Day 6: 10 Days of Real Food Pledge

Today's real food was wonderful.  Look below for a couple of recipes!

I left a crock pot of dried black beans to be cooked while I was at work.  My husband was nice enough to turn them on for me a couple of hours before I got home.  This could have been a great night to have a vegetarian meal, but I have a teenage son who thinks all meals need meat so I decided to add a little bit of meat to the beans.  I shredded a chicken breast after I got home and added it to the beans with a little bit of seasoned salt.  I served the black beans with brown rice, yellow squash (fresh from the garden), corn bread, and guacamole.  The brown rice was quick cooking brown rice out of my pantry.  I need to do some research on quick cooking brown rice to see if it has the same nutritional value as regular brown rice.  The quick cooking brown rice is more tender.  I used 100% Stone Ground White Cornmeal in the corn bread without adding any additional flour.  I really can't tell a difference in the texture or taste compared to adding a little flour to stone ground cornmeal or using a corn meal mix.  The bread rises normally.  I had some avocados that needed to be used so I thought some guacamole would be nice with the beans...and it was!  Wal-Mart's Great Value brand of salsa is all natural -- no unknown ingredients or you can easily make your own.

Here are the recipes for the Corn Bread and Guacamole:

Corn Bread (Southern)

2 Cups 100% Stone Ground Cornmeal (I use Hodgson Mill)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Cups buttermilk
2 eggs, unbeaten
1/3 cup oil

Pour oil into your cast iron skillet (medium to large size) and place in oven.  Turn oven to bake at 425 degrees.

Combine cornmeal, baking powder, soda, and salt.  Add buttermilk and eggs.  Stir to combine.  Once your oven is warm to 425 degrees remove your skillet and pour the hot oil in your batter.  Stir and pour batter into your iron skillet--enjoy the sizzle!  Place in oven and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until lightly brown on top.

This recipe is easily cut in half and then baked in a 6-8 inch cast iron skillet.  Perfect for two!


Guacamole

1 avocado
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp salsa
1 Tbsp sour cream

Mash avocado with garlic.  Add lime juice, salsa, and sour cream.  Best if prepared at least an hour before serving.  The sour cream adds a nice creaminess to the guacamole.  Cover with saran wrap touching the surface of guacamole to store.

Judy :)