilada sauce (Old El Paso) & followed (sorta) the recipe on the back of the can.  Easy-Peasy!   (I changed up the recipe just a little bit ~ using 1/2 the amount of meat & replacing it with half a can of chili beans)

The pumpkin puree made the sauce thick & rich tasting.  You can't taste the pumpkin at all, but it really enhances the overall flavor & mouth-feel of the enchilada sauce.  No one suspected a thing ~ it was such an easy way to sneak in an extra veggie! (OK, pumpkin is really a fruit, but I consider it a veggie)    

So, why not give this unusual use for pumpkin a try for your next Mexican meal?  I think you'll enjoy it as much as we did!

Spaghetti Pie Casserole ~ getting creative with leftovers

I had a bunch of spaghetti left over one night & knew I had to spruce it up for the next go-around.  I remembered Grandma Bunni used to make something she called her special ~ Spaghetti Pie Casserole ~ whenever she had an abundance of leftover pasta, so I decided to follow suit.  She always threw things in in layers ~ like shredded cheese, cooked spinach or veggies, ricotta or Parmesan cheeses, or maybe even some sour cream mixed with chopped green onions & then she topped it all with another layer of cheese.  Of course, back then she used all full-fat ingredients, I don't think they knew what reduced calorie or low-fat was back then. (ah, the good old days ~ heehee)  Looking back, I never knew I was enjoying leftovers, to me it was just having her special ~ Spaghetti Pie Casserole.  And as I remember it, there were never any leftovers.  :)

For my rendition, I layered the already spaghetti sauced-tossed pasta (I dare you to say that, fast, 3 times :) with some low fat shredded mozzarella & low fat ricotta, threw in some cooked zucchini, along with some fresh basil, chopped green onions & some extra Italian spices.  I topped it all with grated Parmesan & low fat shredded cheese blend ~ then baked it in the oven until it was all hot & bubbly. I added a salad & garlic bread and dinner was served.

It really is a tasty enough dish to make it on purpose, not just to be used as a vehicle for leftover spaghetti.  So, if you want to try making it from scratch, here is a recipe that sounds like it would be really good & popular with both grownups, as well as with kids.  Buon Appetito!