It started raining this afternoon :( BUT that pretty much made me get all the stuff on my to-do list done!

• Finish laundry – check! The only thing left is to make the bed with the clean sheets
• Clean house – check! Nick and I finished that earlier
• Plant tomatoes – check!
• Make dinner – check! and eaten  :)
• Bake cookies – check!
• Uh….clean up kitchen full of muesli that I just spilled on the floor  :\  check! I’m glad we have a small shop vac. What a mess!

We were able to plant the tomato plants right before it started raining hard here, and I’m glad we got them in the ground for their first rain. I can’t wait until they come up!

As for dinner, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the meal.  I’ve tried meals like this before and I think I just expect it be like cornbread even though it’s not. Once I got it into my head that it was NOT cornbread, I really liked it.

Baked Tamale Casserole

Meat filling:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can beans, drained (use any kind you want – I had great northern)
• 1 small can chopped green chiles
• 1 Tbsp ancho chile powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp onion flakes (I was just too lazy to dice real onions tonight)

Tamale Dough:

• 8 cups water
• 4 cups cornmeal
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 2 eggs
• couple tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1. Heat pan over medium and add ground beef. Brown beef.
2. Heat oven to 350.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, and spices to beef and let simmer while you cook the cornmeal mixture.
4. In big pot, bring water, cornmeal, and salt to a boil. Lower heat and let cook 5-10 until thick, stirring/whisking constantly to keep from clumping.
5. Take off heat, and stir in eggs and applesauce.
6. In 9×13 pan, layer 1/2 of the cornmeal mixture, top with all of the meat mixture, then layer the rest of the cornmeal mixture on top.
7. Bake 20-30 minutes until heated through.

Ole!

We had the tamale casserole with some corn, and salads with romaine and avocado. I topped my salad with a little salt and some lime juice.

I really enjoyed this meal; more than I thought I would! I think making sure my mind and mouth isn’t expecting cornbread is the key.

In cookie news:

I found this package in the grocery store yesterday and decided to try it.

I love the packages of the “break and bake” cookies for busy weekends, but I hate that most of them are filled with ingredients I can’t understand. Enter Immaculate Baking Co.! Nick just ate a plate with about 5 of these cookies, and he said they’re even better than the normal break and bake cookies we get.

I haven’t had one yet, but I’m planning on it. It’s nice to know I can get these for busy weekends and feel good about what we’re eating, even if I’m not making it all myself.

It looks like have a bunch of different flavors, so I’ll have to keep my eyes open for them.

Well, I’m off to make the bed and get ready for a little Iron Chef before getting some sleep.

I hope you’ve had a great weekend! We did and I’m sad it’s almost over.

What was the best part of your weekend?

Mine was probably watching the football scrimmage / getting to the farmer’s market. It was such a nice day yesterday, and I enjoyed both things. It was fun to just be outside enjoying the weather.

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