Cornbread Casserole

So, a coworker of Mike's made this for a pot luck they had at the office, and it was so good I had to get the recipe so I could make it myself.

Usually I like to screw around with recipes to make them even better, but I seriously don't think this can be improved. It is fluffy, sweet and cheesy and turns out really moist - I think it's the sour cream. This is a must-try recipe, and will be great with chili when it's not 105 degrees outside.


Cornbread casserole

Grease 13x9 in. pan with oil or butter and heat oven to 375.

Mix together:

• 2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can corn
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs

Pour all ingredients into pan and bake about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. Then try not to eat the entire pan in one sitting.

Everyday Food: Beer-Braised Sausages and Warm Potato Salad

This is my favorite recipe right now. We've been eating it once a week for a couple of months now. It's really inexpensive, and REALLY yummy.

Since we've been making it so much, I've found a couple of things that I think make it even better. First of all, we always use either chicken sausage or turkey sausage. They work really well, and don't dry out at all. I like mild Italian in this recipe.

The major thing I do differently is that instead of just plain red wine vinegar on the potatoes, I use this vinaigrette recipe from Ina Garten. But instead of champagne vinegar, I use white wine vinegar. I still use the flat Italian parsley, though. It adds a nice touch of freshness.

Allrecipes.com: Banana Muffins II

We had a bunch of bananas that were on the verge of going bad, so I decided that I wanted to make some banana muffins to use them up. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, and I figured that the four and a half star rating probably made it worth trying.

Yum, yum, yum. Very easy recipe, and very quick to put together. A lot of these recipes involve the electric mixer, but this was very easy to put together by hand. I loved it, and so did Miller and Mike. The only complaints came from Miller when he was done with his muffin because he wanted more :)

Melissa d'Arabian: Crispy-Skinned Chicken a l'Orange

This sweet/savory chicken dish was really easy, although it did dirty a saute pan, a ceramic dish for the oven and a cutting board. However, the dishes were totally worth it, because this was delicious and turned out exactly as promised - a sweet, sticky and citrus-y glaze over really moist chicken. My husband kept stopping while he was eating to tell me how good it was, if that tells you anything. I believe we'll be having it again in very short order.

I served it with roasted broccoli (toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and stick under the broiler for 10 minutes) and brown rice cooked in our handy-dandy new rice cooker.

Giada De Laurentiis: Stracoto w/ Porcini Mushrooms

Otherwise known as fancy Italian pot roast, this recipe is amazing. It takes a long time to cook, but it's very hands off. This is a great recipe if you've got people coming over for dinner and you don't have a lot of time during the day to get something going.

I always add some carrots and potatoes for the last hour of cooking time in the oven, and then it becomes a true one-pot meal (other than the blender, which is totally an optional step, although the sauce it makes is pretty amazing).

Barefoot Contessa: Turkey Meatloaf

I tried for years to figure out a way to make turkey meatloaf that wasn't too dry, didn't have that creepy "cakey" texture and didn't require you to use dark meat turkey to give it some flavor. I should have just gone directly to Ina Garten.

This turkey meatloaf recipe is perfect. I have made it four or five times, and it has been consistently great. Moist but not loose, substantial but not dense - perfect.

It's not the most elegant-looking meal, but it's a crowd pleaser for sure. The only suggestion I would make is to use Manwich sauce instead of ketchup on top to up the flavor-factor, but that's a very minor quibble.

Cooking Light: Spicy Beef and Barley Soup

If you're looking for an easy, healthy and YUMMY weeknight recipe, I highly recommend this spicy beef barley soup, conveniently made in a crock pot. It takes just a few minutes to throw all the ingredients together in the morning, and when you get home, your house smells great, and after you heat up a little crusty bread to go with this (you'll want it to soak up the broth), you've got a hearty, healthy dinner.

I actually don't have any commentary on how to improve this recipe, because it's great as-is. I cut this out of a Cooking Light in 2007, and we still pull it out and make it fairly regularly. That's when you know a recipe is great :)

***I posted this awhile back, and recently I tried it without doing any of the browning/sauteeing that is in the directions. I just threw everything raw in the crock pot together. Guess what? The recipe was every bit as good! Woo hoo! Makes an easy recipe even easier.