Creamy Poblano Chicken Over Cornbread Waffles

Well, we've been forced inside for awhile due to a torrential downpour, so while we're stuck inside I thought I'd do another blog update. It does not look pretty outside, so I may do a couple posts...who knows!

I felt recently in my meal planning that I needed to break away from using Pinterest for my meal planning, so I pulled out a cookbook my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years ago. She was a teacher at a Christian school in San Antonio, and one of the high school classes put together a cookbook for a fund raiser. I pulled the cookbook out for something else recently and decided to flip through it for some meal planning ideas. This jumped out at me, and I had some random peppers in my fridge already, so I thought it was worth a go. Then lo and behold, when I did a search for cornbread waffles, it turns out the recipe is from an old issue of Southern Living because the first search result took me to this exact recipe!

Creamy Poblano Chicken Over Cornbread Waffles
Source: San Antonio Christian School cookbook and Southern Living

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 poblano chile peppers, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken and mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 (8-ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Cornbread Waffles (recipe below)

Melt butter in a Dutch oven. Add onion, chile pepper, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add chicken, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in soup and sour cream until smooth. Add cheese, and cook 7 to 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve over Cornbread Waffles.

Cornbread Waffles
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups frozen white shoepeg corn, thawed

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together egg and next 3 ingredients; add to cornmeal mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Bake in a preheated, oiled waffle iron just until crisp.

*****

There were mixed reviews on this meal at my house (and from my BFF who was over briefly after dinner. I loved this. The husband was confused by the cornbread waffles because he expected them to taste like regular waffles would. Once he told himself to expect cornbread instead of waffles, he liked it a little better. Boy #1 wasn't home, Boy #2 ate it okay. I really liked it, but only if the bites were really saucy. Jen thought it was okay when she stopped by. We decided it might be better as a pot pie filling instead of served over the waffles. Or over biscuits. The husband thought it could be spicier, and I agreed. I wasn't sure what kind of peppers I was using or how hot they'd be. Someone at the husband's work had brought in peppers from their garden that he brought home, but we had no idea what they were. They were too small to be Anaheims, they were too big to be jalapenos. I still have no idea what they were. But I could have used another one or two for a bit more oomph.

I don't know if I'd make it again...I really liked the flavor, but since everyone else in my house that ate it was pretty indifferent about it, I don't know if it will come into rotation in our house again. Maybe in a different form, but probably not like this. But, I thought it was tasty!!

Crockpot Cornbread Stuffing

I guess I should have worked a little harder to get this particular recipe posted before Thanksgiving in case anyone was short on oven space and needed a crockpot side dish. Oops. This is another recipe I found via my friend Heather. She shared a link from recipes inspired by the book and movie, "The Help." I've read the book (fantastic!) but haven't seen the movie. I love southern food and culture, so I was all over the link and went crazy pinning (as in, pinning to Pinterest.com) most of the recipes featured. Normally I prefer regular stuffing, like with normal bread, not cornbread. But I'm game for anything when it comes to stuffing/dressing, so I figured it was worth a try.

Crockpot Cornbread Stuffing
Source: MyRecipes.com


5 cups crumbled cornbread
1 (14-oz.) package herb stuffing
2 (10 3/4-oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
2 (14-oz.) cans chicken broth
1 large sweet onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter, cut up
Preparation

1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Pour cornbread mixture into a lightly greased 6-qt. slow cooker. Dot with butter. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours or until set and thoroughly cooked.

*****

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous this was just going to be a soggy, disgusting clump when I opened the crockpot to serve this up with our dinner. I'm happy to report that I was proved wrong and it was quite tasty! I love stuffing, so it was great to just let this cook all day and then serve it up with a pork roast for dinner. I made up two boxes of Jiffy cornbread and used a box of Stove Top for the bread components. I forgot to dot the top with butter, but I don't think it made a huge difference. This would also be tasty with some Craisins and toasted pecans mixed in at the end, maybe even some cooked, crumbled sausage. I'll definitely make this as a side dish again. But be warned--it makes A LOT!

Crockpot Tamale Pie

One of the cookbooks I got for Christmas was Stephanie O'Dea's Make It Fast, Cook It Slow. If you don't recognize her name, you might recognize her blog--A Year of Slow Cooking. I've been to her blog several times, and I can't believe how many of her recipes I want to try.

I was flipping through it and saw this one and thought it sounded great--healthy, vegetarian, and I had everything on hand for it. The husband and I are both going to Bible study groups on Wednesday nights, and they both start at 6:30. So it's going to be crockpot dinners for awhile on Wednesday nights.

Crockpot Tamale Pie

1 can drained and rinsed black beans
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can drained corn
1 T chili powder
1 t cumin
1/2 t paprika
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 package corn bread mix (plus ingredients required for mix...milk and egg)

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients--cheese, too!-- and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so please check to see that the spices aren't in a clump anywhere.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. When finished, pour evenly over the filling, spreading with a spatula if needed.

Cover and cook on low for 4-7 hours or on high for 2-4.

*****

Her actual recipe included making your own corn bread topping, but I had some mix in the pantry and figured there was no point reinventing the wheel, so to speak. And I skipped the onion and just used onion powder instead because I was feeling lazy.

So, she's not kidding when she says to spray the crockpot with cooking spray. I didn't really spray mine enough and some of the edges of the cornbread stuck to the sides. I think mine cooked for a little too long because it was a bit dry. It was still good, but had I checked on it sooner it would have been better. I think I like my normal Tamale Pie recipe better than this version, but this was still good and easy.

The golden top in the crockpot before we dug in:


(I really wish I had better lighting in my kitchen!!)

Vegetarian Tamale Pie

We haven't had this dinner in quite some time. It's filling, economical, and it was really good when I made it before! The recipe originally came off the back of a package of shredded cheese, but I modified it slightly. My friend Jen B. makes a tamale pie that's really good, so I combined some aspects of her recipe with this one. When I first posted this recipe I wrote it as it was on the cheese package, but I'm going to redo it here with the changes I made last time.

Vegetarian Tamale Pie

Vegetarian Tamale Casserole
1 can (8-3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15-1/4 oz) red kidney beans, drain half the liquid
1 can (8-3/4 oz) garbanzo, pinto, or black beans, drained
1-2 chipotle peppers, chopped
2 tsp. adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
1 cup salsa
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green onions with tops, sliced
2 packages (8-1/2 oz) cornbread mix

In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients but cornbread. Pour into a greased or sprayed 2-quart baking dish or casserole. Make cornbread according to pacakge directions. Pour over top and spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden.

*****

We all really liked this the last time I made it, so I'm hoping we have a nice, easy dinner tonight. I'm not sure what we'll have with it--salad and some kind of vegetable I think.

Chili Cornbread Casserole

I feel like I'm always trying to use up things I have on hand--which must mean I either have entirely too much stuff on hand at any given moment in time or I keep buying stuff even though I don't mean to. And it seems that no matter what I do, whether I'm buying a lot or a little, my grocery shopping trips last an hour, and I spend $80. I need to evaluate my grocery receipt and see what all I got and what could have been reduced. I use coupons when I can--and match them with sales for the maximum savings--but I don't buy that many processed foods or foods for which there are coupons. If any one has any tips on really frugal healthy eating, please let me know!

Anyway, I did have everything on hand for this, which is why it got put on the menu plan for this week. We hadn't had it in a long time, and the cans of chili had been sitting in my pantry for awhile, so I was glad to use them up and clear up some space. We've had it before and liked it, including the boy. It's super cheap to make, fast to put together and bake, and tasty. What a great combination!

Chili Cornbread Casserole
2 cans chili w/beans
Cheese (shredded or sliced)
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 c. milk

Spread chili in a greased 8x11 dish. Top with cheese. Stir milk and egg into cornbread mix and spread on top. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cornbread is done.

Vegetarian Tamale Casserole

I had a major "mommy brain" moment when I was grocery shopping the other day. One night last week when I was making dinner I noticed a recipe on the back of the bag of cheese I was using. It sounded good, so I threw it on the menu for this week. As I was writing out my grocery list I thought, "Oh I need to look on the bag of cheese to see what I need for that recipe." Did I do it? Nope. Did I realize that before I got to the grocery store? Nope. Did I realize it as I was walking around the store? Yup. I knew I needed a couple cans of beans for it, but that was it. Then, as I was walking out to my car, my mommy brain moment happened. I had shopped at Safeway, and the recipe had been on the back of a Safeway brand bag of cheese. I could have gone over to the cheese aisle (where I had been at one point anyway) and looked on the package to check the recipe. Sigh. So I ran to Walmart last night and got the missing ingredients, since I needed to go buy a second humidifier so both kids have one in their room. Yup, my kids are still sick. I'm pretty tired of hanging out at home.

Anyway, I'm kind of nervous to try another new recipe since last night's dinner was such a failure, but I have high hopes. I'm not a super huge bean fan, but I'm trying to embrace the bean since we're trying to eat more vegetarian dinners. I really like black beans, but the husband doesn't. I like pinto beans, too. So I guess I'm on my way to being a bean lover.

Vegetarian Tamale Casserole
1 can (8-3/4 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15-1/4 oz) red kidney beans, drain half the liquid
1 can (8-3/4 oz) garbanzo, pinto, or black beans, drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green onions with tops, sliced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 package (8-1/2 oz) cornbread mix

In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients but cornbread. Pour into a greased or sprayed 2-quart baking dish or casserole. Make cornbread according to pacakge directions. Pour over top and spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden.

*****

I think I may mix in a little salsa to the bean mixture to give it a bit of sauce, I'm concerned otherwise it would be really dry. Jen B. made us a really good tamale pie when the baby was born. I looked up her recipe and saw that it calls for canned tomatoes and chipotle peppers. I think I may have a can of chipotle peppers in the pantry; if I do, I think I'll chop up one or two to add in. I have canned tomatoes, but they're all slated for other uses, so I figure a little salsa will make up for that. Not sure what we'll have with it...some kind of frozen vegetable or just salad.

*****

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. This was YUMMY!!! I will definitely be adding this in to our vegetarian dinner rotation. Easy, inexpensive, and tasty...what could be better?! I ended up adding in one chipotle pepper chopped up and some of the adobo sauce it was canned in, and I added 8 ounces of salsa. It was awesome. I was worried it was too liquidy when it came out of the oven, but after it sat awhile it was fine. I think I'd modify the recipe to sit 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. Oh, and I skipped the chili powder and cumin because I figured adding in the salsa and chipotle pepper would give it enough extra flavor. I saw that Jen uses two boxes of cornbread mix when she makes hers, but of course I didn't have a second box on hand. I think the next times I make this I'd use two boxes as well, as the topping on it was a bit sparse. The husband and I both had seconds, and the boy even ate all of his--without being prodded along!

Chili Cornbread Casserole

I was too busy in the kitchen baking yesterday to get around to updating my blog. But, that means you get a plethora of recipes today!! I think the last time I did this much baking was at Christmas two years ago, maybe three.

I had Bunco last night but made dinner anyway because I was STARVING all day yesterday. Baby must be having a growth spurt or something because I could not get enough to eat. I did a bit of menu rearranging and moved this to last night. It's kind of a white trash dinner, but it's cheap, quick, and easy. Hard to beat that!!

Chili Cornbread Casserole
2 cans chili w/beans
Cheese (shredded or sliced)
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 c. milk

Spread chili in a greased 8x11 dish. Top with cheese. Stir milk and egg into cornbread mix and spread on top. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cornbread is done.

*****

Doesn't get much easier than that! A lot of times my grocery store has Hormel chili on sale for $1 a can but there's coupons on the paper for $0.50 off, so it ends up being $0.50 a can. This is a super budget dinner! I like to use turkey chili because it's a little healthier.

We really like this dinner. I wasn't sure if the boy would eat it or not, but he gobbled it up. I was pretty surprised.

Chili Cheese Cornbread

I don't think the husband will be excited about this dinner because it's not "chili weather," but it's what I had planned for tonight, and I don't feel like switching things around at the last minute. He'll just have to deal. :) I found this recipe a few years ago when we were low on funds. The website has a bunch of frugal recipes. I turn to it a lot when we're low on funds now. Chili happened to be on sale a couple weeks ago, and I had a coupon that made it $0.50 per can. We always have shredded cheese on hand, and the cornbread mix was something like $0.35. This is one of the most economical dinners I know of!

Chili Cheese Cornbread
2 cans chili w/beans
Cheese (shredded or sliced)
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 c. milk

Spread chili in a greased 8x11 dish. Top with cheese. Stir milk and egg into cornbread mix and spread on top. Bake at 375 degrees or until golden brown and cornbread is done.

*****

It's a little white trash I suppose, but who doesn't like a good white trash dinner every now and then? I bought turkey chili because it's a bit healthier than regular. I'd have to check the cornbread mix box for cooking time, but I think I usually cook it for however long the cornbread is supposed to bake. I'll let you know in my review!