The Best Cornbread

I found the recipe here. I tweaked it a little, but it's so good. The honey butter is delish too, but it makes tons! I would 1/2 or even 1/4 the recipe. I've undercooked this recipe so so many times, so make sure you bake it long enough. Just check it with a toothpick.

My Go-To Cornbread

Cornbread:
½ cup cornmeal
1 ½ cup flour
2/3 cup sugar (You could definitely do less if you want to)
1 tablespoon baking powder (I accidentally used soda once. bad news...)
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 ¼ cup milk

Honey Butter: (makes tons)
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup marshmallow fluff

DIRECTIONS:
For the cornbread, add dry ingredients, make a well and add oil, butter, eggs, and milk into the center. Stir until just mixed (don't over mix!) (batter will be runny – don’t be alarmed!). Bake in an 8” square pan at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (I usually bake it for at least 40 minutes. Check it until a toothpick comes out clean). This doubles perfectly for a 9X13-inch pan.

For the honey butter, whip all together with an electric mixer and serve at room temperature (can be refrigerated and softened).

White Bean Chili

2-3 chicken breast cooked, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can chicken broth
2 cans white beans rinsed
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies

1 1/2 tsp. powdered garlic
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper

20 mins before serving add:
1 c. sour cream (best if you use regular, not light)

Handful of chopped cilantro

Throw it all into the crockpot. Cook on low 5ish hours. 

I love it with cornbread.
Jimi calls it "albino chili"

Jailhouse Chili

This is Andy's uncle's recipe.  He's big into dutch-ovening. I remember he made this when we were dating and I LOVED it. Lucky me - it was in the recipe book that Andy's cousin gave me for my bridal shower. Yum. It is sweet and spicy and thick --- which I love. You could change any of that up I suppose if you don't like chili the way I like my chili.  I made this the other day because soup/stew/chili days are running low around here with the weather warming up, so I had to make it one more time :). Plus, it is super duper fast. Also, I know that Jeff won your chili cook off Nettie (right?), but I dare you to try this one this year.

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilies
1 can jalapeno peppers (WAY too hot ... I add a little at a time. Maybe 1/2 a can. I once used this much and yowzas!)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
1 T vinegar
2 T brown sugar (I add a little more)
1 T oil (I never add this ... I don't get the point of it)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and Pepper
Dash of oregano
Dash of curry powder (yum ... this really gives it that little something)

Cook ground beef and onions until cooked through; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add green chilies, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, vinegar, brown sugar, and drained beans. Simmer for 1 1/2 -2 hours (I never wait this long ... I let it go for as long as it takes to get the table set, kitchen picked up some, etc ... )

I actually just add 1 packet of Chili Seasoning from the store + little extra cumin and the oregano and curry powder instead of the seasonings separate. I don't know why. That's how I did the first time I made it and I never changed. I'm sure I get more seasonings that way. I also add a little water to thin it out (I told you it was a thick chili) ... or sometimes I just use a can of tomato sauce if I don't have (or forgot to buy) tomato paste and that makes it thinner. This doesn't make a whole lot ... enough for my little family x2 meals. So if you have more kids, I would double (or triple if you want leftovers). I double it when I want lots of leftovers. And I'll add this: I think when I doubled the batch, I added more beans and didn't quite double the meat ... just so I'm not using up so much of my beef, makes it cheaper. I usually make cornbread with it. This meal fills me up! Little Sammy loves it too.

Kim's last 5

1. Lentil soup
2. Roasted Balsamic Vegetable Pasta sauce  - this had potential.  I didn't do the eggplant and I couldn't find zucchini so I used broccoli and cauliflower.  It was too bell pepperish for our family and I think it would have been good with the eggplant.
3. Chili and cornbread
4. Baked Southwest Egg Rolls
5.  Potato Cheese Soup

spicy halibut chili

This recipe originally came from Kassi (who thought it was from Marsha J.), but I have made some alterations to lighten it up.

Halibut isn't cheap, so this might be a once a year meal, but we liked it.  All my kids except the picky one, who's name starts with C ate it.

1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (or red if you are like me and that's all you have)
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 can green chilis
2 Tblsp garlic, minced
1 tblsp thyme (I didn't have this, and it still tasted good)
1 tblsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 tblsp chicken base
1 cup cream or 2 cups half and half (use milk or chicken stock to bring your cream up to 2 cups)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cans great northern beans
1/2-1 cup water
pepper jack cheese (I used about a cup shredded, but you could definitely use more.  I didn't want it to be too spicy for my kids)
cooked halibut.  (I used 2 large pieces)
salt and pepper to taste

saute onion and jalepeno, add garlic.  Add vinegar and herbs and chicken base.

add liquid (chicken broth and cream) and beans, and warm.

add halibut.

We like it with this cornbread.  I wasn't sure if veggies would be any good with the halibut, so we just had carrot sticks and fruit on the side.  A salad would be great.

***The original recipe called for 1 cup of white wine vinegar.  I think that's too much.  I think that it was supposed to be wine, but someone altered the recipe to be alcohol free.  I made it originally with 1 cup, and added my half and half and it totally curdled.  So, I remade it because I still had some cream in my fridge.  I'm not sure if half and half will always curdle, but I'm kind of afraid to use it again.  As I was throwing the box away, I realized that the half and half was the fat free kind.  So that's probably the problem, but proceed with caution when using half and half.   It's also possible that the vinegar is used to thicken it.  anyway, vinegar is so strong, I don't think I'd use 1 cup.