Tamale Pie

I got home so excited about a recipe that I had found on Pinterest for Tamale Pie. It was a part of a once a month cooking blog that some friends and I are getting ready to try. Well, low and behold, my sweet husband went on one of his I-am-going-to-throw-out-everything-no-matter-its-value sprees. I had the ingredients but for the life of me could not find the recipe on pinterest (no I didn't pin it, yes I am an idiot.) So I decide to wing it and do my own thing.

It. Was. Amazing.

I did enough to be able to freeze the tamale part and just add cornbread mixture next time.

2 lbs ground beef
1 bell pepper
1 small zucchini (finely chopped)
1 medium carrot (finely chopped)
1 onion (half of it or all of it if you really like onions)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can tomato sauce
Chili Seasoning (Basically just season it the way you would your chili)

Brown your meat, strain and return to pan.
Add in your veggies and let that cook for a few minutes.
Add in your chili seasoning and cook for a few more minutes to allow meat to season.
Add in your tomato sauce and cook on simmer until veggies are done. 30 min or so
(If you are freezing, cook but don't overcook your veggies. That way wen you warm it up again they are not already cooked to death.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
While this is cooking mix up 2 packages of corn muffin mix. (I like sweeter tasting corn bread but you could do regular cornbread mix)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Spoon chili into pie pan. Add cornbread mixture to the top and spread until it covers pie pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until brown.

If you are freezing it wait for it to cool down before putting it into containers.

Really so good and definitely going onto our meal plan around here.

Roasted Chickpeas

Made these last night and they were great. Read a blog that says to bake them for 30 minutes...take them out to let them dry and rest a little more....then bake them again for 20 more minutes at 400 degrees.

 

2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, thoroughly drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)

2 tablespoons olive oil

*   Cayenne or roasted red pepper. You don't need much at all.
I poured it into a zip lock bag and then put the beans in after I washed and dried them. I put a piece of parchment paper down but might just spray the pan or do foil next time.

The trick is to get them crunchy not dried out. I think next time I will know what my limit is before they burn and cook them right until they are done.

Middle rack on an oven works the best but bottom if you have to.

Such a great snack and cheap. I think next time I am going cook the beans myself instead of using canned beans.

Blast from the past....

This could be a good Wordless Wednesday because there truly are no words for it.

I found this picture the other day and nearly wet my pants laughing at it. Oh I miss my friends sometimes.

Coming down slowly....

So I don't hate you and I didn't de-friend you....well...maybe you.

Moral of the story is that I decided to take a break from Facebook and the start of Lent seemed like a perfect excuse to do so.

Actually I am taking a break from all media. CNN, Yahoo News, Fox News (oh wait...I'm not that stupid). See, I have this problem with anxiety. Rumors of North Korea building a missile and I am hiding in the basement. No joke. Pope resigns and it's obvious that Jesus is coming back tomorrow...duh. So when my panic attacks reared their ugly head recently, I decided that a break from media was what I needed. What I really mean is, now I have more time for Pinterest because it's technically not media.

So what am I going to do during this down time? Glad you are pondering that question as well.

1. Post Kennedy's 6 month picture.
2. Take Kennedy's 7 month picture before her 8 month one is due.
3. Post more on this blog because my mind still operates in Twits and Facebook statuses.
4. Text my friends more because I look at my phone 1,343,236,634,234, times a day thinking I still have FB on it.
5. Read, Read, Read, so if you have any good books and your name is NOT Sara Beth and your suggestion is STILL NOT Angels and Demons after 14 years of friendship....then leave a comment below.
6. Clean out Kennedy's clothes to make room for the trash bags of church hand me downs that are coming my way.
7. Spend some time soaking in my little family.
8. Spend time with Jesus (I know this is the Sunday School answer but it really is in the plans)
9. Do a once a month cook with my cousins
10. I just felt like there needed to be a number 10 to round out the list. List are no fun with 9 things.

So...be ready for the Peevy blog to be updated much through the next few weeks. I have to have something to do.