If all meals could be this easy, I would definitely order a lot less take out. I can already see my husband rolling his eyes when he reads this, and yes I would. I am pretty sure I have never grumbled about making dinner while making this meal, so that says something right? Easy, easy, easy, and yummy.
I started making this meal about 20 years ago from a recipe I saw in a magazine. For such a simple recipe it is funny how many times my family requests it when I am asking for meal ideas. Fine with me!
When I originally started making this recipe I used ground beef, but now I use ground turkey. You can use whichever you prefer.
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce
1 large zucchini (or two small) chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup – 1 cup of shredded cheddar
2 – 3 cups cooked rice
Start white or brown rice cooking. Once rice is started, cook ground turkey in skillet until no longer pink. Drain grease, transfer to a plate, and put aside.
Wipe out the pan and spray with cooking spray. Cook zucchini and garlic until zucchini softens.
Add cooked ground turkey back to pan along with all other ingredients except cheese, stir well, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Once the rice is cooked and you are ready to serve, add cheese to turkey zucchini mixture and cook until cheese melts.
Comfort food season is upon us! Have you ever noticed how it also coincides with sweater season which helps hide our love for comfort food? Coincidence? One of the best feelings is when it’s cold outside, but you are warm inside and the house is full of wonderful smells. You could also accomplish that with a candle, but I am referring to food smells.
The following chili recipe is one of the easiest recipes to make and it’s not only good, but depending on the size of your family, might give you leftovers that are even easier to heat up. I don’t remember where I found the base of this recipe, but I have tweaked it over the years and this version is my favorite. I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, but you can use either. The same holds true with the cornbread recipe, I’m not sure where it originally came from, but I’ve tweaked it over the years as well.
I either serve the chili with cornbread, or with tortilla chips. Either way I always add some shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. Last night I had a little extra time, and energy, and decided to make the cornbread. You can’t help feel good about yourself when your husband takes a bite and says “Holy crap that’s good cornbread!”
Once you make this cornbread recipe, you won’t ever look for another one. It is so good! Probably because of all the butter. You know what they say, butter makes it better, or what I like to say “buttah makes it bettah”! It is so moist and doesn’t choke you if you happen to breathe in while eating it like some of those other dry cornbreads do.
This recipe calls for a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, I used a square dish last night for a fatter piece of cornbread, and had to increase the cooking time quite a bit. When you do this, the edges will get more brown so if you aren’t a fan of that, use the rectangular dish.
Cornbread Recipe:
2/3 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups milk
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup cornmeal
4 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9″ x 13″baking dish. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Combine eggs and milk and put aside. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Alternately add dry mixture and egg mixture to creamed mixture. Bake for 22-27 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Chili Recipe:
2 lbs. ground beef or ground turkey
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 (14 oz) cans of tomato sauce
1 (8 oz) jar of salsa
2 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1 (15 oz) can of red kidney beans
In a large saucepan over medium heat cook the ground turkey (or beef) until meat is browned. Drain grease. Add the pepper, garlic powder, tomato sauce, salsa, chili powder, and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour stirring frequently.
The recipe originally called for two cans of kidney beans, but I have cut it down to one. My children will eat the entire bowl of chili and avoid every kidney bean, so I decided to make it easier for them and to stop wasting beans.
