Gettin' Crazy in the Kitchen

I love to cook. I do not like to bake. Cooking leaves room for experimentation; baking is like a chemistry experiment where any little variation from the instructions can cause a disaster. Where is there room for creativity in chemistry...or baking? I spent a lot of years telling myself that if only I practiced baking more, knew more about it,...then surely it could be fun as well. However, my friend Pam is a professionally trained cook, and when I asked her about creative baking and her response was, "Well, it can be if you know the right ratios for what makes things rise the way you want, or be the consistency you want..." I just tuned out and signed off on baking as an art form right then.

ANYWAY, we often have nights where I throw whatever is in the cabinet together to find out what happens, and I am proud to say there has only been one memorable flop (This happened when I decided that if white wine, crm chkn soup, and chkn breasts mix well in the crock pot, why not try this left-over red wine. The result was one of the most unappetizing, putrid purple colors you can imagine. Although, if you could make yourself put it in your mouth, it really tasted pretty good :)). Last night, I was wondering, as I have many a night, what in the world I could do with my hamburger meat besides A)spaghetti B)beef stroganoff C)hamburger steak. I have a pretty serious addiction to all things Mexican and spicy, and I got pretty excited when I saw the ingredients waiting for me in that cabinet.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb lean hamburger meat

1/2 yellow onion

minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

taco seasoning packet

cumin

chili powder

2 Uncle Bens microwave pouches of Spanish rice

1 can black beans--drained and rinsed

1 can corn--drained

1 can diced tomatoes

shredded cheddar cheese

Sautee first 4 ingredients together until meat is browned. Drain and rinse. Replace in pan and simmer with next 3 seasonings to taste. Cook rice according to packet instructions and combine with next 3 ingredients in 9x13 pyrex. Add meat to rice/veggie mix and add more seasoning if needed. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 350 until hot throughout (about 25 minutes). Garnish with salsa, sour cream, and jalapenos.

We LOVED this! All of us including Mapple Dapple :) and it was super easy.