Ok, so technically adding more vegetarian meals wasn’t on my original challenge list, but it’s something I’ve been doing anyhow. We’ve been watching the food budget a little tighter like hawks since I left my job and as a result have been eating vegetarian meals about twice a week. June is a long month and meat is just so darned expensive, so I’ve boosted our vegetarian meals to three or four times a week.
When you eat vegetarian you eat a lot of beans (at least we do), and do you know what beans scream for (aside from hot sauce?); CORNBREAD!
My mother-in-law taught me how to make cornbread like a real southerner, it’s delicious all by itself but extra sweet with honey on top, or you can top with cheese if you want.
Mother-In-Laws Cornbread
YOU NEED:
a big spoonful of grease
1 1/3 C yellow corn meal*
1 1/3 C AP flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
3 eggs
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 425. Add a big ol’ spoonful of grease to a 10-12″ cast iron skillet & put in the oven while it preheats. I normally use bacon grease but in the spirit of eating vegetarian – and not having any bacon grease left – I used coconut oil the last time I made this…also, you can use a pie pan if you don’t have cast iron but it won’t be quite the same.
Combine everything else into a big bowl and mix until it’s all blended and a creamy yellow color.
Pour the batter into the hot skillet and bake 30 minutes or until it’s light brown and the edges just a wee bit crispy.
This makes 8 huge servings but I prefer to cut it into 16 small servings.
*You can substitute white corn meal but do not use self-rising!
