Chili and Cornbread Casserole

This past weekend was the perfect winter weekend.  On Saturday we woke up to snow, and it kept snowing all day.  We eventually went out to play around 4pm.  But before that we just lounged around the house and stayed in our jammies.  On Sunday, it was my mom's birthday, so we celebrated with lunch and a cheesecake, and then came home to watch some football while we ate the Chili and Cornbread Casserole that I concocted.

The recipe is pretty simple - it's just mini sweet bell peppers, chili (canned or your own homemade favorite) and a package of cornbread mix! 

Chili and Cornbread Casserole
Instructions
Pre-heat your oven according to the directions on the cornbread package.

Spray a baking dish (I used a 1.5 qt dish) with non-stick spray and line the dish with washed and seeded mini bell peppers.  Ladle your prepared chili over the peppers.  Use as much or as little chili as you want.  My husband doesn't like a lot of chili in this dish, so I just barely covered the peppers with chili.  If I were making the dish all for myself, the entire batch of chili would have gone over the peppers. 

Prepare your cornbread mixture and pour the mixture over the chili.  If you use a 2.5 qt or 3 qt dish, I recommend using two packages of cornbread mix. 

Bake the dish according to the time limits on the cornbread packaging.  When serving, garnish with shredded cheddar cheese, diced red onions or scallions, sour cream, limes, etc.

p.s. I'm linking up to the Southern Institute's blog hop!

Cheater!

Confession:  I have not felt like cooking at all this week.  It's kind of odd, since I love to cook.  But lately I feel like I am just cooking the same things over and over again.  Do you get in that rut?  What do you do to snap out of it?

So what have I been doing instead of cooking?  Well, the Toddler and I have been playing outside a lot (since it still feels like July here!), and I've been crafting some things for Halloween:

How cute is that?  I got the idea from Southern Living magazine.  You just paint two coats of orange paint on jars and then use a black permanent marker to make the face.  Pop a flameless candle in there and you have a cute little jack-o-lantern!

So while I was making that . . . I totally cheated on making dinner last night.  Why am I a cheater?  Well let me first say that I am all about convenience products, like Perdue short cuts chicken.  But I usually just don't open a can, heat it up, and call it dinner.  But that is kind of what I did last night!

Chili Baked Potato
Ingredients: 2 servings
2 russet potatoes
1 can chili (I used Hormel Vegetarian Chili)
scallions, sliced for garnish

Instructions
Pre-Heat oven to 350F.  Poke some holes in potatoes and bake in oven for about 1 hour.  In the last 10 minutes of the potatoes cooking, pour chili in saucepan and warm up.  Halve the  potatoes and pour desired amount of chili over the halves.  Sprinkle scallions on top and serve with salad.


Do you guys ever cheat?  What's your favorite cheat meal?


P.S.  I'm linking up here

Wednesday Edition: What's New

Finally I have a new ingredient for you!  It's been a few weeks since I have had a new ingredient, and I don't think that this one disappoints in taste, but it may disappoint a few of you in the "freshness" category.  You see, the new ingredient is canned chili!

I typically do not buy prepared food, and especially not chili since I love making it from scratch.  But last week, with an impending hurricane, I stacked up on canned goods.  One of them being chili.  Not one for letting food go to waste, I decided to make up a recipe and see what happened!

Yumminess is what happened!  Yumminess!  It was really quick to throw together (I used leftover rice) and I used only one baking dish, so minimal clean up.  What do you think?  Are you a canned chili fan?

Chili and Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
2 C cooked rice
1 can (14.5 oz) of chili (I used Hormel Vegetarian chili)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with juice
1 can (14.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 C frozen or canned corn
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
1 C kale, stems removed and chopped into tiny pieces (this is optional.  I threw it in to get veggie nutrients!)
2 tsp. chili powder
optional: 2 peppers sliced (I used one red and one green)
optional: shredded jack or cheddar cheese (I didn't have shredded so I just used slices!)

Instructions:
Combine the first 8 ingredients into a baking dish.  Top with sliced peppers and cheese.  Bake at 350 F for 30 mins or until desired brownness is reached.

the casserole without the cheese

my pathetic slices of cheddar cheese!

I have to say, I was surprised at how good this turned out.  It's been added to my list of things to make on a regular basis!

Updated: I'm linking up to the blog hop at Serenity Now and the blog hop at Homemaker in Heels!