We have many things that go on over here, and it’s not just sewing! Owning a catering business we, naturally, work with a lot of food. Each Monday, I will attempt to highlight one of our families favorite meals. While many of these dishes don’t have exact measurements of ingredients, I will do my best to approximate for you.

This is a dish that I came up with once and it was such a hit, that I keep doing it. You can use ground beef or chicken, canned tomatoes with chilies, canned tomatoes without chilies, or spaghetti sauce. You can use whatever canned beans that you like, you can skip the onions or sweet peppers if you like… In other words, this dish is very customizable. I also love cornbread, so it is usually a must to serve with this dish.

Mexican Spaghetti

1.5 pounds dried spaghetti pasta

1 10 oz can of diced tomatoes (the kind with chilies in it add a nice kick, if you so desire) OR 1 jar of spaghetti sauce

2 8 oz cans of beans (black, pinto, kidney, etc.)

1-2 sweet peppers (green, red, and/or orange),diced

1 medium onion, diced

6-8 chicken breasts, diced OR 2 lbs of ground beef

chili seasoning to taste

sour cream,

shredded cheese

Directions:

1. In a skillet, brown the meat, seasoning it with chili seasonings (or whatever seasoning you wish). Drain the fat (if using ground beef). At the same time, start the water for the pasta, adding salt to the water for flavor.

2. In the same skillet, brown the onions and sweet peppers until nicely browned.

3. Add the tomatoes and beans, cooking gently on medium heat.

4. When the water is at a rapid boil, add your pasta and cook until done. Drain off the liquid. Place back into the stock pot and butter the pasta, to keep it from sticking to each other.

5. Portion out the amount of pasta desired on to a plate. Then scoop out the meat mixture onto the pasta, add the desired amount of cheese with a dollop of sour cream, serve hot, and enjoy!

Yankee Cornbread

3 Tbls butter

3 Tbls sugar

2 cups buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk, 1 Tbs of vinegar added to a cup of milk will “sour” the milk and you will get similar results)

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups cornmeal *

1 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. In my opinion, corn bread taste better when baked in a cast iron skillet, heated up before used. To do this, place the skillet into the oven to heat it up well.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in order into your mixer. Mix on medium speed until well combined.

3. Before pouring the batter into the skillet, put 1 Tbs of butter into the pan and let it melt. Then add your batter (the butter will golden up the crust of the corn bread).

4. Bake until done, about 20 min. (a toothpick or knife should come out clean with the bread is done)

See that lovely golden crust? Mmmmm!

5. Slice up this bit of yummy-ness, butter it well, and serve hot!