Zachary Update and Tonight's Dinner

Zachary is finally feeling better!  He is virus free, but has an ear infection.  He's been on antibiotics for 2 days, so he should be acting totally normal by tomorrow.  I think it will take him a week or so to 'get his strength back', but other than that, life it good.

I would have to say that the only negative (I'm just kidding...there is no negative) to him feeling better is that I now have to start going to the grocery store and cooking again.  Randy has been making little trips to the store, and I was just throwing together anything (sometimes we had cereal).  Not sure how Randy felt about that, but I liked it.  ;)

So off to the store we went today, and I made dinner tonight.  Guess I'm out of practice, because I read the recipe wrong.  It didn't ruin the meal, but draining the tomatoes sure would have helped!

This is a recipe that my mom passed along to me.  I'm not sure where she got it, so I'm sorry to not give credit where credit is due.

Tomato 'n' Beef Casserole with Polenta Crust

Prep: 20 min., Cook: 35 min., Bake: 30 min.

Yield
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup plain yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp Montreal steak seasoning (no kitchen should be w/o this!)
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 lb ground chuck (I use ground turkey 93/7)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced (or you could use fresh green beans, asparagus, etc)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes, drained (don't forget to drain them!)
• 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste (I like the one with Italian seasoning added)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation
***This recipe calls for little seasoning.  I season each step (except cornmeal) with salt and pepper.  You can spice it up with cayenne, Tony's or by adding some Rotel.  Whatever you like.***

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring 3 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil in 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat.  Whisk in cornmeal; reduce heat to low, simmer, whisking constantly, 3 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat, and stir in steak seasoning and 1/4 cup Cheddar cheese.  Spread cornmeal mixture into a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish. (I use a 9x13 and it works great)
2. Brown ground chuck in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 10 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain and transfer to a bowl.
3. Saute` onion and zucchini in hot oil in skillet over medium heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Stir in beef, tomatoes, tomato paste, simmer, stirring often, 10 minutes.  Pour beef mixture over cornmeal crust.  Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  Sprinkle casserole with parsley just before serving.

Just discovered it is a recipe from SouthernLiving.  So the credit is given...

If you don't like zucchini, used a different veggie.  You can also throw in some bell pepper or different cheeses.

It's yummy, so give it a try. :)  Of course, don't blame me if you don't like it!!  ;)